Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework Data ... · College readiness coursework includes courses intended ... made to demographics in Infinite Campus after the data are pulled

Last Updated: 10/02/2019 Page 1 of 14

SO.002.00-A Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework

Data Interpretation Guide (DIG)

Questions Report will Help Answer

• Which students qualify for proactive admission to South Dakota 6 public universities and 4 technical institutes? • Which students qualify for the college-readiness remedial coursework program? • What addresses were used by SDDOE to notify students they qualify for one of the programs?

Intended Audience

Counselors; Principals; Administrative Staff (school and district); Assessment Coordinators; Superintendents

Data Details

The data in this report come from multiple sources. Smarter Balanced assessment files and ACT assessment files are combined with data from Infinite Campus or your district’s student information system. The report contains a student list with basic demographic information, test scores, and indicators if a student qualifies for proactive admission or college-readiness coursework program. Addresses are included to show where the letters were sent.

Common Misunderstandings

Some students qualify for BOTH proactive admissions and remedial coursework. This is possible because the benchmarks look at different ACT subtest scores.

Unlike other reports in SD-STARS, the data will NOT refresh nightly as it is captured at a point in time.

Letters are sent to up-to two primary addresses. The addresses require the student to have an active membership in a household (aka: no end date), relationships with the household guardian who has “mailing” checkbox marked, and a primary address in the household.

Quick Reference

This document provides a quick reference for the Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework (SO.002.00-A). The report provides a list of students who qualify for proactive admission and/or college-readiness remedial coursework programs. The report is found under STUDENT OUTCOMES REPORTS in the REPORTS tab within SD-STARS.

WARNING



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) Generating Report

To generate the report, users need to select different parameters.

• School Year: Select a school year. • District: Select one or multiple districts. The districts that display in the drop down depend on your permissions.

Most district and school users will only see one district in the drop down. • School: Select one or multiple schools. The schools that display in the drop down depend on your permissions.

Most school users will only see one school in the drop down. There is an “All Schools” option for users with multiple schools.

• Proactive Admission: Select one of three options (1) All Students – Select this option if you want to see all students who were considered for proactive

admission, regardless if they met the benchmark or not. (2) Met Benchmark – Select this option if you want to see only students who met the proactive admission

benchmark. (3) Did Not Meet Benchmark – Select this option if you want to see only students who did not meet the

proactive admission benchmark. • Remedial Coursework: Select one of six options

(1) All Students – Select this option if you want to see all students who were considered for remedial coursework, regardless if they met the benchmarks or not.

(2) Qualify Math or English – Select this option if you want to see only students who qualify for either math or English remedial coursework.

(3) Qualify Math and English – Select this option if you want to see only students who qualify for both math and English remedial coursework.

Based on the selection for “Remedial Coursework” parameter, what values could you see in…

Remedial Coursework Parameters Options

Qualify for Remedial

Math College Readiness

Coursework


English College

Coursework All Students Yes/No Yes/No Qualify Math or English Yes/No Yes/No Qualify Math and English Yes Yes Qualify for Math Yes Yes/No Qualify for English Yes/No Yes Does Not Qualify No No

Instructions



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) (4) Qualify for Math – Select this option if you want to see only students who qualify for math remedial

coursework. The students may or may not qualify for English remedial coursework. (5) Qualify for English – Select this option if you want to see only students who qualify for English remedial

coursework. The students may or may not qualify for math remedial coursework. (6) Does Not Qualify – Select this option if you want to see only students who did not qualify for either math or

English remedial coursework. • Show Addresses: Select one of two options

(1) Yes – Select this option if you want to see the addresses used in the mailings. (2) No – Select this option if you do not want to see the addresses used in the mailings.

Program Information

In order for users to make the most out of the Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework report, the following information is provided to help understand both programs.

Proactive Admission Program

Proactive admissions program started in Fall 2017. This initiative offers high school seniors guaranteed general admittance into any of the state’s six public universities and four technical institutes, as long as they meet certain eligibility criteria. Students can meet the eligibility criteria in one of two ways: 1) achieve a Level 3 or 4 on the 11th grade Smarter Balanced test (English and math), or 2) achieve an ACT composite score of 18 or higher. (NOTE: The requirements for SD School of Mines differ slightly.) Students who meet the eligibility criteria will receive a letter in mid-September, indicating that they are eligible for this opportunity. For more information, visit http://sdmylife.com/prepping-for-college/proactive-admissions.

