Top to Bottom and Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools Lists Federally Approved Requirements for Identifying Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools August 16, 2010

2 Two Tiers of Persistently Lowest Achieving (PLA) Schools  Two tiers of schools Two pools Two lists Two sets of requirements  Underlined items were items on which the State had some discretion

August 16, Tier I Pool  Defining the pool of schools from which the Tier I list is identified The Tier I pool consists of schools meeting all of the following criteria:  At least 30 Full Academic Year students with scores on Mathematics in the most recent two years  At least 30 Full Academic Year students with scores on Reading in the most recent two years  Eligible to receive Title I funding  Receiving Title I funding  School is in a phase of School Improvement Identified for Improvement Corrective Action Restructuring 112 total schools are in the Tier I pool Note: Tier I is independent of EducationYES!

August 16, Tier I List  Identifying schools on the Tier I list Two paths to get onto the Tier I list  Path 1—from the Tier I pool Calculate percentile ranks (explained later) School is on the Tier I list if the school percentile rank is less than 5  Path 2—from the Tier I pool School is on the Tier I list if it is a secondary school with a graduation rate less than 60% for three years running Results  8 total schools on the Tier I list 6 from path 1 2 from path 2

August 16, Tier II Pool  Defining the initial pool of schools from which the initial Tier II list is identified The initial Tier II pool consists of schools meeting all of the following criteria:  At least 30 Full Academic Year students with scores on Mathematics in the most recent two years  At least 30 Full Academic Year students with scores on Reading in the most recent two years  Eligible for, but not receiving Title I funding  Is a secondary school (serves at least one grade in the range 7-12) 559 total schools are in the Tier II pool Note: Tier II is independent of both AYP and EducationYES!

August 16, Tier II List  Tier II—Identifying schools on the Tier II list Three paths to get onto the Tier II list  Path 1—from the Tier II pool Calculate percentile ranks (explained later) School is on Tier II list if school percentile rank is less than 5  Path 2—from the Tier II pool School is on Tier II list if it is a secondary school with a graduation rate less than 60% for three years running  Path 3—from the Tier I pool School is on Tier II list if it ranks lower than or equal to (on a statewide ranking of all schools) the highest ranked school that got onto the Tier II list through path 1 Results  84 total schools on the Tier II List 28 through path 1 0 through path 2 56 through path 3

August 16, Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools by Tier  Tier I List8  Tier II List84 Total92  Schools on the Tier I list and Tier II list are eligible for federal School Improvement Grant funds.

August 16, Calculating Percentile Ranks  Details and schematic in the next slide  Incorporate both mathematics and reading  Incorporate both achievement level and improvement rates, weighting achievement more heavily than improvement  Level the playing field across High schools versus Elementary/Middle schools Reading versus Mathematics

May 17, Start with raw data % proficient % improving minus % declining (MEAP) % improvement trend slope (MME)

May 17, Calculate z-scores Z-scores are a statistical method used to level the playing field between… ELA and Math Elementary/Middle and High schools Achievement and Improvement Positive z-scores show how many standard deviations (SD) above the pool average the school is Negative z-scores show how many standard deviations (SD) below the pool average the school is

May 17, Calculate a combined Proficiency/improvement score and percentile rank for each… Subject (ELA vs. math) Level of School (elementary/middle versus high school)

May 17, Calculate average and overall percentile rank

August 16, Examples  Examples are shown for a high school and for an elementary/middle school in the following slides

May 17,

May 17,

Specific School Data  You can see an individual school’s data in the schematic format by clicking on s/mde/Individual_School_Lookup_ _7.xls s/mde/Individual_School_Lookup_ _7.xls August 16,

17 Top to Bottom Statewide Ranking  The Federal regulations require comparing schools from the Tier I and Tier II pools.  However, the Tier I and Tier II pools are non- overlapping  Therefore, a top-to-bottom statewide ranking of schools was also calculated.  Some schools did not receive a statewide ranking because they tested fewer than 30 students in… Reading and/or Mathematics in… School years and/or  This top-to-bottom percentile ranking was calculated using the same methods as for the Tier I and Tier II pools. August 16, 2010

Top to Bottom and Persistently Lowest Achieving (PLA) Schools Lists, Continued… How the Top to Bottom and PLA Schools (Tier I and Tier II) lists fit together August 16, 2010

Creating the Top to Bottom List  Start with all schools that tested at least 30 full academic year students in both reading and mathematics in the most recent two years  Then, rank the schools top to bottom  Each gray bar (to the left) represents a single school  This is the Top to Bottom list August 16, 2010

