Accountability Indicators

Chronic Absenteeism (K-12)

A student is defined as chronically absent if enrolled for a minimum of ten (10) days and absent for 10% or more of the days enrolled.  All absences (excused and unexcused) are used to make this determination.  ESSA requires that each state select an accountability measurement (“indicator”), “of school quality or student success” under subsection 1111(c)(4)(B)(v)(I). Maine has chosen student attendance as its indicator to fulfill this requirement.

Background

Maine’s stakeholders reported that addressing chronic absenteeism is essential to ensuring student success. Establishing positive habits early regarding attendance is vital to long-term success. Research (4) illustrates a clear correlation between chronic absenteeism and achievement scores.

Academic Progress

A school’s academic progress is defined as the comparison of individual student scores from one year to the next, aggregated to the school level. ESSA requires that each state’s accountability system include “a measure of student growth” under section 1111(c)(4)(B)(ii)(I) for its elementary and middle schools.  Maine has chosen academic progress as its indicator to fulfill this requirement.

Background

Each year students in grades three through eight are administered statewide assessments in both English language arts (ELA) and mathematics.  Student performance on the state assessment is scored on a scale of 1 to 4.  A performance level of 3 or above indicates that a student is meeting grade-level expectations. Performance levels 1 through 3 have been divided into the lower 50% (A) and upper 50% (B) to allow students to demonstrate growth within a performance level. Every student that has been in the same district for two consecutive years will receive a progress score by looking at his or her score from the previous year in comparison to the current year. Individual students are assigned scores of 0 to 450 according to academic achievement scores from one year to the next. A score of 100 indicates expected growth. An individual score of less than 100 indicates that a student has not made adequate growth. The progress scores of all eligible students are added together and then divided by the number of eligible students.  The resulting number is the school indicator scores for ELA and math.

Progress in English Language Proficiency 

Maine defines English language proficiency as sufficient skill in English to meaningfully access the curriculum. This indicator focuses on English learners and measures the progress they make toward English language proficiency each school year.  ESSA requires that each state include an indicator that gauges “progress in achieving English language proficiency as defined by the State and measured by the assessments described in subsection (b)(2)(G), within a State-determined timeline for all English learners”.

Background

English learners are students who have a primary or home language other than English and are in the process of learning English. Around 3% of Maine’s students are English learners, and their schools support them to learn English and succeed academically. They may receive English language support services inside or outside of their regular classes, programs specifically for English language development, or a variety of other supports. It usually takes 4-7 years for an English learner to become proficient in English, but this can vary depending on many factors. Each year English learners are administered ACCESS for ELLs, a test that measures a student’s ability to listen, speak, read, and write in English. A student’s overall score ranges from 1.0-6.0. In Maine, English language proficiency is defined as level 4.5, so the progress in English language proficiency indicator measures how much progress a student makes each year toward reaching level 4.5. A school’s score for progress in English language proficiency is based on the percentage of English learners at the school who have met their annual growth goals.

Academic Achievement 

Within Maine’s assessment system, this accountability measurement (or indicator) is defined as the number of students scoring a level 3 or above.  ESSA requires that each state’s accountability system include “academic achievement as measured by proficiency on the annual assessments” required under subsection 1111 (b)(2)(B)(v)(I).

Background

Maine’s strategic plan aims for students to graduate from high school college- or career-ready; academic achievement is a cornerstone of the state’s accountability system. Maine administers the Maine Educational Assessments (MEAs) annually to measure student performance in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Using the cut-scores that have been established for these assessments, students earn a score ranging from 1 to 4.  The state has established the ambitious goal of improving the achievement of each student group by 20% by 2030.  With fidelity to that goal, each student group’s performance within a school will be used to calculate a school’s academic achievement level.

Graduation Rate 

ESSA requires that each state’s accountability system include “the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate” and “the extended-year adjusted cohort graduation rate” (page 37 of ESSA). The adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR) is defined as:  A federally-established formula to be used by each state and the District of Columbia representing the percentage of students from a particular cohort, graduating within four years of becoming first-time freshmen.  Within Maine’s accountability system, the graduation rate indicator reflects the number of students graduating “on time” in Maine, as well as the graduating students who progressed at a different but acceptable rate.

Background

Achieving a diploma is a major accomplishment and marks a significant turning point in a student’s life. It is important to highlight the number of students achieving a diploma, whether it takes some students four years or longer to do so. The four-year rate is the number of students who graduate in four years with a high school diploma, divided by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class. The 5 and 6 year rates reflect the number of graduating students who took 5 and 6 years, respectively to graduate from high school.

Ambitious long-term goals were developed to reduce the percentage of non-graduating students in a five-step process to result in the student groups all meeting the goal of 90% by 2030. 

The calculation process, for example, is as follows:

         Student Group: All Students        

Step 1: 2016 Graduation Rate = 86.83%

         Step 2: 90% - 86.83% = 3.17%

         Step 3: Differential for each 3-year step is 3.17 divided by 5 = .61%

Step 4: Add to the baseline .61 % and add the .61% to each subsequent step to reach the goal of 90% by 2030.

This calculation methodology is used for each of the student groups with the five step differential based on the difference between 90% and the baseline % divided by 5 and added to the baseline and each subsequent step.

Goals for the Four-year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate

The same methodology used above for the four year cohort is used for the Extended Year Cohort Rate.

Ambitious long term goals were developed to reduce the percentage of non-graduating students in a four step process to result in all student groups meeting the goal of 92% by 2030. The calculation process, for example, is as follows:

         Student Group: All Students

         Step 1: 2016 Graduation Rate = 88.61%

         Step 2: 92% - 88.61%= 3.39%

         Step 3: Differential for each 3 year step is 3.39 divided by 5 = .678%

Step 4: Add to the baseline .678 % and add the .678% to each subsequent step to reach the goal of 92% by 2030.

This calculation methodology is used for each of the student groups with the five step differential based on the difference between 92% and the baseline % divided by 5 and added to the baseline and each subsequent step.

Goals for Extended-year Cohort Graduation Rates