Remedial College Readiness Coursework Program

Remedial coursework program started in Fall 2013. Eligible students will have the opportunity to complete postsecondary remedial coursework while still in high school. College readiness coursework includes courses intended to assist high school seniors who need continued support in developing the skills necessary to enroll in credit-bearing coursework at the postsecondary level. Students who scored at a Level 2 on the 11th grade Smarter Balanced test or had an ACT English sub-score below 18/math sub-score below 20 are eligible for this opportunity. Students who meet the eligibility criteria will receive a letter in mid-September. For more information, visit http://sdmylife.com/prepping-for-college/college-readiness-courses.

http://sdmylife.com/prepping-for-college/proactive-admissions

http://sdmylife.com/prepping-for-college/college-readiness-courses



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) What students are considered for proactive admission and remedial college readiness coursework?

To be considered for proactive admission and remedial college readiness coursework programs, SDDOE considers both their prior and current school year enrollment.

Prior Year

Student must be enrolled as an 11th grader at any point in the school year. This means that a student could have started as an 11th grader and been promoted to 12th grader during the year or started as a 12th grader and be demoted to an 11th grader.

When students have multiple enrollments, their last overall enrollment is also considered, regardless of grade. For example, an 11th grader could move from one district to another and then becomes a 12th grader.

Enrollment must be in a public school. o Students who are in “SPED Out of District Placement” (aka: School 97) are included. o Because of the unique relationship between Eagle Butte, students enrolled in Cheyenne River BIE

schools are included. o Students who are in “Home School” are excluded. o Any 11th grade enrollments in an overlapping enrollment institutions (ex: JDCs, short term group care)

are excluded. o Any students enrolled in out-of-state schools are excluded.

Enrollment must have exited with an exit code of “03 - Student transfers in state”, “11 – Student Continues,” or blank. This applies to both their 11th grade enrollment and last overall enrollment.

Enrollments must be greater than 0% enrolled.

Current Year

Student must have an active, current enrollment as a 12th grader. Enrollment must be in a public school.

o Students who are in “SPED Out of District Placement” (aka: School 97) are included. o Students enrolled in Cheyenne River BIE schools are included. o Students who are in “Home School” are excluded. o Any 11th grade enrollments in overlapping enrollment institutions are excluded. o Any students enrolled in out-of-state schools are excluded.

Enrollments must be greater than 0% enrolled.

Students who meet the above criteria are considered for proactive admission and remedial coursework programs. Those who met the benchmarks in terms of Smarter Balanced and ACT scores will qualify for the programs. For more information on the benchmarks, see Reading Report section below or the Program Information above.



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) Reading Report Use the navigation bar to navigate the report.

There are two parts to the report – (1) overview and (2) student list

Overview

The overview contains two boxes that display information as to what qualifies someone for the proactive admission or remedial college readiness coursework.

Five summary sentences will appear below the boxes. The sentences aggregate the results for students in the school year/district/schools you select. In other words, the sentences will change depending on what you select for the “school year,” “district,” and “school” in the report parameters. However, the sentences will not change based on what you selected in the

IMPORTANT: For Fall 2017, 2018, and 2019, cumulative unweighted GPA was not used as a benchmark for proactive admissions. SDDOE is considering using GPA starting Fall 2020.



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) “proactive admission,” “remedial coursework,” or “show address” dropdown in the report parameters. In other words, the sentences assume you select “all students” for both the “proactive admission” and “remedial coursework” parameters.

Student List

The student list part of the report provides a list of students with key information. The first set of columns provides basic demographic information of the students, such as date of birth, race, gender, and more.

Unlike most SD-STARS reports that may update nightly, the Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework report does not update. The data in this report will stay the same because it informs users who received letters for these programs, and the letters are only mailed once a year. In many cases, students are added to or exit programs throughout the year. Therefore, to be identified as special Ed, EL, or migrant, the student will need to have a record for the current school year before the proactive admission and remedial coursework data are pulled. Any changes made to demographics in Infinite Campus after the data are pulled will not be reflected in this report.




