LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF
COLORADO’S GROWTH
MODEL
Alyssa Pearson
Colorado Department of Education
Colorado Department of
1 Education
Previous State Legislation
● HB 04-1433: Diagnostic Academic Growth
Calculation
• Not to be used for accountability
• Measures longitudinal growth of students using all available
years of data
• Diagnostic information for student sent to district
• Is student on track to reach proficiency within 3 years or
by 10th grade.
• Data was not widely used or discussed
• Useful process for R&D
Colorado Department of
2 Education
Current State Legislation
● HB 07-1048: Adequate Academic Growth
• The cornerstone of the state’s accountability
system
• Technical Advisory Panel
• Recommend model to State Board of Education
• Use model for:
• Governor’s Improvement Award
• Determining if students are on track to proficiency within
3 years or 10th grade
Colorado Department of
3 Education
APPLICATION OF
COLORADO’S GROWTH
MODEL
Alyssa Pearson
Colorado Department of Education
Colorado Department of
4 Education
Two Major Purposes
● Accountability
• Legislated purposes
• Adding more meaning to existing systems
• Getting the right incentives
● Data-driven Decisions
• Where do you “dig deeper”?
Colorado Department of
5 Education
Aggregating Student Growth
Percentiles
● Find the median student growth percentile
• School
• Disaggregated group
• District
● Used as the one summary number for growth
● Categorized as:
• Low (less than 35th percentile)
• Typical (35th- 65th percentiles)
• High (greater than 65th percentile)
Colorado Department of
6 Education
ACCOUNTABILITY
DECISIONS
Colorado Department of
7 Education
ACCOUNTABILITY
● Implementation in 2008-2009
CSAP Press Release with Growth Data
● Growth data released with CSAP status data
● Challenge of having data ready on the same timeline
● Want growth to be viewed as an equally important piece
of information for the public
Colorado Department of
8 Education
ACCOUNTABILITY
● Implementation in 2008-2009
Governor’s Improvement Awards
● Awards based on school’s median growth percentile and
school size
School Accountability Reports
● State accountability system for schools
● Status measure- weighted index
● Growth measure- based on median growth percentile for
the school
Colorado Department of
9 Education
ACCOUNTABILITY
● Implementation in 2008-2009
District Accreditation
● Districts are accredited by the Colorado Department of
Education
● Accreditation rules approved by the State Board in May 2008
● Decisions made based on status, growth, gaps and post-
secondary readiness
● Districts doing well on all indicators, visited every 3 years
● Districts struggling will have yearly visits
Colorado Department of
10 Education
ACCOUNTABILITY
● Implementation in Future Years
AYP
● Notified ED that we are interested in submitting a plan
● Currently using Matched Safe Harbor option
● Goal to decrease the focus on the “bubble” kids
● Challenge of how to add the growth measure in with
meaningful, attainable targets
● Timing with new administration/ re-authorization
Colorado Department of
11 Education
USE FOR DATA DRIVEN
DECISIONS
Colorado Department of
12 Education
Assessment Data-Driven Decisions
● State assessment data should be used to find
where we might want to “dig deeper”
● Useful for students, parents, teachers,
schools, districts, and the state
Colorado Department of
13 Education
OUR OLD MAP
Status
High Performing
Low Performing
Colorado Department of
14 Education
OUR NEW MAP
Status and Growth
High Status,
High Status,
High Growth
Low Growth
Low Status, Low Status,
Low Growth High Growth
Colorado Department of
15 Education
What can we dig for?
● Now that we have a more detailed map, we
need to be clear about what we can find.
● Need to provide guidance to users about what
this data can answer, and what it can’t answer
by itself.
● Is the “treasure” really a treasure?
Colorado Department of
16 Education
STUDENTS AND PARENTS
● What the growth model can answer:
• How much growth did I show relative to other
students starting at the same place?
• How much support do I need to get to the next
proficiency level?
Colorado Department of
17 Education
STUDENTS AND PARENTS
● What the growth measure, along with other
information* can answer:
• Is my school able to help students, especially
students like me, grow as much as I need to?
• What kinds of support do I need to get to reach my
goals for proficiency?
* Other information consists of formative assessment results, knowledge of student and teacher
needs, analysis of student work, etc.
