Screening assessment benchmarks indicating significant risk shift up and down on the MCAS scale within and across grades, so students with the same skills may be classified differently at different times¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2024 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2027: tool and model accuracy changes quickly

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Some benchmarks shift from higher to lower (or vice versa) on the MCAS scale within and across grades, meaning changes in identified percentages over time may partly reflect benchmark changes. → Mariann Lemke 2024

Evidence¶

Mariann Lemke 2024¶

Mariann Lemke, Dan Murphy, Aaron Soo Ping Chow, and Angela Acuña. (2024). Early Literacy Performance in Massachusetts: Results of Ongoing Analysis of Literacy Screening Assessments. WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED663754

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Linking analysis using equipercentile linking of grade 3 (and additional grade) screening benchmark cut scores to MCAS ELA scale scores and performance levels, extending prior MCAS comparison work to more grades.

"some benchmarks shift from higher to lower (or vice versa) on the MCAS scale within and across grades. These shifts mean that students with the same skills might be classified differently at different time periods, and changes in the percentages of students identified as significantly below benchmark over time may be due in part to changes in the benchmarks themselves."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Early screening benchmark status predicts later performance: most beginning-of-year at-risk students stay at risk, and meeting benchmarks by end of grade 1 is associated with much higher grade 3 MCAS odds — related
• The predictive value of grade 3 screening benchmarks for MCAS ELA proficiency varies widely: 15 to 69 percent of students classified as on track did not reach MCAS proficiency, and students flagged at risk rarely met proficiency — related
• Equipercentile linking shows grade 3 screening benchmark cut scores identifying at-risk students cluster in the MCAS Partially Meeting Expectations performance level, with variation among assessments — related
• Grade 3 screener benchmark scores marking any level of risk map to MCAS ELA scores from mid Partially Meeting Expectations to the beginning of Meeting Expectations — related
• About 60 percent of students significantly below benchmark at BOY remained so at EOY, and improving to benchmark by MOY predicted meeting benchmark at EOY — related
• Literacy screener benchmarks predict which grade 3 students will not meet MCAS ELA expectations, but not necessarily who will meet them — related
• Among students below benchmark at the start of grade 1, meeting screening benchmarks earlier is associated with higher grade 3 MCAS proficiency rates — related
• Few students identified as significantly below benchmark in grades 1–3 met MCAS expectations 1 or 2 years later, with higher rates for earlier identification — related
• Exploratory analysis found no observed differences in later MCAS performance between students just below and just above screening risk thresholds — related
• Early literacy screening assessments provide multiple benchmarks or performance levels defined in different ways, with no common definition of 'at risk' — related
• Screening assessments vary in design, administration, and risk definitions such that there is no truly common definition of risk across assessments — related
• Definitions of developmental dyscalculia vary widely across studies, with diagnostic cutoffs ranging from below the 3rd to below the 25th percentile — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The STIR partnership anticipates that schools will report more students at or above early literacy benchmarks relative to prior years — related
• Agreement between K–3 screening assessments on risk classification varied from 47 percent to 85 percent depending on the assessment combination — related
• Pupils characteristically 'Bright' or 'Slow' in the early elementary grades remained in the same category in high school, in both graduate and non-graduate groups — related