School Search

Understanding the Report

Reference School

The Reference School table displays data for the currently selected school, including

• Minimum and maximum grade tested
• Percentages of students in several demographic categories
• Number of students tested

Comparison Schools

When you first navigate to the report, the list displays all schools that have data for the currently selected assessment.

The schools are listed by Average Growth Index, from highest to lowest. To reorder the list, click any column heading. To reverse the order in which the schools are listed, click the same column heading again.

The reference school appears at the top of the list and again in its appropriate place in the list based on the currently selected order. In both places, the reference school is highlighted in yellow so it can be identified easily.

Report Icon

Click the report icon to the left of a school's name to view the School's Value-Added report.

School Name

Each school name is a link. Click the link to select a school as the reference school.

Average Growth Index

The Average Growth Index is a reliable measure of whether a school's students exceeded, met, or fell short of expected growth in each subject or course. This value takes into account the amount of growth the students have made, on average, as well as the strength of the evidence for that measure. Specifically, the index is the growth measure divided by its standard error. Because the standard error is accounted for, and because all the index values are on the same scale, the Average Growth Index is an appropriate measure to use for the comparison. Growth Measures by themselves should not be used for this purpose.

The Average Growth Index represents the growth of students in the selected grade and subject or course in the most recent year.

Quintiles

A quintile is a statistical value of a data set representing 20% of a given group – specifically all schools in a tested grade and subject. Quintile 1 represents the lowest 20% of schools for Achievement or Growth for the tested grade and subject or content area. Quintile 5 represents the top 20% of schools for Achievement or Growth for the tested grade and subject or content area.

Achievement

All schools are assigned to achievement groups according to the rank of the most recent year's Average Achievement score for a particular grade and subject or content area. A "1" in the Achievement column indicates the lowest achievement group (bottom 20% of schools in the state), and a "5" in the Achievement column indicates the highest achievement group (top 20% of schools in the state). Note that this is different from the percentage of students who are Proficient or Advanced. Districts in higher achievement groups have students scoring at higher achievement levels than those in lower achievement groups. Achievement is based on results from the exams.

Expected Achievement

All public schools are assigned to Expected Achievement groups according to the rank of their Average Expected Scale Score for the same grade/subject or content area. The Average Expected Scale Scores for schools are based on the previous test history in earlier grades and all subjects for students with sufficient historical data. A "1" in the Expected Achievement column indicates the lowest expected achievement group (bottom 20% of schools in the state), and a "5" in the Expected Achievement column indicates the highest expected achievement group (top 20% of schools in the state). Schools in higher Expected Achievement groups have students with higher previous achievement than those in lower Expected Achievement groups. Expected Achievement is based on prior results.

Growth

All public schools were assigned to a growth group according to the rank of their Growth Measure for a particular grade/subject or content area. A "1" in the Growth column indicates the lowest growth group (bottom 20% of schools in the state), and a "5" in the Growth column indicates the highest growth group (top 20% of schools in the state). Students completing grade levels or subjects at schools with higher rates of growth will tend to score higher than their previous achievement would have indicated.

Restrict Search

By default, the Comparison Schools list includes all schools that have data for the selected assessment. You can narrow this list to include only schools in the same district or that meet demographic criteria of interest to you.

Start by clicking restrict search above the list of comparison schools.

If you have access to schools in multiple districts, you can

• Include schools statewide whose reporting you are authorized to view, or
• Limit the list to include only schools in the same district as the reference school

Restricting by Tested Grades

To restrict the list to schools that have data for selected grades, check the box next to Tested Grades. The minimum and maximum tested grades for the reference school will appear in the table. You can keep this range or change it. The search results will include only schools whose minimum and maximum tested grades fall within the range you define.

Restricting by Demographics

To restrict by any of the demographics listed, check the appropriate box. The reference school's data for that demographic appears in the table. You'll want to define a range that includes the reference school's value. Keep in mind that a very narrow range is likely to include few schools for comparison.

After you've selected the restrictions for your search, click Submit.

The Comparison Schools list now includes only those schools that meet the criteria you defined.

To change or remove your search restrictions, use the buttons above the list of schools.