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2014 Massachusetts State Report Card
In accordance with the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), all states and districts receiving federal Title I funds must prepare and disseminate annual report cards. Report cards are critical tools for promoting accountability for schools, districts, and states by publicizing data about student performance and program effectiveness for parents, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Report cards help parents/guardians and the general public see where schools and districts are succeeding and where there is still work to do.
The Massachusetts State Report Card is divided into the following seven parts:
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Part I:
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Enrollment & Educator Data
Shows enrollment statistics for Massachusetts public schools. This section also includes the percentage of Massachusetts teachers licensed in the area in which they are teaching, the percentage of teacher waivers granted, and the percentage of core academic classes taught by teachers who are "highly qualified."
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Part II:
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State Achievement in English Language Arts, Mathematics & Science and Technology/Engineering
Shows a summary of state performance on the last round of Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) examinations in English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science and Technology/Engineering. The data are broken down by grade level and subject area, and include data for specific groups of students.
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Part III:
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State Accountability Report
Shows accountability data for the state as measured by the progress and performance index (PPI). The PPI combines data about narrowing proficiency gaps, growth, and graduation and dropout rates over multiple years. The state and all districts, schools, and student subgroups receive an annual PPI based on change over a two-year period and a cumulative PPI between 0 and 100 based on four years of data. For a group to be considered to be making progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps, its cumulative PPI must be 75 or higher.
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Part IV:
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District Accountability and Assistance Levels
Lists the accountability and assistance levels for all districts in Massachusetts and contains links to accountability reports for each district. All Massachusetts districts with sufficient data are classified into one of five accountability and assistance levels, with the highest performing in Level 1 and lowest performing in Level 5. In general, a district is classified into the level of its lowest performing school, unless the district was classified into Level 4 or 5 as a result of action by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. For a district to be considered to be making progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps, the cumulative PPI for all students and high needs students must be 75 or higher.
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Part V:
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School Accountability and Assistance Levels
Lists the accountability and assistance levels for all schools in Massachusetts and contains links to accountability reports for each school. All Massachusetts schools with sufficient data are classified into one of five accountability and assistance levels, with the highest performing in Level 1 and lowest performing in Level 5. For a school to be considered to be making progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps, the cumulative PPI for all students and high needs students must be 75 or higher. School percentiles (1-99) are reported for schools with at least four years of data. This number is an indication of the school’s overall performance relative to other schools that serve the same or similar grades. State law requires ESE to classify schools into Level 3 if they are among the lowest 20% of schools relative to other schools in the same grade span (percentiles 1-20).
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Part VI:
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Massachusetts & Nationwide NAEP Results
NAEP, or the National Assessment of Educational Progress, is often called the "Nation's Report Card." It is the only measure of student achievement in the United States that allows you to compare the performance of students in Massachusetts with the performance of students across the nation or in other states.
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Part VII:
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About the Data
Contains definitions of the data and key terms used in Massachusetts’ school, district, and state report cards.
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