State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics – Flexibility Subgroups: Public and Restricted Use Files for School Year 2012-2013
Provisional Data
EDFacts Data Documentation
September 2015 (revised)
U.S. Department of Education
Arne Duncan
Secretary
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE)
Deb Delisle
Assistant Secretary
Office of State Support (OSS)
Monique Chism
Director
Administrative Data Division
Ross Santy
Associate Commissioner
EDFacts is a U. S. Department of Education (ED) initiative to collect, analyze, report on, and promote the use of high-quality, kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) performance data for use in education planning, policymaking, and management and budget decision-making to improve outcomes for students. EDFacts centralizes data provided by state education agencies, local education agencies, and schools, and provides users with the ability to easily analyze and report on submitted data. This initiative has reduced the reporting burden for state and local data producers and has streamlined data collection, analysis, and reporting functions at the federal, state, and local levels.
With the interest in school and district level achievement data ever increasing, ED has created files to be made available to the public. ED is providing two types of files: one, the public use file, containing data that have been modified to protect against the ability to determine personally identifiable information on students. The other, the restricted use file, is an unaltered version that may be obtained through the NCES restricted-use data license. This documentation is specific to the files containing unsuppressed, restricted use data.
It is imperative for users to understand that these files reflect data as reported by state education agencies to EDFacts. ED has conducted various data quality checks, resulting in communication with states to verify the data or, in some cases, the resubmission of the entire file. If you have any comments or suggestions about this document or the data files, we would like to hear from you. Please direct your comments to:
EDFacts
U.S. Department of Education
1990 K St NW
Washington, DC 20006
Or
Table of Contents
DOCUMENT CONTROL 3
1.0 Introduction 4
1.1 Purpose 4
1.2 EDFacts Background 5
2.0 EDFacts State Achievement Data 5
2.1 Definitions 5
2.2 Education Levels Reported in EDFacts 8
States submit data at three education levels (state, district, and school). Data at each education level are reported by distinct grade levels and for individual student subgroups (for more information on subgroups and grades in the file, see 3.0 File Structure). This document provides information necessary to appropriately use data files at the school level only. 8
3.0 File Structure 8
3.1 Variable Naming Convention 8
3.2 Table Layout 9
3.2.1 Reading/Language Arts Achievement 9
3.2.2 Mathematics Achievement 12
4.0 Guidance for using these data-FAQs 14
4.1 Privacy Protections Used: Public Use File Only 17
Appendix A- Date of the Last Submission for Each State 20
Appendix B 21
Table B-1. Mapping of Performance Levels to Proficiency for Each State-Math Grades 3-8 21
Table B-2. Mapping of Performance Levels to Proficiency for Each State-Math High School Grades 27
Table B-3. Mapping of Performance Levels to Proficiency for Each State-Reading/Language Arts 33
Grades 3-8 33
Table B-4. Mapping of Performance Levels to Proficiency for Each State-Reading/Language Arts High School Grades 39
DOCUMENT CONTROL
Title: / State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics – Flexibility Subgroups: Public Use Files for School Year 2012-2013Revision: / Version 2.0
Issue Date: / September 2015
Version Number / Date / Summary of Change
1.0 / June 2015 / Initial documentation for SY 2012-13
2.0 / September 2015 / Revised documentation for SY 2012-13
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
The purpose of this document is to provide information necessary to appropriately use school and district level data files on state assessment results for flexibility subgroups from EDFacts.
1.2 EDFacts Background
EDFacts is a U.S. Department of Education initiative to put performance data at the center of policy, management, and budget decisions for all K-12 educational programs. EDFacts centralizes performance data supplied by K-12 state education agencies (SEAs) with other data assets within the Department, such as financial grant information, to enable better analysis and use in policy development, planning, and management. The purpose of EDFacts is to:
· Place the use of robust, timely, performance data at the core of decision and policymaking in education.
· Reduce state and district data burden and streamline data practices.
· Improve state data capabilities by providing resources and technical assistance.
· Provide data for planning, policy, and management at the federal, state, and local levels.
All data in EDFacts are organized into ‘data groups’ and reported to ED by the state education agencies (SEAs) using defined file specifications. The data on student achievement and participation in reading/language arts and mathematics are organized into four data groups:
· Data Group 760 – Academic achievement in Mathematics - Flex (collected through File Specification 171)
· Data Group 761 – Academic Achievement in Reading/Language Arts – Flex (collected through File Specification 171)
Please visit www.ed.gov/edfacts to access the file specifications.
The remainder of this document contains pertinent information regarding definitions and table layout information, frequently asked questions, and appendices containing known data anomalies, Racial/Ethnic mappings and definitions, file submission dates, and state-specific proficiency level mappings that are crucial to take into consideration prior to conducting any analyses on the data.
2.0 EDFacts State Achievement Data
2.1 Definitions
In order to move forward with State and local reforms designed to improve academic achievement and increase the quality of instruction for all students in a manner that was not originally contemplated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), a State educational agency (SEA) may request flexibility, on its own behalf and on behalf of its local educational agencies (LEAs), through waivers of ten provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and their associated regulatory, administrative, and reporting requirements.
