GOAL 1: Highest Student Achievement

Outcome A: Student Performance and Assessment

All students will achieve or exceed proficiency levels aligned to clearly defined program and curricular performance standards. Individual student progress will be continually measured using multiple internal and external performance-based assessments.

Measures

• DoDEA will regularly measure student performance in all disciplines through a balanced assessment system using multiple internal (local) and external (system- wide) assessments. The comprehensive system of assessments will provide educators, parents, and students with information for improved instructional decision-making, resulting in improved student performance.
• External (system-wide) assessments will include norm-referenced and criterion- referenced tests aligned to the DoDEA performance standards. External individual and summary student data will be reported using the following performance categories:
  • Above the Standard
  • At the Standard
  • Partially Met the Standard
  • Below the Standard
    
    Note: Other data may also be reported, such as the median national percentile, the normal curve equivalent, and scale scores.
  
• Internal (local) assessments may include performance assessments, work samples, and portfolios. System-wide and local assessment data will be disaggregated (e.g., gender, race) to identify student groups not achieving proficiency on the standards.
Internal (local) assessments will measure student performance against the DoDEA performance standards in all curricular areas.
• External (system-wide) criterion-referenced assessments aligned to the DoDEA performance standards will be administered annually to selected grade levels. In addition, end-of-course assessments will be administered for selected high school courses.
• External (system-wide) norm-referenced assessments (currently TerraNova) will be administered annually to DoDEA students in grades 3-11 for reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies. Spring 2000 TerraNova scores for these grade levels will be reported by subject and used as the system-wide baseline measure for student progress.
• External (system-wide) criterion and norm-referenced assessments will be used to determine reading performance at the end of grade 3. Internal (local) measures will be used from Kindergarten through grade 2 to monitor progress toward third grade reading proficiency.

Outcome Milestones

• Each site will identify interim growth targets, based on summary as well as disaggregated data, that will lead toward all students performing "At the Standard" level or higher on the DoDEA Performance Standards in reading/English/language arts, and math.

• All students will perform "At the Standard" level or higher on external (system-wide) criterion-referenced assessments aligned to the reading/English/language arts, and math performance standards. Selected external assessments will be conducted using technology (e.g., computers, graphing calculators):
  Grades 4, 8 in math.
  Grades 4, 8, 10 in reading/English/language arts;
  Grades 9-12 End-of-Course Assessments (for selected courses)
• Seventy-five percent of all students will perform "At the Standard" level or higher (the top two quarters) on an external (system-wide) norm- referenced assessment. Fewer than 8 percent will perform "Below the Standard" level (the bottom quarter).
• All students will perform "At the Standard" level or higher in reading (at grade level) by the end of grade 3.

Implementation Milestones

Please see the Development and Implementation Timeline and the DoDEA Assessment Matrix in the Appendix for further details concerning the CSP implementation milestones.

• DoDEA will use a systematic process for periodically reviewing and revising standards, purchasing materials, identifying courseware and technology infrastructure requirements, aligning assessments, developing curriculum tools, disseminating best practices, and assessing the quality of standards implementation. This curriculum development process will reflect the timeline requirements of the CSP.
• Each site will use an improvement process to reach the CSP goals with a special focus on helping all students achieve the DoDEA Performance Standards.
• Schools and districts will identify or develop local assessments, as needed, to supplement system-wide measures to document student progress toward reaching the goals of the CSP.

• Each site will have professional development plans aligned to the CSP and support systems in place for achieving the DoDEA Performance Standards.
• External criterion-referenced assessments in reading/English/language arts, math, writing, and algebra I (end-of-course) will have been piloted, administered throughout the system, and have an established baseline.

• DoDEA Performance Standards for reading/English/language arts, math, science, social studies, and all other curricular areas will be used at each grade level.
• Quality Indicator Maps will be used to monitor reading/English/language arts, math, science, social studies, and all other curricular areas.
• All external (system-wide) criterion-referenced assessments for reading/English/ language arts, math, science, and social studies will be fully aligned with the DoDEA Performance Standards.
• End-of-course assessments in social studies or science will be piloted, administered throughout the system, and have an established baseline.
• DoDEA, in coordination with Directors (DoDDS Europe, DoDDS Pacific, and DDESS), will use an accountability system to measure progress toward the CSP goals.
• The accountability system will include both measures showing achievement of the standards as well as growth toward the standards, and will be based on a minimum of two system-wide assessments for each priority subject area.
• The accountability reporting system will be understandable and easy to communicate to educators, parents, students, and community members.
• All DoDEA sites will analyze student achievement data to identify groups of students, schools, districts, or areas not performing at "At the Standard" or higher levels, and will develop site-specific improvement plans with a special focus on helping ALL students achieve the DoDEA Performance Standards.
• All DoDEA sites will have access to valid and reliable data with which to measure student achievement of the DoDEA Performance Standards.

By October 2004:

• DoDEA will use consistent policies that support a standards-based system for grading, credit, promotion, and graduation.

Outcome B: Opportunities to Learn and Citizenship

All students will have access to varied and challenging learning opportunities and appropriate interventions and/or modifications to ensure continuous learning and productive citizenship.

• DoDEA will regularly measure student access to varied and challenging learning opportunities and productive citizenship. System-wide and local data will be disaggregated to identify student groups not achieving this goal so that appropriate interventions or modifications can be implemented.
• School schedules, course enrollment, grade reports, and student assessment results will be used to monitor access and success in challenging and supporting learning opportunities, including the use of technology.
• Student participation in cocurricular activities, student attitudes from the DoDEA Student Survey, and student discipline reports will be used to measure students' productive citizenship.
• Student participation in the identified DoDEA external (system-wide) assessments or the alternate assessments will be measured and reported.

Outcome Milestones

By SY 2006:

• All students (100 percent) will have access to and will achieve success in challenging learning opportunities based on data from school schedules, course enrollment, grade reports, and student assessment results.
• All students (100 percent) will demonstrate productive citizenship through:
  Participation in one or more cocurricular activities (high school only);
  Positive student attitudes reported on the DoDEA Student Survey;
  Student discipline reports which show a decrease in "serious" incidents.
• All students (100 percent) will participate in the DoDEA system-wide assessment program either through the identified external (system-wide) assessments, or through the DoDEA alternate assessments.

Implementation Milestones

• Alternate assessments will be developed and used with all students unable to participate in the identified DoDEA external (system-wide) assessments (Note: As additional DoDEA system-wide assessments are identified, alternate assessments will be developed as needed.)

• DoDEA policies and resource allocation practices will be used to consistently provide student support programs to help all students achieve or exceed the DoDEA performance standards (e.g., Reading Recovery, summer school, after- school programs, tutoring, mentor programs, extended day or calendar, AVID, advanced placement).
• Quality Indicator Maps will be used by schools and districts to implement and/or monitor student support programs (e.g., compensatory education, English as a Second Language, Gifted education, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), advanced placement, Special Education).