Growth+Scores

Growth Scores and Their Usefulness Attached is a summary of teachers’ growth scores by class for grades 4-10.

We need to look at the data to see if it provides meaningful information about teacher effectiveness. (Remember these data will be used by the DESE to assess teacher effectiveness.) As you look at the data, do the scores tell you something about the effectiveness or lack thereof of a teacher?

In at least two instances in which teachers have multiple scores for multiple classrooms, can you see a relationship between this teacher’s score and other factors? For example, for those with the highest scores do you see:

· Consistent routines so that all students are on task and have the materials that they need · Close alignment with the MCAS tested curriculum · Effective use of class time · Deep knowledge of the content · Are students typically engrossed in the class · The growth of all abilities of students in the class, and therefore it shows that the teacher understands the needs of the neediest, the average, and the very able learners so that each grows?

Of course, we cannot use these numbers without investigating the context and looking at the students in the class and even the circumstances for the teacher. Is the teacher new to the curriculum? Was the class exceptionally motivated to learn this year?

Why have NMS and AES and not the other schools shown exceptionally high growth? What can other schools learn from these teachers/behaviors/techniques?

The DESE definition:

SGPs are percentiles (ranging from 1 to 99) calculated by comparing one student's history of MCAS scores to the scores of all the other students in the state with a similar history of MCAS scores. We refer to this group of all other students with similar score histories as a student's academic peers. In simple terms, students earning high growth percentiles answered more questions correctly on the spring 2010 MCAS test than their academic peers; conversely, students earning low growth percentiles answered fewer questions correctly than their academic peers.

Similar to MCAS scaled scores, SGPs require some interpretation. The following chart provides a way to think about student performance from both an "achievement" perspective and a "growth" perspective.

SGP Range Description 1 - 39 Lower Growth 40 - 60 Moderate Growth 61 - 99 Higher Growth

The numbers included in the following pages include the average Scaled Score for the class, the CPI average for the class, and the average Growth Score for each teacher. Also, in some instances three earlier years’ average scaled scores for this specific class are also given.