Identifying Focus Schools

2. Identifying Focus Schools James Daugherty Research & Evaluation Kansas State Department of Education

3. ESEA Flexibility Request (Waiver) • Principle II • Develop & implement a state-based system of differentiated recognition, accountability, and support • Set ambitious but achievable annual measurable objectives (AMOs) • Identify consistently low performing schools (Priority schools) • Identify schools with largest achievement gaps (Focus schools) • Identify schools with high-performance & high-progress (Reward Schools)

4. ESEA Flexibility Request (Waiver) 10% Reward Schools 75% Undesignated Title I Schools 5% Priority Schools 10% Focus Schools

5. Goals • Identify achievement gap focused on lowest performing students, rather than specific subgroups • Emphasize academic gains across all five of Kansas’s performance categories • Provide an index for gap reduction that is specific to each school

6. Achievement Gap

7. Achievement Gap

8. Calculating API

9. State Benchmarks • Uses Assessment Performance Index (API) • Represents achievement of highest performing buildings in Kansas • The API score for the building at the 70th percentile • Calculated with 4 years of assessment data • Ambitious, achievable goal

10. Lowest Performing 30% of Students • Uses Assessment Performance Index (API) • Represents lowest performing students within a building • Calculated with 2 years of assessment data • Focus School identification uses math and reading combined

11. Steps for Identifying Focus Schools • Locate most recent 2 years of assessment scores broken down by performance category • Determine the number of students comprising lowest performing 30% of students • Construct API table using only lowest performing 30% of students • Subtract the API for the lowest performing 30% of students from the state benchmark

12. 1. Locate most recent 2 years of assessment scores broken down by performance category

13. 2. Determine the number of students comprising lowest performing 30% of students 500 students X 30% = 150 students are in lowest 30%

14. 3. Construct API table using only lowest performing 30% of students

15. 4. Subtract the API for the lowest performing 30% of students from the state benchmark Focus School State Benchmark (combined Math and Reading) --724 API points-- State Benchmark - API for Lowest Performing 30% = Achievement Gap 724 – 372 = 352 API Points

16. Focus Schools • Title I buildings with the greatest achievement gap between their lowest performing 30% of students and the combined state benchmark are designated Focus schools • The number of Focus schools identified equals 10% of Title I schools • Focus schools are identified after Priority schools lists are populated

17. Exiting Focus School Status • Make gap reduction AMOs for two consecutive years • Or, the combined two-year gap reduction must meet or exceed twice the amount of annual gap reduction • Or, reach an API score of 500 or greater for the lowest performing 30% of students

18. Steps for Calculating Gap AMOs • Locate most recent 2 years of assessment scores broken down by performance category and separated for math and reading • Determine the number of students comprising lowest performing 30% of students • Construct API table using only lowest performing 30% of students • Subtract the API for the lowest performing 30% of students from the state benchmark • Divide gap value in half • Divide value again by six

19. 1. Locate most recent 2 years of assessment scores broken down performance category, separated for math and reading

20. 2. Determine the number of students comprising lowest performing 30% of students 250 students X 30% = 75 students are in lowest 30%

21. 3. Construct API table using only lowest performing 30% of students

22. 4. Subtract the API for the lowest performing 30% of students from the state benchmark Math State Benchmark = 719 Reading State Benchmark = 734 State Benchmark - API for Lowest Performing 30% = Achievement Gap 719 – 350 = 369 API Points

23. 5. Divide gap score in half 719 – 350 = 369 API Points 369 ÷ 2 = 184.5 API Points

24. 6. Divide gap score again by six 719 – 350 = 369 API Points 369 ÷ 2 = 184.5 API Points 184.5 ÷ 6 years 30.75 API points per year

25. 7. Repeat steps 1-6 using Reading assessments

26. Summary • Achievement gap is distance between state benchmark and the lowest performing students in each building • Focus Schools have largest achievement gaps • Exiting Focus School status requires closing the achievement gap and making gap reduction AMOs