2013 RCAS Summative Assessment Report Preliminary Dakota State Test of Educational Progress (D-STEP) Information August 6,2013

D-STEP South Dakota uses the Dakota State Test of Educational Progress (D-STEP) as a summative assessment to measure student achievement in reading and math. The D-STEP is administered annually to RCAS students in 3rd through 8th grade and 11th grade. In addition, grades 5, 8 and 11 take a science assessment, which at this time is not included in the accountability process.

South Dakota Report Card The 2013 South Dakota Report Card is available to view on the South Dakota Department of Education website http://doe.sd.gov/. The website shows summative assessment D-STEP results for Rapid City Area Schools from 2003-2013.

Summative Data The D-STEP results are just one indicator that our district uses to measure student achievement. There are ongoing formative assessments RCAS educators use to guide instruction throughout the year.

Formative Data In 2012-2013 RCAS schools worked diligently on developing common formative assessments through the district’s Professional Learning Community process. The formative assessment data, along with the summative assessment data, will guide our instruction to students throughout the year.

Transitional Phase As a nation, we are in a transitional phase with the assessment of K-12 student achievement. Work is being done on a national level to develop research-based high quality, informative measures of student achievement. Per a federal waiver, schools in South Dakota are now given a School Performance Index (SPI) score to indicate student achievement.

School Performance Index (SPI) Each elementary and middle school receives a School Performance Index (SPI) score comprised of student achievement (math and reading) and attendance. The attendance score is 20 points possible, and the student achievement score is 80 points possible (40 for reading and 40 for math), with a total possible SPI score of 100 points.

School Performance Index (SPI) High schools receive an SPI score comprised of a student achievement score (50 possible points—25 for reading and 25 for math), a High School Completion score (25 possible points), and a College and Career Readiness score (25 possible points) for a total SPI score of 100 points.

Gap and Non-Gap Groups In addition to the SPI score, information is provided for each school based on what has been termed Gap and Non-Gap groups. South Dakota’s Gap group consists of those groups of students that have historically (over the last three years) contributed to the achievement gap based on state assessment data. Assessment data will be re-evaluated every six years to determine the composition of the Gap group, or will be re-run when Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) are rebased.

Gap and Non-Gap Groups Currently, the Gap group contains students who are part of one or more of the following subgroups: American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Limited English Proficient, Students with Disabilities, and Economically Disadvantaged students. Students not in any of these subgroups are part of the Non-Gap group. The Non-Gap group currently consists of the following subgroups: White, Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Multi-Racial.

Annual Measurable Objective To hold schools accountable, South Dakota has set unique school, district and state Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) based on the goal of reducing by half, the percentage of students in the “all students” group and in each subgroup, including the newly created Gap and Non-Gap groups, who are not proficient within six years. AMOs are set separately for reading/language arts and math. AMOs will be reset at the end of a six year cycle.

State Standards The 2013 D-STEP was based on the current South Dakota State Standards. RCAS has been moving toward teaching the Common Core State Standards for Math and English Language Arts.

New Assessments Per a waiver submitted to the US DOE, the SD DOE has requested that for the 2013-2014 school year, SD districts administer the Smarter Balanced field test assessment instead of the D-STEP, as the Smarter Balanced assessment is aligned to the Common Core State Standards in Math and English Language Arts.

New Assessments South Dakota students and teachers will have the 2013-2014 school year to familiarize themselves with the new Smarter Balanced assessment. Scores from this assessment will not be used for accountability purposes in 2014, but will offer valuable information about student preparedness and expectations.

Subgroups On the D-STEP student achievement is measured for the following subgroups in reading and math: All Students Hispanic/Latino American Indian/Alaskan Native Asian Black/African American Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander White/Caucasian Students with Disabilities English Language Learners/Limited English Proficient Economically Disadvantaged Female Male Gap Group Non-Gap Group

Celebrations There was an increase in the High School Completer Rate from 2012 to 2013 for nearly all subgroups. Central High School had an increased SPI score (100 points possible) from 68.04 points in 2012 to 71.30 points in 2013. Stevens High School had an increased SPI score (100 points possible) from 79.86 points in 2012 to 82.21 points in 2013.

Areas of Focus Subgroups that continue to be areas of district focus are those of American Indian, Economically Disadvantaged and Students with Disabilities. The graduation rate, particularly for American Indian students, continues to be a strong area of focus.

Areas of Focus Based on the 2013 School Performance Index (SPI) scores, SD schools were ranked as either Exemplary, Status, Progressing, or Priority as described in the SD Accountability Model. In addition, there is a Focus School category that applies only to schools that receive Title I funding. All RCAS schools were noted as Progressing with the exception of three Title I schools identified as Focus Schools

Areas of Focus These three schools will continue to take part in the South Dakota Leading Effectively Achieving Progress (SD LEAP) program using Indistar, a web-based planning tool for implementing turnaround indicators for continuous improvement.

Response to the Data RCAS will continue to use the summative data from the D-STEP, as well as ongoing formative assessments throughout the year, to guide and improve instruction.

Next Steps Next steps will include a continuation of district-wide Professional Learning Communities focused on responding to the four critical questions. What do we want students to learn? How will we know if students are learning? How will we respond when students do not learn? How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are proficient?