L I N K S- CSP Home School Reports - Interpretation & Analysis

School and School System Performance Reports provide information that can be used for school improvement by educators, parents, community members, and leaders. Using school performance data requires interpretation and analysis of the data to identify successful areas, problem areas, and possible causes of problems. Once these are identified, educators, policymakers, and the public can determine which are of greatest concern, investigate "best" options for improvement, and implement appropriate action. The following information should be considered in reviewing, interpreting, and analyzing Performance Reports.

Significant Attributes of Indicators

The indicators were developed by community leaders, principals, school board members, superintendents, and teachers from across the state.
They are grouped into Sections such as School Completion, Academic Preparation, and School Safety to provide a meaningful framework for the performance measures.
They include both school indicators, which measure performance in areas that can be directly affected by schools and school systems, and community indicators, which measure how well the community is working to improve the quality of education.
They were produced from data that came from a variety of sources, including the Department of Education, Board of Regents, the Department of Health, the US Census Bureau, school systems and schools, and many other agencies.

Information from Indicators

The score for each indicator is one way to look at performance. For example, in the Section on School Safety the scores show the numbers of students with violations involving drugs, violence, firearms, and the destruction of school property. Indicator scores can identify possible areas for concern.
Arrows, which show two-year trends, allow comparisons to the school or system’s performance in the previous year.
A five-star rating system compares scores for each indicator to scores of similar schools or school systems. More than three stars means better than average performance. Three stars means performance is about average; fewer than three stars means below average performance. For indicators where lower scores are better (designated with a ^), such as dropout rates, more stars means lower dropout rates.
A five-check rating system compares scores for each indicator to scores of schools and school systems across the state. Except that the comparison group is different, this is like the five-star system. The Georgia school or state median provides an additional comparison to the state.
Some indicator scores provide national comparisons. Scores can be compared to national means and quartiles for Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) and SAT data.
Comparisons of scores can be made across indicators in specific areas of interest. For example, in an Elementary School Report you will find measures of performance on Reading: (1) from ITBS that provides national comparisons and (2) from breakdown of ITBS data by race to show scores of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White students.
Comparisons of scores can be made from one school level to the next in a system report. For example, you can compare the number of students missing 10 or more days at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. A system that reduces absenteeism at the high school level would want to explore possible causes, which could range from chronically absent students dropping out to an effective attendance incentive program.

Examples of Indicators

Rating with Similar Schools	Rating with Entire State	Indicator	Georgia Median	Your School	Trend
ŤŤŤŤŤ	üüüü	Percent of 3rd graders scoring in the upper quarter on ITBS in Math	22%	36%	é é

Thirty-six percent of the 3rd graders in this school are scoring in the top quarter of the norm group on the ITBS in math. The average percentage scoring in the top quarter nationally is 25%. The 2 arrows show that compared to last year the school has improved by more than 5 percentage points on this indicator. The 5 stars show that the score for this indicator is in the top 20% of the similar schools in the cluster. Comparison to the state is shown graphically by the 4 checks, indicating that the score is in the top 40% of elementary schools in the state. The score is above the state median.

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% of 11th graders passing the graduation test in English

90%

Ninety percent of the 11th graders in this school are passing the graduation test in English. The down arrow shows that compared to last year the school's performance has declined more than 2 percentage points. The 2 stars show that the score for this indicator is in the lower 40% of similar schools in the cluster. While the school is performing below average compared to similar school in the cluster, the 3 checks show that it is performing in the middle range compared to all high schools in the state. The score is the same as the state median.

	Asian	Black	Hispanic	White
Percent of 8^th graders above the scoring	TFC	43.4%	TFC	68.6%

Indicators showing scores by race can be used to show discrepancies, focus concern and reduce gaps between scores. In the scores listed above the gap between scores for white and black 8^th grade students is 25.2 percentage points. The racial make-up of a school’s student body is important to take into consideration because minorities, especially African Americans, have historically been at an economic and educational disadvantage. The legacy of racial discrimination has often resulted in substantial inequalities in the preparation and support for education among minority students.

If the number of students is 10 or less, TFC is used to denote "too few cases to report." These small numbers are not reported due to confidentiality issues.

Linkages Between Indicators

Indicators should not be considered in isolation. For example, low test results in eighth grade math in one section could be related to poor attendance for middle school students or lack of parental involvement shown in other sections. Finding meaningful linkages between indicators for a given data set may require collective brainstorming or assistance from others from outside the school such as educators from similar schools that performed well on those indicators.