Glossary: Accountability/Assessment
ARD – Admissions, Review, Dismissal Meeting
BOY – Beginning of Year
MOY – Middle of Year
EOY – End of Year
Diagnostic - used to identify individual strengths/needs in various learning areas. Typically given no more than three times a year. Diagnostic Baseline – Given at BOY to determine current strengths/needs at the beginning of the new academic school year.
GE – Grade Equivalent: represents how a student’s test performance compares with other students nationally. For example, a fifth-grade student with a GE score of 7.6 performed as well as a typical seventh-grader after the sixth month of the school year. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the student is capable of reading seventh-grade material – it only indicates that the student’s reading skills are well above average for the fifth grader.
Holistic Scoring (Rubric) – A holistic rubric consists of a single scale with all criteria to be included in the evaluation being considered together (e.g., clarity, organization, and mechanics). With a holistic rubric the rater assigns a single score (usually on a 1 to 4 or 1 to 6 point scale) based on an overall judgment of the student work. The rater matches an entire piece of student work to a single description on the scale.
IRL – Instructional Reading Level: the level at which a student is 80% proficient (or higher) at comprehending material with assistance. This level of comprehension corresponds to being at least 90-98% proficient at recognizing words in a given passage.
Lexile Measure – a number with an “L” after it: On STAR Reading Reports:
- The Lexile® measure is shown as a number with an "L" after it: 750L is 750 Lexile.
- Higher Lexile® measures indicate higher levels of reading ability. A Lexile® measure can range from below 200L for emergent readers to above 1600L for advanced readers.
Readers who score below 0L receive a BR for Beginning Reader.
NCE - Normal Curve Equivalent: provides information on progress from one year to the next. If a student’s test level increases one grade level each year, the student has made one year of progress if the NCE scores from each year are within 10 points of one another.
Number Possible/Number Correct – These numbers tell how many questions were on each section of the test and how many the student answered correctly. Outcomes - provides evidence indicating how well a program achieves its intentions.
- Examples: SAT10, STAAR, final exams, unit tests, etc.
PR-S Percentile Rank and Stanine – The number right after the PR is the Stanine (S) and this number can range from 1-9. Stanines 1-3 indicate below average performance, 4-6 indicate average performance, and 7-9 indicate above average performance.
Progress Monitoring - assesses students' academic performance and evaluates the effectiveness of instruction and/or intervention. Can take place from weekly to quarterly.
RIT Scale - The RIT Scale (used on the MAP assessment) is a curriculum scale that uses individual item difficulty values to estimate student achievement. An advantage of the RIT scale is that it can relate the numbers on the scale directly to the difficulty of items on the tests. In addition, the RIT scale is an equal interval scale. Equal interval means that the different between scores is the same regardless of whether a student is at the top, bottom, or middle of the RIT scale, and it has the same meaning regardless of grade level.
RIT Score - A student's overall scale score on the MAP assessment.
SGP (TAMI) – Student Growth Percentile (Time-Adjusted Model) – compares a student’s growth to that of his/her academic peers nationwide. The range is from 1-99. Lower numbers indicate lower relative growth and higher numbers show higher relative growth. For example, an SGP (TAM) of 70 means that the student’s growth from one test to another exceeds the growth of 70% of students nationwide in the same grade with a similar beginning (pretest) STAR Reading or Math score.
SS – Scale(d) Score – useful for comparing student performance over time and across grades. SS is calculated based on the difficulty of questions and the number of correct responses. STAAR – State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness
STAAR Alt 2 – assess students in grades 3–8 and high school who have significant cognitive disabilities and are receiving special education services.
TEKS – Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: Texas State Standards for what students should know and be able to do by grade and subjects
TBD – To Be Determined
ZPD – Zone of Proximal Development: a range of readability levels from which a students should select books to read. The range is neither too difficult nor too easy, and one within which students can experience optimal growth. ZPDs are approximate and professional judgment should be used to adjust the range to fit the ability level of each student.