Three school districts in Kansas have stopped using the official state assessment tests for student performance. The districts have switched to tests prepared by ACT, which is known for college entrance exams.
The Kansas Board of Education Wednesday voted not to include the ACT test scores in the state’s official report card provided to the federal government. Including the ACT scores would lower the state’s overall grade.
“When we’re discussing assessment results, we can’t compare oranges and apples,” says board member Jana Shaver from Independence.
She says it doesn’t make sense to combine results from the two different tests into one final state score.
“I don’t see how we can mix the two because performance levers are different. We’re not comparing the same things,” Shaver says.
The state report card is primarily used to determine if Kansas is complying with the federal No Child Left Behind ACT.