January 2006

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season behind us, we can now sit back, relax, and watch the new year unfold.

Yeah, right!

Unfortunately, we all know that isn’t the case. With FCAT testing less than two months away things are as busy as ever. This month’s Bulletin focuses on ways to make an impact on your school grade before your students take the FCAT. Learn about:

Stopping the slide’ by examining your low Level 3 and high Level 2 students
Identifying ‘low hanging fruit’ by using the NRT vs. SSS scatterplot graphs
Motivating students using the information found in their SnapShot DSS graphs
Upcoming training events

Stopping the Slide

January is an excellent time to raise awareness of the students that will make the largest impact on the school grade. If a student that is a Level 2 becomes a Level 3 they have made a learning gain and they have also met high standards. These students have positively impacted your grade in two areas. Conversely, if a Level 3 student becomes a Level 2 they have negatively impacted your school grade in the same areas. By targeting the students that are low Level 3’s and high Level 2’s now, you’ll be able to help those who could affect your school grade the most. The following instructions will allow teachers to create a list of students that are within 10 points of the Level 2 and Level 3 scale score cut point. This teacher activity should be done by individual teachers. A table has been provided to help teachers decide the minimum and maximum score to be queried for each individual grade level.

Low 3’s and High 2’s

Click “Queries.” Select a “Roster Year.”
Click “Tests”.
Click FCAT SSS Reading, click “Scale Score.”
Click “2004-2005”.
Change the Minimum Score and Maximum Score using the table below. Click “Add Criterion.”
Click “Demographics” and then Click “Grade of Enrollment.” Input the grade level of your students.
Click “Get Results”.
Print or record your students that fall within these parameters.
Repeat using “FCAT SSS Math” by clicking “Scale Score (Math SS)”.

Level 2 and 3 Cut Points

* Current Grade Level in 05-06	Reading Minimum Score	Reading Maximum Score	Math Minimum Score	Math Maximum Score
4	273	293	283	303
5	288	308	287	307
6	275	295	315	335
7	285	305	304	324
8	289	309	295	315
9	299	319	299	319
10	311	331	285	305

*You may find retained students in these queries. Remember, their grade level of test is different and they have already been identified as extra care kids.

Reflect on the following questions once your list is produced:

What can I do immediately to evaluate these students individually?
What are the areas of weakness for these students in regards to the standards?
What can I do to make sure that these students have learned the standards before testing?

Using the NRT vs. SSS Scatterplot to identify "Low Hanging Fruit"

To determine if students are performing on FCAT SSS as you would expect them to, based on their performance on the FCAT NRT, you can use the NRT vs. SSS scatterplot graph. If a student falls within a colored region, they have met their level of expectation. If, however, they fall below a colored region, they are not meeting their level of expectation; they are capable of making a higher score on the criterion referenced test. These students have the potential of making significant gains this year. Look at your scatterplot graph and determine if there are any students that are far below their level of expectation that you could help to increase their achievement levels this year on the FCAT.

Select the class you wish to analyze.
Click “Scatterplot Graphs”.
Click “FCAT NRT Reading vs. FCAT SSS Reading”.
Look for students that are one to two levels below the colored regions.
Click on a point to view an individual student’s demographic information.
Click “Student Details: View Information” to see that students history.
Repeat using “FCAT NRT Math vs. FCAT SSS Math”.

Individual Student Focus

Help motivate students to improve their FCAT scores by reviewing their data with them. Counseling students on their scores and reviewing areas of strengths and weaknesses motivate students and places some of the accountability on them before the test. Teachers sometimes feel uneasy about reviewing FCAT data with students because they don’t know what to say. Using the Reading DSS and Math DSS graph in SnapShot makes this easy by providing students with a picture of their DSS scores over the past years.

To access individual student data:

Select the class you wish to work with.
Click on a student’s name.
To view the DSS graph, click the graph icon next to “Reading Dev Scale” or “Math Dev Scale.”

Things to keep in mind when counseling students:

There are three ways for a student to make a learning gain (one year’s growth):

Maintain Level 3, 4, or 5
Increase one or more levels
Improve their DSS score by a making one point more than the points for Level 1 and 2 (see the table below)

For 10th grade students, the passing score is 1926 for Reading and 1889 for Math. This is actually a high Level 2 and you can point out to the student where that is on their DSS graph.
Alert students if there are district policies in effect that will cause them to be retained for not making a minimum score on the FCAT.

Students achieving within Level 1 (or within Level 2) for two consecutive years must gain at least one point more than those listed in this table in order to satisfy the learning gains component of the school accountability system.
Grade Level Change	Reading	Math
3 to 4	230	162
4 to 5	166	119
5 to 6	133	95
6 to 7	110	78
7 to 8	92	64
8 to 9	77	54
9 to 10	77	48

Upcoming Training

Free training events are occurring in Leon ( Tallahassee) on January 24, 2006 and Polk ( Lake Wales) on January 26, 2006. If you’re interesting in attending one of these events and would like more information, please contact us at training@studentperformance.com or call 866.479.7627.

About SP SnapShot™

SP SnapShot™ analyzes student data through charts, reports, and graphs. From this information, users are able to identify individual students in need of attention and create individualized professional development plans for teachers based on information gleaned from this data analysis tool.

For more information, visit the SP SnapShot™ website at www.studentperformance.com.