1 Mississippi Department of Education Office of Research and Statistics Ken Thompson June 1, 2011 Sr. Snapshot Verification And Verification of the 5 th Year Status Of Students in the Cohort of 9 th Graders

2 Webinar Agenda Part I – Sr. Snapshot Verification Part II – 5 th Year Graduation/Dropout Calculation Procedures Part III – Downloading from Sharepoint

Reporting Data Accurately 3

4 Accurate data is a necessity not a luxury For information to be meaningful, calculations must be based on data that is accurate, reliable, and consistent across districts/schools. Both the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) and the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) have been charged with ensuring that student data is accurate, reliable, and consistent across so that data can be effectively used to affect change. To that end, MDE will be requiring documentation for any requested changes to the Sr. Snapshot and/or the 5 th Year Graduation/Dropout Cohort and OSA will be verifying documentation for other students.

5 Webinar Agenda Part I – Sr. Snapshot Verification Part II – 5 th Year Graduation/Dropout Calculation Procedures Part III – Downloading from Sharepoint

What is the Senior Snapshot? Beginning with the school year, USED required that all students be considered when calculating participation rates. That is, all students must be included in the denominator when calculating the testing participation rate. The Senior Snapshot is a ‘snapshot’ of all students who are included in the testing participation denominator.

Who is in the Senior Snapshot? All students in Grade 12 during AND All Grade 56/58/78 students who were 18 on September 1, 2010.

Question: What is the Senior Snapshot verification checking for? Answer: Whether or not a student included in the Senior Snapshot was tested in Math, Language Arts, and Science.

Question: What about students with Severe Cognitive Disabilities (SCD)? Answer: SCD students are counted as tested if the student has taken either a regular assessment or the Mississippi Alternate Assessment of the Extended Curriculum Frameworks (MAAECF).

MathLanguage ArtsScience Non-SCDAlgebra IEnglish IIBiology I SCD Algebra I OR MAAECF English I OR MAAECF Biology I OR MAAECF

The Senior Snapshot identifies every student as being “Tested” or “Not Tested” Reasons a student may appear as “Not Tested” in the Senior Snapshot: Test record not matched to student in MSIS Student transferred credit from a non- MS public school Student didn’t transfer credit but never took the test.

For example…

Missing Scores

For example… ONLY the students with missing scores MUST be corrected.

Senior Snapshot Correction Process Get List of Students Research Students Correct Students Send Documentation

Research Students Correct Students Send Documentation Go back to your schools. Pull the score reports, transcripts, etc. to indicate which students were actually assessed and which transferred credit. On the spreadsheet, indicate whether a student was tested, transferred credit, or was not tested. After you’ve corrected the students, send the documentation to MDE. Get List of Students ORS will provide the list of students needing correction via spreadsheet in Sharepoint.

17 Where is the Sr. Snapshot spreadsheet? The Sr. Snapshot is located in each district’s secure Sharepoint folder for “Accountability 2011”.

Correct Students

Access Sharepoint and print the snapshot spreadsheet. You will need it when you research the students in question. Get List of Students

Research Students Correct Students

Very Important! Every student in the snapshot MUST have a T, X, or N for all subjects showing as “Not Tested”. Any students with a “Blank” status will be counted as “Not Tested”. Verification is NOT complete until you’ve marked T, X, or N for every student.

Print a copy of your final snapshot

Save a copy of your final snapshot

Print a copy of your final snapshot Review your FINAL results VERY carefully. Print them. Double-check them.

Send Documentation Packet Cover Sheet This page MUST be the first page we see when we open your packet. District Coversheet

Each student should have… Send Documentation Student Cover Sheet (Doe, John) Student Transcript Algebra IA MusicB Spanish IA English IA English IIA Earth ScienceA BiologyA Student Documentation

(Doe, John) Student Transcript Algebra IA MusicB Spanish IA English IA English IIA Earth ScienceA BiologyA (Doe, John) Student Transcript Algebra IA MusicB Spanish IA English IA English IIA Earth ScienceA BiologyA Collate all information… Send Documentation (Doe, John) Student Transcript Algebra IA MusicB Spanish IA English IA English IIA Earth ScienceA BiologyA

Send us the packet… Send Documentation Barbara Quarles Office of Research and Statistics MS Department of Education Suite North West Street Jackson, MS PLEASE ship the Packet to us REQUIRING A SIGNATURE Signature Required

Send Documentation The packet with all documentation must be in our office by June 30 at 5:00 PM

Questions??

