AYP APPEALS PROCESS INFORMATION WORKSHOP May 15, 2008 New Hampshire Department of Education Gaye Fedorchak Gary Guzouskas Deb Wiswell

2 AGENDA  Introductions  Grounds for Granting Appeals Questions about Grounds for an Appeal  Walkthrough of Appeals Documents  Recreating your AYP Report  Overview of NHDOE Appeal Review  Helpful Hints  Further Assistance  Questions ????

3 APPEAL BASIS Schools and districts can appeal the current AYP determination. This appeal must be accomplished within the allowable 30 days. Once this year’s AYP determination is final, then this determination can not be appealed in future years.

4 GROUNDS for an APPEAL To support an appeal that the AYP determination has been made in error, the evidence submitted must be based on statistical or substantive reasons the AYP determination should be changed.

5 STATISTICAL reasons Technical errors or data inaccuracies that were the basis for the preliminary determination, but when corrected, the school or district would have met AYP. Examples-Errors in collection, recording or scoring of test results, test participation information or student identification.

6 SUBSTANTIVE reasons Situation that had a detrimental impact on the assessment and under normal circumstances, the school or district would have met AYP. Examples – Major natural disaster, community crisis, or unusual testing circumstances that resulted in the invalidation of test materials.

7 TIMELINE May 22 nd - Intent to Appeal form must be received by NH DOE May 22nd - Deadline for school principals to submit evidence to local district officials that AYP determination is in error. Local district officials review evidence and either approve or deny the appeal. May 30th - Deadline for all school and district appeals to be received by the NHDOE

8 TIMELINE June 4-5 th - NHDOE staff and volunteers from districts/schools reviews appeal materials submitted by schools and districts June 6 th - Commissioner communicates decision to superintendents regarding granting or denying appeals. July 3 rd - Deadline for appeals to the State Board of Education to be received by the Commissioner

WALKTHROUGH OF APPEALS DOCUMENTS Based on 2008 School and District Appeal Process Guidelines and Forms

10 APPEAL FORM Participation Rate Worksheet Grades 3-8 & 11 The appeal for a school with grades 3-8 & 11must contain: 1. Sufficient evidence that the data submitted to the Department and certified has now been determined to be in error. You can use either the Testing Year Item Analysis Report or the Grades 3-8 or Grade 11 NH NECAP AYP Students file, available on the i4see website, as the basis for demonstrating and explaining the error and identifying the students who should/should not be included in the Participation calculation. A How to use the NH NECAP AYP Student List to check your AYP data document is included with these appeals materials.

12 APPEAL FORM Participation Rate Worksheet Grades 3-8 & 11  If you use copies of your Testing Year (Grade X Students in ) Item Analysis Report (s) for the grades that were in your school during testing then you need to: Cross out students who: Were granted a state approved special exemption– coded S (i.e. medical emergency) by the NH DOE Director of Assessment Enrolled after the first day of testing-coded E Withdrew after the first day of testing (applicable to students without a score)-coded W. LEP first year in US students (applies to reading only)-coded L. Highlight students who are included in the group for which you are appealing

13 APPEAL FORM Participation Rate Worksheet Grades 3-8 & 11 If you use the Grades 3-8 or Gr 11 NH NECAP AYP Students file from i4see then you must:  Include all columns of information for each student with a data error  Insert a row under the incorrect data and show the correct data. Cover or remove the names of the students after you have finalized your work so that the photocopy of the Item Analysis Report (s) or NH NECAP AYP Student List you send the Department does/do not show names.

14 Participation Rate Worksheet (cont’d) 2. A Participation Rate Worksheet (Grades 3-8 or 11) on which you have calculated a new participation rate based on the information above. For the calculations:  A¹ = Number of students with scores  A² = Number of students with A (Alternate Assessment score)  B = Total number of students left after completing number 1 above (Adjusted Enrollment)  Participation Rate = (A¹ + A² ) B This Rate is rounded to the nearest whole percent (%). The participation rate must be 95 % or higher.

16 APPEAL FORM Performance Worksheet Grades 3-8 or 11 Performance is not calculated for groups of fewer that 11 students The appeal for a school containing grades 3-8 or 11 must contain: 1. NECAP Teaching Year (Grade X Students in ) Item Analysis Report(s) for the students that were in your school during in which you do the following: Cross out all students: without scores (A for Alternate Assessment is a score) not enrolled for a full academic year (FAY) For grades 3-8 and 11 FAY is defined as continuously enrolled (CE) in the school from October 1, 2006 through the end of the school year. who were 1st year ELL students

17 Performance Worksheet (Grades 3-8 or 11) Highlight students who are included in the group for which you are appealing. The highlighted students will be referred to as continuously enrolled (CE). Both sub-group identification and continuous enrollment can be verified by using the Grade 3-8 or Grade 11 NH NECAP AYP Student List found in i4see.  For the highlighted students record the student’s Index level for achievement levels1 and 2  Split NECAP achievement levels 1 and 2 into sub- levels (0, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b) using the NECAP Scaled Scores at Each Index Level Table found on the Department’s website and record Index sublevels.

