Measuring and Interpreting Results
Similarly to most schools, in the schools in which I am currently teaching, the FCAT CRT scores are used predominantly to measure the performance of the school against the national standards outlined in by the Florida Department of Education (Popham, 2000). Similarly, NRT scores are used to determine whether reading and math are at appropriate levels within the school, and as a means of identifying specific problem areas. Both sets of scores are also taken into consideration when assessing the levels of students in terms of segregation into classes of differing levels of ability, which occurs in some lessons at some stages of the schools.
Within the reported FCAT results, I personally find the State and school mean scores tables to be the most helpful. It is relatively easy to see where the average performance within the specific group across the State, and therefore this provides a quick reference as to how your school's or your own personal performance compares. The school measures also then provide a good benchmark for the mean level of performance within the school which makes it relatively easy to identify then those students who are performing below average and those higher than average.
The State and school percent scoring tables also provide a useful marker of this, although I think that using these is slightly more complicated. As a result, I therefore actually find the State and school percent scoring tables to be the least helpful element in the result reporting. I also find that the State-Mean Developmental Scale Score is confusing as it is actually quite hard to understand what the figures given in the table represent. This then means that the table is of little use when you are trying to assess how widely your own performance differs from the state average.
References
Florida Department of Education (2005). Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Retrieved on January 16, 2009, at http://fcat.fldoe.org/.
Popham, W. James (2000). Modern Educational Measurement: Practical Guidelines for Educational Leaders. 3rd Edition. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
