Introduction to the Georgia Student Growth Model

1. Introduction to the Georgia Student Growth Model Understanding and Using SGPs to Improve Student Performance

2. Why focus on student growth? • A growth model will allow educators to move beyond status-based questions to ask critical growth-related questions. • Status • What percentage of students met the state standard? • Did more students meet the state standard this year compared to last year? • Growth • Did this student grow more or less than academically-similar students? • Are students growing as much in math as in reading? • Are students on track to reach or exceed proficiency? • The GSGM will provide student-level diagnostic information, improve teaching and learning, enhance accountability (CCRPI), and serve as one of multiple indicators of educator effectiveness (TKES and LKES).

3. Growth Under NCLB • How many students have made it over the proficiency bar (% Meets/Exceeds)? • Inferences about growth are made longitudinally across different cohorts of students Fast growth, different starting points No growth?

4. What do we know about student-level growth? • All information about student test performance has been collapsed into 3 criterion-referenced levels • We cannot compare scale scores as the tests are not vertically scaled • Leaves many important questions about progress unanswered

5. Understanding Percentiles 50th percentile 50% 50% A distribution, for example, of height, weight, or academic growth The 50th percentile is the value below which 50% of the distribution lies.

6. Student Change in Status 16% 50% If a student goes from scoring better than 16% of all students in grade 4 to scoring better than 50% of students in grade 5, would this be evidence that growth had occurred?

7. What we miss if we focus on the proficiency bar… 16% 50% If the red line marks the cut point for “Meets,” this is a student who was below “Meets” each year. But there is clear evidence that great progress has been made.

8. What are Student Growth Percentiles? • A student growth percentile (SGP) describes a student’s growth relative to other students statewide with similar prior achievement • Calculations based solely on achievement • SGPs not only show how individual students are progressing, but they also can be aggregated to show how groups of students, schools, districts, and the state are progressing

9. SGPs for Individual Students • Each student obtains an SGP, which indicates how much he or she grew relative to his or her academic peers • Academic peers are other students statewide with a similar score history • Priors are the historical assessment scores used to model growth • Growth percentiles range from 1 to 99 • Lower percentiles indicate lower academic growth and higher percentiles indicate higher academic growth • Students also receive growth projections and growth targets, which describe the amount of growth needed to reach or exceed proficiency in subsequent years • All students, regardless of their achievement level, have the ability to demonstrate all levels of growth

10. All students can demonstrate all levels of growth – regardless of their achievement level 2012 SGP = 1 2011 4th Grade Math Scale Score = 990 2012 5th Grade Math Scale Score = 847 2012 SGP = 99 2011 4th Grade Math Scale Score = 990 2012 5th Grade Math Scale Score = 990 2012 SGP = 1 2011 4th Grade Math Scale Score = 744 2012 5th Grade Math Scale Score = 734 2012 SGP = 99 2011 4th Grade Math Scale Score = 744 2012 5th Grade Math Scale Score = 843

11. All students can demonstrate all levels of growth – regardless of their achievement level Students with Disabilities (SWD) Economically Disadvantaged (ED) English Language Learners (ELL)

12. Achievement vs. Growth • No ceiling or floor effects • This is not a gain score model • Vertical alignment (but no vertical scale) • A top-scoring student (e.g., 990) may not have room to show higher achievement on that scale (e.g., 1000), but she does have room to show growth from that grade to the next grade • She has to grow to score high (or even the max) two years in a row • Growth is independent of proficiency cuts

13. Achievement vs. Growth 6th Grade 7th Grade 950 Elmer Elmer and his academic peers 650

14. Priors • Priors are the historical assessment scores being used to model growth • The immediate consecutive prior is required to produce growth percentiles • For example, an 8th-grade student must have a 7th-grade CRCT score in order to receive a growth percentile • Two years of priors will be used (one year will be used when two years are not available) • For example, growth percentiles for an 8th-grade student would have his or her 7th- and 6th-grade CRCT scores as priors

15. EOCT Course Progressions • For EOCTs, both prior achievement and test sequence (including year taken) must be considered. • While most EOCT students will receive SGPs, those participating in uncommon sequences (small N) will not receive SGPs • Most common sequences: • ELA: 8th grade CRCT reading/ELA → 9th Grade Lit → American Lit • Math: 7th or 8th grade CRCT math → Coordinate Algebra/Math I/GPS Algebra → Analytic Geometry/Math II/GPS Geometry • Science: 7th or 8th grade CRCT science → Physical Science/Biology → Biology/Physical Science • Social Studies: US History → Economics

16. Growth Over Time • Because SGPs are normative, meaning growth percentiles describe a student’s growth relative to other students in the state in a given year, how do we compare results over time? • A baseline is used as a reference point so change in overall growth can be observed from year to year • Without using a baseline, the median SGP for the state would be 50 every year – absolute changes in a school’s growth could not be observed since the state as a whole is moving too • The baseline utilizes multiple years of data in order to allow for a more stable comparison • As of 2013, all CRCTs and all EOCTs except mathematics (Math I, Math II, GPS Algebra, GPS Geometry, Coordinate Algebra) are baseline-referenced.

