Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Reviewing Your District's Limited English Proficient Student
AMAO Progress/Attainment Report Data

Introduction

District, school and student reports for English language proficiency are available each fall at http://homeroom.state.nj.us/ under "AMAO Data". These reports reflect the achievement of your district's limited English proficient (LEP) students in meeting the State's Title III Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives which relate to the following:

• AMAO 1: Percent of LEP students who make progress in learning English; and
• AMAO 2: Percent of LEP students attaining a 4.5 on the ACCESS for ELLs test within a defined timeframe.

The district and school reports show English language progress as measured by the ACCESS for ELLs® test for the prior two years. The reports also show the number and percent of students attaining a 4.5 on the ACCESS for ELLs® test in each of two cohorts. All districts that received Title III funds for a given school year are required to administer the test to LEP students in the spring of that school year.

The purpose of this document is to provide an explanation of the achievement objectives related to English language progress/attainment and to provide suggestions regarding how to review the data for accuracy.

AMAO 1 relates to making annual increases in the number or percentage of children making progress in learning English. "Progress" is defined as a specific increase in the proficiency levels on the ACCESS for ELLs test. AMAO 2 relates to the number or percentage of children attaining a composite score of 4.5 on the ACCESS for ELLs® test within a certain timeframe. AMAO 3 relates to meeting progress targets for the limited English proficient (LEP) subgroup at the district level.
View current AMAO standards here: http://www.nj.gov/education/bilingual/title3/accountability/amao.htm

Students Included in AMAO 1: Progress Data

The AMAO for English language progress is measured by the growth in spring-to-spring scores on the ACCESS for ELLs® test. "Progress" is defined as an increase of.5 or more proficiency levels on the test as compared to the previous year's score. Students were counted in the AMAO1 calculations as follows:

• Students who had been enrolled in the district for one year or more, except for those students who enrolled after the benchmark administration of the ACCESS for ELLs® test, are included in the measure of progress.
• In cases in which a student's ACCESS for ELLs scores from a previous district could be matched to the student, the student would be counted in AMAO 1. Such students are indicated by two green asterisks ** next to their names.
• In cases in which the enrollment date was missing or not valid, or where students' test scores were invalidated, the students were counted as not having met the growth target. For this reason, districts should check their students' information during the data validation opportunities provided by the test scoring vendor, MetriTech.
• Any student whose enrollment date indicates that he/she was in the district for one or more years, but who has no baseline score attributable to that student, is counted as not having made progress in the AMAO 1 results.
• If your district tested a student who had been previously enrolled in the school district but who does not have a test score for 2014, the district may provide the NJDOE with documentation of the student’s test score from a prior year. This score will be included as the pre-test score in the AMAO 1 calculations.

Students Included in AMAO 2: Attainment of Language Proficiency Data

The scores of all students who take ACCESS for ELL®s in the spring are included in calculating AMAO 2. The targets for AMAO 2 include two cohorts: students who have been in a language assistance program for up to four years, and those who have been in a program five or more years. In order to meet AMAO 2, districts must meet the targets for both cohorts. Federal regulations require states to include the scores of all students in the calculation of AMAO 2. To comply with this requirement, the NJDOE implemented a new multiple-year methodology to calculate AMAO 2 for cohort sizes of fewer than 10 students. A district can meet the cohorts target as follows:

1. based on the population of the current year, or
2. based on the population of the current year plus the previous year, or
3. based on the population of the current year plus the previous two years.

"Attainment" is defined as a student having scored a 4.5 on the ACCESS for ELLs test. In order for a student to be counted as having attained English language proficiency, he/she must have achieved a score of 4.5 or higher.

This AMAO reflects the district progress target for the LEP subgroup in math and English language arts as well as the participation rate for each of those assessments. AMAO 3 also includes an additional indicator of attendance or graduation rate.

SPECIAL NOTE: THE 2014-2015 SCHOOL YEAR WAS THE INITIAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE PARCC ASSESSMENT. DUE TO THE TRANSITION IN THE STATE’S ASSESSMENT SYSTEM, THE NJDOE IS UNABLE TO PROVIDE DISTRICTS’ PROGRESS TOWARD AMAO 3. HOWEVER, WE ENCOURAGE DISTRICTS TO REVIEW THEIR LOCAL ASSESSMENT DATA ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ELL SUBGROUP IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY TO IDENTIFY AND IMPLEMENT INTERVENTIONS TO ADDRESS GAPS IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.

Hints for Reviewing Your Data

Each district has been provided district, school and student reports for the previous year's administration. The use of the student identification number (SID) has enhanced the capacity to accurately match students from year to year, resulting in more accurate data. Although great care is taken with data analysis, data errors can happen and districts are encouraged to check their data as follows:

• Check for indications that the matching of student data might be incomplete:

• Is there a baseline score (column 3) for students who have been in your school district for two test administrations?
• If a student had been enrolled in your district one or more years during the test window, but has no ACCESS for ELLs® test baseline score, were there extenuating circumstances that prevented the student from taking the test?
• If the student entered your district on or after July 1, and therefore had been enrolled in your district for less than one year, determine if the student took the ACCESS for ELLs® test in a previous district. In some cases, students' previous records were found and attributed to the student. However, previous year's records could not be found for all students and these may help your district's AMAO 1 status.
• Are all students who took the ACCESS for ELLs® test during the previous administration listed?

If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Supplemental Educational Programs at lep@doe.state.nj.us or call (609)292-8777.