Proficiency rates in reading and math for Kansas high school students have risen from last year while college-readiness is still in a downward trend. 

According to data from the Kansas Department of Education, Kansas 10th grade students have seen a steady decline in ACT college-readiness rates since 2015. 32% of students were considered college ready ten years ago; that number dropped to 18% in 2024. 

The ACT defines college readiness as “having a 75% chance of getting a ‘C’ on an entry-level course.” 

While college readiness keeps its downward trend, 10th grade reading and math proficiency has skyrocketed from last year to this year, according to data from the KSDE. 

Last year, 21% of students were proficient in math and 28% were proficient in reading. Proficiency is defined by earning a level 3 or 4 score out of 4 on state assessments.

While there have been a couple of jumps in the number of proficient students since 2015, there has been an overall decrease. This year, however, math is at 37% and reading is at 42%, nearly doubling last year’s numbers. 

But why has there been such a jump? 

According to a press release from the Kansas State Department of Education, the state Board of Education recently approved new cut scores for state assessments. 

Cut scores are the cutoff for what determines a letter grade. Typically, an A is considered 90% or above, so 90% would be the cut score for an A. 

Instead of letter grades, state assessments use levels 1 through 4 with 4 being the highest. 

Each subject (math, science and English language arts) has a different cut score for each grade. Science is not assessed in 10th-grade students. Prior to the change, for 10th-grade students, a score of 300 was the minimum needed to reach a level 3 in both math and ELA, which indicates proficiency. The highest possible score across all grades and subjects was 380. 

Presented in the Aug. 12 Board of Education meeting, the new cut scores are universal across all subjects and grade levels. The lowest possible score is now 400, and the highest possible score is 700. 

The level two minimum off is 510, level 3 is 540 and level 4 is 609. 

The KSDE holds firm that these changes are not to reduce rigor or expectations. A statement released by the KSDE points to “misalignments” in the past regarding the state assessment scoring system as making the change necessary. 

“Only about one in four Kansas high school students scored at Level 3 or 4 on state assessments, yet more than half went on to succeed in college or career pathways,” the statement says. “Many students were told they were not ‘proficient’ when they were, in fact, thriving. 

“In many cases, students had to score in the top 25% nationally to be labeled ‘proficient’ in Kansas. Educators noted examples of students at Level 2 on state assessments earning ACT scores of 22 — an inconsistency that eroded trust in the system.”