2015 Florida Regulations 6A-1.094221: Alternative Standardized Reading Assessment and Use of Student Portfolio for Good Cause Promotion
Effective date: 11/4/2014
(1) Pursuant to Florida Statutes § 1008.25(6), relating to the statewide public school student progression law eliminating social promotion, students who score at Level 1 on the Grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment may be promoted to grade four if the student:
(a) Scores at or above the 45th percentile on the Reading SAT-10;
(b) Demonstrates an acceptable level of performance on an alternative standardized reading assessment approved pursuant to subsection (2) of this rule;
(c) Demonstrates reading on grade level as evidenced through mastery of the Language Arts Florida Standards in reading equal to at least Level 2 performance on the Grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment.
(2) The Department of Education shall review and approve the use of alternative standardized reading assessments to be used as a good cause exemption for promotion to fourth grade.
(a) The approval of an alternative standardized reading assessment must be based on whether the assessment meets the following criteria:
1. Internal consistency reliability coefficients of at least 0.85;
2. High validity evidenced by the alignment of the test with nationally recognized content standards, as well as specific evidence of content, concurrent, or criterion validity;
3. Norming studies within the last five (5) to ten (10) years, with norming within five (5) years being preferable; and
4. Serves as a measure of grade 3 achievement in reading comprehension.
(b) Districts may submit requests for the approval of alternative standardized reading assessments to be used as a good cause exemption for promotion to fourth grade. Once an assessment has been approved by the Department of Education, the assessment is approved for statewide use.
(c) The Department of Education shall approve the required percentile passing score for each approved alternative standardized reading assessment based on an analysis of Florida student achievement results. If an analysis is not feasible, students must score at or above the 50th percentile on the approved alternative standardized reading assessment.
(d) The earliest the alternative assessment may be administered for student promotion purposes is following administration of the Grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment. An approved standardized reading assessment may be administered two (2) times if there are at least thirty (30) days between administrations and different test forms are administered.
(3) To promote a student using a student portfolio as a good cause exemption there must be evidence that demonstrates the student’s mastery of the Language Arts Florida Standards in reading equal to at least a Level 2 performance on the Grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment. Such evidence shall be an organized collection of the student’s mastery of the Language Arts Florida Standards that are assessed by the Grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment. The student portfolio must meet the following criteria:
(a) Be selected by the student’s teacher,
(b) Be an accurate picture of the student’s ability and only include student work that has been independently produced in the classroom,
(c) Include evidence that the standards assessed by the Grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment have been met. Evidence is to include multiple choice items and passages that are approximately sixty (60) percent literary text and forty (40) percent information text, and that are between 100-700 words with an average of 500 words. Such evidence could include chapter or unit tests from the district’s/school’s adopted core reading curriculum that are aligned with the Language Arts Florida Standards or teacher-prepared assessments.
(d) Be an organized collection of evidence of the student’s mastery of the Language Arts Florida Standards that are assessed by the Grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment. For each standard, there must be at least three (3) examples of mastery as demonstrated by a grade of seventy (70) percent or above on each example, and
(e) Be signed by the teacher and the principal as an accurate assessment of the required reading skills.
Rulemaking authorized by Florida Statutes § 1008.25(9). Implements Florida Statutes § 1008.25(6). History-New 5-19-03, Amended 7-20-04, 3-24-08, 2-1-09, 4-21-11, 11-4-14.