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USD 231 leaders report FastBridge results and await Kansas state assessment cut scores
Summary
District staff summarized FastBridge interim assessment results showing most students met benchmarks and typical or aggressive growth, and they said Kansas State Board decisions on cut scores and official state score reports are expected in September.
District assessment leaders told the Board of Education Monday that early results from the district’s balanced assessment system show a majority of students meeting benchmarks on FastBridge interim assessments and that the district will receive Kansas State assessment score reports once the state board finalizes cut scores.
Christy Witter and Heather Peek presented FastBridge summary data and explained how the district uses FastBridge, state assessments and classroom formative checks together. Witter described the district’s balanced assessment system and said FastBridge provides information for benchmarks, growth and national norms. She said FastBridge is nationally normed and is used to identify students at risk and to measure growth across the year.
FastBridge highlights presented to trustees included: 59 percent of students met or exceeded reading benchmarks, 61 percent met or exceeded math benchmarks, and about 60 percent of students districtwide showed typical or aggressive growth on the FastBridge metrics used by the district. Witter said the FastBridge predictions for spring outcomes either matched or were exceeded by actual growth in the district. The presenters cautioned that some published percentages focused on students who were at‑benchmark at testing time and excluded students who were already well above benchmark.
Trustees were told principals set building goals using FastBridge baseline data from last year; buildings will monitor progress with multiple checkpoints during the year. Presentation speakers said FastBridge was new to the district last year, so the district expects to develop a historical trend line in coming years.
On state testing, staff said the Kansas State Board of Education is expected to vote on assessment cut scores in September and then the Kansas State Department will release official score reports. District staff said state assessments differ from FastBridge in design and purpose and that the district will analyze correlations between FastBridge and state assessments once the state releases scores. Presenters said state ELA tests will be passage‑based and include technology‑enhanced items.
During questions, a trustee asked whether the district could obtain comparable FastBridge or similar interim data from peer districts; staff said districts typically guard that internal assessment data closely and that peer sharing of FastBridge data is uncommon. Trustees asked for regional comparisons and staff said they will raise the subject at curriculum director meetings but did not expect other districts to share their internal interim reports.
Sources: On‑record presentation and slides by district assessment staff at the USD 231 Board of Education meeting.
