September 2024 Group Watch: Board of Education to Vote on Raising Reading Benchmarks
The Alabama Board of Education is set to gradually increase a benchmark for third graders on the state’s high-stakes reading test. Currently, educators decide whether or not a third grader is reading sufficiently and can move on to the fourth grade based on a test. Leaders want to move the test’s cut score up this year, then again in 2026. State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey said he’s talked to school officials, board members and the governor about the topic, and recommends moving the cut score from 435 to 444 this school year, and then to 454 by spring 2027. A score of 473 means a third grader is reading on grade level, statisticians recommended the 435-cut score – technically two standard errors below 473 – because the test is new. After spring 2024 reading test results showed 91 percent of students reached the benchmark the board set last year, some questioned whether the bar was set too low, thus sending too many third graders into the fourth grade without strong reading scores. The board will vote on whether to set the new series of cut scores during its October meeting.
