1. ESSA and School Accountability in Alaska Brian Laurent, Data Management Supervisor

2. Agenda … in only 90 minutes! Your vision of school accountability School accountability in Alaska – current situation ESSA provisions for school accountability Comparison to the current reality in Alaska Implement your vision of school accountability Your questions

3. If I say something that does not make sense, stop me in the moment for clarification. If you have questions like: Can we do __________? How will __________ affect the unique situation in my school or district? What is going on with AMP?!?! Please write it on an index card! Or find an ESSA Advisory Committee member

4. In your packet 1.Considerations for Alaska’s Accountability System 2.Alaska Current Reality: Accountability 3.Accountability Pie Chart Activity 4.Accountability Indicators Grid document

5. Please keep in mind… This is very detailed work that is often complicated. The goal for today’s meeting is to share the accountability requirements of ESSA using ASPI for context, not as a base. Each of you approaches this topic with varying levels of understanding. Throughout this conference, think about “intersections” between plan requirements.

7. Activity – Accountability vision Find the green Considerations for Alaska’s Accountability System document in your packet It includes 15 high-level considerations we should think about as we develop our system. Prioritize the 15 considerations by ranking them from 1-15 1 is the most important, 15 is the least important. This will serve as a guide for the group activity. You will turn this document in at the end of the session.

8. School accountability in Alaska USED approved EED’s ESEA flexibility waiver in May 2013 Instead of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), Alaska created its own two-pronged accountability system Alaska School Performance Index (ASPI) Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs)

9. What is ASPI? Five indicators 1.Academic Achievement 2.School Progress 3.Attendance rate 4.Graduation rate 5.College and career readiness Two scores, weighted by enrollment Grades K-8 Grades 9-12 Each school receives a score of 0 to 100 and a star rating of one to five stars

13. Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) Goal: Reduce rate of non-proficiency by half in six years Baseline: Performance on SBAs in 2011-2012 Full academic year (FAY) students only All students and subgroups Targets at school, district, and state levels Gap closure

15. What does ESSA say? A.Long-term goals B.Required indicators C.Differentiation D.Identification of schools E.Annual measurement of achievement F.Partial attendance

16. A. Long-term goals ESSA requirements 1.Long-term and interim goals 2.For all students and each subgroup 3.Academic achievement on summative assessment 4.Graduation rate 1.Four-year 2.“Extended-year” at state’s discretion 5.Progress toward English language proficiency

17. A. Long-term goals Currently in Alaska Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) – six years Same subgroups ELs: May now include results for a former EL student for up to four years (currently two years) Current graduation rate target is 90 percent for all students and subgroups (or all but one student in small schools) Alaska calculates four- and five-year rates ELs: Title III district accountability

18. B. Required indicators i.Academic achievement ii.Student growth iii.Graduation rate iv.Progress in achieving English language proficiency v.School quality or student success

19. (i) Academic achievement Grades KG-8 ESSA : Based on required annual assessment and long- term goals Currently : Based on annual summative assessment (ASPI 35%) Grades 9-12 ESSA : Based on required annual assessment and long- term goals Currently : Based on annual summative assessment (ASPI 20%)

20. (ii) Student growth Grades KG-8 ESSA : Based on student growth or another measure that allows for meaningful differentiation Currently : Based on annual summative assessment (ASPI 40%) Grades 9-12 ESSA : Optional. Based on required annual assessment Currently : Based on annual summative assessment (ASPI 40%)

21. (iii) Graduation rate Grades KG-8 n/a Grades 9-12 ESSA : Four-year rate, extended-year rate at State’s discretion, and based on long-term goals Currently : Based on four- or five-year rate (ASPI 20%)

22. (iv) Progress in achieving English language proficiency Grades KG-8 ESSA : Progress for ELs in grades 3-8 Currently : Not in ASPI. Title III district accountability instead. Grades 9-12 ESSA : Progress for ELs in testing grade(s) Currently : Not in ASPI. Title III district accountability instead.

23. (v) School quality/student success Grades KG-8 ESSA : One or more measures Currently : No Grades 9-12 ESSA : One or more measures Currently : No

24. School quality or student success Examples Student engagement Educator engagement Access to and completion of advanced courses Postsecondary readiness School climate and safety Any other indicator that meets the requirement

25. School quality or student success Thinking about the examples… How to define Benefits Challenges How to report Uniform Comparability Fairness

26. Tying up the indicators

27. C. Differentiation ESSA requirements 1.“Establish a system of meaningful differentiation” 2.Include all students and each subgroup 3.“Substantial weight” to indicators (i) through (iv) 4.School quality [indicator (v)] should not have an outsized impact 5.“Include differentiation of any such school in which any subgroup of students is consistently underperforming”

28. C. Differentiation Currently in Alaska ASPI Indicators are weighted Separate calculations for KG-8 and 9-12 “…Consistently underperforming…”: A school’s ASPI rating does not take this into consideration.

29. D. Identification of schools ESSA requirements At least once every three years, identify “one statewide category of schools for comprehensive support and improvement” 1.At least the lowest-performing five percent of Title I schools 2.Schools failing to graduate 1/3 of students 3.Additional categories at state’s discretion

30. D. Identification of schools Currently in Alaska 1.Priority schools Designated for three years At least five percent of Title I schools in the state 2.Focus schools Designated for two years At least 10 percent of Title I schools in the state 3.Reward schools Highest performing High progress

31. E. Annual measurement of achievement ESSA requirements a.k.a. the participation rate “Annually measure the achievement of not less than 95 percent of all students, and 95 percent of all students in each subgroup of students” Include at least 95 percent of students in the denominator Explain how this feature will be incorporated into the accountability system

32. E. Annual measurement of achievement Currently in Alaska Participation rate requirement 95 percent of students enrolled on first day of testing All but two if fewer than 40 are enrolled Participation is not an indicator in ASPI, but… All untested students counted as Not Proficient if participation rate requirement is not met

33. F. Partial attendance ESSA requirements Student attendance < half of school year May not be included in system of differentiation Shall be included in results on Report Cards Implications for graduation cohorts

34. F. Partial attendance Currently in Alaska Alaska uses the term Full Academic Year (FAY) student Continuously enrolled between October 1 and the first day of testing Implication for: AMOs School Progress ASPI component Shift from FAY to half of year is particularly noteworthy

35. Big decisions to be made Long-term goals Assessment, graduation rate, ELL progress Indicators and weighting School quality/student success indicator Linking gap closing to differentiation How to identify schools Factoring participation into school accountability

36. Other decisions to be made Alternative schools Possible inclusion of indicators not required by ESSA – What else is important in Alaska? Feeder schools (KG-2) Attendance rate Minimum number of students for reporting Stakeholder feedback explicitly mentioned in ESSA Options for small-school graduation rates

37. Activity – Your vision of school accountability As a table group and using your prioritization rankings, you will produce a vision of Alaska’s accountability system. You have been provided two sheets of chart papers. Each has just a circle on it. Goal: Turn the circles into pie charts that display the indicators and weighting of accountability for KG-8 and 9- 12 grade spans.

38. In closing That was a lot of information! Balance of too much information vs. providing enough information Please reach out to me moving forward with any questions about this content (907) 465-8418 brian.laurent@alaska.gov