Advanced Course Potential
Background
Student Dashboard Metrics
In focus group discussions conducted with over 2,600 educators throughout Texas, the Advanced Course Potential metric was considered useful by 92% of respondents when reported at the campus level, but by only 85% of respondents when reported at the student level. The implication is that this metric, though still valuable to teachers in targeting their individual students for advanced coursework, may be even more useful to principals and counselors in developing strategic, school-wide approaches to increasing enrollment and success in advanced courses.
Primary Metric
- Advanced Course Potential - Current Year: for the current year only, whether or not a student has demonstrated potential for advanced coursework based on state assessment performance (the student's STAAR EOC is Level III) and whether or not they are enrolled in advanced courses (AP, IB or DE courses) in the four core subject areas.
User Interface
Dashboard Example
Figure 1 shows the Advanced Course Potential metric as seen on the student dashboard.
Figure 1 TSDS Advanced Course Potential Metric
Status Definition
The STAAR Level III is determined by whether a student meets the state-defined performance level that classify students as Level III. The results are determined by a specific STAAR flag indicating the student achieved an “Advanced” score (equivalent in concept to the TAKS commended score).
Table 2 lists the status indicators as seen on the student dashboard.
Metric Indicator | Trends | |||
Metric Name | Sub-metric Name | Metric Status Indicator | Compares: | To: |
Advanced Course Potential | ELA/Reading | Yes = if student’s STAAR score for subject (any English test) is Level III N/A if student does not have a performance level for a STAAR exam in this subject No= if student has performance level for STAAR and it is NOT Level III Yes = if student is currently enrolled in an Advanced Course | N/A | N/A |
Mathematics | Yes = if student’s STAAR score for subject is Level III (any Math test) N/A if student does not have a performance level for a STAAR exam in this subject No= if student has performance level for STAAR and it is NOT Level III Yes = if student is enrolled in an Advanced Course | N/A | N/A | |
Science | Yes = if student’s STAAR score in the subject is Level III (any science EOC test) N/A if student does not have a performance level for a STAAR exam in this subject No= if student has performance level for STAAR and it is NOT Level III Yes = if student is enrolled in an Advanced Course | N/A | N/A | |
Social Studies | Yes = if student’s STAAR EOC is Level III (any social studies EOC) N/A if student does not have a performance level for a STAAR exam in this subject No= if student has performance level for STAAR and it is NOT Level III Yes = if student is enrolled in an Advanced Course | N/A | N/A |
Trends
Trends are not calculated for this metric.
Periodicity
The periodicity of this metric is dependent on when the STAAR files are available to load.
Recommended Load Characteristics | |
Calendar | School year |
Frequency of data load | When new course enrollments occur |
Latency | 6-9 months |
Interchange schema | InterchangeAssessmentMetadata.xsd InterchangeStudentAssessment.xsd InterchangeStudentEnrollment.xsd |
Tooltips
The standard tooltips for metric definitions, column headers, and help functions display for this metric.
Business Rules
The Advanced Course Potential metric compares the student’s potential for advanced courses in specific subjects (as measured by Level III performance on the STAAR or STAAR EOC) against whether the student is currently enrolled in advanced or pre-advanced (in middle school) courses in the following subjects for the current school year in grade levels 6 – 12.
- English Language Arts (ELA)
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
A student is rated as having “advanced course potential” based upon their performance in standardized tests, specifically if the student’s performance on either the STAAR/STAAR EOC exceeds a certain threshold.
Data Assumptions
- Advanced courses are those defined by the course characteristic:
- AP courses
- PreAP courses(middle school)
- IB courses
- PreIB courses (middle school)
- Other advanced courses identified by the course characteristic
- The state-defined threshold of “Level III Advanced” is indicated in the STAAR results file.
- If the STAAR exam is taken multiple times, only the most recent results are used.
- Student's STAAR scores by subject are available for the grade level (ELA/reading, mathematics, science, social studies and writing).
- The type of the STAAR test is available per student (e.g., STAAR-M, STAAR-Alt, etc.).
Computed Values
There are no calculations for this metric.
Data Anomalies
Anomalies
- Student may have missing transcript data which will affect enrollment status.
- Advanced Course Potential campus rollup displays students that have demonstrated potential for advanced courses but are not yet enrolled.
- If an AP course is labeled as Gifted and Talented only, students in this course will not be counted as enrolled in an advanced course.
Date of Refresh
Best practice is for the date of last data refresh to appear next the metric in the following format:
- (Through April 2017)
Implementation Considerations
Transfer Students (Late Enrollments)
Transfer students may not have complete transcripts from which to review prior exam scores.
Advanced Course Definition
Courses with the course characteristic type of “advanced” include AP and IB courses in high school and PreAP and PreIB courses in middle school, as well as those defined as advanced by the state and those defined locally by the district. In the case of courses that are both AP and another type such as GT, the course should have the characteristic type of AP. If the other characteristic is recorded, the course will not appear as 'advanced.'