Report cards on which school performance grades appear could be delayed until March while the state’s Education Oversight Committee (SCEOC) sets passing scores for a new test.

The SCEOC has approved the content for the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS). State lawmakers ordered the new test for grades 3-8 last year while revising the 1998 school accountability law.

Students took the PASS test for the first time this spring. Scores will be reported as “Exemplary,” “Met” and “Not Met.”

“The Pass test has just now been officially approved, but the scores will count this year,” district testing coordinator Kathy Phillips said. “This is a transition year for testing. There have been so many changes with the testing program. We are just waiting to see what happens.”

The SCEOC delayed voting Monday on setting cut scores for the PASS test. The committee is debating whether additional measures are needed to compare student performance between PASS and the previous Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test.

An academic standards subcommittee will meet Monday to discuss the issue of setting cut scores for the new test, SCEOC Communications Director Dana Yow said. The full SCEOC will meet Oct. 5 to deal with approval of the student performance levels.

PASS test scores will be used for school report card ratings.

The test results will be used to generate simulations of various school rating models, Yow said. Any changes in report card ratings will be available for public comment and review in mid- November.

The state is supposed to issue report cards in February. Yow said this timetable could be pushed back to March, pending any changes in the rating system for school report cards.