First it was a secret. Then it wasn't. Now it is, again. Georgia's DOE needs to make up their minds:
The state will delay going public with any more "cut" scores — the number of correct answers needed to pass a standardized test — until the Board of Education adopts a formal process for releasing the figures.
The state board wants to make sure the public understands what the cut scores mean, Chairwoman Wanda Barrs said Wednesday.
Last month, the state released cut scores for the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test following an open records request from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a unanimous board vote that the cut scores should be released. The newspaper also requested cut scores for two other standardized tests: End of Course Tests, taken by high school and some middle school students, and the Georgia High School Graduation Test.
Basically, they're not revealing any more cutscores until the public has the information they need to interpret those scores correctly (and not make disparaging comments about how low the cutscore is, as some other journalists - and I - have done). It's certainly not a bad idea to make sure a definition of cutscore, along with other test information, gets released when the cutscores do. So let's see what Georgia ultimately releases, if anything.
Posted by kswygert at July 9, 2004 11:48 AM