Student Achievement Goals
The Walton Family Foundation offers financial support for the startup of public charter schools that demonstrate potential for improving student achievement in reading/language arts and math as measured by valid and reliable standardized tests. Schools must develop specific metrics and set annual targets for academic student performance, systems for measuring progress against those targets, and strategies for refining instruction to achieve those outcomes.
We recommend that schools supplement standardized math and reading/language arts tests with other measures of performance, such as: standardized tests in science, social studies, and other subject areas; yearly attendance and retention rates; high school exit standards and graduation rates; college admittance and completion rates, parental satisfaction surveys, and school waiting lists. In regard to tracking student academic achievement, schools must plan to evaluate student progress using at least three basic measures:
- Student Achievement Level (Status);
- Student Progress Over Time (Growth); and,
- Comparisons of student achievement status and growth to benchmark schools and other norms.
Student Achievement Level (Status)
We expect grant recipients to set specific, rigorous standards of learning for students at all grade levels and to measure the proportion of students meeting and exceeding annual proficiency targets for these standards. Schools should create plans to increase the percentage of students at each grade level achieving proficiency from year to year. Ideally, a school’s academic programs would enable more than 90% of students within three years to obtain and maintain proficiency against grade-level standards as measured by state criterion-referenced tests.
We recognize that charter schools serving secondary grades often enroll students that are performing years below grade level proficiency targets. In these cases, students need an intensive academic experience to prepare them for postsecondary educational options. Secondary schools seeking Walton Family Foundation support should set targets relative to end-of-course and state high school exit exams (as applicable) and for college-entrance exams, the SAT and ACT.
Student Progress Over Time (Growth)
We expect that school grantees are able to demonstrate from year to year that an increasing percentage of students across all grades and subjects are improving over time. Schools will be able to demonstrate that students below proficient are moving to higher performance levels and that students who are already scoring proficient or advanced are maintaining or improving their rates of growth.
Schools will measure growth annually on state criterion-referenced tests and supplement, where appropriate, student progress measures with results from formative assessments that measure interim progress against annual targets. It is expected that school and cohort growth measures will factor in student mobility and turnover rates. In states, such as Colorado, that provide growth measures based on standardized states, schools should set targets and report on progress.
Comparisons of Student Achievement to Benchmark Schools and Other Norms
Walton Family Foundation-supported schools, at a minimum, should strive to achieve test scores and proficiency rankings that are superior to neighboring and/or demographically similar schools. Schools should have plans that will enable students enrolled for two or more years to demonstrate superior performance in student achievement status and growth measures of proficiency. High performing schools will achieve performance results that exceed the demographically similar schools benchmarks as measured by national or international norms. Examples include valid, normed assessments provided by national test contractors and externally scored summative assessments like advanced placement and International Baccalaureate exams.
Performance Measures for Alternative Charter Schools
Walton Family Foundation-supported alternative charter schools, like all other charter schools, should be dedicated to raising the academic achievement of all students as measured on standardized assessments. As these schools are educating a different type of student, the same expectations may not be appropriate. Nevertheless, alternative charter schools should set appropriate targets and report on student achievement levels and growth on standardized tests. It is recommended that data from standardized formative assessments be considered. Other measures of attainment should be included, such as high school graduation rates, GED completion rates, vocational certificate program completion, and/or post-secondary matriculation rates. Schools should include behavioral targets and performance measures as well, such as truancy rates, post-discharge recidivism rates, and dropout rates. Finally, schools should consider inclusion of targets and performance measures regarding persistence, including, for example, average daily attendance rates and/or student course completion rates. In setting targets for all performance measures, schools should provide a rationale for the targets based on research and past performance of related programs.
