WICHITA, Kansas — The Kansas State Board of Education has approved new score thresholds for state assessment tests that are expected to increase the number of students scoring in the top levels.
Some lawmakers have raised concerns that the move is designed to cover up poor test scores. But proponents say the update — along with redesigned tests — will more accurately reflect students’ abilities.
“We are not reducing the rigor on this assessment,” said Beth Fultz, director of career, standards and assessment services for the Kansas Department of Education. “We’re better aligning our expectations for how students perform.
“We have all these other pieces of evidence on how students are performing, and we need to make sure we’re reflecting back accurate information.”
This is the first update to the assessment scale since 2016. States typically try to keep assessment tests and their measuring scales consistent to allow year-to-year comparisons.
The state board also approved new descriptors for the test levels that highlight proficiency compared with grade-level standards.
Previously, state assessment scores fell into four categories: limited, basic, effective and excellent. On the new test, Level 3 will become “proficient,” which is a term lawmakers and educators have clashed over in recent years. Level 4 will be labeled “advanced.”
Groups of Kansas teachers set thresholds known as cut scores on the annual tests that determine the four performance levels. Since 2016, cut scores on Kansas assessments have been higher than most states, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson said the previous test scale showed a “misalignment” between assessment scores and actual student achievement, and it penalized students unfairly.
For example, only one in four Kansas high school students scored at Level 3 or 4 on state tests, but more than half went on to succeed in college or career pathways, Watson said.
In many cases, he said, students had to score in the top 25% nationally to be labeled “proficient” in Kansas. Educators noted examples of students at Level 2 on the state assessment who earned ACT scores of 22 or more, which is above the national average.
“Ten years now into this old assessment, students that were in the top portion of Level 2 were behaving like Level 3 students, and we never adjusted for that,” Watson said. “This process is about accuracy, fairness and alignment, not lowering expectations.”
The state school board voted 7-3 to reset cut scores for the current school year. Board members Michelle Dombrosky, Connie O’Brien and Debby Potter voted against the change.
Kansas assessments are administered each spring over a three- to four-week period. Students take English language arts and math assessments in third through eighth grades, and again in 10th grade. Students in grades 5, 8 and 11 also take a science assessment.
On previous versions of state tests, the scoring scale ranged from 220 to 380. Cut scores for the four levels of achievement varied by grade level and subject.
On the new tests, the lowest score is 400 across all grades and subjects, and the highest is 700. Level 2 cuts off at 510, and Level 3 at 540 for all grades and subjects. The Level 4 cutoff still varies by grade and subject.
Board member Melanie Haas said the update offers a more precise and evidence-based measure of achievement.
“It’s not so much that (the old tests) were more rigorous, it’s that they were out of band,” Haas said. “We had set those aspirational goals, and I’ve had some people give feedback that these might even still be a little too aspirational.”
Board member Beryl New, who voted for the change, said the updated thresholds better reflect what students know.
“Kansas is not lowering standards or expectations for our students,” she said. “And in fact, we are making sure they can be successful based on what they have been taught.”
Education leaders say this year’s test results, which should be reported in October, will not be comparable to past years because of the redesigned tests.
Some conservative leaders said the recent board vote amounts to watering down standards in Kansas public schools.
Former Gov. Jeff Colyer, who is running for governor, said on the social media platform X that the new scoring scale amounts to “weaker expectations and lower standards in an attempt to astroturf success metrics.”
Also on X, Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins said, “Lowering the bar isn’t helping Kansas kids, it’s cheating them. … College readiness won’t come from watered-down standards.”
Suzanne Perez reports on education for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KMUW, KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
