After the Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) scores came out last year, I ran a comparison of the proficiency rates reported by the new testing program to other credible test results for Kentucky.

I now start to update that 2012 work with the new results from K-PREP for middle school math, reading and science scores with results from the 2013 administration of the ACT, Inc.’s EXPLORE test, which is given to all Kentucky eighth grade students. The graph below shows the results.

As I found last year, K-PREP is over-reporting proficiency rates compared to the percentages of students who reach the ACT EXPLORE Benchmark Scores that show those students’ educations are on track for college and careers.

In reading, K-PREP reported a proficiency rate nearly 10 points higher than the reading performance reported by EXPLORE.

In math, K-PREP reported nearly seven points more proficiency than the EXPLORE test indicated.

In science, it is clear that Kentucky’s existing K-PREP science test, which is actually a holdover from the old CATS system, remain highly inflated.

Unfortunately, there is no reference test available for the other two subjects evaluated by K-PREP: writing and social studies.

However, the K-PREP reported social studies proficiency rate in 2013 was similar to the science rate at around 60 percent.

K-PREP reported middle school writing proficiency for grade six middle school students at 48.0 percent and eighth grade students at 38.6 percent, for an average of 43.3 percent.

So, it looks like science and perhaps social studies K-PREP scores are considerably higher than they should be. That results in inflation in the overall scores for Unbridled Learning, of course, where social studies and science get the same weight in the accountability formulas as math and reading receive.

Data Source:

The data come from the revised, 24 September 2013 edition of the “Commonwealth of Kentucky, State Report Card, 2012-2013 Academic Year” PDF document. You can access this report by going to the home web page for the statewide school report card.

Next, click on the State Report Card’s “View Card” button.

Now, click on the link that says “Printer Friendly Report Card (PDF).”