Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAOs) Related to English Language Proficiency. (Updated July 9, 2005)

Transcription

1 Attachment A Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAOs) Related to English Language Proficiency (Updated July 9, 2005) In the school year, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability measures called annual measurable achievement objectives (AMAOs) were implemented to evaluate the services that local education agencies (LEAs) and the state provide to limited English proficient (LEP) students. This attachment describes the annual measurable achievement objectives and performance targets that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) implemented. Background NCLB requires Title III-funded LEAs and the state to meet annual performance targets for three AMAOs, the first two of which relate specifically to English language proficiency. AMAO 1 measures the percent of LEP students who make progress in learning English in o Kindergarten through Grade 2 o Grades 3 through 12 AMAO 2 measures the percent of LEP students who attain English language proficiency in o Kindergarten through Grade 2 o Grades 3 through 12 AMAO 3 measures the adequate yearly progress of LEP students as described in section 1111(b)(2)(B) of NCLB. The performance targets for AMAO 3 are the AYP targets already in place. For more information on the AYP targets, please visit Under NCLB, each state s English language proficiency tests must assess K 12 LEP students in the language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) will be used to fulfill this testing requirement. As of spring 2005, TELPAS consists of the Reading Proficiency Tests in English (RPTE) and the Texas Observation Protocols (TOP). In each TELPAS language domain, a student receives one of four proficiency ratings Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, or Advanced High. Grades K 2 Grades 3 12 Listening TOP TOP Speaking TOP TOP Reading TOP RPTE Writing TOP TOP The TELPAS district and campus summary reports for 2003 and 2004 included only the English reading proficiency ratings of LEP students in Grades The beginning, intermediate, and advanced proficiency levels were assessed through RPTE. The advanced high proficiency level was determined from a passing score on the reading

2 portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) or, if applicable, the exit level Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). As of spring 2005, RPTE results included all four reading proficiency ratings. In addition, TOP and RPTE results were combined to generate TELPAS composite ratings, which are the basis for AMAO progress and attainment calculations. TAKS and TAAS will no longer be used in the TELPAS composite ratings.

3 Goals for Establishing the AMAOs TEA developed the annual measurable achievement objectives and performance targets in conjunction with educational measurement experts, second language acquisition consultants, an advisory group of Texas educators, and other Texas stakeholders. The development process also included a review of several other states AMAOs. The principles that guided the Texas AMAO development process were that the AMAOs should: be easy to understand and make sense to Texas practitioners and parents; set rigorous, yet achievable annual performance targets; take into account the length of time second language learners have been in U.S. schools; lead naturally to a focus on improved instruction; minimize unintended consequences related to identifying, serving, and exiting LEP students; and be accurate indicators of the extent to which the state and districts are improving instructional services. The performance targets were established using the TELPAS summary data from the previous two school years. In establishing the performance targets, the goal was to set lower starting points and gradually increase the rigor of the targets over time. Targets for the school year are provided in this document. Annual performance targets for the school year will be provided by early spring The AMAO definitions and performance targets for the school year are found on the following two pages.

4 AMAO Performance Targets and s for Grades 3 12 AMAO 1: Progress AMAO 2: Attainment by Either of the Following Methods 40% 25% 40% Method 1 Method 2 Percent of current LEP students progressing by at least one proficiency level a year on TELPAS Percent of current LEP students reaching Advanced High on TELPAS Percent of current and monitored LEP students demonstrating attainment based on time in U.S. Time in U.S. (current LEP students) Grade 3: 3 or more years Grades 4 12: 4 or more years Attainment Current LEP: Advanced High on TELPAS Monitored LEP: Passing TAKS reading/ela, Gr PROGRESS, GRADES 3 12 The progress objective is to increase the percent of LEP students who make progress in learning English annually, as determined by progress of at least one proficiency level a year on TELPAS. The progress target for Grades 3 12 is 40%. Students need to have two consecutive years of results (that is, from spring 2004 and from spring 2005) to show progress from one proficiency level to the next. Note that spring 2005 third graders are not currently included in this AMAO since they would have been second graders in spring 2004, at which time TELPAS results for K 2 students were not available. Note also that current LEP students who received an Advanced High TELPAS rating in both spring 2004 and spring 2005 count as having made progress. ATTAINMENT, GRADES 3 12 The attainment objective for Grades 3 12 is to increase the percent of LEP students who meet the attainment goal for English language proficiency annually, as determined by a TELPAS composite rating of Advanced High. There are two methods for meeting the attainment AMAO. The first method evaluates the percent of current LEP students who reach Advanced High on TELPAS. This method does not consider how long the students have been in U.S. schools. The second method takes time in U.S. variables into account, which addresses the effect that varying influxes of immigrants may have within and across districts.

5 Both current and monitored LEP students are evaluated in Method 2. Under Method 2, attainment of current LEP students is defined as obtaining an Advanced High composite rating on TELPAS, and attainment of monitored LEP students is defined as passing the TAKS reading/ela assessment. Method 2 includes current LEP students in Grade 3 who have been enrolled in U.S. schools for three or more school years and current LEP students in Grades 4 12 who have been enrolled in U.S. schools for four or more schools years. Districts submit each student s number of years in U.S. schools on the TELPAS answer document. Monitored LEP students who take TAKS reading/ela in Grades 3 11are included in Method 2 regardless of their number of years in U.S. schools. Monitored LEP students are students identified as M1 (first year of monitoring) or M2 (second year of monitoring) on the TAKS answer document. Monitored LEP students in Grade 12 are not included in this indicator. Districts that do not meet the target under Method 1 but do meet the target under Method 2 will meet this AMAO. Method 1: The attainment target for Method 1 is 25%. Method 2: The attainment target for Method 2 is 40%.

6 AMAO Performance Targets and s for Kindergarten Grade 2 AMAO 1: Progress AMAO 2: Attainment n/a 1.5% Percent of current LEP students progressing by at least one proficiency level a year on TELPAS Percent of current LEP students reaching Advanced High on TELPAS PROGRESS, K 2 As with Grades 3 12, the progress objective is to increase the percent of LEP students in K 2 who make progress in learning English annually, as determined by progress of at least one proficiency level a year on TELPAS. In , progress for K 2 was not measured because two years of test results are required to show progress from one proficiency level to the next. TELPAS results were first available for K 2 students in spring ATTAINMENT, K 2 As with Grades 3 12, the attainment objective is to increase the percent of LEP students in K 2 who meet the attainment goal for English language proficiency annually, as determined by a TELPAS composite rating of Advanced High. At the time the AMAO targets for were set, there was not yet a state assessment of English language proficiency to use for setting K 2 attainment targets. However, the bilingual/esl program exit rate was estimated to be no higher than 6% for the K 2 student group based on PEIMS data. The target of 1.5% was established in keeping with the approach used with all of the AMAOs, which is to set lower starting targets and increase the rigor of the targets over time. It is important to note that reaching Advanced High on TELPAS is not a state criterion for program exit. The program exit criteria, which are delineated in Chapter 89 of the Texas Administrative Code, have not changed.