Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System (PVAAS):

PVAAS Public Site Tour

PVAAS Statewide Team for PDEFall 2011

Session Description This 60 minute session will provide an overview of

the PVAAS public reporting site.

All data reported on the public site will be described as to the intent and meaning of the results. This includes the district and school level data, the School Search feature and the web-based scatter plots.

Materials and resources to use as tools for communication about PVAAS will be reviewed.

Opportunities for questions and discussion will be provided.

Agenda

Achievement and Progress Data What’s New? Available Data & Features Website Demonstration Suggested Resources for

Communicating PVAAS Questions

Achievement vs. Progress

Achievement

The final result of an academic experience

Highly correlated with demographic factors, such as socioeconomic status

Affected by factors outside the school

Progress

Dependent upon what happens as a result of schooling

Not correlated with demographic factors

Is the concept underlying value-added analysis and reporting

Achievement vs. ProgressAchievement

Measures students’ performance at a single point in time

Compares student performance to a standard

Critical to students’ post-secondary opportunities

Progress

Measures students’ progress across time/years

Compares student performance to his/her own prior performance

Critical to ensuring students’ future and continued academic success

Stair-Step Expectations

Grade Three Grade Four Grade Five Grade 3 Test Grade 4 Test Grade 5 Test

In a perfect world students would start school at about the same academic level. Proficiency levels could simply be achieved by students gaining age

appropriate knowledge and skills each year.

Differentiated Reality

Grade Three Grade Four Grade Five

Students begin school at different places, and they often progress at different rates. Yet all students

are expected to achieve the same level of academic proficiency each year.

Grade 3 Test Grade 4 Test Grade 5 Test

The Need for Progress Measures

Grade Three Grade Four Grade Five

To measure school effectiveness in this “differentiated” world, we need to pay attention not

only to proficiency levels but also to how much progress students make in a given year.

Grade 3 Test Grade 4 Test Grade 5 Test

What is Value-Added?

Imagine a child’s physical growth curve

Parent or doctor measures the child’s height at various ages

A graph can be constructed to illustrate the height of the child as shown here

What is Value-Added? Let’s apply the same

process to education

This chart measures the growth, or progress, for a group of students at various grade levels

This is value-added following the growth, or progress, of students over time to estimate growth during a year of schooling.

With PVAAS, Pennsylvania educators get an indicator as to whether they are

making appropriate academic progress for their students!

Value-Added is… A statistical analysis used to measure a district’s

or school’s impact on the academic progress rates of groups of students from year to year.

Conceptually, a growth measure is approximately the difference between current achievement (current results) and prior achievement (prior results) with achievement being measured by an appropriate assessment, such as the PSSA.

PVAAS is NOT a simple comparison of two scores!

Value-Added & PVAAS

Pennsylvania’s model for value-added is called PVAAS - the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System.

PVAAS is based on the EVAAS Methodology – the Education Value-Added Assessment System.

The EVAAS methodology has been nationally reviewed and published.

Benefits of Value-Added Offers an objective, more accurate way to measure

the influence districts and schools have on students’ academic progress:

Administrators and Teachers can:• Monitor the progress of all groups of students from low-

achieving to high-achieving ensuring growth opportunities for all students

• Make more informed, data-driven decisions about where to focus resources to help students make greater progress and perform at higher levels.

• Align professional development efforts in the areas of greatest need.

• Identify best practices and implement instructional strategies and programs that best meet the needs of all students.

Key Concepts in Understanding PVAAS Reporting

PVAAS reporting reflects the effectiveness of your district’s or school’s Standards-Aligned System

PVAAS reporting reflects the district or school’s system regarding curriculum, assessment, and instruction

Overview of PVAAS Public Reports &

Features

Achievement + Growth

Achievement results (PSSA) and growth results (PVAAS) must be used together to get a complete

picture of student learning. To view the achievement results

for Pennsylvania's public districts/schools, go to:

http://paayp.emetric.net/

PVAAS Login Page

https://pvaas.sas.com

Public Home Screen

PVAAS Public Reports

Use of Reports Tab to Select & View Reports

PVAAS Public Reports

Use of Tests Tab to View Reports at Different Grade Levels for the District and School Value-Added Summaries

PVAAS Public Reports Value-Added Summary Reports

• District/LEA and School Level data only• Math and Reading

Grades 4-8 and 9-11• Science and Writing, Grades 9-11

School Search Capability• Allows users to find and view the progress of

local schools, charter schools, and full-time CTCs across Pennsylvania.

