November 2009 1

How to Read and Use State Testing Results

for your Site Council and Single Plan

Presented by Kim KenneDAC Chair, Pasadena Unified

November 2009 2

Topics to be covered

• Why do we use this data?• Assessments used in CA• Accountability systems in CA and how they

work• Sanctions associated with each system• How to access information about your

school and district• How to organize testing data for your plan

November 2009 3

Primary Function of School Site Councils?

• Develop a Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA)

• Create a budget for categorical dollars to meet goals of the plan

• Monitor the plan throughout the school year

• Review and revise plan annually

November 2009 4

How is Data used in the SPSA process?

• When writing the Single Plan

‘The SPSA must be based on an analysis of verifiable state-level data…’ Guide and Template for the Single Plan for Student Achievement – CDE, April 2006

• During monitoring of the plan

Local assessments and other data should be used to determine if goals are being achieved. Other data can include: attendance, suspensions/expulsions, dropout and graduate rates, and surveys.

November 2009 5

Sample questions that data can answer

• Is my school meeting state or district targets for API or AYP?

• Are the subgroups in my school achieving?• Have enough seniors passed the CAHSEE?• Are enough seniors graduating?• Are English Learners making sufficient progress

in learning English?• Do students have the content knowledge we

expect?

November 2009 6

Assessments – STAR testsThere are 4 components to California’s Standardized

Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program:

• California Standards Tests (CST) – all grades 2-11

• California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) – students with significant disabilities

• California Modified Assessment (CMA) – alternate assessment of California standards for students with IEPs – currently grades 3 - 8

• Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS) – non-English speakers in US for less than 12 months, in addition to CST

(Handout 1)

November 2009 7

Other Assessments• California High School Exit Exam

(CAHSEE) – required in Grade 10 with additional opportunities to retake in 11th and 12th – must pass to graduate in California

• California English Language Development Test (CELDT) – annually in fall, for students classified as English Learners in all grades

November 2009 8

Two Accountability Systems

California has two accountability systems:

• Public School Accountability Act (PSAA) = API (Academic Performance Index) – a growth model

• No Child Left Behind (NCLB) = AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) – a benchmark model

November 2009 9

API vs AYP• API is growth model – schools need to meet

annual growth targets• AYP is benchmark model – schools need to meet

benchmark – which will increase each year until it reaches 100% proficient in 2014

• Interesting fact: If all students at a school get a score of proficient (AYP of 100%), their API would be around 900. Yet CA has set the API state performance target at 800.

November 2009 10

Subgroups• For a subgroup to be significant, it must have 100 or more

students OR have 50 or more and make up 15% of the valid scores.

• Current subgroups are the different ethnicities, English Learners (EL), Socio-Economically Disadvantaged (SED) and Students with Disabilities.

• Students who have been reclassified English Proficient are counted in the EL subgroup until they have achieved proficient or above 3 times on the ELA portion of the test.

• Students who have exited Special Education are considered Students with Disabilities for two additional years (although not for determining subgroup significance)

November 2009 11

Valid Scores - Who counts?

• An English Learner who has attended school in the U.S. for less than 12 months does not count for AYP or API.

• Students who start at a school after the 1st week of October do not count for AYP or API for that school. If they transferred from within the district, they will still count on the District AYP and API.

November 2009 12

API• Calculated for a school and each significant

subgroup from all tests taken at that school (CSTs, CAPA, CMA, CAHSEE)

• Can range from 200 to 1000 with the state performance target set as 800

• Schools must have 85% participation to be assigned an API score

(Exhibit 1 and Handout 2)

November 2009 13

API (continued)• Each school gets a base and growth API score.

The base API is calculated with the prior year’s test scores but with the new weighted composition of the API calculation.

• The growth target for each school and subgroup is 5% of the difference between the school’s/subgroup’s API and 800. If a school or subgroup has reached 800, then they must maintain a score above 800. The minimum growth target will be 5 points until 800 is reached.

