Attachment A

TAKS Vertical Scale Scores

Vertical scales were developed for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) English reading and mathematics in grades 3–8 to meet requirements mandated by the Texas legislature. Vertical scales for Spanish TAKS reading and mathematics in grades 3–6 were also developed. A vertical scale scoreis determined by the number of questions a student answers correctly. With a vertical scale, a student’s scale score in one grade can be compared to the student’s scale score in another grade as long as the scores are in the same language and subject (for example, Spanish grade 3 reading to Spanish grade 4 reading; English grade 6 mathematics to English grade 7 mathematics). An “E” or an “S” will appear in front of each vertical scale score to indicate whether the score is for English or Spanish. For TAKS assessments that will be reported on a vertical scale, each grade and subject will have its own score that indicates Met Standard and Commended Performance. For example, the vertical scale score for Met Standard in grade 7 mathematics will be 670, while the vertical scale score for Met Standard in grade 8 will be 700.

Note that a vertical scale will not be reported for TAKS writing (grades 4 and 7), science (grades 5, 8, 10, and exit level), social studies (grades 8, 10, and exit level), reading and mathematics at grade 9, and English language arts and mathematics at grade 10 and exit level. Student performance results on these assessments will continue to have a scale score of 2100 for Met Standard and 2400 for Commended Performance.

There are three major differences between a vertical scale and the scale that has been used previously for TAKS reading and mathematics.

  1. The current scale for the English and Spanish TAKS assessments ranges from 1200 to 3300. The vertical scale for English and Spanish TAKS will have a score range of approximately 0 to 1000.
  2. Unlike the current scale, changes in vertical scale scores from one year to the next can be used to interpret year-to-year progress within a subject area.
  3. Currently students need the same scale score to meet the standard (2100) and achieve commended performance (2400). This scale score system applies to all TAKS English and Spanish subjects and grades. However, on the vertical scale, the scale score needed to meet the standard and achieve commended performance on English TAKS reading and mathematics in grades 3–8 and Spanish TAKS reading and mathematics in grades 3–6 will not be the same across grades; instead, the scale scores required to meet the standard and achieve commended performance will increase from grade to grade.

Standards Review

When a change occurs in an assessment program, performance standards must be reviewed. The introduction of a vertical scale for assessing student progress beginning with the 2008–2009 school year required a standards review to determine whether performance standards across grade levels wouldneed to be adjusted based on the implementation of the vertical scale.

Once the vertical scale was developed, TEA convened panels of educators to evaluate the appropriateness of the performance standards on the new vertical scale. The educator panels recommended slight increases in these standards for the Met Standard andCommended Performance categoriesin both reading and mathematics at several grades. These recommended performance standards showed appropriate increases in expectations for student performance from grade to grade. Panelists did not recommend lowering any performance standards. These new performance standards were approved by the State Board of Education (SBOE) on January 23, 2009, and will be implemented beginning in spring 2010. For 2009, student performance will be evaluated under the current academic achievement standards.

In order to facilitate the transition to the new achievement standards, vertical scale scores will be reported on the TAKS Confidential Student Report (CSR) beginning with the March 2009 administrationfor grades 3, 5, and 8 reading. For 2009 the vertical scale scores will be reported as information only. The vertical scale will also be provided for the applicable test administrations on the Individual Student Data File, which is available to all districts at no charge. In the data file, students’ 2009 vertical scale scores as well as their 2008 vertical scale scores will be provided. This information will help districts compare students’ 2008 and 2009 test scores. Beginning with the 2010 TAKS administrations, vertical scale scores will replace the current scale scores for students taking English TAKS reading and mathematics in grades 3–8 and Spanish TAKS reading and mathematics in grades 3–6.

A “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) document, a sample CSR for 2009, and tables indicating the performance standards approved by the SBOE that will be effective beginning with the 2010 test administrations can be found at

Texas Projection Measure (TPM)

The TPM will be reported for all students who take TAKS [including the TAKS (Accommodated) form and the linguistically accommodated tests] in grades 3–10. The TPM will be reported in mathematics, reading, science, social studies, and writing. Because both reading and mathematics scores are required to calculate the TPM in all subjects and mathematics is not assessed in March, the first administration for which the TPM will be reported will be April 2009for grades 5 and 8 mathematics. The TPM will also be reported for the April administration for grades 3–10, the May administration for grades 5 and 8, and the June/July administration for grades 3, 5, and 8.

The TPM will be reported on the student’s Confidential Student Report (CSR). It will be reported for each subject as a “Yes” or “No,” indicating whether the student is projected to meet the standard in that subject at the next high-stakes grade. High-stakes grades are defined as grades 5, 8, and 11. The exception is grade 4 writing, where the TPM will project to grade 7 writing, which is the next grade at which writing is assessed. In addition, the TPM information will be reported on the Individual Student Data File, which is available to all districts at no charge after each test administration.

Because TAKS grade 8 science was not given for the first time until2006, ithas not been administered over a sufficient number of years to have a TPM calculated in spring 2009. However, grade 8 science will have a TPM reported beginning in 2010. No TPM will be reported for grade 7 writing because there is no stand-alone writing test to which a projection can be made, since the exit level English language arts (ELA) test is an integrated reading and writing assessment with one combined score.

Online reports that provide additional TPM information will be available to districts in fall 2009. It is expected that the online reports will show students’ 2008 and 2009 vertical scale scores for English TAKS reading and mathematics in grades 3–8 and Spanish TAKS reading and mathematics in grades 3–6 along with students’ projected scores in the next high-stakes grade. For grades and subjects that do not have a vertical scale, only the current year’s score and the projected score will be reported. The state plans to report the following summary information for each grade, subject, and language at the campus, district, region, and statewide levels:

  • the number/percent of students who Met Standard
  • the number/percent of students who are projected to meet the standard at the next high-stakes grade

Additional information about fall online reporting will be provided later this year.

Spring 2009 will be the first time Texas will report the TPM. State accountability advisory groups are considering using results of the TPM in the state accountability system beginning as early as 2009. Options under consideration add TPMonly in ways that can benefit districts. Should the TPM be used to determine 2009 state accountability ratings, no district’s rating would be lowered as a result of applying the TPM. For federal accountability, Texas has received approval with conditions to use the TPMin the 2009 AYP calculations.Students who Met Standard in 2009 or are projected to meet the standard at the next high-stakes grade will be included in district and campus performance rates for evaluating 2009 AYP results.

In addition, districts may decide to use the TPM for local purposes. The availability of the TPM does notprecludedistricts from using other growth measures for local purposes.

For more detailed information about how the projections are made, see the proposal that TEA submitted to USDE on the TEA website at An FAQ document about the TPM, the 2009 projection equations for each grade and subject, the campus means by subject, and a sample CSR may be found at