What You Should Know About the State’s Two Year Old Accountability System

The State’s new district and school accountability system replaces No Child Left Behind’s (NCLB) Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) System.

NCLB’s 2001 goal of all students (100%) reaching proficiency by is replaced with the new (more reasonable) 2012 five- year goal of narrowing proficiency gaps by half by the end of the school year.

The MCAS standards-based tests will continue to be given in grades 3-10 in English Language Arts (ELA), mathematics, and science & technology engineering and the 100-point Composite Performance Index (CPI) will still be used to measure students’ progress toward a standard of proficiency in those areas.

Instead of AYP reporting, Massachusetts will report district and school progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps using a new 100-point Progress and Performance Index (PPI).

Awarding PPI Points 100 PointsAbove Target Points are awarded to groups of students for making improvement relative to the group’s own annual target. To be considered on target for a given indicator, a group must earn 75 points. A group that scores above target is awarded 100 points. 75 PointsOn Target 50 Points Improved Below Target 25 PointsNo Change 0 PointsDeclined

The Cumulative PPI consists of a complicated formula of points for 1.Four years ( ) of MCAS achievement (CPI) results for English Language Arts (ELA), mathematics, and science and technology engineering, 2.Four years of growth/improvement (SGP) results for ELA and mathematics, and 3.Extra Credit points (25 max) for increasing % Advanced by 10% or more and/or decreasing % Warning by 10% or more.

The high school’s Cumulative PPI also includes PPI points for both its graduation and drop out rates.

Criteria for awarding PPI points to districts.docx Criteria for Awarding PPI Points

Key Point: For a school to be considered to be making progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps, its Cumulative PPI for both the "all students" group and “high needs” students group must be 75 or higher.

The “high needs” group consists of 1. Students with disabilities, 2. English language learners (ELL) and former ELLs, and 3. Low income students. The new system will no longer double or triple count students who fall into multiple subgroups.

Instead of the NCLB labels of identified for improvement, corrective action, and restructuring, all districts and schools, including charter schools, will now be classified into one of five (5) accountability and assistance levels: Level 1 (most successful) to Level 5 (least successful).

80% of the state’s schools are either Level 1 or Level 2 schools. Level 1 schools are meeting their gap narrowing goals. Level 2 schools are not yet meeting their gap narrowing goals because the cumulative PPI for the “all students” and/or the “high needs” group was 74 or lower.

It is very important to know that Level 1 and Level 2 schools and districts are not subject to any state accountability sanctions.

A school’s percentile (1-99) is an indication of the school’s overall CPI performance relative to other schools that serve the same or similar grades.

Schools will be classified into Level 3 if they are among the lowest 20% of schools relative to other schools in the same grade span. Norwood does not have any Level 3 schools.

eport/district.aspx?linkid=30&orgcode= &orgtypecode=5& PPI Report for Norwood

So what will we do now with this information?

Over the next several months, district and school administration, along with our teachers, will be reviewing both district and school MCAS and PPI results to determine the best course of action for continuing to improve our schools to meet the needs of our students academically and as well rounded individuals.

The End