The next set of columns focus on the benchmarks for proactive admission and remedial college readiness coursework. There are columns to see which students met proactive admission benchmark as well as which students qualify for math or English remedial college readiness coursework. The Smarter Balanced and ACT score requirements are based on the Board of Regents and technical institutes recommendations.

Results for the student’s high school Smarter Balanced displays. In most cases, students take Smarter Balanced in 11th grade. In the unusual case when a student took Smarter Balanced more than once in high school, the highest scale score and associated level are used for each subject. Students who did not take the Smarter Balanced will show as “NA.” This includes students who took the Multi-State Alternate Assessment (MSAA).

Results of the students ACT testing also show. The ACT data comes directly from ACT to SDDOE. For proactive admission project, composite score is used. For remedial coursework, math and English sub-scores are used. Many students take the ACT multiple times. For these students, the report shows the highest ACT score by subject. This may mean that the composite score may have been higher during one testing date (ex: February), but the math score may be higher in a later testing date (ex: June). Students who did not take the ACT will show as “NA.”

Unweighted Cumulative GPA displays next. For Fall 2017, 2018 and 2019, cumulative unweighted GPA was not used as a benchmark for proactive admissions. SDDOE is considering using GPA starting Fall 2020.

Let’s look at some example students to understand how the ACT and Smarter Balanced scores determine proactive admission or remedial coursework qualifications. In the following image, look at Henry, Mitch, Irene, Cindy, and Gustav. Henry took only the Smarter Balanced test and scored Level 1 on both subjects. Mitch took Smarter Balanced, scoring a Level 4 on both subjects, and the ACT test, scoring between 24 and 26 on each part. Irene and Cindy also took the ACT and Smarter Balanced test. Irene scored a Level 3 on math and Level 2 on ELA for Smarter Balanced as well as a 16 composite with 19 math and 12 English on the ACT. Cindy scored a Level 2 on math and Level 3 on ELA for

IMPORTANT: It is possible for a student to be eligible for both proactive admissions and remedial coursework programs. This is because proactive admission project is based on ACT composite score while remedial coursework program uses ACT sub-score results.



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) Smarter Balanced as well as a 21 composite with 19 math and 19 English on the ACT. Gustav only took Smarter Balanced and scored Level 2 on both subjects.

For each student, each of the proactive admission benchmarks are applied to determine if at least one of them makes the student eligible for the program. If they are eligible, the column “Met Proactive Admission Benchmark” will be marked with a “Yes.” As illustrated in the below table, Henry and Gustav do not qualify because their Smarter Balanced scores were below a Level 3. Irene did take the ACT test, but both her composite and Smarter Balanced results were below the threshold. She too does not qualify for proactive admissions program. Mitch qualifies for proactive admissions because both his ACT and Smarter Balances scores were high enough. Even though Cindy didn’t meet the benchmark for Smarter Balanced scores, she does qualify for proactive admissions because she met the ACT composite benchmark.

Proactive Admissions Benchmarks

Student Scores to Consider

Smarter Balanced scores of Level 3 or 4

on both ELA and math

ACT Composite Score of 18 or above

Cumulative Unweighted GPA of

at least a 2.6 on a 4.0 scale

Met Proactive Admission Benchmark

Henry Level 1 on SB math Level 1 on SB ELA NA on ACT composite

NO NA NA

No Mitch Level 4 on SB math

Level 4 on SB ELA 25 on ACT composite

YES YES NA

Yes Irene Level 3 on SB math


NO NO NA

No Cindy Level 2 on SB math


NO YES NA

Yes Gustav Level 2 on SB math

Level 2 on SB ELA NA on ACT composite

NO NA NA

No



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) The same logic is applied for remedial coursework. Again, each benchmark is applied to each student to determine if the student qualifies for the remedial college readiness coursework. There are different benchmarks for both math and English. If they qualify, the column “Qualify for Remedial Math College Readiness Coursework” or “Qualify for Remedial English College Readiness Coursework” will say “Yes.” Looking at the math scores for our example students, Cindy and Gustav qualify for math remedial coursework because they scored a Level 2 on Smarter Balanced. Even though Cindy did take the ACT, her math scores were below the threshold. Benchmarks require a Level 2 on Smarter Balanced, so Henry does not qualify for the remedial math coursework. Mitch scored high enough on his Smarter Balanced and ACT, so he does not qualify. Irene’s ACT score would qualify her for math remedial coursework, but her ACT scores are high enough to make her ineligible. Same logic applies for English remedial coursework. See table below for illustration.

