January 2005

The 2005 Edition of the School Administrator’s Manual for the Grades 4 and 8 English Language Arts and Grades 4 and 8 Mathematics Tests includes a chart on page 31 entitled “Scoring Model Codes for the English Language Arts and Mathematics Tests.” A footnote immediately below this chart indicates that Scoring Model 5, “only one school,” may not be used to score the Grades 4 and 8 English Language Arts Tests. Some school personnel have questioned the correctness of this footnote with respect to the scoring of answer papers for those students enrolled in public school districts that have only one public school with enrollment of students in the grade being tested. For example, the public school district may have only one middle school in which all Grade 8 students are enrolled. These school personnel have suggested that including teachers from more than one school in the scoring committee may not be practical for their districts for this school year.

The Department suggests that public school districts broaden the experience of scoring beyond the boundaries of the faculty of a single school. To do this, the scoring committees for the Grades 4 and 8 English Language Arts Tests may include, along with teachers from the school wherein the test was administered, teachers from one or more of the following:

• teachers from one or more nonpublic or charter school
• teachers from one or more elementary, middle or high school in the same district
• teachers from one or more neighboring district school serving the same grade levels
• teachers from one or more elementary, middle or high school that serves adjacent grade levels in a neighboring district

Schools that score the tests with a committee composed of teachers from two or more schools as described above should so indicate on the students’ answer sheets the appropriate scoring model (1-4) from the chart on page 31.

Scoring Model 5 may be used to complete the scoring of the 2005 Grades 4 and 8 English Language Arts Tests only in those school districts that have only one public school in which students in the grade being tested are enrolled and where the district has determined that adding additional teachers from another school to the scoring committee is not practical.