(Exhibit 2)

November 2009 14

API and State Ranks• State ranks are given to schools based on their API

score. All schools in CA are divided up by API into 10 deciles with decile 1 the lowest and 10 the highest. Schools are being ranked against other schools, not an absolute standard.

• Similar schools ranks are also given. Each school is compared to the 100 most similar schools (based on student and teacher demographics) and that group is divided up into 10 deciles. This is a good indicator of how the school is doing compared to like schools.

(Exhibit 3)

November 2009 15

Sanctions for API• Only schools that have accepted II/USP or HPSG

monies can get sanctioned for API. When a school accepts these monies, they promise to meet certain growth targets. If these targets are not met and a school has flat or negative growth, they will become subject to State Monitoring under the SAIT process.

• Schools must grow at least one API point for two of the next three years to exit SAIT.

November 2009 16

AYPAdequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is made up of 3

components for elementary and middle schools and 4 components for high schools.

• Participation Rate – must be 95% or more for schoolwide and each significant subgroup

• API – minimum of 680 (will increase in future) or one point growth

• Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) in each testing area

• For high schools: Graduation rate of 83.2% (will increase in future years) or defined improvements. The graduation rate is always for the prior year.

(Exhibit 4 and Handouts 3a and 3b)

November 2009 17

AMOs for AYP• The AMOs must be met for both English

Language Arts and Math. In elementary and middle school, the tests measured are the CSTs. For high school, the test measured is the CAHSEE (10th graders only).

• Students can score Far Below Basic, Below Basic, Basic, Proficient and Advanced. Only Proficient and Advanced meet AMOs.

• The target AMOs differ for each grade range and will be increasing until they reach 100% in 2014. (Exhibits 5a and 5b)

November 2009 18

AYP Special Cases

• Schools that do not meet an AMO target, but have improved significantly may qualify for Safe Harbor which counts as meeting the AMO.

• Schools that do not meet an AMO target with the current year performance may also meet the AMO by using the 2 or 3 year averaging method.

November 2009 19

Sanctions for AYP• Schools enter Program Improvement (PI) if

they fail to make their AYP in two consecutive years in the same content area (participation or percent proficient). They can also become PI for missing their target for API or graduation two years in a row.

• Schools must make all their AYP targets two years in a row to exit PI.

(Exhibits 6a and 6b)

November 2009 20

Title III AccountabilityAt District level only, for English Learners using

CELDT results. There are three Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAOs) with target percentages (Exhibits 7a and 7b):

• Annual Progress in Learning English (CELDT score has increased one level in one year)

• Attaining English Proficiency (has achieved a level 4 or 5 on CELDT)

• District’s English Learner subgroup has met AYP for both ELA and Math

* Another indicator to track is the number of students being reclassified as English Proficient (RFEP)

November 2009 21

How to access dataAll state testing data is available on the CDE website

– www.cde.ca.gov – under the Testing and Accountability tab – school or district reports

• STAR• Accountability Progress Reporting (APR) for

AYP and API• CAHSEE

Title III Accountability is under Data and Statistics tab, DataQuest option.

(Exhibits 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d)

November 2009 22

Organizing the Data

• Show Schoolwide scores and subgroup scores.

• Breakdown by subject area (ELA, Math)

• Show whether targets were met or not.

• Show numbers of students as well as percentages.

(Handouts 4a – 4e)

November 2009 23

What does the Data mean?• Multi-year data is more meaningful than a one

year snapshot. Allows for analysis of growth over time.

• Compare subgroups to each other and to school as a whole. Look for gaps between subgroups.

• Review data reports for trends and document the analysis to include in the plan.

• Focus on what the data says about educational practices and not just on the tests.

November 2009 24

Contact Information : Kim Kenne District Advisory Council Chair Pasadena Unified School District kimkweb@aol.com 626-794-0325Important link: Guide to the Single Plan for Student

Achievement – Handbook for School Site Councils http://www.cde.ca.gov/nclb/sr/le/singleplan.asp