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ERIC Number: ED583565
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 78
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Comparisons of Student Growth by District Performance and Poverty. ACT Research Report Series 2017-8
Dougherty, Chrys; Shaw, Teresa
ACT, Inc.
This report looks at student growth in Arkansas school districts disaggregated by district poverty and by the district's value-added performance relative to other districts. We estimated district value-added performance statistics by subject and grade level (8 and 11-12) for longitudinal student cohorts, using statistical models that adjusted for district demographics, the percentage of students in the analysis, and prior student scores. We found that differences in these value-added statistics across districts at each poverty level were large enough to be of practical importance to educators and policymakers. In addition to value-added statistics, we also calculated unadjusted descriptive statistics related to changes in student achievement over time--such the percentage of students at a given achievement level in an earlier year who reached the On-Track level in the current year--for districts classified as above or below average based on the value-added statistics. At all poverty levels, we found substantial differences in these statistics between districts identified as above and below average in the models. However, even in above-average districts, the great majority of Off-Track students were not reaching On-Track benchmarks for college and career readiness in English, mathematics, reading, and science. No group of high-poverty districts was able to catch up at least a third of their Off-Track students or more than 11% of their Far-Off-Track students in any subject. This is reason to pay increased attention to promising but sometimes underemphasized long-term strategies for improving student outcomes.
ACT, Inc. 500 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 168, Iowa City, IA 52243-0168. Tel: 319-337-1270; Web site: http://www.act.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Numerical/Quantitative Data
Education Level: Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: ACT, Inc.
Identifiers - Location: Arkansas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A