Understanding Massachusetts’ Accountability Measures: A Brochure for District and School Staff

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In February 2012, Massachusetts received a waiver of certain aspects of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Through the waiver, we have unified state and federal requirements, allowing us to tailor our accountability and assistance system to better meet the needs of our local school districts and focus supports for the state’s lowest performing schools and districts.

Massachusetts has replaced the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) goal of 100 percent of students reaching proficiency by the 2013-14 school year with the goal of reducing proficiency gaps by half by the end of the 2016-17 school year.

The proficiency gap is the distance between a group's current proficiency level and 100 percent proficiency. We will measure the progress of districts and schools for all students and up to 11 student subgroups, including a new “high needs” subgroup.

All Massachusetts schools and districts with sufficient data are classified into one of five accountability and assistance levels, with those meeting their gap-narrowing goals in Level 1 and the lowest performing in Level 5:

Commendation Schools [High achieving, high growth, gap narrowing schools (subset of Level 1)]
Level 1 - Meeting gap narrowing goals (for all and high needs students)
Level 2 - Not meeting gap narrowing goals (for all and/or high needs students)
Level 3 - Lowest performing 20% of schools (Including lowest performing subgroups)
Level 4 - Lowest performing schools (subset of Level 3)
Level 5 - Chronically underperforming schools (subset of Level 4)

Visit www.mass.gov/ese/accountability for more information

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Massachusetts’ Accountability Measures

The progress and performance index (PPI)

Massachusetts reports district and school progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps using a 100-point Progress and Performance Index (PPI). The PPI combines information on up to seven indicators: narrowing proficiency gaps in English language arts, mathematics, and science; growth in English language arts and mathematics; annual dropout rates; and cohort graduation rates.

Most districts, schools, and groups receive an annual PPI based on improvement over two years and a cumulative PPI that measures improvement over four years.
Extra credit is awarded for demonstrating improvement on MCAS and for strong English language acquisition. At the high school level, extra credit is also awarded for dropout reengagement. 
Schools are classified into Levels 1 and 2 based on the PPI for all students and the high needs group.

School percentiles

School percentiles (1-99) are reported for most schools. This number is an indication of the school’s overall performance relative to other schools that serve the same or similar grades. Because schools are only being compared to other schools of the same type, it would not be accurate to use a school percentile to determine where a school falls in relation to all other schools in the state. Also, school percentiles are only calculated for schools with at least four years of data, not all schools.

Talking points for school and district leaders

(1) The goal of reducing proficiency gaps by half is ambitious, yet attainable
(2) Every school’s percentile and PPI tells a different story. Schools with lower percentiles but higher PPIs for all student groups are making steady improvement. Schools with higher percentiles but lower PPIs scores are high performing, but have more work to do to support student success.
(3) Massachusetts uses percentiles to help focus supports on the state’s lowest performing schools; so can districts.
(4) Massachusetts uses school types (elementary, elementary/middle, middle, middle/high/K-12 and high schools) to fairly compare the performance of schools serving the same or similar grades.
(5) Massachusetts is committed to monitoring the effectiveness of our system. If we do not see continuous improvement across the spectrum of schools in the state, we will adjust the system as necessary.