17. Growth Over Time Without setting a baseline… State Median This year = 50 Next year = 50 Two years = 50 etc. …the state median will always be 50 with half of students below 50 and half above 50

18. Growth Over Time With setting a baseline… State Median This year = 50 Next year = 55 Baseline year Two years = 60 …the state median can change from year to year, representing statewide change in growth over time

19. Growth to Proficiency • How do we know if a student’s growth is enough to be on track to reach or exceed proficiency? • SGPs analyze historical student assessment data to model how students perform on and grow in between assessments • This information is used to create growth projections and growth targets for each student • The growth projection tells us where on the assessment scale a student may score next year for all levels of possible growth (1st-99th percentile) • The growth target tells us, based on where students are now, how much they need to grow to reach or exceed proficiency in the future

20. Growth Projections and Targets Exceeds Meets Does Not Meet High “Exceeds” Target Typical “Meets” Target Low This Year Future

21. Student Growth Levels • Low (1-34), Typical (35-65), and High (66-99) • Levels were set using information about the interaction between student growth and status-based achievement • A student who demonstrates low growth generally will regress academically (i.e., not maintain his/her current level of achievement) • A student who demonstrates typical growth generally will maintain or improve academically • A student who demonstrates high growth generally will make greater improvement academically

22. Transitioning To New Assessments • What happens when we change assessments? • Until we have enough years of implementation, we will produce cohort-referenced SGPs and will not have targets or projections. • Will SGPs go down if the standards are higher and students perform poorly on the new assessment? • No because…

23. Transitioning to New Assessments 8th Grade Math I 600 450 Elmer Elmer and his academic peers 400 200

24. Transitioning to New Assessments 8th Grade Coordinate Algebra 600 450 Elmer and his academic peers 400 Elmer 200

25. How does growth differ from achievement? • Example 2 (real data, fake names) • Clubhouse High School • Urban • One of many high schools in district • Has 12 9th-Grade Literature teachers in 2012 • Ms. M. Mouse • Taught 9th Grade Literature in 2012 • Taught 28 students in 3 classes

26. How did Ms. Mouse’s students do on the 9th Grade Lit EOCT? 18% of students (5 of 23) met the state standard 5 scored Meets 18 scored Does Not Meet 0 scored Exceeds

27. But did these students grow? 3 demonstrated low growth 11 demonstrated typical growth 14 demonstrated high growth Yes – 89% demonstrated typical or high growth MGP = 66

28. Was there a difference across Ms. Mouse’s classes? All students in Section A demonstrate typical or high growth Some students in Sections B and C didn’t grow quite as much

29. What about the other 9th Grade Lit teachers in the school? 9th Grade Lit Proficiency Ms. Mouse – low proficiency (18%), high growth (MGP = 66) 9th Grade Lit Growth

30. What if we consider where students started? 8th Grade Proficiency Ms. Mouse – She taught most of the low-achieving students, but they still demonstrated high growth 9th Grade Lit Growth

31. What if we consider where students started – across the district? 8th Grade Proficiency Ms. Mouse – Had more student growth than most other teachers with students of similar prior achievement levels All 9th Grade Lit teachers in this district 9th Grade Lit Growth

32. Resources • GSGM Visualization Tool • Accessible in SLDS • Information restricted based on role • Enhancements coming soon • GaDOE Website • gsgm.gadoe.org • Coming Soon • Student growth reports for parents • Public visualization tool (school- and district-level results only) • Videos and additional resources for educators and parents

33. Student Learning Objectives • SLO’s • Measures of Educator Effectiveness • For teachers with no EOCT data- replaces Student Growth Measure for TKES • a measureable, academic goal informed by available data that districts set for teachers and students. • Are content-specific learning objectives that are measureable, focused on growth in student learning, and aligned to curriculum standards.

34. Purpose of SLO’s • to improve student achievement in every classroom • to provide evidence of each teacher’s instructional impact on student learning in non-tested areas • to give educators, school systems, and state leaders an additional means by which to understand, value, and recognize each teacher’s effectiveness in classrooms.

35. SLO’s Improve Practice • SLO’s ensure that educators: Have an in-depth understanding of course standards Know what subject content and skills each student has at the beginning of the course Set goals for students Monitor student progress Examine outcomes to determine next steps

36. State Guidelines • Must be district-driven initiative • Must be based on specific data (such as a pre-test) • SLO statement includes the duration of the instruction period, the focus of student learning, how growth will be measured, and specific growth targets which reflect each student’s target for meeting or exceeding SLO standards. • SLO’s for each system will be submitted to the state DOE for audit review and approval.

38. Timeline • Waiting on guidance from our district office • DOE requires submission in June 2014 from each district • More information will be shared as soon as we receive it from the district office.