Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Sol Cut Scores topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parent and staff warn state test cut-score changes could sharply lower Clarke County scores
Summary
A parent and district staff described potential major drops in district accountability scores if proposed state cut-score changes and a shorter ELL timeline apply; board members urged better communication and a phased approach.
A parent and district staff speaker told the Clarke County School Board that changes to the state’s Standards of Learning (SOL) cut scores and changes in English language learner (ELL) accountability timelines could produce a significant, immediate drop in district accountability scores if implemented without advance notice or mitigation.
"If we lift and shift our 20 25 scores...we just need to communicate that early and often," said Shane Boswell, a parent from Buck Marsh, addressing the board during public comments and urging local and state boards to coordinate communication with families. Boswell also said he had struggled to get clear information from the state board and raised questions about ELL students being moved from an 11-semester to a 3-semester timeline for counting assessments.
A district staff speaker, identified in the meeting as Dr. Bolling, explained how the new accountability framework and cut scores would affect the district’s reported results if the metrics were applied as described. "The impact on our 20 25 scores, the reading, had it been in place, would have went from 75.87 to 39.32. And the math will go from 72.90 to 39.33," Dr. Bolling said, adding that staff will "do the best we can for every individual kid" but acknowledging a significant potential impact on reported division scores.
Board members expressed concern about pace and notice. Several suggested the state should phase in any cut-score increases and ensure additional support services—tutors, instructional assistants and targeted interventions—are in place before higher benchmarks take effect. One board member used the analogy of changing the parameters of a race mid-course to describe the perceived unfairness of changing standards during an academic year.
Discussion also noted that an ELL accountability timeline change had already been put in place in the accountability framework and that the upcoming accountability results would reflect that change. Board members urged district leaders to continue outreach to parents and to coordinate with other divisions and superintendents to amplify local concerns to the state board.
No formal district policy action on SOL cut scores or state accountability was taken at the meeting; the remarks were part of public comment and board member discussion.
