The College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) as a vehicle for assessing overall student achievement is still new, but a Dec. 16 report to the Fayette County Board of Education showed that the scoring methodology is undergoing a change.
CCRPI is a comprehensive school improvement, accountability and communication platform for all educational stakeholders that will promote college and career readiness for all Georgia public school students, according to the Ga. Dept. of Education (DOE). The CCRPI score addresses three categories that include Achievement, Progress and Achievement Gap. The scoring methodology currently assigns 70 percent of the total CCRPI score to achievement and 15 percent of the score to both the Progress and Achievement Gap areas. The way the component areas are weighed is being changed to decrease achievement to 60 percent of the overall score and increase the Progress component to 25 percent.
The Achievement section looks at measures such as content mastery through test scores, according to DOE.
School system assessment coordinator Kris Floyd said the purpose of the Dec. 16 presentation was to provide information on the Progress component, also referred to as the “growth” measure. Floyd reiterated that the growth measure, or “growth model,” is one piece of the overall view of a student’s performance.
Students under the growth model are compared to students statewide who previously performed similarly on standardized tests and is reported as a percentile, Floyd said.
“Growth is a second look at the data,” Floyd said. “It gives us a little bit different picture.”
Superintendent Jody Barrow agreed saying, “I think it’s important to get a good handle on this. In times past we didn’t look at growth as intently. It’s a clarification we’re discussing with classroom teachers.”
Though Floyd by design centered on the growth (or Progress) measure at the Dec. 16 presentation, the CCRPI encompasses all three areas to assess student performance using a broad set of academic criteria.
The CCRPI uses a much broader and more complex set of achievement data to calculate school and system achievement scores than No Child Left Behind program for which Georgia received a federal waiver. Generally, the CCRPI has been designed around a comprehensive definition of college and career readiness, meaning that all students graduate from high school with both rigorous content knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge, according to DOE.
The Achievement score (until now 70 percent of the CCRPI) is made up of three indicators, including Content Mastery (40 percent), Post High School/Middle School/Elementary School Readiness (30 percent) and Graduation Rate/Graduation Rate Predictor (30 percent).
Content Mastery looks at student achievement on standardized tests (CRCT in grades 3-8 and End of Course Tests in grades 9-12) to determine how well a school is doing with instruction.
Post High School/Middle School/Elementary School Readiness looks at areas that have proven to help students be prepared for the next level of school. Measures of this section include earning two credits in World Language, exceeding standards on state assessments and earning credit in accelerated programs.
Graduation Rate/Graduation Rate Predictor looks at a school’s four-year and five-year graduation rate.
The Progress (Growth) score (until now 15 percent of the CCRPI) is calculated based on the percentage of a school’s students demonstrating typical or high growth via Student Growth Percentiles (SGP). An SGP describes a student’s growth on state tests relative to other students statewide with similar prior achievement. A student’s growth percentile can range from 1 to 99 and every student’s SGP may earn points towards the Progress Score.
The Achievement Gap score (15 percent of the CCRPI) assigns points to schools for their progress in closing, or having small achievement gaps, on state tests between schools’ lowest 25 percent of achievers and the state average. Comparisons are made between gap size from prior year to current year and schools receive points in this section of the CCRPI for closing the achievement gap.
The CCRPI was unveiled for the 2011-2012 school year in early 2013.
Barrow in his comments said Gov. Nathan Deal is receiving letters from some school board and superintendents expressing concerns with the CCRPI.
