Cohort Graduation Exit Code Review December 18, 2014.

Cohort Graduati on Exit Code ReviewDecember 18, 2014

Agenda

• Overview, Purpose, and Background

• Students Included in Cohort Graduation Rate

• Legitimate Leavers

Overview and Purpose

This presentation is designed to provide district accountability contacts with an overview and understanding of exit codes and required documentation as related to cohort graduation rate.

Purpose

Through this overview district staff will be able to understand:

(a) The policy around cohort graduation rates

(b) The exclusion of legitimate leavers from cohort graduation rates

(c) Documentation required for use of legitimate leaver exit codes

Background

The Department has annually provided districts with a data certification period for corrections to cohort graduation rate data.

The 2015 cohort graduation data (2015 SPS), for students in the 2013-14 cohort, certification window will be open in January. Additionally, during data certification, a review of legitimate leaver codes will be conducted, similar to last year, for all LEAs.

Graduation data is used in SPS as defined on the following slides.

High School SPS: Accountability

School Accountability

• School accountability for Louisiana schools with grades 9-12 includes student assessment performance on both EOC and ACT, progress points, cohort graduation rate, and graduation index.

Grades 9-12

Assessment 25%

ACT 25%

Cohort Graduation Rate 25%

Graduation Index 25%

+ Progress Points

6Louisiana Believes

Importance of Cohort

Cohort used to calculate:• Graduation Rate

– Percentage of students in a cohort who graduate in 4 years with standard diploma

• Graduation Index– Average of points awarded to cohort members based on 4 year

result (AP, earned GED, earned diploma, etc.)

High School SPS: Graduation Rate

Purpose

The cohort graduation rate measures the base expectation, that students who enter 9th grade will graduate four years later.

Accountability

• Inclusion: All 9th graders who enter a graduation cohort are included in calculations of the cohort graduation rate.

• Transitional 9th: Students will enter into the first-time ninth grade cohort in the year that follows the transitional 9th grade. If students in transitional 9th dropout, they will be included as dropout in cohort graduation rate calculations.

Calculation

The cohort graduation rate is calculated in the following manner:Cohort Graduation Rate (CGR) Formula

0 to 60 percent grad rate CGR x 1.166667

61 to 100 percent grad rate (CGR x 2.0) - 50

High School SPS: Quality of Diploma

PurposeThe strength of diploma index measures the quality of the diploma earned by each cohort completer.AccountabilitySchools earn points for graduates in the following manner (2014 cohort completers):

Quality of Diploma (Graduation Index): Student Results Points AwardedHS Diploma plus(a) AP score of 3 or higher, IB score of 4 or higher, or CLEP score of 50 or higher; OR(b) Advanced statewide Jump Start credential*Students achieving both (a) and (b) will generate 160 points.

150

HS Diploma plus(a) At least one passing course grade for TOPS core curriculum credit of the following type: AP**, college

credit, dual enrollment, or IB; OR(b) Basic statewide Jump Start credential*Students achieving both (a) and (b) will generate 115 points.**Students must take the AP exam and pass the course to earn 110 points.

110

Four-year graduate (Includes Career Diploma student with a regional Jump Start credential)

100

Five-year graduate with any diploma*Five-year graduates who earn an AP score of 3 or higher, an IB score of 4 or higher, or a CLEP of 50 or higher will generate 140 points.

75

Six-year graduate with any diploma 50HiSET (formerly GED) 25Non-graduate without HiSET 0

Agenda




10Louisiana Believes

Schools that Receive a Graduation Rate

Location has sitecode

School has a grade 12 enrollment

School has at least 10 members in cohort


Cohort Assignment Timeline

Year 1: Students assigned to state cohort only first year of 9th grade

Year 2: Student is in 10th grade

Year 3: Students assigned to districts in 3rd year

Year 4: Students assigned to schools in 4th year


State Cohort Assignment Table

Student Timeline Cohort AssignmentYear Student Joined State Cohort* School** District** State

9th grade Y Y YYear Two Y Y Y

Year Three (On or before Oct 1) Y Y YYear Three (After Oct 1) N N Y

Year Four (On or before Oct 1) N N YYear Four (After Oct 1) N N Y

* First time in state system or return of legitimate leaver** Site or LEA w/ final resolution record


Cohort Transfer Table

*Site or LEA w/ final resolution record; Cohort entry year never changes.