States are required to report achievement data on state assessments to ED under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Student performance on state assessments is measured by assessing students against state content standards. Students are assessed annually in third through eighth grade and at least once in high school, and the data are disaggregated by various subgroups. Data are typically presented as “the percent of students proficient or above on the state assessment,” with “proficient or above” defined as the number of students achieving at the “proficient” or “advanced” levels, as defined by the state.
The definition of achievement data provided to the SEAs for the purposes of submitting data files to EDFacts is “the unduplicated number of students who completed the state assessment requirement in Mathematics or Reading/ Language Arts for the reporting period and for whom a proficiency level is reported.” For reporting purposes, states provide the count of students on each type of assessment scoring in each proficiency level by subject and grade and in various subgroups as required by law. Beginning in the SY2011-2012 reporting year, data are reported to EDFacts by assessment administered as well as by the individual performance levels established by each state that are applicable to each assessment type. See Table 1 for a list and description of the assessments reported in File Specifications 171.
Table 1. Assessment Types and Definitions
Assessment Type / Definition of AssessmentRegular assessments based on grade-level achievement standards without accommodations (REGASSWOACC) / An assessment designed to measure the student’s knowledge and skills in a particular subject matter based on academic achievement standards appropriate to the student’s grade level. See ESEA, Section 111(b)(3).
Regular assessments based on grade-level achievement standards with accommodations (REGASSWACC) / An assessment designed to measure the student’s knowledge and skills in a particular subject matter based on academic achievement standards appropriate to the student’s grade level. See ESEA, Section 1111(b)(3).
Alternate assessments based on grade-level achievement standards (ALTASSGRADELVL) / A way to measure the academic achievement of students with disabilities based on the same grade-level achievement standards measured by the State’s regular assessments. Such assessments are available to students who the IEP team determines cannot participate in all or part of the State assessments under paragraph (a)(1) of 34 CFR §200.6, even with appropriate accommodations. These assessments must yield results for the grade in which the student is enrolled in at least reading/language arts, mathematics, and, beginning in SY 2007-08, science, except as provided in 34 CFR §200.6(a)(2)(ii)(B).
Alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards (ALTASSMODACH) / A way to measure the academic achievement of students with disabilities who access the general grade-level curriculum, but whose disabilities have precluded them from achieving grade-level proficiency and who (as determined by the IEP team) are not expected to achieve grade-level proficiency within the year covered by the IEP. See 34 CFR §200.1(e).
Alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (ALTASSALTACH) / A way to measure the academic achievement of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. These assessments may yield results that measure the achievement standards that the State has defined under 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §200.1(d).
The total number of students across all performance levels across all assessment types equals the total number of test takers who received a valid score. This is the denominator in our calculation of percent proficient and is represented in the “numvalid” fields of the data files. The numerator is comprised of the number of students assigned to performance levels designated by the state to be at or above grade-level proficiency across all assessment types. The “reporting period” in the above definition is the testing window defined by the state. For most states the testing window represents a period in the spring of each school year. A few states utilize a testing window in the fall. Please see Section 4.0 for further discussion on interpreting and using results from fall testing states.
The data collected using this file specification are required to provide transparency around SEA implementation of new reforms and accountability measures under ESEA Flexibility requests. This file needs to be submitted only by states with approved ESEA Flexibility requests that include the use of combined subgroups.
2.2 Education Levels Reported in EDFacts
States submit data at three education levels (state, district, and school). Data at each education level are reported by distinct grade levels and for individual student subgroups (for more information on subgroups and grades in the file, see 3.0 File Structure). This document provides information necessary to appropriately use data files at the school level only.
3.0 File Structure
3.1 Variable Naming Convention
Variable names within the file are organized using the abbreviations listed below in the following structure:
[SUBGROUP]_[SUBJECT][GRADE][METRIC]_SchoolYear
[SUBGROUP]: Data are presented in the file for each of the subgroups in the following format:
· B25 = ‘flexibility subgroup’ Bottom 25 percent of students
· B30 = ‘flexibility subgroup’ Bottom 30 percent of students
· T25 = ‘flexibility subgroup’ Top 25 percent of students
· T30 = ‘flexibility subgroup’ Top 30 percent of students
· T75 = ‘flexibility subgroup’ Top 75 percent of students
· HNS = ‘flexibility subgroup’ High needs students (any combination of English learners, students with disabilities (IDEA), and/or economically disadvantaged)
· HDS = ‘flexibility subgroup’ Historically disadvantaged racial/ethnic minority students (any combination of African American, Hispanic, and/or Native American)
· HNSHDS = ‘flexibility subgroup’ High needs students including historically disadvantaged racial/ethnic minority students (any combination of English learners, students with disabilities (IDEA), economically disadvantaged, African American, Hispanic, and/or Native American)
· REMS = ‘flexibility subgroup’ Racial/ethnic minority students (any combination of all racial/ethnic minority students in a state)
· NPS = ‘flexibility subgroup’ Non-proficient students
· OTH = ‘flexibility subgroup’ Other
Note that not all subgroups are reported by all states. In many cases, a state will only be reporting data for one or two of the subgroups listed above. Additionally, while there are 11 flexibility subgroups listed above, two subgroups - T25 and T30 - were not reported in the SY12-13 State Assessment Flexibility PUB files.