• Can search for similar schools based on grade levels tested, various demographics, Intermediate Unit (IU) region and/or county.

PVAAS Public Reports (continued)

Web-based scatter plots • Math, Reading

Grades 4-8 & Grades 9-11• Science and Writing, Grades 9-11

Reports on Public Site

The data on the PVAAS public site come directly from the reports on the district/school password-protected site.

This session will include a cross-walk between these two sites to show the source of the data on the public reporting.

Purpose of District & SchoolPVAAS Data

• Provides users with information to assist them in evaluating the overall effectiveness of a district/LEA or school on the academic progress of groups of students.

• This report is NOT a report on teacher effectiveness!

What is New?

Since Feb 2011 Public Reporting Release:• New: Web-based Scatterplots• New: Color Scheme/Legends• New: Addition of Science and Writing for

Grades 9-11 • New: Rollover Text Feature• New: Redesigned School Search Feature

Web-based Scatter Plots

Accessing Scatter Plots

The scatter plot report can be accessed directly within the orange “Reports” tab

Customizing Scatter Plots

Users can switch

subjects

Users can also switch

the the X and Y Axis

Roll-Over Feature!

Website Demonstration

https://pvaas.sas.com

District and School Value-Added Reports

PVAAS Value-added Growth Descriptors

Grades 4-8 Math & ReadingGrades 9-11 Math, Reading, Science & Writing

Example of District Value-Added Summary Report

Grades 4-8, Math & Reading

Example of School Value-Added Summary Report

Grades 4-8, Math & Reading

Where can I find this information on other reports?

Public Site: School Value-Added Summary Report

Restricted Site: School Value-Added Report

Example: Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the Growth Standard

Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the Growth Standard (on the public report) is the SAME as the Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the Growth

Standard on the School Value-Added Report (password-protected site)!

3.24th Grade Growth

0.05th Grade Growth

2 1.6 Growth Measure over Grades Relative to Growth Standard

What is the Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the State?

• Represents the average growth across the grade levels served between 4 and 8 compared to the average progress of all students in Pennsylvania at the same grade levels.

• It is the average academic growth of the district’s or school’s students, compared to the academic growth of students statewide.

• Answers the question, “How much did the district/LEA/school impact the academic progress of its students compared to the progress of other students in Pennsylvania in those same grade levels?”

Example: Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the State

Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the State (on the public report) is the SAME as the Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the State on the School

Value-Added Report (password-protected site)!

1.6Growth Measure over Grades Relative to Growth Standard

for the school

0.9 Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the State

?Average Growth over

Grades Relative to Growth Standard for the State

What is Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the Growth Standard for the State?

2.9Grade 4 State

3-Yr-Avg

-1.4Grade 5 State

3-Yr-Avg

2 .75 Average Growth over Grades Relative to Growth Standard for the State

Example: Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the State

Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the State (on the public report) is the SAME as the Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the State on the School

Value-Added Report (password-protected site)!

1.6Growth Measure over Grades Relative to Growth Standard

for the school

0.9 Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the State

.75Average Growth over

Grades Relative to Growth Standard for the State

Example of District Value-Added Summary Report

Grades 9-11, Math, Reading, Science & Writing

Example of School Value-Added Summary Report

Grades 9-11, Math, Reading, Science & Writing

Where can I find this information on other reports?

Public Site: School Value-Added Summary Report

Restricted Site: School Value-Added Report

Is it appropriate to compare the amount of progress made by a district/school to

another district/school?

• Without taking the Standard Error into account, it is NOT possible to directly compare growth measures across districts/schools.

• The color-coding of the growth measures does in fact take into account the Standard Error.

o Note the link to the color code legends on each report.

