KAP Summative Parent Guide to Reports

How are KAP assessments scored?

First, the points your student earned on the test questions are added together without deducting points for incorrect answers. Some questions are worth more than one point. Next, this raw score is converted to a scale score that has the same meaning for all versions of the test. KAP scale scores range from 400-700 and are divided into four performance levels.

Your student’s performance in different categories of each subject-area test, such as Key Ideas & Details in ELA or Algebra in mathematics, is calculated by comparing a student’s performance with the state average in that same specific category.

What are scale scores?

KAP score reports relay information about students’ performance in terms of scale scores. A scale score is a mathematical conversion of the total number of points a student earned on an assessment into a score along a predefined scale, which allows for consistent reporting of assessment results across years for any specific grade and subject area. Scale scores on all KAP assessments range from 400 to 700. 

Scale scores help compare your student’s performance to the expectations of proficiency for the grade level and subject area. Students in Level 3 and 4 have reached those expectations. Students in Level 1 and 2 are still working toward reaching proficiency. 

It also may be helpful to compare your student’s scale score to the average performance of the building, the district, and the state overall. This helps us to understand how the student is performing relative to other students in that same grade level. 2 

Schools and districts also use these scale scores to compare the performance of entire groups of students. For example, they might compare how students in third grade did on the assessment this year versus how third graders did on the assessment last school year. But because the content being tested changes each year, scale scores tell us far less about how a student performed in third grade versus how that student performed in fourth grade. It is better to use Performance Levels to compare year to year. 

NOTE: Beginning in 2025, the KAP summative assessment uses a new score scale and new Performance Level cut scores. As a result, scores from assessments given before 2025 should not be compared with scores from 2025 or later.

What are Performance Level Descriptors?

Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) define the knowledge, skills, and processes that students likely demonstrate at different levels of proficiency within the reporting categories (1, 2, 3, 4). 

These PLDs appear on Individual Student Reports and describe student performance on the assessment. 

Level 1: A student at Level 1 shows a limited ability to demonstrate their knowledge and skills of (third, fourth, fifth, etc.) grade (ELA, Math, Science) standards. 

Level 2: A student at Level 2 shows a basic ability to demonstrate their knowledge and skills of (third, fourth, fifth, etc.) grade (ELA, Math, Science) standards. 

Level 3: A student at Level 3 shows a proficient ability to demonstrate their knowledge and skills of (third, fourth, fifth, etc.) grade (ELA, Math, Science) standards. 

Level 4: A student at Level 4 shows an advanced ability to demonstrate their knowledge and skills of (third, fourth, fifth, etc.) grade (ELA, Math, Science) standards.

What are cut scores?

Cut scores are specific points on a test’s scoring scale that separate different levels of student performance. They determine the minimum score a student must achieve to be placed into a particular performance category – Limited, Basic, Proficient, Advanced. Cut scores are generally different for each grade and subject; however, for all KAP assessments the Level 2 cut score is fixed at 510 and the Level 3 cut score is fixed at 540. The Level 4 cut score varies from grade to grade across subjects. To understand how your student performed on the assessment, visit with your teachers or school leaders.