Farewell, AYP....hello, PPI!

I had the opportunity to take part in both a webinar and a face-to-face session in the past week to learn more about the changes to the state's accountability system given the the flexibility that has been granted to Massachusetts under the NCLB waiver.

The waiver has given Massachusetts the flexibility to implement a system that unifies both federal and state accountability requirements, rather than separate systems for each. The major changes, as outlined in the presentations, are as follows:

• The NCLB goal of 100% proficiency has been replaced by a new goal: reducing proficiency gaps by half by 2017. This goal is the same for all districts, schools, and groups...but the targets are different since the starting points will be different.
• The NCLB accountability status labels (Corrective Action, Restructuring, etc.) have been eliminated. The "Level" designation will now be used to identify both federal and state accountability status (and corresponding assistance levels) for schools and districts.
• AYP will be replaced with a new performance measure, known as PPI (see below) that incorporates student growth and other indicators.
• There is an enhanced focus on subgroups, including a new "high needs" group (students who fall into one or more of the following categories: special education, low income, or English language learner/former English language learner.) While all subgroups (minimum 30 students) will be reported, only the "All Students" and "High Needs" groups will be used for classification for the majority of districts.
• SES and school choice requirements for federal funds are replaced with options for flexibility to address identified needs.

So what is PPI? It stands for Progress and Performance Index. Each district, school, and measurable subgroup will  have two different types of PPI; an annual PPI as well as a four-year PPI. For elementary and middle schools, the PPI incorporates five elements:

• Progress on CPI gap-closing in ELA
• Progress on CPI gap-closing in math
• Progress on CPI gap-closing in science
• Student Growth in ELA
• Student Growth in Math

PPI measures for high schools will include these five elements, plus graduation rates and annual drop-out rates. In addition, it is possible to improve a PPI rating through decreases in %W/F and increases in %Adv.

This is just the tip of the iceberg! The ESE presenters have indicated materials from the workshops will be available online in the near future. I will post the link here when I have it.

Update 5/9/2012: Materials now available, see blog post here.