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The State Board of Education finally adopted passing standards for the new 8th grade science Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test at its October, 2005 meeting. The board voted to phase in passing standards for the 8th grade science test beginning at 2 Standard Errors of Measurement (SEM) below the panel-recommended passing standard in 2005-06, 1 SEM below in 2006-07, and then applying the panel-recommended passing standard in 2007-08.
When adopting passing standards, what the board actually adopts is a scale score and the requirement that equivalent performance be maintained on future tests. Since the TAKS tests may differ in difficulty across administrations, the raw score cuts may vary across test administrations. However, the scale score standards remain constant across years at each of the TAKS phase-in standards. In the case of the 8th grade Science test, since it will be administered officially for the first time in Spring 2006, the scale score for 2006 and 2007 is yet to be determined, but it will be calculated on the Spring 2006 operational test form and will be equivalent to achieving a raw score of 27 out of 50 questions. For 2006-07, the passing standard will be equivalent to a raw score of 30 out of 50 questions. For 2007-08, the board adopted a scale score of 2100 which will be equivalent to achieving a raw score of 33 out of 50 questions.
Although the SBOE has traditionally adopted this phase-in approach for new assessments, the standard-setting panel originally recommended against phasing in the passing standards for this test because the curriculum (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) for 8th grade science has been in place for several years, students have experience taking the 5th grade science test, and the 8th grade science test is not high-stakes at this point. When the SBOE first considered the passing standards in July, the board voted 10-5 to reject the panel's recommendations, basing much of its decision on the fact that the projected impact of the panel-recommended standards based on field test data was a 63 percent failure rate on the panel-recommended standard, 51 percent failure rate on 1 SEM below, and 37 percent on 2 SEM below. TEA staff noted that field-test data are not particularly reliable because student motivation is low, and passing rates go up when the test counts. Still, at that meeting, several board members voted against the phase-in.
When the passing standards were up for final adoption at the October meeting, it was noted that the board needed a 2/3 vote to finally adopt the standards. Due to this, several board members who would have voted against the phase-in voted for it, noting that the alternative was to have no standard in place, which would jeopardize the test since it is due to be officially administered this coming spring.
This test will be counted in the state accountability system in 2007-08. The federal NCLB requires all states to administer a science test at several grade levels, including one grade in grades 6-9; however, the NCLB does not count the science test for purposes of adequate yearly progress at this time.
