# |
Condition |
ABC's Adjustment |
| 1 |
K-2 Feeder |
A K-2 feeder school serves only students in kindergarten, first grade, or
second grade and sends more than half its students to a receiving school that has a third
grade. ABCs awards are based on the performance of students in the school that receives
the K-2 students. The K-2 feeder can meet expected growth, exemplary growth, or receive no
recognition. K-2 schools cannot receive recognition as a Most Improved school in academic
growth/gain, School of Excellence/Distinction, or be identified as a low-performing
school. |
| . |
A Note about Alternative/Special Schools |
Alternative/special schools include: - Alternative schools that are
identified with an assigned school code from DPI, and
- Special Schools, such as:
- Vocational and Career Centers that are identified with an assigned school code from
DPI where students can take special vocational courses as well as academic courses;
- Special Education Schools that serve exclusively students with disabilities who are
not following the Standard Course of Study and who do not take state tests;
- Hospital Schools that serve students while they are hospitalized for short or
long-term illnesses.
For 1998-99, alternative/special schools cannot receive special recognition (e.g. most
improved schools in academic growth/gain, or School of Excellence/Distinction), and the
State Board of Education requires that no alternative/special school be identified as
low-performing. The same membership rules apply to alternative/special schools, i.e., 91
days in membership for the K-8 growth composite. |
| 2 |
Alternative/Special Schools |
Alternative/special schools with sufficient data are included in the ABCs
using standard ABCs procedures, with the exceptions described below. |
| 3 |
Alternative/Special Schools |
Alternative/special schools with insufficient data will receive incentive
awards based on the status (expected growth/gain or exemplary growth/gain) attained by the
schools they serve. However, these alternative/special schools will not be assigned a
status for ABCs reporting purposes. If none of the schools served by the
alternative/special school receives an incentive award, the alternative/special school
receives no incentive award. Special Education Schools, Vocational and Career Centers,
and Hospital Schools are also eligible for participation in the ABCs using the feeder
pattern.
|
| 4 |
Senior High Schools |
Senior High Schools (schools with grades 10-12 only) have two options
for participation: Grades 9 &endash; 12 Model:
Grades 10-12 data can be combined with grade 9 data from feeder junior high schools.
- All courses and components are part of the model;
- Algebra I scores of ninth graders who took the course while in grades 7 or 8 are
included when computing the performance composite; and
- incentive awards are prorated at the junior highs or senior highs to reflect the
special arrangement. |
| 5 |
Senior High Schools |
Grades 10-12 Model: - English I and Economic, Legal, and Political
Systems (ELPS) are not included unless more than 10% of students in grade 10 take English
I or ELPS respectively, and
- Algebra I scores of tenth graders who took the course while in grades 7, 8, or 9 are
included when computing the performance composite. |
| 6 |
High Schools in first year of operation |
High schools in their first year of operation will not be in the ABCs
model for one year nor be eligible for incentive awards. |
| 7 |
High Schools in second year of operation |
High schools that are in their second year of operation do not have three
years of data to use in the computation of end-of-course gain (difference between the
current year and a two-year baseline). These schools participate in the ABCs using one
previous year's data as the baseline in computing the gain (difference between the current
year and previous year's data). |
| 8 |
Mandated End-of-Course Test Has Been Moved to a Different
Grade Level |
The end-of-course gain composite is calculated using the difference
between the current year's index and the baseline (average of the previous two years). If
an end-of-course test has been moved to another grade, and thus non-comparable groups have
been created, the course that has been moved will not be included in the gain. |
| 9 |
Schools with Insufficient Data |
Schools have insufficient data when there are: - fewer than 15 students
in the end-of-grade growth composite, including the High School Comprehensive Test
- fewer than 30 students in an end-of-course test in any year
If schools with insufficient data (other than alternative/special schools) meet
expected growth/gain or exemplary growth/gain with the data they have, then they will
receive the respective ABCs status and incentive award. If the school does not meet
expected/exemplary growth/gain based on the data that are available, the subjects/courses
for which there are insufficient data will be dropped from the calculation and ABCs status
(and incentive awards) will be based on the subjects/courses for which there are
sufficient data. These courses, however, will not be dropped from the performance
composite. Schools with insufficient data will not receive special recognition as a most
improved school in academic growth/gain or School of Excellence. If schools have
insufficient data for every component, and they did not meet expected/exemplary
growth/gain with the data available, then they will not be included in the ABCs. |
| 10 |
High Schools with major demographic changes due to district
reassignments |
High schools that indicate they have had major changes in demographics
due to major changes in attendance areas will be treated as new high schools for purposes
of the ABCs. This means they will not be in the model for one year nor be eligible for
incentive awards. The local school districts determine what is "major." The
superintendent must return a letter to describe these decisions to DPI, stating which high
schools will be treated as new schools due to major changes in attendance areas and how
these decisions were made. |
