Colorado educators strongly agree that we need to set higher
standards for our students in mathematics. However, most state
residents remember feeling like something was out of whack when the
scores for 10th-grade math from the Colorado Student Assessment
Program were announced last year.
Now the time has come for a second round of CSAP testing, and
it’s appropriate to ask some hard questions.
Here are the facts: Last year only 14 percent of Colorado
10th-graders scored at proficient or above on the CSAP math test –
in Douglas County, the number was only slightly higher at 19
percent.
This poor showing prompted a group of Denver area
superintendents to commission an independent analysis of the test
(by the School of Education Policy Center at the University of
Colorado at Boulder) to learn why the scores came in so
low.
The study showed that the math content on the 10th-grade CSAP
was substantially more difficult than typical college admission
tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, taken by high school
seniors, and the American Collegiate Test, required of all Colorado
11th-graders.
The study also revealed that 31 percent of the 10th-grade math
questions are based on material not typically taught until after
10th grade. These findings confirm my own personal assessment that
the 10th-grade math test is extremely difficult.
I took a shorter version of the test during the “Take the Test
Day” activities last year, and I confess that I struggled with many
of the questions.
In addition, the researchers found that the level of performance
required to be proficient was extremely high.
“For a student to score proficient on the 10th-grade math CSAP,
he or she would have to rank in the top 10 percent of students
nationwide on the PLAN pre-ACT test,” said Lorrie Shepard of the
University of Colorado at Boulder (the primary author of the
study). “If we want test results that truly show us what students
know and can do, we need to make sure that the cut points for
scoring are set appropriately.”
For a student to score at the advanced level on the 10th-grade
math CSAP, they would need to be at the 99th percentile of the
national norms on ACT’s PLAN test.
Even many of those who scored unsatisfactory on CSAP were above
average on the nationally normed PLAN. This means that many of the
students who are not proficient on the CSAP will score high enough
on the ACT to compete for admission to our state’s most competitive
colleges and universities.
I agree with the study results and hope that policy makers and
parents do not jump to conclusions about why students performed so
poorly on this particular test.
I expect that the performance standards and the test content
will be adjusted soon to bring them in line with other proven
assessments (such as the ACT and the SAT) and the rest of the CSAP
program.
Rick O’Connell is the superintendent for the Douglas County
School District.