PSD Students Exceed State in GrowthPSD Students Far Exceed Students Statewide in CSAP Academic Growth
Poudre School District students overall far exceed students statewide in academic growth in reading, writing, and math over the past three years, and continue to score higher than their counterparts in all 27 areas tested in spring 2009 on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP), announced statewide August 7.
PSD’s Harris Bilingual Immersion Elementary School was recognized Friday by Gov. Bill Ritter and the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Friday in Denver as one of the state’s top schools for students’ level of academic growth over the past three years.
Harris is among 10 schools statewide making noteworthy progress recognized during the news conference. Overall, 11 PSD schools were ranked in the top 161 schools statewide for demonstrating the highest sustained student academic growth rates over three consecutive years in Colorado. CDE measured this by determining which schools in the state had a 60th percentile or higher median growth percentile in at least one subject, for two subjects, and for all three tested subjects. The sustained growth percentiles for these schools ranged from 60 to 90.
Members of the Colorado State Board of Education, Gov. Bill Ritter, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien and Colorado Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones attended a news conference Friday to announce the 2008-2009 school year CSAP and Colorado Growth Model statewide results. Jerry Wilson, PSD Superintendent of Schools, Kevin Hahn, PSD Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Schools, and Julie Shiola, Principal of Harris Elementary, also attended the recognition event and news conference.
Along with Harris Elementary, other PSD schools on the state’s top 161 list for academic growth are: Bacon, Dunn, Livermore, McGraw, Shepardson, Timnath, Werner, and Zach elementary schools, and Liberty Common and Ridgeview Classical charter schools.
PSD’s district-wide median growth percentiles show PSD students have exceeded students statewide in reading, writing, and math growth over the past three years. Median growth percentiles are comparable measures of academic growth between schools and districts that serve different populations of students. This is true because the Colorado Growth Model measures each individual student’s growth relative to the other students statewide in the same grade and who began the school year at a similar academic starting point based on prior CSAP scores.
“Our students are achieving stellar academic growth and performance levels,” says Dwayne Schmitz, Ph D., PSD Research and Analysis Coordinator. “PSD is proud of the hard work our students are doing to make academic gains. It is a relief that we hold up to our reputation as one of the top districts in Colorado in growth, as well as those on track to catch up, keep up and move up academically.”
CDE began reporting students’ academic growth in 2008, and this measure is the cornerstone of the state’s accountability system. PSD uses the Colorado Academic Growth Model calculation to measure student progress relative to their academic peers throughout the state. PSD uses the Colorado Growth Model as an additional tool to monitor each student’s academic progress in math, reading, and writing.
CSAP results indicate percentages of students on track to catch up, keep up, move up
CDE also calculates the percent of students on track to catch up, which means move from the unsatisfactory or partially proficient category to the proficient category within three years or less. Keep up percentages tell us how many students are on track to remain proficient or advanced. Move up percentages indicate the amount of students on track to move from proficient to advanced categories. PSD exceeds the state in catch-up, keep-up, and move-up growth over each of the past three years for reading, writing, and math.
PSD students top state on all CSAP tests
As it has in the 13-year history of CSAP tests, PSD’s district-wide averages for students scoring proficient and advanced remain well ahead of state averages, from 3% to 15% higher in all subjects, at all grade levels.
Proficiency scores improved or remained the same on 20 of 27 tests compared with 2008 results.
Students ranked in 1 of 4 categories
Students who placed in the two lower categories (unsatisfactory and partially proficient) are not proficient in one or more standards in the subject area being tested. Whereas, students rated proficient or advanced are performing at or above grade level in the subject area on the standards being tested.
“We have new information we’ve never had before—data for every individual child to help us know how they are doing," says Chuck DeWayne, PSD’s director of curriculum, assessment and instruction. "As the school year begins, principals have much more targeted information about which students have greater challenges, by subject. Having more information available for teachers through technology will help us target our interventions. Parents will now receive an individual growth report on their child in addition to the performance reports they already receive.”
11th graders top state counterparts on ACT
On the ACT test given to all 11th graders statewide, PSD’s students scored an average 21.9 in the four core areas tested (reading, science, English, and math), compared to 20.0 statewide. Overall, PSD 11th graders averaged from 1.6 to 2.3 points higher on the four core areas tested.
PSD uses CSAP along with other testing or assessment tools to monitor student progress throughout the year.
“We continue to look at student progress on an individual basis, identify students who are lagging behind, and focusing on strategies to help those students,” says DeWayne. “We are improving our methods of monitoring progress throughout the year so we can adjust curriculum and guide instruction. Students are assessed frequently so we can identify their needs during the school year.”
Other PSD assessments that measure student progress include Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs), Developmental Reading Assessments (elementary), Scholastic Reading Inventories (grades 7-12) and “common assessments” in several subjects.
The state and federal government use CSAP scores for other purposes. CSAP scores are used to calculate Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in conjunction with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal education legislation. The Colorado Department of Education is expected to release preliminary AYP calculations in August. In addition, the scores are used to calculate School Accountability Reports (SARs), detailed school reports sent to parents each January.
Parents will receive their students’ individual CSAP results from their school early this fall. These reports detail each student’s progress toward meeting standards, and provide an explanation of the performance categories. In addition to the traditional CSAP reports, parents will receive individual student Growth and Achievement Reports. These new reports provide a longitudinal history of each student’s performance and growth on CSAP. Individual student reports will be distributed through schools and will available by September 1.
For additional information: John Passantino, PSD Assessment Coordinator, at 490-3124.
CSAP, Academic Growth Definitions
The tables referenced below (and linked online) contain information from the Colorado Growth Model for 2007, 2008 and 2009. Three years of data are included to provide the opportunity to examine the state data for growth trends. Three different types of information are included for each content area:
1. State Median Growth Percentiles for reading writing and math: Percentiles range from 1 to 99. The middle percentile in the range is called the median and is always 50 at the state level. This makes it possible to determine whether a group is above or below the middle score for the state and by how much. For example, a percentile of 35 would be well below the median while a percentile of 70 would be well above it.
2. Percent of students ‘Catching Up to Proficient’ is defined as demonstrating enough growth to at least reach the Proficient or Advanced’ achievement level from a below proficient achievement level (Unsatisfactory or Partially Proficient) within three years or by 10th grade, whichever comes first.
3. Percent of students ‘Keeping Up at Proficient’ is defined as demonstrating enough growth to remain at least Proficient for the next three years or until 10th grade, whichever comes first.
4. Percent of students ‘Moving Up to Advanced’ is defined as demonstrating enough growth to reach the Advanced achievement level from the Proficient achievement level within three years or by 10th grade, whichever comes first.
CSAP Scores attached/posted online:
Scores for all tests, 2007 through 2009 (Longitudinal Assessment)
Academic growth summaries (median growth percentile, percent catching up, percent keeping up, and percent moving up):
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