The Arizona Charter Schools Association is committed to increasing accountability and quality in Arizona's thriving charter school movement. In 2008, our research team published Success Measured: Four Foundational Elements of Student- Level Growth, which used an innovative "value-added" approach to analyzing growth in student achievement and school quality that is becoming a national model. The best practices identified through Success Measured have formed the basis of our brand new online resource, Success Center Online, which will provide technical assistance and teacher professional development programs to both charter and district public schools. The Success Center Online will provide snapshots of a student’s academic gains – or losses. With just the click of an icon, teachers will be able to access a student’s individual academic growth, allowing for rigorous planning for a student’s unique needs instead of waiting for an AIMS autopsy to deliver the information.
The Success Center Online is a web-based portal that will allow school administrators and teachers to build curriculum and assessments that are aligned with state standards and then efficiently use those assessments to make data-driven decisions about individual students. In addition to the curriculum and assessments, a student-level growth model will be available for teachers to view, enabling them to track student progress. The growth model will be based on assessments designed by the Association that track progress toward passing AIMS, and will be administered three times per year so that student progress can be tracked constantly.
Growth percentiles allow people to see student data at a level that truly compares "apples to apples"; that is, a school is evaluated based on the typical growth expected of students across the state, in all public schools, with similar achievement backgrounds. Growth percentiles calculated on yearly achievement data (AIMS) are helpful, but best practice research shows that the highest performing schools use the ability to monitor data throughout the year to drive quality. The end goal is to take the principles of Success Measured and make it possible for every public school teacher in the state to easily and efficiently implement those principles in their classroom in order to drive individual student growth.
The Association has partnered with New York-based Spiral Universe (www.spiraluniverse.com) to provide the web-based portal. Teachers will be able to log in through ADE’s EduAccess or the Association’s web page. What makes the Success Center Online especially unique is not only its ease of use, but the seamless integration of formative assessment, summative assessment, data, and professional development. For example, the professional development component will allow teachers across the state to share lesson plans and best practices, and communicate through a statewide professional learning community.
The Success Center Online is meant to be a robust “one-stop shop” tool for teachers, schools, parents, and even students to get the information that is so vital to a student’s success. Beta testing has begun, and the Association plans to have the Success Center Online go live for the 2010-2011 school year. Included below are samples of the individual student growth graphs, which will be included as part of the Success Center Online. They allow teachers to view not only a student's current standardized achievement and growth, but the trajectory they need to continue to pass AIMS. Schools that are interested in participating can contact the Association for more information at successcenter@azcharters.org.
Eileen Sigmund is President/CEO of the Arizona Charter Schools Association.