Does Your School Rank in the Top 15 Percent?

The U.S. Department of Education has published tables of cut scores for standardized tests that school officials can use to determine whether their school ranks in the top 15 percent of schools in the nation. You can download the cut scores here (PDF). Cut scores are available for the following tests:

  • Iowa Assessments (Forms E,F,G), Riverside Publishing
  • SAT – 10th Ed (Forms A and D), Pearson Education
  • Terra Nova 3, DRC/CTB
  • SAT 2017, College Board
  • ACT, ACT
  • ACT Aspire, ACT
  • CTP 5, Educational Records Bureau *
  • MAP, NWEA
  • Performance Series, Scantron
  • STAR, Renaissance Learning
  • CLT, CLT10, CLT8, Classic Learning Initiatives
  • i-Ready Diagnostic, Curriculum Associates

If a school’s nationally normed testing program is not listed above, the school is not eligible for the BRS program unless it administers, and qualifies using, state tests.

Does Your School Qualify as an Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing School?

To qualify as Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing, at least 30 percent of the school’s enrollment must be educationally disadvantaged.  The school must be in the top 30 percent of schools in the nation that use the school’s nationally norm referenced test.  The U.S. Department of Education has published tables of cut scores for standardized tests that school officials can use to determine whether their school ranks in the top 30 percent of schools in the nation.  You can download the cut scores here (PDF). Top 30 percent cut scores are available for the following tests:

  • ACT, ACT
  • PreACT, ACT
  • CLT, CLTIO, CLT8, Classic Learning Initiatives
  • Exact Path Diagnostic, Edmentum
  • i-Ready Diagnostic, Curriculum Associates
  • MAP, NWEA
  • SAT10, Pearson
  • STAR, Renaissance Learning
  • Terra Nova 3, DRC/CTB

In cases where state tests are administered, a school should contact its state education department to find out what scores in reading and math put it in the top 15 percent of schools in the state (see State Contacts List).

* Note that for the CPT 5 test, “grade” indicates the level of the content covered by the assessment, not necessarily the grade of the students when taking the test.

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