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Action Research on High-stakes Testing in New York State

Cut Score Setting: June 2002 Physics Exam -
What Went Wrong

by William C. Cala, Ed.D.     (Dec. 23, 2002)
Superintendent of Schools, Fairport Central School System, NY
 

It has now been nearly six months since the June administration of the Regents Physics exam in New York State. Statewide, the failing rate rose from 11% to 33%. In spite of a flood of cries from nearly all schools in the field, Commissioner Richard Mills and his staff have steadfastly maintained that the exam was a good one and that the scoring process was scientifically confirmed.

What really happened in schools throughout the state? How did SED respond to the field and the media? What did the cut-score process, which was developed and implemented by the state for Regents Physics June 2002, look like?

 

[Publisher's introduction:
an announcement to professional lists -
a contextual overview for this research]

[HTML versions, MSWord Versions, & Contextual Resources]

Links & Resources on cut scores & their processes

Dr. Bill Cala's work cited here is a critique on a particular cut score-setting protocol and procedure as it was conducted for the June 2002 NYS Regents Exam in Physics.

Here are some links that are intended to contextualize this process and the quite fine research that Dr. Cala offers the community in the form of these research representations:

• What is Action Research? 
• Statistical Advisor
• Understanding a Scaled Score (see esp. p. 4)
• Cut scores defined
• The Bookmark Standard Setting Procedure (a variant on the NYS process)
• Cognitive Experience of Bookmark Participants 
• NYS Assessment (NYSDoE site)
• NYS Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology
• American Evaluation Association Position Statement on HIGH STAKES TESTING In PreK-12 Education

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:  Write a 2 or 3 sentence statement of your concerns about the WASL, using any of the information on the back of this page or calling on your own experience.  Then email your statement to 10 of the members of the State House and Senate Education Committees and to the State School Board, below, and let your thoughts known.

For Details & Contact Info:
GoTo Juanita's "Call for Action"