[SUBJECT]: Data within each file are specific to only one subject. Across all available files there are two possible subjects:
· MTH = Mathematics
· RLA = Reading/Language Arts
[GRADE]: Data are presented in the file for each of the following grades:
· 00 = results aggregated across all grades
· 03 = Grade 3
· 04 = Grade 4
· 05 = Grade 5
· 06 = Grade 6
· 07 = Grade 7
· 08 = Grade 8
· HS = grade(s) assessed in high school
*NOTE: ESEA requires assessment in mathematics and reading/language arts in grades 3 through 8, and one grade within high school.
[METRIC]: All data are aggregated by subgroup and grade level. For each combination of subgroup and grade level within the file there are 2 metrics presented in the assessment achievement files:
· numvalid = the number of students participating in the assessment and receiving a valid score
· pctprof = the percentage of students scoring at or above the state’s proficiency level on the assessment
For example:
· B25_MTH00numvalid_1213 would contain information on the total number of students reported in the Bottom 25 percent of students participating in the mathematics assessment and receiving a valid score, across all grades in SY 2012-2013.
· REMS_RLA08pctprof_1213 would contain information on the percent of Racial/ethnic minority students scoring at or above proficient on the reading/language arts assessment in the eighth grade in SY 2012-2013.
3.2 Table Layout
Section 3.1 Variable Naming Convention provides the breakdown of the variable names. Tables 2 and 3 provide the layout of each table.
3.2.1 Reading/Language Arts Achievement
Number of variables: 144 for school (‘numvalid’ and ‘pctprof’ fields are repeated within each reported grade)
Date file was created: September 2, 2015
Data current as of: June 18, 2015
## indicates grade level (00 (All Students), 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, HS)
Table 2. Table Layout for Reading/Language Arts Assessment Files
Variable Name / Type / Length / DescriptionSTNAM / Character / 250 / State Name
FIPST / Character / 2 / Federal Information Processing Standard code
LEAID / Character / 7 / Local Education Agency (district) NCES ID
LEANM / Character / 60 / Local Education Agency (district) Name (from NCES Common Core of Data)
NCESSCH / Character / 12 / School NCES ID
SCHNAM / Character / 250 / School Name (from NCES Common Core of Data)
B25_RLA##numvalid_1213 / Number / 8 / Number of students in the Bottom 25 percent of students that took a test and received a valid score
B25_RLA##pctprof_1213 / Character / 8 / Percentage of students in the Bottom 25 percent of students that scored at or above proficient
B30_RLA##numvalid_1213 / Number / 8 / Number of students in the Bottom 30 percent of students that took a test and received a valid score
B30_RLA##pctprof_1213 / Character / 8 / Percentage of students in the Bottom 30 percent of students that scored at or above proficient
HDS_RLA##numvalid_1213 / Number / 8 / Number of Historically disadvantaged racial/ethnic minority students that took a test and received a valid score
HDS_RLA##pctprof_1213 / Character / 8 / Percentage of Historically disadvantaged racial/ethnic minority students that scored at or above proficient
HNS_RLA##numvalid_1213 / Number / 8 / Number of High needs students that took a test and received a valid score
HNS_RLA##pctprof_1213 / Character / 8 / Percentage of High needs students that scored at or above proficient
HNSHDS_RLA##numvalid_1213 / Number / 8 / Number of High needs students including historically disadvantaged racial/ethnic minorities that took a test and received a valid score
HNSHDS_RLA##pctprof_1213 / Character / 8 / Percentage of High needs students including historically disadvantaged racial/ethnic minorities that scored at or above proficient
NPS_RLA##numvalid_1213 / Number / 8 / Number of Non-proficient students that took a test and received a valid score
NPS_RLA##pctprof_1213 / Character / 8 / Percentage of non-proficient students that scored at or above proficient
OTH_RLA##numvalid_1213 / Number / 8 / Number of Other students that took a test and received a valid score
OTH_RLA##pctprof_1213 / Character / 8 / Percentage of Other students that scored at or above proficient
REMS_RLA##numvalid_1213 / Number / 8 / Number of Racial/ethnic minority students that took a test and received a valid score
REMS_RLA##pctprof_1213 / Character / 8 / Percentage of Racial/ethnic minority students that scored at or above proficient
T75_RLA##numvalid_1213 / Number / 8 / Number of students in the Top 75 percent of students that took a test and received a valid score
T75_RLA##pctprof_1213 / Character / 8 / Percentage of students in the Top 75 percent of students that scored at or above proficient
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