MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Board of Education on Thursday voted 7-to-2 to raise the score requirement on the state’s third grade reading test – the first hurdle determining whether the student moves to fourth grade – for the current school year and beyond.
Republican board members Jackie Zeigler, whose district includes much of south Alabama, and Stephanie Bell, whose district includes part of central Alabama, voted no. Both said they were concerned that the score State Superintendent Eric Mackey recommended was too low.
“A lot of my constituents and teachers and fellow educators reached out and they said we just need to push on that accelerator a bit harder,” Zeigler said about not raising the score high enough.
On the spring Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program reading test, there are currently two significant score markers: 473 and above means the student is reading on grade level; last academic year, a score below 435 meant a student could potentially have to repeat the grade.
Bell, too, said she heard from teachers who were concerned that students who weren’t reading on grade level – who scored below 473 – were being promoted.
“They are concerned that there are students who are being promoted,” Bell said, “who would be better off if they were to remain in the grade where they are now – or were last year – in the third grade.”
The board approved a three-year plan to raise the cut score to 444 for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years; The score would increase again to 454 for the 2026-27 school year. Those cut scores are based on statistically sound measures that assessment experts calculated.
The Alabama Literacy Act was passed in 2019 to ensure all third graders are reading on grade level, and requires third graders to reach the cut score on the state’s reading test before being promoted to the fourth grade.
Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, said she hoped the board would raise the cut score this year. “Glad to hear it’s their plan,” Collins wrote in a text to Alabama Daily News. “I hope they continue to raise it.”
Third graders who don’t reach the cut score on spring testing have multiple ways to show they can read on grade level, including passing a similar test after attending summer reading camp, presenting a portfolio of work showing the student reads on grade level or being promoted for “good cause.”
Mackey told reporters that though he was against raising the cut score earlier this year, after seeing how well third graders performed on the reading test – 91% of third graders scored 435 or higher this past spring – he felt raising the cut score was appropriate.
That was a big increase over the 2022-23 school year, when 83% of third graders reached the 435 cut score.
“Our students – I expected them to do better over time, but they were doing better faster than I had anticipated,” Mackey said. “And better faster than our experts had told us to anticipate.”
Board members and Mackey have previously expressed concern about students who are “on the bubble,” meaning the student scored between the state board’s cut score and the 473 score.
On spring 2024 reading tests, 14% or 7,400 of all third graders tested, were on the bubble.
Students who are on the bubble are reading well enough to move on to fourth grade but are still likely to struggle with reading, Mackey said.
“What we don’t want is to send a false message to parents that, hey, my student is doing just fine,” Mackey said.
“We want those parents to know that yes, your student is sufficient. Yes, they’re moving on, but they still need support and help in reading.”
Earlier this month, Mackey sent notice to school officials that state funding is available for testing fourth and fifth graders for reading deficiencies for the current school year.
Additionally, free training is available to all teachers in fourth grade and beyond to learn how to help older students become better readers.