Education Report Roundup

Study: States Unclear on Meaning of Passing

By Lynn Olson — August 08, 2006 1 min read
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The process of setting passing scores on state tests used to judge schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act lacks transparency in 20 states, says a report from Education Sector.

“Making the Cut: How States Set Passing Scores on Standardized Tests” is available from Education Sector.

The Washington-based think tank looked for information on state Web sites about the number of test items a student needed to answer correctly to perform at the “proficient” level on state exams. States that posted such information were counted as “transparent.”

States with “nontransparent,” unavailable, or very hard-to-locate data were Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

A version of this article appeared in the August 09, 2006 edition of Education Week

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