The Relationships between Scores on FastBridge aReading and aMath and Scoreson the Kansas English Language Arts and Mathematics Assessments in Grades 3-8

Abstract

The initial purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to determinethe extent relationships exist between the winter and spring FastBridge aReadingcomposite scores and summative Kansas Assessment Program (KAP) English LanguageArts (ELA) scores in Grades 3-8. An additional purpose of this study was to determinethe extent relationships exist between the winter and spring FastBridge aMath assessmentcomposite scores and summative KAP mathematics scores in Grades 3-8. Determiningthe status of these relationships could be used to validate the importance of benchmarkassessments used as universal screening to pinpoint which students may be at-risk offailure to meet grade-level expectations and to intervene early. The participants in thisstudy included approximately 18,000 students enrolled in Grades 3-8 in an urban Kansasschool district during the 2018-2019 school year. At the time of this study, there was noliterature found in which studies have been conducted on the correlation of FastBridgebenchmark scores to the KAP scores in either reading or mathematics. Pearsoncorrelation coefficients were calculated to determine the relationship between winterFastBridge composite scores and summative KAP scores for both subjects and betweenspring FastBridge composite scores and summative KAP scores for both subjects. Theresults indicated strong positive relationships exist between both the winter and springFastBridge aReading composite scores and the summative KAP ELA scores and winterand spring FastBridge aMath assessment composite scores and summative KAPmathematics scores at Grades 3-8. Previous studies have been conducted that showedstrong evidence of the correlation of benchmark assessment scores to state assessmentscores. Evidence from this study supports the use of high-quality commercially developed benchmark assessments which provide educators with the necessary data thatis needed to provide early interventions for students and prevent failure on summativestate assessments.