Attachment 3: Annual Academic Performance and Growth Goals

Attachment 3: Annual Academic Performance and Growth Goals

Deep Roots Charter School has set absolute achievement goals and relative achievement goals (performance) and growth goals for our students across all grades and subject areas. These goals are informed by our mission to prepare all of our student for admission and success at selective colleges; they are aligned to the purposes outlined the PA Charter School Law including to “improve pupil learning,” and to “hold the schools established under this act accountable for meting measurable academic standards;” and they support the priorities of the School District of Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania.

1. Long Term Goals

Our long-term goal is to prepare all of our students to reach, attend, and graduate from selective colleges and universities.

By Year Five we will have our first eighth grade class, and our eighth grade goals are backward mapped from 11th grade ACT scores that indicate a high probability of success in college. Thus our 8th grade goals are a proxy for our long-term goal. The goals below reflect targets for 100% of eighth grade students who have been at DRCS for more than 4 years before finishing eighth grade.

Qualitative Goal / Quantitative Measure
All 8th graders are “Temple Tested” in literacy by the time they leave Deep Roots Charter School. / 426 on ACT Aspire Reading
425 on ACT Aspire English
Scored Proficient or Advanced on 8th grade reading PSSA assessment
All 8th graders are “Temple Tested” in math by the time they leave Deep Roots Charter School. / 428 on ACT Aspire math
Scored Proficient or Advanced on 8th grade math PSSA assessment

For students who have been at DRCS for less than four years when they finish 8th grade, our goal is that they demonstrate a rate of growth that can put them on track for selective college-readiness in literacy and math.

Qualitative Goal / Quantitative Measure*
All 8th graders who have been at DRCS for less than 4 years are showing a sufficient growth rate towards being “Temple Tested” in literacy by the time they reach 11th grade. / Made growth at the 70th percentile or higher on NWEA MAP (Reading) during each year at DRCS
Scored Proficient or Advanced on 8th grade reading PSSA assessment
All 8th graders who have been at DRCS for less than 4 years are showing a sufficient growth rate towards being “Temple Tested” in math by the time they reach 11th grade. / Made growth at the 70th percentile or higher on NWEA MAP (math) during each year at DRCS
Scored Proficient or Advanced on 8th grade math PSSA assessment

*If students have reached the target achievement goals in the first table, the accelerated growth goals in this table do not apply.

2. Annual Goals

By planning backwards from our ambitious eighth grade college-readiness indicators, we have identified goals annual goals. By meeting each of these goals, DRCS will ensure that the school is fulfilling our mission and getting our students ready for college completion. The goals are listed below. The Board of Directors will review progress toward these goals on a regular basis. A Deep Roots Charter School annual report, focused on attainment of, or progress toward, these goals will also be prepared and submitted to the SDP Charter School Office and all appropriate stakeholders. Each set of stakeholders, from our students and families to the Board of Directors, will be consistently aware of DRCS’s status in relation to these goals, and will take the appropriate actions to correct course if insufficient progress is being made.

Goal 1: All DRCS students are on-track to be Temple Tested in literacy[1]

The mid-range performance of Temple University students on the English section of the ACT is 21-29. This is a useful proxy for the end-goal for our students in literacy. We have set all academic goals by backwards-mapping growth from these ambitious measures of selective college-readiness. Literacy level is one of the most powerful measures of college success,[2] and literacy provides access to content in all subject areas across the curriculum.

Assessment Type / Goal Type / Populations and Quantitative Goals
ACT Aspire
Reading / English[3]
(Eighth grade only) / Achievement /

• 90% students who have been at Deep Roots Charter School for four years or more will achieve a 425 or higher on the English section and a 426 or higher on the Reading section.[4]
• 75% of any students who have been at Deep Roots Charter School for less than four years will achieve a 422 or higher on the English section and a 424 or higher on the Reading section.[5]

Relative /

• 90% students who have been at DRCS for 5 years or more will score above the 75th percentile nationally (Reading 425, English 433)
• 90% students who have been at DRCS for 3 years or more will score above the 50th percentile nationally (Reading 420, English 426)
• 95% Deep Roots Charter School 8th graders will score above the 25th percentile on the ACT Aspire (Reading 414, English 421).

