1. Measuring Growth Using the Normal Curve Equivalent
MAT-8
Measuring Growth Using the Normal Curve Equivalent
NCE

2. New Developments MAT-8 vs. MAT-7 NCEs vs. GEs and NPR’s
National Heritage Academies (NHA) will now be using the Metropolitan Achievement Test, Eighth Edition (MAT 8) with Ready Reports software.
This will be the first year NHA will use normal curve equivalents (NCEs) for teacher evaluations instead of grade equivalents (GEs) or national percentiles (NPRs) to measure achievement gains (growth) per class.
Grade Equivelents and NPRs will still be used to report test results to parents and the general public.

3. Choosing Measurements: SS
Why we use Scaled Scores (SS)
They show absolute growth
They precisely measure how much a child’s achievement has changed from one testing period to the next
Issues with Scaled Scores (SS)
They do not show a student’s relative standing within a normative group
They are only relevant to the particular test being administered

4. Choosing Measurements: NPR
Why we use National Percentile Rank (NPR)
They show relative standing within a normative group
They are easily interpreted
Issues with National Percentile Rank (NPR)
They are non-linear and therefore cannot be used to compute averages

5. Choosing Measurements: GE
Why we use Grade Equivalent (GE)
They give us a frame of reference that is meaningful
Provides an approximation of student achievement
Issues with Grade Equivalent (GE)
They are often misunderstood
Not the best indicator of absolute growth

6. Choosing Measurements: NCE
Why we use Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE)
They are linear (given in equal intervals) and therefore they can be used to compute averages and show growth
They reflect relative standing within a normative group
Issues with Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE)
The general public is not familiar with NCEs

7. Why NCEs?
Linear vs. Non-Linear

8. The Key Indicators
SUMMARY: What are you trying to show?

9. Measuring Growth: In the past…
Grade Equivalents and NPRs were used to demonstrate growth
For …
NCEs will be used to measure growth
Based on what we’ve seen thus far… we can conclude that NPR’s and GE’s are not the best indicators of growth

10. Measuring Growth: Benefits to Teachers…
Adjustments will be made to take into account initial class standing within the normative group
(Classes will be weighted: Low, Average, High)
NCEs will provide data that can be appropriately averaged and compared
(Provides a more accurate depiction of growth)
This explains why we are using NCE’s.

11. Measuring Growth: NCE Growth
What NCE growth looks like…
If growth is…
Equal to “0” = 1 year of growth
GREATER than “0” = more than 1 year of growth
LESS than “0” = less that 1 year of growth
Shows what NCE growth would look like

12. Measuring Growth: Expectations
What we should expect…
We should expect an average of no less than 1 year growth in a classroom
We will reward teachers who achieve 1 year growth and above in their classrooms
Appraisal points will be earned relative to the degree of growth

13. The Process: Overview Measuring Growth STEP 1: Take PreTest Mean
STEP 2: Take PostTest Mean
STEP 3: Compare Pre-Test and Post-Test to determine gain or loss
STEP 4: Find “level” of PreTest Mean (Low, Average, High)
STEP 5: Compare gain or loss to target gain
STEP 6: Evaluate teacher based on percentage of target attained

14. The Process: Gain or Loss
Step Determining Gain or Loss…
Each class will have an average NCE gain or loss based on its PostTest mean
PostTest NCE – PreTest NCE = NCE Gain (or Loss)

15. The Process: Levels Step 4 - Determining Levels…
Each class will be assigned to a “level” based on the PreTest Mean (see Table 1)
If your PreTest Mean is:
Each level represents a range of scores based on Mean=50 and SD=3.86 of the sample distribution of means

16. The Process: Target Gains
Step 5 - Determining Target Gains…
Each class will have a target gain based on the “level” assigned to that class…
Each grade will have different target gains for Low, Average, and High categories (see Table 2)
EXAMPLE: If your class PreTest NCE Mean is “average” (from Table 1) then your class would be compared to the “average” target NCE gain (from Table 2)

17. The Process: Conversion
Step 6 - Converting to Percentage…
Each class average is then compared to it’s target gain…
Actual NCE Gain/Loss
Target NCE Gain
= % of Target Attained
And a percentage is calculated…

18. The Process: Teacher Appraisal
Teacher Evaluation…
The calculated percentage is the percent of goal attained
Each teacher will be evaluated based on how close they were able to get their class to the Target Gain… 100%

19. The Process: Teacher Appraisal
Converting to Teacher Appraisal Points
The percentage of the expected growth achieved is then converted into teacher evaluation points using the following scale

20. The Process: Teacher Appraisal Key
0 = Below 0% NCE score growth = less than 1 year growth
3 = 0% to 49% NCE score growth = 1 to 1.19 years growth
4 = 50% to 99% NCE score growth = 1.20 to 1.39 years growth
5 = 100% and above NCE growth = 1.4 years growth or greater

21. The Process: Calculating Points
Calculating Teacher Appraisal Points
See the Interactive Spreadsheet
Click Here
Select “Enable Macros” when prompted

22. Building the Future of Education