Colorado Department of
18 Education
SCHOOL LEVEL
● What the growth model can answer:
• What is the median student growth percentile in our school?
• How does it compare to other similar schools?
• How does the median student growth percentile differ
between different groups of students?
• How much extra support do our students need to reach
proficiency?
• Do we see exceptionally high or low growth anywhere in our
school?
Colorado Department of
19 Education
SCHOOL LEVEL
● What the growth measure, along with other
information* can answer:
• Are certain intervention programs used in our school correlated
with greater student growth percentiles?
• Are these interventions leading students to reach proficiency?
• What may be causing exceptionally high or low growth in our
school?
• How can we share what is working well for us?
• What are realistic school improvement goals for student growth?
• * Other information consists of formative assessment results, knowledge of student and
teacher needs, analysis of student work, etc.
Colorado Department of
20 Education
DISTRICT LEVEL
● What the growth model can answer:
• What is the median student growth percentile in our district?
• How does it compare with other similar districts?
• How does the median student growth percentile differ between
different groups of students?
• What percent of students are making growth adequate to reach
proficiency within 3 years?
• How much extra support do our students need to reach
proficiency?
• Do we see exceptionally high or low growth anywhere in our
district?
• How are the different schools in our district doing? Are there any
patterns?
Colorado Department of
21 Education
DISTRICT LEVEL
● What the growth measure, along with other
information* can answer:
• Are certain programs used in our district correlated with greater
student growth percentiles?
• Are these programs leading students to reach proficiency?
• What may be causing exceptionally high or low growth in our
district?
• How can we share what is working well for us?
• How do the median growth percentiles impact school accreditation
decisions?
* Other information consists of formative assessment results, knowledge of student and teacher
needs, analysis of student work, etc.
Colorado Department of
22 Education
STATE- CDE
● What the growth model can answer:
• What are the median growth percentiles for
schools, districts?
• How does the median student growth percentile
differ between different groups of students?
• Which districts and schools are showing
exceptionally high or low median growth
percentile?
Colorado Department of
23 Education
STATE- CDE
● What the growth measure, along with other
information* can answer:
• Where are limited fiscal and personnel resources most needed?
• Are our School Improvement Grants having an impact on student
growth?
• Do Supplemental Educational Services increase student median
growth percentiles?
• Which schools and districts are showing the greatest median
growth percentiles for different student groups?
• What can we learn from them about what works?
* Other information consists of formative assessment results, knowledge of student and teacher
needs, analysis of student work, etc.
Colorado Department of
24 Education
PUBLIC
● What the growth model can answer:
• Which schools and districts in Colorado have the highest median
student growth percentiles?
• Which schools and districts have the highest median student
growth percentiles for different groups of students?
• What percent of students are making growth adequate to reach
proficiency with in three years?
• How much support do we need to provide our students in order to
reach proficiency in one, two or three years?
Colorado Department of
25 Education
PUBLIC
● What the growth measure, along with other
information* can answer:
• Which schools and districts are “best”?
• Which schools and districts are “best” for different students’ needs?
• What resources do we need to provide, as a state, to ensure all of
Colorado’s students can reach proficiency by 10th grade?
* Other information consists of formative assessment results, knowledge of student and
teacher needs, analysis of student work, costs for resources, evidence of what supports lead
to high median growth percentiles, etc.
Colorado Department of
26 Education
LOOKING FORWARD
Colorado Department of
27 Education
LOOKING FORWARD
● Explain what the growth data actually is to all
stakeholders
● Provide guidance for use of the growth data (what it
can answer and what it can’t answer alone)
● Expand its use for accountability
● Bring Colorado’s accountability measures into
alignment
● Explore the role of the data in program evaluation
Colorado Department of
28 Education
More Information, Feedback and
Insight
Growth Information posted at: www.cde.state.co.us/index_accredit.htm
Work with us:
www.cde.state.co.us/cdemgmt/download/1188-Princ-
Consultant_05.08.pdf
Colorado Department of Education
Alyssa Pearson
pearson_a@cde.state.co.us
Or Rich Wenning
Wenning_r@cde.state.co.us
Colorado Department of
29 Education
About this copy
Legislative History of Colorado’s Growth Model — CCSSO, June 2008.
This is an image-based copy of the original PowerPoint slides; builds and animations are flattened.