District End of Year Exams
Frequently Asked Questions from Students & Parents:
1. Are End of Year (EOY) exams new?
No – this is just a different term for course final exams, which have been in
place in Polk County Schools for decades.
2. How were district End of Year (EOY) exams created?
The EOYs were 100% teacher-created. All of the test items included in these
exams were created by Florida teachers (some by Polk teachers only, and
others through collaboration between Polk teachers and teachers of other
Florida school districts), while the test forms, in order to maintain security,
were assembled by the district curriculum teams using these teacher-created
items. This test item creation has been a multi-year process, which we began in
2011, and which involved test item creation, review, and field test form creation
(2014-15 was a field test year for EOYs). After receiving the field test data, our
district psychometrician conducted item analyses, using the same criteria used
by the Florida Department of Education for state assessments. 170 Polk County
teachers came in over the summer to review any test items that were flagged
using these criteria, and determine whether to revise or remove these test
items. The district curriculum teams then made the recommended adjustments
to the End of Year exams. The 2015-16 versions of the district EOYs are the
result of several years of collaborative work by teachers.
3. Do students take final exams in addition to district end-of-year exams?
No, the district end-of-year exams replace teacher-created final exams, so as to
minimize the amount of testing.
4. Why do some courses not have EOYs?
In order to minimize testing, the district did not create EOYs for courses that
are already assessed by a state or national assessment, such as Advanced
Placement exams or End of Course exams. Additionally, because the district
offers over 1,000 courses, EOYs were not created for low enrollment courses
with fewer than 5 teachers and 50 students enrolled in the course.
5. How will exams count toward student grades? In the past, course final
exams counted at different weights, depending on teacher decision; final exams
were weighted as heavily as 50 percent of the course grade in some cases, and
as little as 5 percent in others. In order to ensure equity for students, the
decision was made to standardize the EOY weight, using a gradual build-up. In
2014-15, exams counted as 10 percent of the semester grade for grades 7-12, 5
percent of the semester grade for grade 6, and was a school-based decision for
grades K-5.
In 2015-16, the exams will count toward student grades as follows:
a. Elementary: Test grade
b. Grade 6-8 Courses: 20% of the course grade
c. Grades 9-12: 30% of the course grade
Note that, for students in grades 6-8 taking a high school course, the EOY
counts as 30% of the course grade.
EOY weighting decisions were made by a team of stakeholders, which included
administrators, teachers, and parents, in order to be equitable, given that
Florida statute 1012.34 requires school districts to evaluate teachers on their
students’ learning. All EOYs will be curved using a district-wide grading scale.
6. Is an exam weighted heavier if it is counted as 30% of both semester
grades for a yearlong course, vs. 30% of the final course grade? No –
these are mathematically the same.
7. Can a failing grade on the EOY lower my course grade from an A to a C?
No. If a high school student has a numeric average of 90% for semester 1, 90%
for semester 2, and receives an F on the EOY, the course grade will not be lower
than a B (81%). In no cases can an EOY grade lower the final course grade by
more than one letter grade.
8. Will there be grade scaling or curving for EOYs? Yes. The district
psychometrician will create curves for each exam, to ensure that the final
scores on the EOY mirror the distribution of course grades. This means that if,
for example, 35 percent of students in Chemistry have an A in the course, the
top 35 percent of test scores will be curved to an A. In no case will the district
scaling impact students negatively. For example, if the scores on an EOY are
universally high, such that 80 percent of students receive a raw score of 90
percent correct or above on the EOY, the raw scores will not be rounded down
to lower student grades.
9. How will I know what content is on the exam? Your teachers will be able
to help you prepare for the EOYs. All test items were written to assess
standards in the course description, so everything on the exam is taken from
the course standards. Test blueprints and test item specifications, which
include sample test items, are available on the Assessment, Accountability &
Evaluation website (under District Assessment Resources).
10. Will it impact my grade if there is an error on an exam? No. The district
will provide the raw score to grade conversions, and will omit problematic
items from the final calculation.
11. What type of process will be used to identify exams with problems, or to
improve the quality of low-quality exams? The EOY training provided to
teachers includes directions on how to report errors on an EOY, while still
preserving test security. These error reports will be gathered by the district
assessment team. Just as we did last summer, we will offer an open application
process for a team of teachers to participate as test item reviewers over the
summer months. The district’s Psychometrician and his team will conduct item
analyses on each test administered in the district, and will use the same
performance indicators that the FLDOE uses for state assessments to flag items
with possible problems. These items will be presented to the team for review
and, if found to have problems, will be edited or discarded (based on
recommendations) and removed from all calculations.
12. What are some examples of the impact will the EOY have on my course
grade, after scaling and curving of the EOY scores? The lowest EOY grade
possible is a 59%, for all students who attempt the exam (attempt is defined as
a response to the majority of the items on the exam). The table below shows
the impact of the lowest EOY grade on the final course grade. As you can see
from the table below, the most that the EOY can drop a student’s grade is by
one letter grade.
Semester Semester
Final Course
1 Grade
2 Grade
EOY Grade Grade
90
90
59
81
80
80
59
74
70
70
59
67
60
60
59
60
Impact
Lowest A for both semesters, F for EOY, final grade of B
Lowest B for both semesters, F for EOY, final grade of C
Lowest C for both semesters, F for EOY, final grade of D
Lowest D for both semesters, F for EOY, final grade of D
Formula: (Semester 1 Grade * .35) + (Semester 2 Grade * .35) + (EOY Grade * .30) = Final Course Grade