Qualify for Remedial Math College Readiness Coursework Benchmarks


Level 2 on math Smarter Balanced and ACT math score of less

than 20

Level 2 on math Smarter Balanced and

no ACT math score

No math Smarter Balanced score and

ACT math score of less than 20

Qualify for Remedial Math College

Readiness Coursework

Henry Level 1 on SB math NA on ACT math NA NO NA No

Mitch Level 4 on SB math 25 on ACT math NO NA NA No

Irene Level 3 on SB math 19 on ACT math NO NA NA No

Cindy Level 2 on SB math 19 on ACT math YES NA NA Yes

Gustav Level 2 on SB math NA on ACT math NA YES NA Yes

Qualify for Remedial English College Readiness Coursework Benchmarks


Level 2 on ELA Smarter Balanced and ACT English score of

less than 18

Level 2 on ELA Smarter Balanced and no ACT

English score

No ELA Smarter Balanced score and ACT English score of

less than 18

Qualify for Remedial English College

Readiness Coursework

Henry Level 1 on SB ELA NA on ACT English NA NO NA No

Mitch Level 4 on SB ELA 26 on ACT English NO NA NA No

Irene Level 2 on SB ELA 12 on ACT English YES NA NA Yes

Cindy Level 3 on SB ELA 19 on ACT English NO NA NA No

Gustav Level 2 on SB ELA NA on ACT English NA YES NA Yes




When you pull the flags together, you can see who will receive the letters in the mail. Henry will not receive a letter. Mitch will receive a proactive admission letter, while Irene and Gustav will receive a remedial coursework letter. Cindy will receive both letters. This means she has general acceptance, but she will need to take remedial coursework before taking credit-bearing classes…unless she improves on her ACT score.

The final set of columns identify up to two primary address used for the mailing of the proactive admission and/or remedial coursework letters. If, in the parameters, you select not to show these columns, they will not appear. If a student has more than two primary addresses, two of the addresses are selected for the mailing. In the below example, Floyd has two different mailing addresses. If he qualifies for either program, he will receive a letter at each address.

The addresses come from Infinite Campus – District Edition, Skyward, or PowerSchool.

For Infinite Campus – District Edition the addresses require the student to have an active membership in a household (aka: no end date), active relationships with the household guardian who has “mailing” checkbox marked, and a primary address marked “mailing” in the household. See the two screenshots of Infinite Campus to the left and on the next page for more information.

Student

Met Proactive Admission Benchmark

Qualify for Remedial Math

College Readiness

Coursework


English College Readiness

Coursework Henry No No No Mitch Yes No No Irene No No Yes Cindy Yes Yes No Gustav No Yes Yes



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) For Skyward, students need to be in a family where the “Receives Report Cards” is checked. For PowerSchool and Skyward, in the case where a student has both a “home” and “mailing” addresses, the “mailing” is used in the proactive admission and remedial coursework mailings.

If you scroll right or down, some of the rows and columns will freeze so you can still see them as you scroll. When a

column is sortable, arrows display to the right of the column heading. Click once to sort ascending (ex: 1 through 10, A through Z). Click again to sort by descending (ex: 10 through 1, Z through A).

Drill through capability is also available in this report to view the Student Profile Report. Click on the student’s name in order to open the student’s profile. If you wish to return to the Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework

report, click on the blue arrow in the navigation bar.

To access the Report Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) from the report, go to the footer in the report and click on

.

Downloading Report

This report can be downloaded into different formats. The most convenient format for analysis would be Excel.

Which students qualify for proactive admission to South Dakota 6 public universities and 4 technical institutes?

There are different ways to answer this question. The easiest is to use the report parameters. Select the school year, district(s), and school(s) you are interested in. In the “Proactive Admission” parameter, select “Met Benchmark.” In

Essential Questions



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) the “Remedial Coursework” parameter, select “All Students.” When you view the report, only those kids who qualified for proactive admission will appear on the report.

