    
Methodology The goal of ConnCAN’s School Report Cards project is to help Connecticut parents serve as more effective advocates for their children by providing them with a straightforward and easy-to-use assessment of how well their child’s public school is meeting the needs of all its students. Data Sources The descriptive information provided on the schools (district, level, type, size, grades, demographics, per pupil spending, and contact information) was obtained from the Connecticut State Department of Education’s Strategic School Profiles database. The student performance data provided on the schools are based on the most recent results from Connecticut’s two statewide assessment tests: the 2006 Connecticut Mastery Test and the 2005 Connecticut Academic Performance Test. The Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) is a statewide, criterion-referenced examination designed and developed by the State Department of Education to assess student performance against established state standards and administered each spring to all public school students in grades three through eight. The CMT measures how well students are achieving in the areas of mathematics, reading, and writing compared to the expectations for their grade level through approximately seven hours of testing over a one- to four-week period. The skills tested on the CMT are identified in the Connecticut curriculum framework and each student’s achievement is compared to a set of established standards for their grade in each subject area. The reading section of the CMT is based on the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) test and the Reading Comprehension test, and assesses students’ understanding of what they have read through both multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions that require written responses. The writing section tests students through both multiple-choice questions on composition, revision, and editing of passages and a required writing sample in response to a specific topic. The mathematics section uses multiple-choice, open-ended and grid-in questions to assess students’ mastery of basic skills, their understanding of key concepts, and their ability to solve problems. While there is no “passing” grade on the CMT, the State of Department of Education does set “state goals” for each subject area in each grade tested. The State Department of Education defines these state goals as the knowledge, skills, and critical thinking abilities that are “reasonable to expect of students” within their grade level. Students’ raw scores (the total number of correct responses) are translated into scale scores from 100 to 400 points, and cut points are assigned for each test for what constitutes the state goal. While the department also reports the percentage of students scoring at a level above Goal, using the term Advanced, and below, using the terms Proficient, Basic, and Below Basic, ConnCAN uses the Goal standard to set the bar for rating schools at the level of performance “reasonable to expect of students” within their grade level. Data Analysis The performance data provided in the report cards are based on the percentage of students within each school who scored within the goal range on the CMT. The State Department of Education makes this percentage score publicly available for schools in which at least 20 students in a given grade completed the CMT. These percentage scores for Connecticut’s public schools are reported for each of the content areas on the CMT (math, reading and writing). To provide a single score for comparing schools within a district and for comparing subgroups within a school, a single “Students within Goal Range” score is calculated for each school by taking the average percentage of students within goal range across the three tests on the CMT. Elementary schools are assessed using the results from the fifth-grade test (with fourth-grade results used when an elementary school does not have a fifth grade). Middle schools are assessed using the results from the eighth-grade test (with the seventh-grade results used when a middle school does not have an eighth grade). This score provides a straightforward and easy-to-use yardstick on how well the school, on average, is meeting the needs of its students across these key subject areas. To better understand how well a school is meeting the needs of those students traditionally underserved in Connecticut, a “Students within Goal Range” score is also calculated for African Americans, Hispanics and low-income students. The average score for these subgroups is also calculated and presented in the report cards as “Subgroups within Goal Range.” Since data are not made public by the Connecticut State Department of Education for schools with less than 20 students per subgroup, low-income scores can only be calculated for 47 percent of schools, African American scores can only be calculated for 23 percent of schools, and Hispanic scores can only be calculated for 25 percent of schools. To help bring to light any gaps between subgroups within a school, the difference between the average percentage of low-income and non-low income students, African American and white students, and Hispanic and white students within goal range is calculated. The average of these gaps within a school is also calculated and presented as “Gap between Subgroups.” Overall, 30 percent of schools have enough students in these subgroups to calculate at least one “Gap between Subgroups” score. Finally, to shed light on the relative effectiveness of schools in increasing the percentage of students within goal range during their time in the school, the change in the average percentage of a student cohort within goal range is calculated. For elementary schools, the performance gains score is the average change between the 2006 third grade and the 2007 fourth grade, and the 2006 fourth grade and the 2007 fifth grade. For middle schools, the performance gains score is the average change between the 2006 fifth grade and the 2007 sixth grade, the 2006 sixth grade and the 2007 seventh grade, and the 2006 seventh grade and the 2007 eighth grade. A positive score means that the average percentage of students within goal range increased during their year in school while a negative score means the average percentage of students within goal range decreased. This performance gains score could be calculated for 96 percent of all schools. It is important to note that the ability of this indicator to represent an individual school’s impact on the change in student achievement is determined in part by the stability of the student body. Changes in the composition of the student body within a school, either through incoming or outgoing students, will lessen the efficacy of this measure. The average student stability rate for 2005-06 was 87 percent for elementary schools and 90 percent for middle schools. Only 6 percent of elementary schools and 6 percent of middle schools had a student stability rate of less than 70 percent for the 2005-06 school year. Similarly, while the goal standard is designed to measure the level of performance “reasonable to expect of students” within their grade level, small differences in the way this “cut score” is determined between years may affect figures for increases or decreases in the percentage of students that have crossed this threshold of grade-level knowledge. Grading While the scores across the four major sections of the report card—Performance Gains, Students within Goal Range, Subgroups within Goal Range, and Gaps between Subgroups—are presented with district and state averages to provide a comparison point, it is also helpful for parents to have an absolute benchmark for how their child’s school is performing. To meet this need, each elementary and middle school is also assigned a letter grade from A to F in each section for which data is available. Grading Tables Students/Subgroup within Goal Range Grade / Score
Grade / Score Performance Gains If a school's score increased, the difference between these scores is divided by the percentage of students not at goal in 2006. Then the following grade scale is applied: A .24 or more If a school's score decreased, the difference between these scores is divided by the percentage of students at goal in 2006. Then the following grade scale is applied: C- - 0.1 to -.04 Schools with an average percentage of students within goal range in 2006 of 85 or greater receive an N/A since the grade scale begins to approach the ceiling of 100 above this level, which diminishes its meaningfulness as a measure of improvement.
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