In an effort to further improve the accuracy of the assessment and enrollment information used in the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status determination process, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and the National Office for Research on Measurement and Evaluation Systems (NORMES) again are providing schools an opportunity to check and correct student information prior to AYP calculation.
Similar to last year, enrollment data from Arkansas Public School Computer Network (APSCN) will be matched with assessment data from Questar by student ID. The data from both systems are compared on indicators for race/ethnicity, Economically Disadvantaged, Limited English Proficient, and Students with Disabilities. This process results in data sets that can be corrected and submitted to NORMES for incorporation into the AYP calculations.
The 2006 Discrepancy Report and all data sets will be available in the ED.STATS web portal and in EGuide.
A 2006 Discrepancy Report has been created to quickly identify mismatches and other problems between the two source data sets. In addition, six data sets have been created for schools to examine and submit for corrections where necessary.
New this year: All corrections will be made in the downloaded Excel spreadsheets rather than entering data into a single, separate blank Excel spreadsheet. For grades 3-8 Benchmark data, corrections can be made in the literacy spreadsheet, copied, and pasted into the math spreadsheet to save time.
For the corrections process the following report and data sets will be needed:
· 2006 Discrepancy Report
· MisMatch_lit06 data set
· MisMatch_math06 data set
· NoMatch_APSCN_lit06 data set
· NoMatch_APSCN_math06 data set
· NoMatch_Test_lit06 data set
· NoMatch_Test_math06 data set
Corrections Due Date—All corrections must be submitted by the close of business Friday, July 14, 2006.
Prior to submitting, ensure that all data sets requiring corrections have been corrected. Submit all data sets on SEPARATE WORKSHEETS. If all data sets are pasted into the same excel worksheet, the data corrections will not be usable. Workbooks with separate spreadsheets in the same workbook file are acceptable, but separate files of single worksheets are preferred.
Submit Corrections--Submit to the following email address: normests@uark.edu
NOTE: Include the LEA number and ‘Corrections Sheets’ in the subject line of the email.
If the attached directions do not cover a particular circumstance for a school:
Questions regarding the data corrections process, the data sets, data entry, etc. should be directed to NORMES (479-575-5593).
Questions regarding policies related to determining Adequate Yearly
Progress (Which students are counted? Do homebound students count, etc.) should be directed to Janinne Riggs at the ADE (501-682-4219).