PYCL 685 Continuous Professional Improvement for the Purpose of Meeting the Needs of Students

Understanding Florida Statewide Assessment
Reports
Introduction
This document has been prepared to help you understand the score reports for the Florida Statewide Assessments. It
includes explanations of the reports, information about the content assessed, and a glossary of the terms used in the
reports. The explanations provided for the sample reports apply to all grade levels unless otherwise noted.
For the Spring 2021 administration, all reports for the Florida Statewide Assessments are available in PearsonAccess
Next Reporting. This includes reports for the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) in English Language Arts (ELA) and
Mathematics and the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) Assessments in Science and Social Studies.
Districts will receive paper copies of Individual Score Reports for distribution to parents/students. All reports, including
student-, school-, district-, and state-level reports, can be found in PearsonAccess Next Reporting. Only authorized
district and school personnel can log in to the reporting system because the reports contain confidential student
information. Please see the PearsonAccess Next Reporting System User Guide on the Testing Resources page on the
Florida Statewide Assessments portal for more information.
Note: Terms that are defined in the glossary appear in bold text the first time they are used in a section.
Purpose of the Assessments
All Florida schools teach the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) in ELA and Mathematics and the Next Generation
Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) in Science and Social Studies. Student performance provides important information to
parents/guardians, teachers, policy makers, and the general public regarding how well students are learning.
Subjects/Grade Levels Tested in 2021
• Grades 3–10 ELA
o ELA Reading in grades 3–10; ELA Writing in grades 4–10
• Grades 3–8 Mathematics
• Grades 5 and 8 Science
• Algebra 1
• Biology 1
• Civics
• Geometry
• U.S. History
• Retakes: Grade 10 ELA and Algebra 1
Most students, including English language learner (ELL) and exceptional student education (ESE) students, enrolled in
the tested grade levels or courses participate in Florida Statewide Assessment administrations. Allowable
accommodations are provided to ELL and ESE students who have accommodations documented on their Individual
Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 Plans.
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Understanding Florida Statewide Assessment Reports 2021-2022
Testing Format
Grades 3–6 ELA and Mathematics, and the grades 5 and 8 Statewide Science Assessment are paper-based tests (PBT)
and grades 7–10 ELA and Mathematics, and end-of-course (EOC) assessments are computer-based tests (CBT). In
addition, paper-based accommodated test forms are provided for students who have a paper-based accommodation
listed on their IEP or Section 504 Plan. Accommodated paper-based forms include large print, braille, and one-item-perpage for both paper-based and computer-based tests and regular print for computer-based tests. Computer-based
accommodations, such as answer masking, text-to-speech, and, for ELA only, closed captioning and American Sign
Language (ASL) videos, are available in the computer-based platform for audio passages. ELA Writing and ELA Reading
passage booklets are also available for eligible students. Detailed descriptions of the question formats and item types
are available in the item specifications posted to the Florida Statewide Assessment Portal.
Florida Statewide Assessment Scores
Florida Statewide Assessment results are reported at the student, school, district, and state levels. Table 3 provides a list
of reports, the format in which the report is delivered, the grade levels for which each report is provided, and the page
of this document on which each type of report is described.
Scale Scores and Performance Levels
After the Spring 2015 baseline FSA administration, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) conducted the standard
setting process to establish the cut scores for the performance levels, also called achievement levels, for ELA and
Mathematics. The Florida State Board of Education adopted achievement level cut scores in January 2016 in State Board
of Education Rule 6A-1.09422, Florida Administrative Code (FAC). Information regarding standard setting is available on
the FDOE Standard Setting page. Both Scale Scores and performance levels are reported for ELA and Mathematics
assessments. The scales on which students receive scores differ by grade and subject.
After the baseline administration for each NGSSS assessment, FDOE conducted the standard setting process to establish
achievement level cut scores. The Florida State Board of Education adopted achievement level cut scores in State Board
of Education Rule 6A-1.09422, Florida Administrative Code, for the Statewide Science Assessment and the Biology 1 EOC
Assessment on December 12, 2012; the U.S. History EOC Assessment on January 21, 2014; and the Civics EOC
Assessment on January 14, 2015. Information regarding standard setting is available on the FDOE Standard Setting page.
Performance levels describe a student’s success with the content assessed. Performance levels range from 1 to 5, with
Level 1 as the lowest and Level 5 as the highest. For all assessments, Level 3 indicates satisfactory performance. The
passing score for each assessment is the minimum scale score in Performance Level 3.