Illustration of SGP Growth Target Calculation MCAS 2022 to 2023 Damian Betebenner & Adam VanIwaarden Center for Assessment April 18th, 2024

Types of Targets • As we’ve discussed, setting growth targets requires two things: 1. An achievement goal (e.g., proficiency/meeting expectations) 2. A time-frame to reach that goal (e.g., 5 years) • In the beginning (2005 to 2008) states geared everything toward proficiency. • Since 2010, states have considered achievement goals besides proficiency. • More recently, states have also begun tailoring the time frame to reach the goal issues such as number of years student has been receiving ELL services or the student’s proximity to the achievement goal.

Catch-Up/Keep-Up • The most prevalent type of growth target is the Catch-Up/Keep-Up Target • Catch-Up: Students who are not currently meeting expectations (level 1 or level 2) are given a trajectory to reach proficient/meeting expectations status over a given time frame (e.g., 5 years) • Keep-Up: Students who are currently meeting expectations (level 3 or level 4) are given a trajectory to maintain proficient/ meeting expectations status over a given time frame (e.g., 5 years)

Catch-Up Level 4 Level 3 SGP=88 SGP=69 SGP=58 SGP=54 SGP=65 500 SGP=58 SGP=69 SGP=54 SGP=58 SGP=69 Level 2 SGP=58 Level 1 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8

Catch-Up • The figure illustrates 5 trajectories for the student with a starting scale score of 475 (θ = − 1.154888), Level 2. • Each trajectory is associated with an SGP (I sometime call these percentile trajectories) indicates the annual SGP growth associated with the trajectory. • Each trajectory has equal, annual “difficulty” (thus the same SGP)

Catch-Up • The Catch-Up Target for the student is the MINIMUM of the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year SGP trajectories. • That is, the target is the ONE trajectory that catches the student up over the next 5 years. • Most often, the least is the 5 year target, but not necessarily • In some states the achievement levels are set unevenly in terms of difficulty so more time doesn’t necessarily mean less difficulty to reach. • In the example given, the 4 and 5 year trajectories are of equal difficulty. • For each dot on each trajectory there is an associated scaled score (theta value) associated with it. • Though the trajectories appear straight, in reality they are usually slightly concave down indicating larger scaled score gains in the initial years of the trajectory. • If Grade 8 is the terminal grade, then grade 3 is the only grade with a 5 year catch-up trajectory.

Keep-Up Level 4 Level 3 SGP=18 SGP=30 SGP=32 SGP=36 SGP=40 Level 2 Level 1 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8

Keep-Up • The figure illustrates 5 trajectories for the student with a starting scale score of 511 (θ = 0.5261942), Level 3. • Each trajectory is associated with an SGP indicates the annual SGP growth associated with the trajectory. • Each trajectory has equal, annual “difficulty” (thus the same SGP)

Keep-Up • The Keep-Up Target for the student is the MAXIMUM of the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year SGP trajectories (40 in this case). • That is, the target ensures that the student keeps-up for ALL of the next 5 years. • The number of years associated maximum SGP trajectory can vary depending on a number of factors including the normative difficulty of the achievement levels going forward • In the example given, the 4 and 5 year trajectories are of equal difficulty. • For each dot on each trajectory there is an associated scaled score (theta value) associated with it. • Though the trajectories appear straight, in reality they are usually slightly concave up. • If Grade 8 is the terminal grade, then grade 3 is the only grade with a 5 year Keep-up trajectory.

Move-Up/Stay-Up • The second most prevalent type of growth target is the Move- Up/Stay-Up Target • Move-Up: Students who are currently meeting expectations (level 3) but not exceeding (level 4) are given a trajectory to reach exceeding status over a given time frame (e.g., 5 years) • Stay-Up: Students who are currently exceeding expectations (level 4) are given a trajectory to maintain proficient status over a given time frame (e.g., 5 years)

Move-Up Level 4 SGP=91 SGP=80 SGP=70 SGP=65 SGP=65 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8

Move-Up • The figure illustrates 5 trajectories for the student with a starting scale score of 511 (θ = 0.5261942), Level 3. • Each trajectory is associated with an SGP indicates the annual SGP growth associated with the trajectory. • Each trajectory has equal, annual “difficulty” (thus the same SGP)

Move-Up • The Move-Up Target for the student is the MINIMUM of the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year SGP trajectories (65 in this case). • That is, the target is the ONE trajectory that moves the student up over the next 5 years. • Most often, the least is the 5 year target, but not necessarily • In some states the achievement levels are set unevenly in terms of difficulty so more time doesn’t necessarily mean less difficulty to reach. • For each dot on each trajectory there is an associated scaled score (theta value) associated with it. • Though the trajectories appear straight, in reality they are usually slightly concave down indicating larger scaled score gains in the initial years of the trajectory. • If Grade 8 is the terminal grade, then grade 3 is the only grade with a 5 year move-up trajectory.

Stay-Up Level 4 SGP=45 SGP=64 SGP=58 SGP=57 SGP=59 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8

Stay-Up • The figure illustrates 5 trajectories for the student with a starting scale score of 511 (θ = 2.138977), Level 4. • Each trajectory is associated with an SGP indicates the annual SGP growth associated with the trajectory. • Each trajectory has equal, annual “difficulty” (thus the same SGP)

Stay-Up • The Stay-Up Target for the student is the MAXIMUM of the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year SGP trajectories (64, in this case) • That is, the target ensures that the student keeps-up for ALL of the next 5 years. • The number of years associated maximum SGP trajectory can vary depending on a number of factors including the normative difficulty of the achievement levels going forward • For each dot on each trajectory there is an associated scaled score (theta value) associated with it. • Though the trajectories appear straight, in reality they are usually slightly concave up. • If Grade 8 is the terminal grade, then grade 3 is the only grade with a 5 year stay-up trajectory.

WIDA-ACCESS • WIDA-ACCESS targets are ALL catch-up targets where the desired achievement outcome is ELP proficiency (WIDA level • WIDA-ACCESS targets have a individual specific time-frame to reach ELP proficiency based upon the number of years that the student has been receiving ELL services ranging from 6 years (no services) to 1 year (5 or more years receiving services)

WIDA-ACCESS: Adequate Growth Level 5 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6

Summary • The goal of the growth-to-standard analyses is to communicate to stakeholders a “pathway” to a desirable achievement outcome over a given span of time. • As the catch-up/keep-up and move-up/stay-up illustrations show, there are consistent rules to how these interim annual targets are set. • As the WIDA-ACCESS illustration shows, customization can occur by specifying a student specific time-frame.

About this copy

Illustration of SGP Growth Target Calculation — MA DESE Target Illustration, April 2024.

This is an image-based copy of the original Keynote slides; builds and animations are flattened.