NH Department of Education NECAP Scaled Scores for each Index Level

NH Department of Education Raw Score to Performance Index Conversion table for NH-Alt * The lowest score any scoreable portfolio can earn is 13 raw score points. ** A raw score of 0 is only possible if the portfolio submitted was judged to be unscoreable by two trained and independent scorers. Portfolio Raw Score Points Earned Proficiency LevelPerformance Index Level Performance Index Points Assigned 47-52Proficient with Distinction Proficient Partially Proficient2b Partially Proficient2a Substantially Below Proficient1b40 13*-20Substantially Below Proficient1a20 0**Un-scoreable (SBP)00

20 Performance Worksheet (Grades 3-8 or 11)  Look up NH-Alt scores and use the NH-Alt Raw Score to Index Conversion Table found on the Department’s website and record Index sub-levels  Cover or remove the names of the students after you have finalized your work so that the photocopy you send the Department does not show names 2. A recalculated Index Report 3. A recalculated Data Report

21 Performance Worksheet (Grades 3-8 or 11) 4. a completed Performance Worksheet for Grades 3-8 or High School. Use data from steps above to check your Index score against the Index Target to determine if score meets the AMO requirement If the score does not meet the AMO requirement, check the score for that number of students in the Confidence Interval Lookup Table for NECAP to see if it meets the requirement If the score does not meet the Confidence Interval requirement, calculate the Safe Harbor. (Safe Harbor Calculations are different for Grades 3-8 and Grade 11)

22 RECREATING YOUR AYP DOCUMENTS 2008 AYP Status Results Confidence Interval

23 Safe Harbor Calculation- Grade 11 “Equi-percentile” comparison The general question is: What score on 2007 NECAP corresponds to 240 on 2006 NHEIAP? Percent of students in Grade 11 scoring Basic or above in Reading on May 2006 NHEIAP = 83% (Math: 76%) X00X80X?? Answer: 83% of students in Grade 11 score at or above 1134 in Reading and 1128 in Mathematics on Oct NECAP

24 APPEAL FORM Attendance Worksheet (Grades 3-8) The appeal must contain an Attendance Rate Worksheet (Grades 3-8 schools) that:  provides the following information from the grades 1-8 that were in your school for the school year : number of students total number of ½ days of attendance total number of ½ days of enrollment (attendance + absences)  calculates the attendance rate (AR) (rounded to the nearest 0.1%).  Attendance Rate % = Sum of ½ days of attendance Sum of ½ days of enrollment  compares the calculation to 90% requirement. if AR > 90% then the school has met the criteria. if AR is greater than AR then the school has met the criteria.

25 Graduation Rate Documentation (High School) To appeal a graduation rate the school must submit a copy of the school’s dropout reporting form and documentation supporting any changes.

26 REVIEW PROCESS  The Department will review all appeals received by the deadline for completeness and accuracy.  The reviewers (DOE staff and volunteers from schools and districts) may request additional information/evidence to assist in appeal reviews.  If the Commissioner, upon review of the evidence provided in the appeal, determines that the AYP determination was in error due to allowable statistical or additional substantive reasons, then the Commissioner shall grant the appeal and the district shall make AYP in the content area(s) for which an appeal was filed.  If the Commissioner determines that the appeal provides insufficient evidence, in the form of allowable statistical or additional substantive reasons then the Commissioner shall deny the appeal and the AYP determination shall become official.

27 APPEAL to STATE BOARD  New Hampshire statute allows a second level appeal to the State Board of Education. Appeals, based on additional or amended information and data, must be filed within 30 days (4:30 PM on July 3, 2008) of the Commissioner’s decision to deny an appeal.  If a school/district appeals the decision of the Commissioner then the original appeal materials along with the reasons for the initial denial of the appeal will be forwarded to the State Board of Education along with any new documentation.  The school/district will be scheduled for a hearing in front of the State Board to present their appeal. The burden of proof that the decision of the Commissioner was in error rests with the district officials. Presentations to the State Board must be limited to the statistical or substantive reasons permitted by No Child Left Behind Act (20 USC 6316 §1116(b)(2)(B) 2001)).

28 HELPFUL HINTS  There are only 2 grounds on which an appeal can be granted - keep your materials focused.  The individuals on the appeal review teams do not know your information - make any narrative clear and concise.  Have someone who has not been part of the development of the materials read it to insure its focus and clarity.  Too much material in the appeal submission can be just as detrimental to your case as too little material.  Be sure all parties that need information on the appeal are kept up to date.

29 FURTHER ASSSITANCE  Deb Wiswell (AYP and Assessment data)  Gaye Fedorchak (Assessment data or NH Alt)  Gary Guzouskas (Appeal process questions)  Dottie Fair (Title 1)