Four years ago, Fordham and the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) teamed up to produce “The Proficiency Illusion,” a seminal analysis detailing the gaping discrepancies in proficiency-rate cut scores across states, grades, and subjects. Last month, NWEA released a follow-up, adding nine states to its original analysis in math and eleven states in reading (bringing those totals to thirty-five and thirty-seven, respectively) and extending the analysis through 2010. The new results are just as striking as the old. In grade-eight math, for example, NWEA found a 52-percentile difference between the highest and lowest state cut scores. And individual states continue to make their tests much harder at some grade levels than at others—creating significant problems for AYP determinations, value-added teacher evaluations, and much else. Feel like digging in? Check out the interactive data gallery. Prepare to feel a little ill.
Sarah Durant and Michael Dahlin, “The State of Proficiency: How student proficiency rates vary across states, subjects, and grades between 2002 and 2010,” (Portland, OR: Northwest Evaluation Association, June 2011).
