state offers new way to assess csaps

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 27, 2008 | by Shari chaney Griffin

It's test-score time for Colorado schools, and this year there are new ways of slicing and dicing the data.

The Colorado Department of Education recently set up a Web site so people can check out the new method for looking at Colorado Student Assessment Program test scores: the Colorado Growth Model.

Pieces of the model look something like a lava lamp gone wild. Circles floating through four quadrants show how a school stacks up in its district, based on the percent of students scoring proficient or advanced and how well student performance has grown over time as compared with students with similar past scores.

That's the benefit of the new system, officials said. It provides more than one way to measure a school's performance.

The more traditional way of looking at CSAP scores -- the rows and columns of numbers that tell what percentage of students scored proficient or advanced on tests taken this spring -- is a snapshot of student performance on one day. That data will be released this week.

The new system charts progress over time and helps bring attention to schools and districts producing high levels of sustained growth in student achievement, said the Colorado Department of Education's Associate Commissioner Richard Wenning.

"Those may not be the schools with the highest test scores," he said.

In the same way, it's possible for a child to score unsatisfactory on a CSAP test and still be achieving high growth -- say, a fifth-grader who improves from a second-grade reading level to a fourth-grade reading level.

"That's an important recognition," Wenning said.

That progress isn't enough because the child still needs to reach proficiency, he said, but the new model shows that education is taking place and allows teachers and others to talk about what more is needed.

It's "more fair and balanced and transparent on student and school performance," Wenning said.

The state education department aims to move away from a punitive accountability system to one that provides district and school officials with information useful for making changes, he said.

"We're interested in how every child individually progresses," he said.

The public will be able to look at district and schoollevel information only, while district officials and employees will be able to look at each student's individual score, growth percentile and projections about where high, low and typical growth would take them.

Districts will determine how they use the information internally and how it will be presented to parents, Wenning said.

The interactive models that recently became available on CDE's Web site use data from the 2006-07 school year and are meant to help people become aware of the new model and begin to understand it. The data will be updated in the next few months using the most recent CSAP scores.

The Colorado Growth Model will also show up in School Accountability Reports, and be used in the state's accreditation process and school selection for the Governor's Improvement Award, Wenning said.

colorado student assessment program results: available online tuesday midday and in the gazette Wednesday online > in depth Find interactive Colorado Growth Model charts using 2007 Colorado Student Assessment Program data at www.cde.state.co.us/cdeedserv/Growth- ModelDistSchReport.htm. THE GAZETTE - Understanding the Colorado Growth Model SOURCE: Colorado Department of Education