Gifted Indicators
Time for more subgroup analysis!
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The first thing we see on the current Ohio Department of Education report card is that the Gifted page includes almost everything but the kitchen sink. That's to be expected since gifted is a student subgroup, and therefore all previously defined metrics apply. We've seen this in the subgroups of the Gap Closing section.
Consequently, navigating this cornucopia of metrics is difficult at best. We'll discuss a better organization strategy in a future post. For now, the takeaway is that we'll have both an achievement metric (the performance index) and a progress metric (the value-added score) for the gifted subgroup.
The gifted metrics are unique in another way. Gifted is an Opportunity measure, similar to the AP course offerings we discussed in Prepared for Success. There's an underlying process involving screening, identification, and providing services. The report card should reflect how well each stage of the process is going. That's what we'll talk about today.
Step by Step
Screening, the first step, is typically done at a certain grade for all students. (Transfer students would be an exception.) The question is, have all students been offered screening at this time?
The current ODE site, however, only gives results for "this school year". The numbers could skew low as that metric includes students that haven't reached the screening year yet. It's like asking how many drivers renewed their license "this year". Instead, we want to know how many renewed in a timely manner (every 4 years).
Identification, the second step, consists of achieving a certain score on the screening. What's important about identification? The percentage of students identified should roughly be in line with population gifted levels. If a drastically small number of students are identified, this points to a problem with the screening process. The pie charts here (under "Gifted Inputs") look fine.
Acceleration, the third step, involves providing appropriate learning resources to the students. Here, the ODE report card includes some useful graphs of services by grade and subject. The high school section could be modified to reflect AP and honors courses taken. These are inherently accelerated.
The performance index expects a certain level of acceleration, and sets a higher achievement goal for this subgroup. Therefore the performance index can be graphed as previously described, but with the higher goal.
In summary, we'll have a performance index graph, a value added graph, a subject vs. services graph, and a few pie charts. It's fine to use text for the Screening section and any more details.
Recommendations
1. Gifted is a subgroup. Use the same style achievement and progress graphs as for the general student body.
2. Consider reporting AP courses and honors courses as accelerated.