Creating the Top to Bottom List  Your school might be anywhere on this Top to Bottom list August 16, 2010

Federally Approved Requirements for Identifying Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools  Note: The Michigan Department of Education requested that the definition of PLA Schools consist simply of the lowest 5% of schools on the Top to Bottom list without regard to any other characteristics. The United States Department of Education required instead the use of specific pools of schools based on Title I funding status, AYP status, and whether a school is a secondary school to define PLA Schools, as described in the following slides. Therefore pools of schools that are eligible to become part of the Tier I list or Tier II list of PLA schools are subsets of the Top to Bottom list. August 16, 2010

Federally Approved Requirements for Identify- ing Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools  Therefore pools of schools that are eligible to become part of the Tier I list or Tier II list of PLA schools are subsets of the top to bottom list. August 16, 2010

Identifying the Tier I Pool  Next, identify the subset of schools in the Tier I pool  Schools in the Tier I pool meet all of the following conditions They receive Title I funding They are in corrective action, restructuring, or improvement (have not made AYP for at least two years in a row)  Shown in pink  This is the pool of schools from which the Tier I list is identified August 16, 2010

 Next, identify the lowest achieving 5% of the Tier I pool  These are the schools in the Tier I list of PLA schools that fall under the responsibility of the State School Reform and Redesign Officer (SRRO)  Shown in bright red  Note also that any high school in the Tier I pool with a graduation rate of less than 60% for three years running also becomes part of the Tier I list (not shown in the schematic) Creating the Tier I List August 16, 2010

 Next, identify the subset of schools in the Tier II pool  Schools in the Tier II pool meet all of the following conditions They are eligible to receive, but do not receive, Title I funding They are secondary schools (meaning they instruct students in any grade in the range 7- 12)  Shown in light blue  This is the pool of schools from which the initial Tier II list is identified Identifying the Tier II Pool August 16, 2010

 Next, identify the lowest performing 5% of schools in the Tier II pool  This is the initial Tier II list of PLA schools. These schools are under the responsibility of the SRRO  Shown in bright blue  Note also that any high school in the Tier II pool with a graduation rate of less than 60% for three years running also becomes part of the Tier II list (not shown in the schematic) Creating the Tier II List August 16, 2010

o Finally, identify any schools from the Tier I pool that did not qualify for the Tier I list, but whose ranking was lower than the highest ranking school in the initial Tier II list o These are schools in pink lower than the highest school in bright blue Creating the Tier II List August 16, 2010

o Finally, identify any schools from the Tier I pool that did not qualify for the Tier I list, but whose ranking was lower than the highest ranking school in the initial Tier II list o These are schools in pink lower than the highest school in bright blue o Switch these schools to bright blue o This is the rest of the Tier II list of PLA schools. These schools are also under the responsibility of the SRRO Creating the Tier II List August 16, 2010

o Note that because of the way the Tier I pool and Tier II pool are defined in Federal guidelines, it is possible for a low achieving school to not be on either the Tier I list or Tier II list of PLA Schools o These are the schools in gray whose performance is lower than the highest school in bright red or bright blue. o These schools are not under the responsibility of the SRRO Other Low Achieving Schools

How Can a Low Achieving School Not Show Up on the PLA Schools List?  Based on federally approved requirements, this depends on the school’s AYP status, whether the school receives or is eligible to receive Title I funding, and whether the school is a secondary school:  Some low achieving schools may not be eligible to be considered a PLA School because of the way the pools were defined in federal requirements School Title I Funding Category School AYP Status Not in Corrective Action, Restructuring, or Improvement (Making AYP) In Corrective Action, Restructuring, or Improvement (Not Making AYP) Receives Title I fundingNot eligible for any poolEligible for the Tier I Pool Is a secondary school that is eligible for but does not receive Title I funding Eligible for the Tier II Pool Is not a secondary school, and is eligible for but does not receive Title I funding Not eligible for any pool Is not eligible to receive Title I funding Not eligible for any pool August 16, 2010

If my school is on the PLA list, now what?  Visit the link below for a detailed explanation.  s/mde/PLA_schools_overview_ _330491_7.ppt s/mde/PLA_schools_overview_ _330491_7.ppt August 16, 2010

32 Contact Information  Joseph Martineau, Ph.D. Director, Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability  Linda Forward Director, Office of Education Improvement and Innovation August 16, 2010