A Plus Denver News

Thank you for your continued advocacy on behalf of the students of the Denver Public Schools. In March, DPS announced changes that will go into effect for the 2015 School Performance Framework (SPF). As such, we are writing to inform you of the rationale and substance of the changes, and to outline how the changes align to the recommendations of your coalition.

As a coalition, you recommended that DPS consider the following:

1. Use parent-friendly language for the school level ratings on the SPF;
2. Increase the weight on status and raise the bar for earning points to achieve a green or blue status rating on the SPF;
3. Increase the emphasis on raising the scores of low-income students and students of color (gap closing measures).

Before describing the 2015 SPF changes, it’s important to consider the current assessment and data landscape as a basis for the district’s decision making for next year’s SPF.

Assessment Transition:

1. Roughly 60 percent of measures are changing due to the state assessment transition.
2. The official release of the 2015 SPF will be later than usual due to the late release of CMAS status data (Oct. 2015) and late or no release of growth data (Feb. 2016). In other words, the public SPF reflecting 2014-15 data is likely to be released in early 2016.
3. CDE is no longer including “No Scores” in district and school proficiency rates reported in July.
4. DPS and CDE are collaborating to determine appropriateness of using growth between TCAP and CMAS for an accountability measure.

Given the changing assessment landscape and anticipated delays in availability of data for the 2015 SPF, DPS has decided to phase in changes to the SPF, implementing a number of important temporary and long-term changes for 2015, and communicating now a number of additional changes for the 2016 SPF and beyond. The changes align well with the coalition's recommendations, and we thank you for your thought partnership and advocacy on behalf of high expectations for Denver youth.

In summary, delayed timelines and uncertainty associated with CMAS test results, along with potential changes to state testing requirements, limit our ability to apply long-term changes to the SPF in 2015.

2015 SPF Changes
In the near term, DPS is implementing several changes at the measure level to increase alignment with the Denver Plan 2020 goals and to evaluate school performance more accurately. While some measures will be adjusted, others will be removed temporarily to accommodate the shift from TCAP to CMAS. In addition, since DPS will not lower the cut points for status measures for next year, this will result in higher expectations for school performance on the 2015 SPF due to the increased rigor associated with the CMAS. College remediation measures will also formally count for high schools. Finally, DPS will remove temporarily the overall school SPF rating for next year and instead will produce stoplight reports showing results in growth, status, engagement and satisfaction, and academic achievement gaps. We will also continue to highlight the performance of various subgroups on the SPF reports (see the attached sample report of a school’s 2015 SPF).

2016 SPF Changes


In 2016, the measures temporarily removed will be reinstated, as will the overall rating system for schools. We will continue to explore opportunities for communicating school ratings in parent-friendly language. In addition, DPS will increase the relative weight of the status indicator (e.g., shift the status-to-growth ratio in elementary schools from 3:1 to 3:2), apply conditions to ensure schools earning an overall rating of Green or Blue are performing well on both status and growth, and review the expectations set through cut points across measures to ensure alignment to Denver Plan 2020 goals. The district is also exploring ways to better emphasize the importance of equity and closing opportunity and achievement gaps. This could be accomplished through raising individual cut points on a variety of measures, adding equity conditions that ensure that all Green or Blue schools meet certain thresholds for closing gaps, or adding specific equity indicators to the SPF.

Finally, a small working group of the Board and senior leadership team is reviewing the SPF through the lens of the accountability and performance principles developed by the Board this year. This review will allow us to re- assess the SPF's alignment to Denver Plan goals, as well as its ability to communicate transparently and simply to families and the community the quality and health of a given school. Our goal is to communicate specific changes for the 2016 SPF prior to the start of the 2015-16 school year.

We believe that phasing in these changes over two years provides us the best opportunity to stabilize the SPF during a time when the assessment landscape is shifting. We remain committed to using the SPF as our leading tool for school improvement, performance transparency, accountability and district wide systems. At the same time, we recognize that strong communication with our families and school communities during this transition period is critical to ensure understanding of school performance at the neighborhood, regional and district level.

To learn more about the 2015 SPF changes and the recently developed performance and accountability principles, read this DPS Board of Education presentation.


Sincerely,
Alyssa Whitehead-Bust

Chief Academic and Innovation Officer