31 Webinar Agenda Part I – Sr. Snapshot Verification Part II – 5 th Year Graduation/Dropout Calculation Procedures Part III – Downloading from Sharepoint

32 Graduation/Dropout Calculation Procedures Cohort is based on students who were first-time 9 th graders five years prior to the latest complete year in MSIS. Latest complete year in MSIS is Four years prior is Students who move to Mississippi in 10 th, 11 th, or 12 th grades were added to the cohort of students where 9 th graders at the same time. Students who are adequately documented as transferring to a legitimate educational institution or as deceased are not considered when calculating rates.

33 Graduation/Dropout Calculation Procedures (Continued) Students who are in grades 56, 58, or 78 are placed in a cohort based on age rather than grade. Students are included in one and only one cohort. Once placed in a cohort, students are never moved to a different cohort. These students represent the same group of students who were verified in Spring, 2010.

34 Graduation Rate vs Completion Rate Five-Year Graduation Rate is the number of students in the cohort who received a traditional diploma by the end of summer school 2010 divided by the number of students in the cohort. (The number of students in the cohort has been reduced by the number of legitimate transfers and deaths). Five-Year Completion Rate is the number of students in the cohort who received a traditional diploma, SPED Certificate, Occupational Diploma, or In-House GED by the end of summer school 2010 divided by the number of students in the cohort. (The number of students in the cohort has been reduced by the number of legitimate transfers and deaths).

35 Dropout Rates Five-Year Dropout Rate is the number of students in the cohort who have dropped out of school by the end of summer school 2010 divided by the number of students in the cohort. (The number of students in the cohort has been reduced by the number of legitimate transfers and deaths). A student is considered a dropout if the student stopped attending school OR there is insufficient documentation to show otherwise. A student is NOT considered a dropout in the five-year rates if the student is still attending school or if the district is actively working to help a student who has completed all graduation requirements pass one or more subject area tests.

36 Five Year Completion, Graduation and Dropout Rates These five year rates will be used in the federal AYP accountability model for determining “Other Academic Indicator”. These rates will also be used in the state accountability model and for determining HSCI for the state accountability model.

37 Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued) The cohort is located in each district’s secure Sharepoint folder for “Accountability 2011”.

Access Sharepoint and print the Year 5 Cohort spreadsheet. You will need it when you research the students in question. Get List of Students

39 Ensuring data is accurate

40

41 Ensuring data is accurate Every student included in the cohort will be provided to the district in which the student was last enrolled. (The district with the last enrollment record will know the final status of the student) Cohorts will be provided in a spreadsheet in the district’s secure folder on the Sharepoint server. (Same location as accountability results, Sr. Snapshot, etc.) A final status is provided for each student as determined from MSIS. A location is provided for the verified status of each student.

42 Ensuring data is accurate (Continued) The options for the verified status are provided via a drop-down box. Only options listed in the drop-down box will be accepted as a final verified status for the student. For any student whose verified status is not “Correct as Reported” OR “Dropout”, physical documentation must be submitted to support the requested change. If sufficient documentation is not submitted, the original final status of the student will be used in calculations.

43 Ensuring data is accurate (Continued) Notice the scroll bar that indicates additional options

44 Ensuring data is accurate (Continued) Notice the scroll bar that indicates additional options

45 Ensuring data is accurate (Continued) All Students Highlighted in Yellow MUST have sufficient documentation submitted for their final status to be changed All Students Highlighted in Yellow MUST have sufficient documentation submitted for their final status to be changed!! All Students Highlighted in Yellow MUST have sufficient documentation submitted for their final status to be changed

46 Ensuring data is accurate (Continued) Without sufficient documentati on, original final status will be used!!

47 Ensuring data is accurate (Continued) Notice that documentation is not requested for the student whose status is being updated to “Dropout”

48 Ensuring data is accurate (Continued) Although data audits will not be limited to those students whose status didn’t change, documentation of these data will be left for the data audit.

