DesCartes / The Curriculum Connection

1. DesCartes / The Curriculum Connection NWEA Knowledge Academy

2. Intended Accomplishments • Review • The RIT scale • RIT scores and percentile rankings • Score ranges and goal scores • Learn to read and interpret different reports • Use data to focus instruction • Overall RIT • Michigan Ver. III Goal performance • DesCartes Learning Continuum and Lexile • Develop a plan for using the data

3. Instructional Level • The NWEA test is not a test for determiningmastery of skills. • It provides a road map for students toward achieving mastery. This test provides the instructional level of the student.

4. Design of Achievement Level Tests (ALT) Design of Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) • Challenging, appropriate and dynamically developed for every student • Accurate data for students across the scale • Untimed • Purpose is internal accountability • Measures growth in student achievement • Immediate results • Can test up to 4 times a year / it does not change the price • Challenging and appropriate for every student • Assesses what we teach • Untimed • Purpose is internal accountability • Measures growth in student achievement Adult Reading Graduate Level Reading x - x - - - + + + + + 230 x + x x 8th Grade 5th Grade x x + x x x x x x x x Beginning Literacy Beginning Literacy

6. RIT (Rasch Unit) Scale • Achievement scale • Equal interval • Used to show growth over time • Scale has the same meaning regardless of the students’ grade level or items taken Graduate Level Reading MAP Test 250 x - x - 230 - - + + + + + x + x x 8th Grade x x x + x x x x x x x 150 Beginning Literacy

7. Checkpoint! • How would you describe a RIT? • What does “equal interval” mean? • What are the major strengths of NWEA assessments?

8. Triangulation Never use only one point of data MEAP / MME / ACT Teacher (Common Assessments, Dibels, DRA, Benchmarking, etc) NWEA Data

9. Placement Guidelines A RIT is only one piece of the puzzle for making important decisions.

10. T Sample Teacher Report (Preliminary) Sample MAP Teacher Report p. 2

11. Sample Class Report (Final)

12. Score Range – confidence band Sample Math Teacher Report p. 2

13. Percentile Percentile – grade level dependent (NWEA norm)

14. RIT vs. Percentile Percentile Including Hi, Av, Lo Grade level related (NWEA norm) RIT Not grade level related RIT Range % ile Sample MAP Teacher Report p. 2

15. Summary Goal Information Teacher Report – Mathematics Spring 2002 Grd 5

16. typical What are expected RIT and growth scores?

17. What does the standard deviation tell us? Standard deviations (Std.Dev.) are indicators of the academic diversity of a group of students. Sample Math Teacher Report p. 2

18. Largerstandard deviations . . . • Indicate that the group is more diverse. • It is likely that small group instruction is more appropriate in these areas than whole group instruction. Lowerstandard deviations ... • Indicate that students are most alike in this area. • Large/full group instruction may be appropriate.

19. Would we expect the standard deviation of a class to change from fall to spring? Think about… Why or why not?

20. RIT Score - Breakdown by 10 point RIT bands Sample Math Teacher Report p. 2

21. Goal Descriptors (Teacher OR Class Report) RIT Range Scores (Available on class report only) Student Goal Performance MAP Coordinator must ORDER on Report site 

22. Scavenger HuntUse your student’s data! • Which student has the highest score? • Which student has the lowest score? • Which student has the median score? • Which goal area has the highest mean? • Which goal has the lowest standard deviation?

23. What does “Goal Performance” mean? • Goal scores are percentiles based on the entire group of students in the norming study at each student’s grade level. • They tell how a given student compares with others in this whole group. • For example, if a student is at the 70th percentile, it means that 70% of the students in that grade level scored lower than this student.

24. Goal Score Descriptors Goal Scores • Hi = Percentile scores greater than 66 • Av = Percentile scores between 66 and 34 • Lo = Percentile scores less than 34 • Hi > 80 percentile • HiAvg = 61-80 percentile • Av = 41-60 percentile • LoAvg = 21-40 percentile • Lo < 21 percentiles On Student Progress Reports only

25. Identify Class RELATIVE Strengths and/or Areas of Concern Strengths Areas of concern Teacher Report – Mathematics Spring 2002 Grd 5 222 210 220 Look for a difference of 3 or more RITS Sample Math Teacher Report p. 2

26. Strengths and areas of concern comparing the performance of this group of students to their own mean/median. 188.3 219.1 226.3 Sample District Reports pp. 6-7

29. How can I use the Goal Breakdown? • Useful in flexible groupings in classroom • Important to also keep in mind the student’s overall RIT score – can be a wide variation still in what students know • Provides a transition into using the Learning Continuum to refine skills and concepts at student’s instructional level

30. NWEA RIT Lexile 205 600 The Lexile score represents…http://www.lexile.com/ …the level of text that a student can read with 75% comprehension. For a student with a RIT of 205, books with a 600 Lexile provide an excellent match with the student’s instructional level. The book, After the Rain by Norma Mazer is a 600L text. USE Sample Reading Report pp. 4-5

31. Introduction - Overview - Climbing the Data Ladder – Using Des Cartes- Can you log into NWEA Reports? • History of NWEA in our District • Overview of NWEA components • Focus on Measurable Goals • Classroom / Teacher Reports • RIT range of H,M,L • What does the measurable Goals Mean (goal structures) • Des Cartes Michigan Version / CCSS version coming • Class by RIT scores / Ten Ways to Use Class by RIT • Knowledge Academy / session and break at 3:00