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District briefed on new state cut scores; 2025 will be baseline for growth comparisons
Summary
District staff previewed upcoming ISBE changes to proficiency cut scores across state assessments, showing modeled impacts on 2024 data and explaining that 2025 will be treated as the baseline year for future growth comparisons; board members requested follow‑up sessions.
Superintendent Dr. Jarrett and district assessment lead Christina Miller told the Rockford board that the Illinois State Board of Education has reworked proficiency cut scores across several statewide assessments and is moving to four standardized performance levels (below proficient, approaching proficient, proficient, above proficient) so the results are more comparable to national benchmarks.
Miller summarized that the state’s right‑sizing effort was intended to align Illinois cut scores more closely with national percentiles and NAEP comparisons. She said the state’s technical team (including external researchers such as ECRA) re‑set cut scores across IAR (third through eighth), grade 5 and 8 science, and high‑school ACT reporting. Miller presented modeled impacts on the district’s 2024 data: for example, third‑grade ELA proficiency would model from the 18% previously reported to about 25% with the new cuts, and third‑grade math from 17% to about 29% under the new rules; science cut scores were raised in some grades causing modeled decreases in proficient classifications.
District staff emphasized that how growth is calculated has not changed and that per ISBE guidance the district should treat 2025 as the new baseline year when the embargo lifts. Miller warned that while the change moves toward greater comparability across states, it is not perfectly consistent across all grades or subjects: the percentile equivalent for proficiency can vary by grade (for instance, third‑grade math versus eighth‑grade math). Board members were offered one‑on‑one follow‑up briefings and requested additional time to review the embargoed materials before public release.
The district plans to compare 2025 results to the newly modeled 2024 baseline only for local analysis and will follow ISBE guidance for public reporting when the data are released.