Another way is to select “All Students” in both the “Proactive Admission” and “Remedial Coursework” parameters. When you view the report, look for the “Met Proactive Admission Benchmark” column. If a yes is in the column, they

qualify for proactive admissions. Click on the sort on the column labeled. If you click once, it will sort in alpha order, which will put all the No’s on top. If you click it a second time, it will sort descending alpha order, which will put all the Yes’s on top.

Which students qualify for the college-readiness remedial coursework program?

There are different ways to answer this question. The easiest is to use the report parameters. Select the school year, district(s), and school(s) you are interested in. In the “Proactive Admission” parameter, select “All Students.” In the “Remedial Coursework” parameter, select “Qualify Math or English.” When you view the report, only those kids who qualified for the remedial college readiness coursework will appear on the report.

Another way is to select “All Students” in both the “Proactive Admission” and “Remedial Coursework” parameters. When you view the report, look at both the “Qualify for Remedial English College Readiness Coursework” and “Qualify for Remedial Math College Readiness Coursework.” If a yes is in either column, they qualify for remedial college readiness coursework.

What addresses were used by SDDOE to notify students they qualify for one of the programs?

When running the report, make sure to select “Yes” in the parameter called “Show Addresses.” When you view the report, the columns for addresses will be all the way to the right. Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the report to view these columns.

Q: Does this report use the ACT results from Infinite Campus?

No. The Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework Report is based on ACT results that SDDOE receives directly from ACT.

Q: I know that a student took the ACT, but the student’s ACT results are not in this report. Why?

SDDOE receives student results from ACT if the student 1) indicated that he/she has or will graduate from a South Dakota district and 2) gives permission to release his/her information to SDDOE. If the student does not do either of these, the student’s results will not be used for proactive admissions or remedial coursework programs.

Frequently Asked Questions



Data Interpretation Guide (DIG) Q: Do students give permission for ACT to release their results to SDDOE?

Yes. This is done during the official paperwork for ACT registration and test administration.

Q: How often is this report updated?

Unlike most SD-STARS reports that may update nightly, the Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework report does not update. The data in the report will stay the same. This is because the report informs users who received letters for these programs, and the letters are only mailed once a year.

The only change users may see is the addition of or removal of students from the list. Like most reports in SD-STARS, when a student moves, the data for that student will go with them. For example, if a student moves from School A to School B, the student’s data will show on School A’s report until they leave the school and will show on School B’s report when they enroll in the school.

Q: Why aren’t private schools, tribal schools or homeschool students included in proactive admissions or remedial college readiness coursework?

In general, SDDOE does not necessarily get ACT results for private school, tribal school, or homeschool students. In addition, not all private school, tribal school, or homeschool students take Smarter Balanced. When GPA is added, SD-STARS will only have GPAs for public schools. Without accurate data for private school, tribal school, and homeschool students, SDDOE cannot include them in proactive admission or remedial college readiness coursework.

Q: Do teachers have access to this report?

No – Users with School: Teacher permission do not have access to this report. See Roles with Report Access for list of permissions that have access to the report.

Q: I am unable to see any schools in the school parameter dropdown. Why?

What schools users see in SD-STARS depends on their permissions. Since this report is only for high schools, users who only have access to elementary or middle schools will not be able to select any schools in the school parameter dropdown.




History

The Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework Report was developed and released in September 2017. The current version of the report is the original version. Subsequent versions of the report will contain release notes complete with changes to the report.

Report Responsiveness

The report loads, on average, in under 15 seconds.

Problems?

SDDOE validated the data to the best of its ability in September 2017. If districts find errors in the data, please contact STARS Support at [email protected].

Roles with Report Access

• District: Assessment • District: Management • District: Superintendent • School: Management • School: Principal

Security Consideration

Unlike most SD-STARS reports that may update nightly, the Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework report does not update. The data in the report will stay the same. This is because the report informs users who received letters for these programs, and the letters are only mailed once a year.

The only change users may see is the addition of or removal of students from the list. Like most reports in SD-STARS, when a student moves, the data for that student will go with them. For example, if a student moves from School A to School B, the student’s data will show on School A’s report until they leave the school and will show on School B’s report when they enroll in the school.

Report Details

Security

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Proactive Admission and Remedial Coursework Data ... · College readiness coursework includes courses intended ... made to demographics in Infinite Campus after the data are pulled