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District warns renorming will lower Ames Web literacy scores; dyslexia screener not on approved vendor list
Summary
District staff told the board that national renorming of the Ames Web literacy assessment makes direct year‑to‑year comparisons invalid, that average scores will appear lower under the new norms, and that Ames Web’s dyslexia screener is not currently on the state’s approved list (a vendor choice decision was deferred).
District assessment staff presented end‑of‑year assessment results and explained that recent national renorming of the Ames Web literacy norming tables prevents direct comparison of this year’s scores to prior years. Presenters said the assessment forms and reports look the same, but norm changes mean averages and percentile ranks shift; they described that national percentile drops are expected when a renorming is applied and that the change affects interpretation of longitudinal trends.
The presentation noted that the Ames Web literacy renorming covers the literacy portion for all grades that take the ELA section, not only kindergarten and first grade. Staff cautioned that because norms changed, district leaders cannot compare this year’s scores with prior years’ results in the way they had previously done.
Presenters also discussed that Ames Web includes a dyslexia screener but that the vendor did not submit that screener for the state’s approved list. District staff said they are monitoring state vetting results and will not decide on switching tools until after the state updates the approved list. Staff discussed relative vendor costs: the district’s current Ames Web screening contract was described as inexpensive at about $5,000 for the district; some alternative screeners (for example DIBELS) were reported by staff to be substantially more expensive for K‑5 (the presenter cited an estimate on the order of $18,000). The district said any change would be considered over the coming year and would depend on state guidance, costs and tradeoffs.
Board members asked clarifying questions about which subtests were newly added to grade‑level composites and how the renorming interacts with statewide assessments; staff answered that the renorming updates the norms only (not necessarily the content) and that some subtests were added to first‑grade composites this year, which also affects comparability.
The district emphasized that although overall averages look lower under the new norms, the data still show growth within the year for many grade levels; staff said the district will continue monitoring and will bring additional recommendations if a vendor change is warranted.