• The Average Growth Index found on the School Searchreport feature takes the Standard Error into account and allows a more direct comparison across schools.

SCHOOL SEARCH FEATURE

Purpose of School Search

• Users can find and view the progress of public schools across Pennsylvania and search for similar schools based on grade levels tested, various demographics, Intermediate Unit (IU) region, and/or county.

Which schools are included when I use School Search?

Schools with at least one tested grade in common as the “reference school” you selected.

Example: Your reference school is a grade 6-8 school• Other schools included in the search may

include grade 6-7 schools, grade 7-8 schools, K-6 schools, etc. – unless you specific a grade range.

Accessing School Search

PVAAS School Search is accessed the via links at the top of the page or using the

orange Reports tab

Predictive Text to Assist in Locating Schools

Example: the user enters the word “Pink” and school names containing the word “Pink” appear as options to select.

School Search Results

School Search Results

Finding Similar Schools

Comparison Schools

Website Demonstration

https://pvaas.sas.com

How are schools compared? PVAAS: Average Growth Index What is an Index?

• A numerical scale used to compare variables with one another or with some reference number

Analogy: Consumer Price Index• A measure of the average change over a period

of time• Statistical Indicator• Reflects patterns

The PVAAS Average Growth Index allows viewers to compare growth across schools.

What is the Average Growth Index?• A measure of student progress across the tested grade

levels in a school.

• This index is a value based on the average growth across grade levels and its relationship to the standard error so that comparison among schools is meaningful. If the standard error is not accounted for, users might get a skewed picture of the relative effectiveness of different schools.

• For grades 4 through 8, the Average Growth Index is calculated by dividing the Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the Growth Standard by the corresponding Standard Error.

• For grades 9 through 11, the Average Growth Index is calculated by dividing the Growth Measure by the corresponding Standard Error.

Example: Average Growth Index, Grades 4-8

Average Growth Index= Growth Measure over Grades Relative to the Growth Standard divided by the Standard Error

What does the Average Growth Index mean?

• Average Growth Index (AGI) = 0: The average achieving student in this school met the standard for PA Academic Growth.

• Average Growth Index (AGI) > 0: The average achieving student in this school exceeded the standard for PA Academic Growth. A larger AGI provides more evidence that the average achieving student in this school exceeded the standard for PA Academic Growth.

• Average Growth Index (AGI) < 0: The average achieving student in this school did not meet the standard for PA Academic Growth. A smaller AGI provides more evidence that the average achieving student in this school did not meet the standard for PA Academic Growth.

Why can I not find a district/school on the PVAAS public site?

Reporting was suppressed for the following schools:• Districts/schools with less than 10 students

PA public reporting requirements• Districts/schools serving one grade level

Act 104 legislative intent was district and building level data

Example: Grade 11 only school Example: Grade 11-12 schools Example: Grade 6 only school

Suggested Resources for Communicating

PVAAS

PVAAS Help Menus onPublic Reporting

PDE PVAAS Webpage

• Help Menus

• PowerPoint Presentation

swith Trainer

Notes

• Resource Materials

• Video Clips

• District Case Studies

Suggested Resources

Guide for PVAAS Public Reporting 2011• Differences between Achievement and Progress• Concept of Value-Added• Benefits of Value-Added• Description of Reporting • Frequently Asked Questions• Glossary of Key Terms & Acronyms

Available on the PVAAS login page!

24/7 Suggested Resources

Archived webinars and PowerPoint presentations detailing the public reporting site

One-page handout titled “What is PVAAS?”

PVAAS Podcasts, FREE on iTunesU• Introduction to PVAAS• Value-Added Reporting• School Search

Why PVAAS?

• Provides users with information to assist them in evaluating the overall effectiveness of a public district or public school on the academic progress of groups of students.

Questions?

Comments?

Questions:

PVAAS Materials or Statewide Implementation

pdepvaas@iu13.org

717-606-1911

PVAAS Report Web Site

https://pvaas.sas.com

www.pde.state.pa.us

333 Market Street Harrisburg, PA 17126