Student Timeline Cohort Transfer Assignment

Transfers w/in Cohort by Year Cohort Entry Year

School* District* State

3rd Year-Same LEA On/before Oct 1 1 or 2 Y Y Y

3rd Year-Same LEA After Oct 1 1 or 2 Y Y Y

3rd Year-Different LEA On/before Oct 1 1or 2 Y Y Y

3rd Year-Different LEA After Oct 1 1or 2 N N Y

4th Year-Same LEA On/before Oct 1 1,2, or 3 Y Y Y

4th Year-Same LEA After Oct 1 1,2, or 3 N Y Y

4th Year-Different LEA On/before Oct 1 1,2, or 3 N N Y

4th Year-Different LEA After Oct 1 1,2, or 3 N N Y


Students with Disabilities

• All students are included in cohort graduation rate and index

• Students with disabilities must graduate in four years with a regular diploma to be a graduate in the rate but may also be included as fifth and sixth year graduates

• Disability status is determined by last year of record

Agenda





Legitimate Leavers

Students who exit Louisiana’s Student Information System (SIS) system in fewer than four years for legitimate reasons shall not be included in the cohort's graduation index calculations.

SIS exit codes that exclude students from cohort (defined as legitimate leavers):• 07: Death

• 10: Transfer Out of State/Country

• 14: Transfer to Private School

• 16: Home School Transfer

• 20: Transfer to Early College Program

Legitimate Leaver Exit Code Review(slide 1 of 2)

Exit Code Reviews

Because legitimate leaver exit codes remove a student from the graduation cohort calculation, the LDE reviews these exit codes and required documentation. Doing these reviews helps ensure districts are maintaining the required documentation for when students exit and that the graduation rate, across the state, is accurate.

Last Year

Last year, for the 2012-13 graduation cohort, the LDE reviewed a random sample of legitimate leaver exit codes (10, 14, and 16), the first such review since 2008. In total, over 400 records were reviewed for these three legitimate leaver exit codes.

In cases where proper documentation was not maintained, as determined by the review, such students were included as non-graduates in the 2012-13 cohort graduation rate.

Legitimate Leaver Exit Code Review(slide 2 of 2)

2013-14 Graduation Cohort Exit Code Reviews

For the 2013-14 graduation cohort, a random sample of all LEAs application of legitimate leaver exit codes will be reviewed, as part of data certification.

Process

Districts, in January, will receive a list of students who were randomly sampled for this review. Documentation for these students will be submitted as part of data certification for these students.

Next Steps

Districts should ensure that all required documentation is in place for all students with not only legitimate leaver exit codes, but all other exit codes.

Legitimate Leaver Exit Codes: Required Documentation

Specific documentation is required for students to be considered legitimate leavers (as outlined in Bulletin 111, Section 611) .

Exit Code DocumentationExit Code Description Required Documentation

07Death (of student) or permanent incapacitation Obituary, death certificate, or similar form

10 Transfer out-of-state/country

Out-of-state: request for records from the receiving school.Out-of-country: request for records or a statement signed by the parent. If the student is in a foreign exchange program, documentation proving the student was a foreign exchange student.

14Transfer to Private School (not including scholarship students) Request for records from the receiving school.

16 Transfer to Home Study An LDE approval letter.

Next Steps for Districts

• Districts should ensure that all required documentation is in place for all students with not only legitimate leaver exit codes, but all other exit codes.

• Participate in January data certification system webinar and/or in person trainings

• Complete January data certification and respond to exit code review within the data certification window with appropriate documentation as needed.

Cohort Graduation Exit Code Review December 18, 2014.

Documents

Transcript of Cohort Graduation Exit Code Review December 18, 2014.