Area school administrators are continuing to learn their way around a new statewide testing system that begins this spring.

Districts across the state recently received simulated test results for the new testing model. But the simulated results might not actually indicate how schools might fare under the new system, officials say, since the numbers are the result not of testing, but of simply applying the new system’s scoring formula to data gained through the old testing model.

Officials from both the Bowling Green and Warren County school districts have mixed feelings about the data. Some aspects of the new scoring system are positive, while others are flawed, said Jennifer Davis, assessment coordinator for Bowling Green Independent Schools.

The first component for measuring schools under the new model are achievement scores, she said. Each school is given a score from 0 to 100 in five different subjects, based on how well students perform on statewide tests.

Beginning this spring, students in grades three through eight will take the new Kentucky Performance Rating for Education Progress tests, Davis said. High schoolers will take end-of-course assessments designed by the ACT company for four classes: U.S. history, English II, biology and algebra II. Originally, the state planned to expand end-of-course assessments to several more subjects each year, but now the funding might not be available to do so, Davis said.

The new tests are replacing the Kentucky Core Content Test.

Because the end-of-year tests are new, teachers and students don’t know what to expect or how to prepare for them, said Cindy Beals, assessment coordinator for Warren County Public Schools.

“Really, when it all plays out, I don’t know how we’re going to do,” she said.

Next year’s scores will carry more weight because the new testing system will be in place, Beals said.

“Once we get through this year, we can look at the results and see what we need to do,” she said.

Davis said that until teachers and students get used to the new tests, scores might take a dip, but city schools are preparing nonetheless. Teachers met for professional development sessions about the new tests over the summer and will meet again in January.

“I think everyone feels enthusiastic about the increased rigor of the standards,” Davis said. “It’s only going to help students be more prepared.”

In the recently released simulated data, scores from spring 2011 testing were plugged into the new testing model’s formula – an approach that results in numbers that both Davis and Beals said don’t mean much.

“We didn’t sit down and analyze this because it’s old test scores put into a new formula,” Beals said.

They shared the data with the schools, but beyond that, it’s hard to do much with the simulated scores, she said.

Still, as an example of what the simulated scores look like, Dishman-McGinnis Elementary School received an achievement score of 77.3 for reading, 68.5 for math, 71.5 for science, 59.2 for social studies and 70.9 for writing, giving the school a total achievement point score of 347.4 out of a possible 500.

Alvaton Elementary School, meanwhile, received an achievement score of 81.1 for reading, 85.6 for math, 75.9 for science, 66.7 for social studies and 74.1 for writing, for a total achievement point score of 383.4.

In addition to the achievement scores, another aspect of the new assessment model is checking student growth from year to year by comparing each student’s score to others in their range to see if the student made typical progress that year, Davis said.

“The positive thing about the new model is the focus on student growth for every single child,” she said. “Because of No Child Left Behind, teachers have tended to focus on only struggling students, but now the focus will be on all students, even high achievers.”

Davis and Beals both think measuring college and career readiness is another positive component of the new model.

It’s helpful to see how students perform on the EXPLORE and PLAN tests, which are designed to predict how well students will do in high school and on the ACT, Davis said. It allows schools address student needs before they take the ACT.

The most disappointing part of the new system, according to Davis, is the way graduation rates will be calculated.

Students who change schools are counted as dropouts at their original school, even if they go on to graduate at their new one, Davis said. It’s possible to have a graduation rate at more than 100 percent if lots of students transfer to a school.

“It’s a flawed formula,” she said. “School districts really shouldn’t celebrate or distress over their graduation rates according to this formula.”

Beals also expressed disappointment in the new graduation rate formula.

“It’s going to hurt our schools,” she said.

Despite the uncertainty of the new model, both Davis and Beals stressed that the districts are dedicated to educating students.

“We have truly not focused on the test,” Davis said. “We’re preparing them for life.”

Instead, city schools focus on teaching and learning, she said.

“We truly believe the test scores will take care of themselves,” she said.

Beals said the goal for county schools is to reach every child, a goal which is more important than the test itself, Beals said.

“Our focus right now is just making sure schools have a plan for the new standards,” she said.