Cut Scores

Wyoming Department of Education > For District Leadership > Assessment – State System > Cut Scores

WY-TOPP

From July 10–12, 2018, AIR facilitated standard-setting workshops for grades 3-10 in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics and for grade 10 in Science. The 84-member panel was composed of Wyoming teachers, curriculum specialists, education administrators, and other stakeholders. The members were selected from large and small Wyoming school districts, ensuring diverse perspectives throughout the standard-setting process. The panelists used the ‘Bookmark Method’, the most common procedure used throughout the country and for previous Wyoming assessments. Panelists were given a booklet of items ordered by level of difficulty. During the process, the panelists referenced the Wyoming College and Career Readiness Standards, the Performance-Level Descriptors (PLDs), and student performance data from the 2018 WY-TOPP Summative Assessment. The panelists bookmarked items representative of minimum performance of Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. There were multiple rounds of bookmarks and resolution during the three-day workshop. The cut scores are used to determine the four performance levels – Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.

Because the 2016 Science Standards were first assessed in the spring of 2022, new standards had to be set for science. In June 2022, standard setting panels were convened to determined the new scale score proficiency-level ranges for science in grades 4, 8, and 10.  

Cut Score FAQs and the Back-to-School Toolkit

WY-TOPP PROFICIENCY-LEVEL SCORES

WY-TOPP SCALE SCORE PROFICIENCY-LEVEL RANGES FOR GRADES 3-10 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
Grade Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
3 ≤563 564-591 592-627 ≥628
4 ≤579 580-612 613-648 ≥649
5 ≤600 601-626 627-667 ≥668
6 ≤613 614-639 640-688 ≥689
7 ≤616 617-643 644-691 ≥692
8 ≤625 626-652 653-707 ≥708
9 ≤628 629-655 656-708 ≥709
10 ≤630 631-666 667-712 ≥713

WY-TOPP SCALE SCORE PROFICIENCY-LEVEL RANGES FOR GRADES 3-10 MATHEMATICS
Grade Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
3 ≤416 417-437 438-460 ≥461
4 ≤441 442-465 466-490 ≥491
5 ≤465 466-493 494-532 ≥533
6 ≤489 490-520 521-559 ≥560
7 ≤515 516-551 552-587 ≥588
8 ≤542 543-584 585-626 ≥627
9 ≤572 573-616 617-667 ≥668
10 ≤602 603-652 653-713 ≥714

WY-TOPP SCALE SCORE PROFICIENCY-LEVEL RANGES FOR GRADES 4, 8, 10 SCIENCE
Grade Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
4 ≤376 377-400 401-424 ≥425
8 ≤776 777-803 804-828 ≥829
10 ≤979 980-1000 1001-1027 ≥1028

 


WY-ALT

From July 16–18, 2019, AIR facilitated standard-setting workshops for grades 3-10 in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics and for grades 4, 8, and 10 in Science. The 72-member panel was composed of Wyoming teachers, curriculum specialists, education administrators, and other stakeholders. The members were selected from large and small Wyoming school districts throughout the state, ensuring diverse perspectives throughout the standard-setting process.

The panelists used the Bookmark method, the most common procedure used throughout the country and for previous Wyoming assessments. Panelists were given a booklet of items ordered by level of difficulty. During the process, the panelists referenced the Wyoming Extended Content and Performance Standards, the Achievement-Level Descriptors (ALDs), and student performance data from the 2019 WY-ALT Summative Assessment. The panelists bookmarked items representative of minimum performance of Basic, Proficient, and Advanced performance levels. There were multiple rounds of review and resolution during the three-day workshop. The cut scores are used to determine the four performance levels – Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.

Because the 2018 Science Extended Standards were first assessed in the spring of 2022, new standards had to be set for science. In June 2022, standard setting panels were convened to determined the new scale score proficiency-level ranges for science in grades 4, 8, and 10.  

WY-ALT PROFICIENCY-LEVEL SCORES

WY-ALT SCALE SCORE PROFICIENCY-LEVEL RANGES FOR GRADES 3-10 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
Grade Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
3 ≤275 276-299 300-314 ≥315
4 ≤277 278-299 300-336 ≥337
5 ≤274 275-299 300-326 ≥327
6 ≤284 285-299 300-335 ≥336
7 ≤280 281-299 300-344 ≥345
8 ≤279 280-299 300-324 ≥325
9 ≤283 284-299 300-327 ≥328
10 ≤283 284-299 300-327 ≥328

WY-ALT SCALE SCORE PROFICIENCY-LEVEL RANGES FOR GRADES 3-10 MATHEMATICS
Grade Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
3 ≤282 283-299 300-317 ≥318
4 ≤278 279-299 300-324 ≥325
5 ≤285 286-299 300-323 ≥324
6 ≤286 287-299 300-319 ≥320
7 ≤272 273-299 300-323 ≥324
8 ≤285 286-299 300-322 ≥323
9 ≤282 283-299 300-314 ≥315
10 ≤282 283-299 300-314 ≥315

WY-ALT SCALE SCORE PROFICIENCY-LEVEL RANGES FOR GRADES 4, 8, 10 SCIENCE

GRADE BELOW BASIC BASIC PROFICIENT ADVANCED
4 ≤276 277-299 300-328 ≥329
8 ≤270 271-299 300-335 ≥336
10 ≤263 264-299 300-324 ≥325

ACCESS for ELLs PROFICIENCY-LEVEL SCORES

Composite Scale Scores for a Composite Performance Level of 4.6 by Grade Level

To be deemed proficient and to exit Active EL Status, a student must have both of the following:

  • Composite Performance Level of 4.6 and a literacy performance level of 4.3. 
  • When students meet both of these, they are English Proficient.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT (ELPA)
Grade Composite Performance Level of 4.6
Kindergarten 313-315
1 333-335
2 347-349
3 359-361
4 370-372
5 378-380
6 386-388
7 393-395
8 399-401
9 405-408
10 411-414
11 417-419
12 422-424

ALT ACCESS for ELLs PROFICIENCY-LEVEL SCORES

Composite Scale Scores for a Composite Performance Level of P1 

To be deemed proficient and to exit Active EL Status, a student must have an overall composite performance level of P1 or higher.

Grade Composite Performance Level of P1
1 – 12 938-960