NWEA MAP
Test Reading
(All grades) / Achievement /

• 95% of students who have been at DRCS for 5 years or more will achieve ahead of the grade-appropriate selective college-readiness standard on spring NWEA assessment.[6]
• 50% of students who have been at DRCS for 2-4 years will achieve ahead of the grade-appropriate selective college-readiness standard on spring NWEA assessment.

Growth /

• 990% of students who start below the selective college-readiness threshold will make “aggressive growth” each year, defined as a growth rate in the 70th percentile or higher nationally.
• 90% of students who start at or above the selective college-readiness threshold will make at least “ambitious growth” each year, defined as a growth rate in the 63rd percentile or higher nationally.
• 50% of all DRCS students will make growth in the 80th percentile or higher each year.

PSSA
Reading
(3rd-8th) / Achievement /

• 90% of students who have been at DRCS for 4 or more years will achieve at Proficient or Advanced in Reading/Language Arts as measured by the PSSA.
• 60% of students who have been at DRCS for 2 or more years will achieve at Proficient or Advanced in Reading/Language Arts at measured by the PSSA.

Relative /

• Proficiency rates will be, on average, at least 15% higher than the district average, as measured by the PSSA ELA assessment.

Additional Measures / STEP Reading
(K-3rd)
(Growth; Achievement) /

• Achievement: 90% of students will achieve a STEP score at their grade-level benchmark[7] or higher within two years of starting at DRCS.
• Growth: 90% of students will make 3 or more STEP levels of growth each year

ELA Module Assessments
(3rd-8th)
(Achievement) /

• Achievement: 75% of students will achieves the proficiency cut score on Wit and Wisdom ELA module assessments.

Goal 2: All DRCS students are on-track to be Temple Tested in math

The mid-range performance of Temple University students on the math section of the ACT is 21-28. This is a useful proxy for the end-goal for our students in math. We have set all academic goals by backwards-mapping growth from these ambitious measures of selective college-readiness. Achievement in math reflects on broader critical thinking and problem solving skills, and is a fundamental gateway to academic success and college and career readiness.

Assessment Type / Goal Type / Populations and Quantitative Goals
ACT Aspire
Math[8]
(Eighth grade only) / Achievement /

• 90% students who have been at Deep Roots Charter School for four years or more will achieve a 428 or higher on the math section.[9]
• 75% of any students who have been at Deep Roots Charter School for less than four years will achieve a 425 or higher on the math section.[10]

Relative /

• 90% students who have been at DRCS for 5 years or more will score above the 75th percentile nationally (427)
• 90% students who have been at DRCS for 3 years or more will score above the 50th percentile nationally (422)
• 95% Deep Roots Charter School 8th graders will score above the 25th percentile on the ACT Aspire (417).

NWEA MAP
Test Math
(All grades) / Achievement /

• 95% of students who have been at DRCS for 5 years or more will achieve ahead of the grade-appropriate selective college-readiness standard on spring NWEA assessment.[11]
• 50% of students who have been at DRCS for 2-4 years will achieve ahead of the grade-appropriate selective college-readiness standard on spring NWEA assessment.

Growth /

• 90% of students who start below the selective college-readiness threshold will make “aggressive growth” each year, defined as a growth rate in the 70th percentile or higher nationally.
• 90% of students who start at or above the selective college-readiness threshold will make at least “ambitious growth” each year, defined as a growth rate in the 63rd percentile or higher nationally.
• 50% of all DRCS students will make growth in the 80th percentile or higher each year.

PSSA Math / Achievement /

• 90% of students who have been at DRCS for 4 or more years will achieve at Proficient or Advanced in math as measured by the PSSA.
• 60% of students who have been at DRCS for 2 or more years will achieve at Proficient or Advanced in math at measured by the PSSA.