49 Ensuring data is accurate (Continued) So, you do NOT need to submit documentation for any students whose status did NOT change!!

50 Documentation What documentation is “sufficient”? Answer: It is impossible to list all documentation that might be considered sufficient. What is sufficient for one student may or may not be considered sufficient for another student. Your Sharepoint folder contains a document titled Data Verification Procedures This document provides guidance on the cohort verification process including examples of sufficient documentation.

51 Documentation Page 5 of the Guidance (Continued) Verified StatusSupporting Documentation Correct As Reported None required to be submitted. However, it is imperative to have supporting documentation on file. During an audit, documentation must be provided. Traditional Diploma Recipient  Copy of the diploma.  Cumulative record of student with the diploma recorded. SPED Certificate of Attendance Recipient  Copy of the certificate.  Cumulative record of student with the certificate recorded. Occupational Diploma Recipient  Copy of the occupational diploma.  Cumulative record of student with the diploma recorded. In-House GED Recipient  Copy of the GED certificate with documentation that it was received in-house. Missing One or More SATP Passing Scores District policy outlining graduation requirements and records of student demonstrating student’s fulfillment of the requirements. Transfer To A Non-Public SchoolRequest for records on letterhead from the receiving school. Transfer Out-of-State/Out-of- Country Request for records on letterhead from the receiving school. Note: Students transferring out of country do not require formal documentation. Written documentation from family, neighbor, etc. is sufficient for out of country transfers. Transfer to a State Special School If the transfer is recorded in MSIS, a note indicating the transfer is sufficient. If the transfer is not recorded in MSIS, the transfer must be recorded on letterhead from the receiving school. Transfer to Home School Letter from the school attendance officer acknowledging transfer of student to home school. DeceasedObituary or death notice from local paper. DropoutNo documentation required.

52 Submitting the verified cohort and supporting documentation Revisions MUST be received by 5:00 pm on June 30, 2011 to be included in the final calculations for the cohort of first-time 9 th graders. Submit to: The Mississippi Department of Education Office of Research and Statistics PO Box 771 Jackson, MS ATTN: Barbara Quarles

53 Submitting the verified cohort and supporting documentation (Continued)

Send us the packet… Barbara Quarles Office of Research and Statistics MS Department of Education Suite North West Street Jackson, MS PLEASE ship the Packet to us REQUIRING A SIGNATURE Signature Required Submitting the verified cohort and supporting documentation (Continued)

Questions??

56 Webinar Agenda Part I – Sr. Snapshot Verification Part II – 5 th Year Graduation/Dropout Calculation Procedures Part III – Downloading from Sharepoint

57 Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued) Both the Sr. Snapshot and the Year 5 Cohort are located in each district’s secure Sharepoint folder for “Accountability 2011”.

58 Log In Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued)

59 password This is the username/password used to download accountability results. Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued)

60 Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued)

61 Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued)

62 You will only see a folder for your district! Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued)

63 Click on the “Accountability 20011” folder. Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued)

64 Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued)

65 Click on ‘Explorer View’ Downloading the cohort spreadsheet (Continued)

The State Board of Education voted to use the following point values for HSCI calculations beginning with the school year: Traditional Diploma 300 GED 200 Occupational Diploma 175 Certificate of Attendance 150 Met All Requirements other than SATP 150 Still Enrolled 50 Dropout -300 Effects on HSCI

In the past, verification of the year 5 cohort has taken place during the appeals window for accountability. This year, the verification is taking place during June to allow more time to concentrate on the cohort during June and assessment verification during the appeals window. Consequently, THERE WILL BE NO APPEALS FOR THE HSCI DURING THE APPEALS WINDOW! Effects on HSCI

Questions??