Accountability Measure Calculation

Accountability Measures FAQ

Contents

Accountability Measure Calculation

Attendance

Data Scrub

English Learners (EL)

Release Procedure and Timeline

Student Growth Percentile

Subgroups

Support

Accountability Measure Calculation

Will alternative schools and juvenile detention have the same accountability measures as other schools?

In the first release of the index, all school types are included in the calculations and receive a score if they have all necessary indicator scores. Small schools (such as juvenile facilities) will be included in indicator calculations where they meet the minimum “N” size, but are unlikely to receive an overall score due to missing indicators. This is being reconsidered for future iterations of the index starting in 2020.

Attendance

How will the calculation of attendance be done for absence due to changing rules?

The definitions of the measures are based on the rules that are in place at the time the data is collected. As rules and data collections change, we will modify the definitions of the measures appropriately.

Will the recent guidance that students will only be counted for one day of absence per school day be taken into account as the data is sent to districts for review? Or was the information provided only moving forward into future years?

In the accountability calculations included in the district preliminary data, schools are only held accountable for full-day absences at a student's primary enrollment school.

Data Scrub

How will the data sheets help us scrub for errors? Not much time, and districts do not have personnel to make it happen. Will the data be complex and take time to go through?

The Excel spreadsheets are designed with the intent to provide a clear understanding of the measures. Starting with a high-level overview, and progressing to sheets for each measure and rate should help districts and schools. Student-level information used in the calculations will be included to facilitate identifying anomalies, including an indicator that specifies whether the student was included in the numerator or denominator of each measure.

Where will this data be cleaned up? I know we cannot submit CEDARS files for anything past the prior year in Skyward, I’m not sure about other vendors. So it will have to be done manually, but then that could (and probably will) create data disparity issues between ESSA reporting, CEDARS and the local SIS.

The School Quality or Student Success (SQSS) measures (absence, 9th grade on track, and advanced course-taking) are the only measures impacted by clean-up activities. It could be done through CEDARS. If you have any questions about how to change information in CEDARS, contact OSPI Customer Support. OSPI will refresh the CEDARS data used to calculate these measures on January 29, 2018.

If they can clean up all the data (three historical years), what controls will be in place so that districts follow the “rules” during that timeframe? Specifically this is related to chronic absences and the changes in rules/guidance the past few years.

Data Administrators are to follow CEDARS guidance for the year in question (e.g. use 2015 CEDARS guidance for 2015 data elements) and contact OSPI Customer Support or the OSPI Data Team if you have questions.

English Learners (EL)

Is EL progress based on Smarter Balanced or ELPA? Language growth or academic growth?

It is based on progress on the ELPA21 assessment (on track to becoming language proficient). Please refer to page 33 of Washington's ESSA Consolidated State Plan for further detail –ESSA consolidation:

For the schools where schools are identified for comprehensive support when graduation rates are less than 67%, is that for all students?

Yes, for the 'All students' category. Not for a subgroup.

Release Procedure and Timeline

Will data be released if the ESSA plan is not approved?

Yes, we must begin preparing school improvement supports with our most current knowledge. If the plan is changed, data will be re-run with required adjustments.

If public posting is at the end of February, can we wait until after the levy in our districts has been voted upon?

The statewide public release of the Index is planned for the beginning of March, to allow schools and districts to prepare for support activities beginning in the 2018-19 school year.

Will all deciles be presented to the public or just the overall score?

Deciles and rates for all students and for student subgroups will be publicly posted.

How many years of data will you be providing for school districts – all three years or only the most recent?

All three years of data will be provided, with the only exception of the ELPA21 for the English Language Progress indicator, which only has 2016 and 2017 due to the new test.

Student Growth Percentile

Will growth continue to be per person as a member of a cohort?

Yes and aggregated to get a three-year median Student Growth Percentile.

Will science growth be incorporated in 2020-21?

This is currently to be determined. We will need at least two years of assessment proficiency data in order to determine the Student Growth Percentiles.

It is hard to explain student growth percentiles to staff, and it’s harder to explain to the public. Will there be supports from OSPI to do this in an easy-to-understand way?

Yes, you can find resources here:k12.wa.us/assessment/StudentGrowth, and this page will be enhanced over the next year to include more videos and explanatory information. If you have further questions, contact Student Growth here: or theOSPI Data Team here: .

Subgroups

Can the designation of Hispanic be changed to Latino?

OSPI reporting uses the Federal definitions and naming conventions for the student race and ethnicity.

Support

What does opting out mean?

A school may opt to use the funding allocation to pursue improvement strategies on their own, without participating in OSPI or ESD supports and services.

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