Navigating the Maze of Assessment and Accountability Reporting

Agenda Identify major systems used by the Assessment and Accountability Team Understand how data from the major systems are used Explore how invalid or missing data affects assessment and accountability reporting New policy for 2019-2020

Identify the Major Systems Used by Accountability and Assessment

Four Major Systems Used in Assessment and Accountability SIS STS SER Sponsor Site

Major Systems Operated by the LDOE Assessment and Accountability Reporting is dependent on four major systems operated by the LDOE. Student Information System: Collects data about students; enrollment and reasons students exit from enrollment; demographics; 504 accommodations and modifications; dropouts; grade level; Student Transcript System: Collects data about courses completed by students; years of enrollment; graduation year; other completion data; credentials earned by students; location for earning credits. Special Education Reporting: Collects data about student disabilities; accommodations and modifications; appropriate testing; appropriate instruction; goals for Act 833 Sponsor Site: Collects information about schools, grade enrollments, accountability status

Sponsor Site

Sponsor Site All public and scholarship schools must be included in federal and state accountability. Each year, an official school list is created for assessment and accountability. Does this school enroll students? Does this school include testing grades? Does this school have a grade 12? Is this site considered an alternative school?

Student Information Systems

Student Information Systems (SIS): Testing Each year, students are identified in SIS for inclusion in testing and accountability. SIS answers the following questions about students who participate in testing: Where is this student enrolled and likely to test? What grade level assessment will the student be required to take? Was the student enrolled in a Louisiana school on October 1? Is the student identified as 504 and does the student have accommodations and modifications appropriate for the disability? Is the student in the high school third year assessment cohort?

Common SIS Errors in Testing Student is assigned to the incorrect site code in SIS. This error forces students to be counted at a site at which they may never have attended or they are counted as full academic year based on incorrect enrollment dates. Student is assigned to one grade, but takes an assessment in a lower grade level. This results in a void and school receives a zero in the school performance score. Student is assigned to incorrect grade level and is required to take ACT or the LDOE does not pay for the testing of the student. Student is incorrectly assigned to an ethnicity, to EL status, to 504 designation, or other subgroups (homeless, foster care, etc.). Student accommodations and modifications are not correctly assigned for 504 students. Student has multiple LASIDs.

Student Information Systems (SIS): Accountability Each year, the department must determine if students meet full academic year requirements and at which sites they meet them. SIS answers the following questions regarding accountability: Does this student meet the full academic year requirement? In which school system and school performance score will this student be counted? In which subgroups will this student be a member? At which school system and site will this student be counted for cohort graduation? Will this student be counted as a dropout for DCAI or graduation cohort? In what year will this student be required to graduate? Can this student be considered a legitimate leaver in the graduation cohort?

Common SIS Errors in Accountability Student is assigned more than one LASID in a year or is assigned to a LASID that belongs to another student. This affects growth measures, third year assessment or graduation cohort assignments, how and where a student is expected to test. Student is recorded as a dropout due to lack of exit code or incorrect exit code. Student is assigned incorrectly to subgroups due to incorrect or missing demographic data: English Learner, ethnicity, homeless status A student who transfers in is assigned to a grade level that determines an incorrect cohort graduation target.

Student Transcript System

Student Transcript System (STS) The Student Transcript System answers the following questions: What courses has the student completed to date? Which courses meet a requirement that is determined by the diploma pathway selected by the student? Did the student earn courses with a high school assessment out of state or at a nonpublic school and is, therefore, not required to take or pass the high school assessment? Has the student completed dual enrollment and/or Advanced Placement courses? Has the student met the testing requirements for graduation? When did the student officially graduate? What credentials has the student earned?

STS Errors that Affect Accountability Reporting Missing or invalid course codes affect whether the student meets graduation requirements, and the graduation date does not stay affixed to the transcript. FAFSA completion is not recorded. The incorrect course code is used for Dual Enrollment. Courses are duplicated and cannot be used toward the final credit earning sum. Credentials are not uploaded or they are named incorrectly.

Special Education Reporting

Special Education Reporting (SER) IEPs are recorded in the Special Education Reporting System. The IEP determines the following for students with disabilities who participate in assessment. The student participates in regular assessment or alternate assessment. The student receives accommodations and modifications for testing. The student is eligible to graduate under Act 833.

New Policy for 2019-2020

Dropout Cleanup While it is not new policy, stricter enforcement of dropout cleanup policy is in effect for 2019-2020. All dropouts must be corrected in SIS during SIS dropout cleanup. The department will no longer change exit codes or dropout flags in cohort graduation data certification. Legitimate leaver exit codes will not be changed if exit codes in SIS cannot be changed: Exit code 10: Out of state transfer Exit code 07: Death Exit code 14: Transfer to nonpublic school Exit code 16 BESE-approved home study Exit code 20: Early college enrollment

English Learner Proficiency in SPS Beginning in 2019-2020, English Learner proficiency growth will be included as a measure in accountability. It is very important to identify EL students appropriately in SIS. Students who are identified in SIS as EL at the time of testing are required to test. If they do not, the school will receive zeroes for them in the new index. Any requests for exemptions from domains will require formal request with support taken directly from the IEP in the Special Education Reporting System (SER). All accommodations must be in place no later than 30 days prior to testing.

Interests and Opportunities Index The Interests and Opportunities Index will become 5% of the school performance score in 2019-2020.

K-2 Pairing Schools that do not have testing grades must be paired with a feeder school or with a school selected by the system. In 2019-2020, schools will have their own data from the Interests and Opportunities Index. K-2 schools will continue to share testing data with their paired school.

Resources The department provides a variety of document types to assist with data submission and verification. Guides for assessment technology, guides for administration in vendor systems (DRC, AIR) Guides for data certifications: Cohort graduation; DCAI; ACT; assessment Webinars Monthly calls Dedicated staff to provide assistance via phone or email Assessment@la.gov Jennifer.Baird@la.gov