School Classification Indicators

View/download Accountability chart (18KB)

Essentially, RIDE uses two distinct sets of data. One is the 2005 Assessment data. The second set is the “Accountability data,” which differs in several ways from the Assessment data.

For accountability, RIDE uses three years of data rather than a single year. Also, the pool of students for Accountability differs in some respects from the pool of students for Assessment. For example, the Assessment data includes all students enrolled in the school at the time the tests are administered. For Accountability, the scores are counted only for students enrolled for the full school year.

The Accountability data is compiled in accordance with provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). See Determining School-Performance Classifications and Measuring Adequate Yearly Progress for a concise explanation of the Rhode Island Accountability System.

WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT

The bar graphs in the top two fields show the school-classification indicator used for elementary and middle schools in 2004-05: The attendance rate. The statewide attendance rate target is 90 percent. There are no other indicators for the elementary and middle schools because statewide assessments were administered only at the high-school level in 2004-05.

The set of bars in the bottom field shows the classification indicators for the high-school level. The indicators in the left-hand set of bars are based on RIDE’s “index proficiency score.” This index score, which can range from 0 to 100, is computed from the state assessments: the New Standards Reference Exams (NSRE), the Alternate Assessment, and the Developmental Reading Assessment for early-grade schools.

For each student test, every scoring level is given a point value:

Achieved the Standard with Honors = 100
Achieved the Standard = 100
Nearly Achieved the Standard = 75
Below the Standard = 50
Little Evidence of Achievement = 25
No Score = 0

By combining all student tests and all subtests, over a three-year period (2003-2005), RIDE computes two sets of index scores, one in English language arts (ELA) and the other in mathematics.

As the bar graphs show, scores are calculated for high-school students in the state as a whole (All Students) and for eight groups of students at the high-school level.

As required by the No Child Left Behind Act, RIDE establishes an annual target in each subject area for each school level (elementary, middle, and high school). The ELA and mathematics targets for the high-school level are shown by the horizontal lines on the graph. When the bars rise above their respective lines, the state has met the annual target.

The bar graphs to the right show the state participation rate on each NSRE test. The NCLB sets a participation-rate target of 95 percent.

The bar to the extreme right shows the high-school graduation rate. RIDE has set the 2005 target for the graduation rate at 75.3%. (Data for the graduation rate are for the class of 2005, but the data are drawn from the past four years, from the time that class entered high school.)

WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR

The bars show you that for high schools there are 21 targets: All students must meet both the ELA and mathematics targets; each of the eight groups of students must meet both targets; the state as a whole must meet both participation targets; the state as a whole must meet its graduation target.

You are hoping to see that the state has met all of its targets – that each of the bars rises above the horizontal target lines on each of the graphs.

For elementary schools and middle schools there was one target only for 2004-05: An attendance rate of 90 percent. The state as a whole met the target at these school levels.