Relative /

• Proficiency rates will be, on average, at least 15% higher than the district average, as measured by the PSSA math assessment.

Additional
Measures / Math CBM[12]
(Growth; Achievement) /

• Achievement: 90% of students will achieve at their grade-level benchmark or higher within two years of starting at DRCS.
• Growth: 90% of students will demonstrate growth in the 60th percentile or higher each year.

Math Module Assessments
(Achievement) /

• Achievement: 75% of students will achieve the proficiency cut score Eureka Module Assessments

The connection between DRCS goals and state accountability targets for both literacy and math is described below.

Accountability – Closing the Achievement Gap: The state of Pennsylvania defines Gap Closure Goals for achievement by a calculation of 1/12 of the difference between 100% and the current proficiency rate. This calculation equates to closing the gap between current proficiency and 100% proficiency by half over six years. According to the proficiency rates for SDP schools in 2016, the minimum level for meeting this Goal would be approximately 6.8 percentage points higher than the previous year in math, placing the goal for achievement at 25% proficient; and about 5.7 percentage points higher than the previous year in ELA, placing the goal for achievement at 38% proficient. We will be accountable to the Gap Closure Goal set by the state at the beginning of the 2018 school year, but we are confident that the goals set here are sufficiently rigorous to exceed state expectations.

[1] Note that additional goals Academic Performance Standards and Assessments Sections directly address student mastery of Social Studies and Science content and process standards.

[2]Ransdell, Sarah. "Predicting college success: The importance of ability and non-cognitive variables." International journal of educational Research 35.4 (2001): 357-364.

[3] All cut scores that are based on current college readiness benchmarks or national percentile rankings will be adjusted to reflect up-to-date college readiness benchmarks and percentiles as the national data set changes; however, the procedure for determining these scores, and thus the rigor associated with them, will not change.

[4] These scores correlate to being two points above the ACT-defined “college readiness” benchmark on the 8th grade EXPLORE and a trajectory to be two points above “college readiness” on the 11th grade ACT.

[5] These are the minimum, non-adjusted ACT-defined “college readiness” benchmarks.

[6] Selective College Readiness at each grade level determined by MAP achievement growth calculator CITE. Our average incoming kindergartener will have to make “aggressive growth” (in the 70th percentile of growth rates, or higher) each year to reach these selective college readiness benchmarks starting in 5th grade, thus our focus on students who have been with DRCS for five years for this goal. See Assessments section for more complete explanation of selective college readiness and necessary growth to achieve that goal.

[7]Grade level benchmarks: STEP 3 after K, STEP 6 after 1st, STEP 9 after 2nd, STEP 12 after 3rd

[8] All cut scores that are based on current college readiness benchmarks or national percentile rankings will be adjusted to reflect up-to-date college readiness benchmarks and percentiles as the national data set changes; however, the procedure for determining these scores, and thus the rigor associated with them, will not change.

[9] These scores correlate to being two points above the ACT-defined “college readiness” benchmark on the 8th grade EXPLORE and on a trajectory to be two points above “college readiness” on the 11th grade ACT.

[10] These are the minimum, non-adjusted ACT-defined “college readiness” benchmarks.

[11] Selective College Readiness at each grade level determined by MAP achievement growth calculator CITE. Our average incoming kindergartener will have to make “aggressive growth” (in the 70th percentile of growth rates, or higher) each year to reach these selective college readiness benchmarks starting in 5th grade, thus our focus on students who have been with DRCS for five years for this goal. See Assessments section for more complete explanation of selective college readiness and necessary growth to achieve that goal.

[12] We are continuing to research the best option for math CBM progress monitoring probes. We are considering Monitoring Basic Skills Progress with a supplemental program for our kindergarteners. Goals may be adjusted based on the availability of percentile data and grade-level benchmarking with the CBM we select.