WVASA in Grades 3-8 and 11

WVDE is charged with determining and approving rigorous yet reasonable cut scores to ensure an accurate representation of student performance in English language arts (ELA), math, and science as mandated by state and federal law.

To set cut scores and establish achievement levels for both the West Virginia General Summative Assessment in Grades 3-8 and the SAT School Day in Grade 11, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE), in collaboration with its testing contractors, conducted standard setting meetings during the summer of 2018. Standard setting is the technical process in which panels of content experts participate in a federally approved process to determine cut scores per grade level, per content area. The panelists, which included West Virginia educators, business representatives, parents, and higher education faculty, set cut scores to determine four achievement levels – Exceeds Standard, Meets Standard, Partially Meets Standard, and Does Not Meet Standard.

The West Virginia Alternate Summative Assessment is administered to students with significant cognitive disabilities who are taught using the West Virginia Alternate Academic Achievement Standards in Grades 3-8 and 11. Results for the alternate assessment are not based on raw or scaled scores, so no scaled score ranges are presented. The four achievement levels across all grade levels and content areas for the alternate assessment are Advanced, At Target, Approaching Target, and Emerging.

Achievement levels descriptors provide a general description of student performance at each level.