November, 2013

AMAO CALCULATIONS

Title III of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)requires states to provide notification for each district regarding Met/Not Met Annual Measurable Achievment Objectives (AMAO) status. Title III requires that states:

  • establish English language proficiency standards,
  • conduct an annual assessment of English language proficiency,
  • define annual achievement objectives for increasing and measuring the level of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students’ development and attainment of English proficiency, and
  • hold Local Education Agencies (LEAs) accountable for meeting the annual measurable achievement objectives (Section 3122)

Under Title III, states are required to set annual targets through 2013-14 for three Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAOs):

  • AMAO 1- Annual increases in the number or percent of children making progress in English as determined by WESTELL,
  • AMAO 2 - Annual increases in the number or percent of children attaining English language proficiency as determined by WESTELL, and
  • AMAO 3 - LEP subgroup - Met AMOs for reading/language arts and mathematics, the 95% participation rate requirement, and if the LEA includes one or more high schools, the State’s graduation rate. Must meet all these elements in order to meeting AMAO 3 in a state that has received the AYP waiver under the Flexibility Waiver.

Development of West Virginia’s AMAOs

In December of 2005, after receiving two years of WESTELL data, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) convened a Title III accountability committee to revise the state’s AMAOs. Due to the limited nature of two years of testing data, and in accordance with recommendations from the US Department of Education (USDOE), the committee proposed an Impact Study that measures the accuracy of the targets. In December 2009, in order to meet the new USDOE AMAO Notice of Interpretation requirements, WVDE requested revision of the state’s AMAOs’s to reflect the following targets:

Revised AMAO 1: Targets for gains in the percentage of students making progress

2009-10 / 2010-11 / 2011-12 / 2012-13 / 2013-14
21% / 24.5% / 28% / 31.5% / 35%

Revised AMAO 2: Targets for gains in the percentage of students attaining English proficiency

2009-10 / 2010-11 / 2011-12 / 2012-13 / 2013-14
1% / 3.5% / 6% / 8.5% / 11%

AMAO 1 Rules for Calculating Met/Not Met for Individual Students

If the 2011WESTELL Composite Score Was: / And if the 2012WESTELL Composite Score Was: / Then the 2013 Composite WESTELL Score Must Be:
1 / >1
2 / >2
3 / >3
3 / ≥3
4 / ≥4
5 / =5

Clarifications for AMAO 1:

If a student scored level 4(5) two years ago, and scored 3 last year, and scored 4(5) this year, this student met AMAO 1 target. Rationale:

The penalty for “lack of improvement” 2 years ago to last year was imposed last year

The comparison of last year’s data to this year shows improvement

If a student scored level 4 two years ago, and scored 3 last year, and scored 3 this year, this student did not meet AMAO 1 target.

AMAO 2 Rules for Calculating Met/Not Met for Individual Students

The 2012 WESTELL Composite Score Was: / Then the 2013 Composite WESTELL Score Must Be:
1 or 2 or 3 / 4 or 5

Clarifications for AMAO 2:

  • Prior year Level 1-3 students are counted in the AMAO 2 calculations.
  • The cohort includes all students (in Level 1-3) with two-year matching data.

Clarifications for AMAO 3: (must meet all these elements to meet AMAO 3 target)

  • AMAOs of at least 75% by the year 2020, which can be met by
  • Confidence Intervals of 99 still exist given the decreased n –size of 20
  • Averaging is still applicable to determine adequate yearly progress
  • Safe Harbor is still applicable, but has been revised to reflect a 10% decrease in non-proficiency
  • Graduation Rates showing sufficient annual improvement
  • 4-year adjusted-cohort rate of 85% by 2020
  • 5-year adjusted-cohort rate of 87.5% by 2020
  • Graduation rates can be met by
  • Absolute rate over the required yearly amount
  • Increase of 10% of the distance to the target from the prior year
  • Averaging to determine either absolute rate or required increase
  • Yearly Assessment of Participation Rates
  • 95% for all students enrolled in the school at the time of testing
  • 3-year average of participation rate to account for anomalous data

District AMAO Status

The West Virginia Department of Education’s minimum “n” for accountability, as submitted in the state’s Consolidated Accountability Workbook is twenty (20) students. (Based on ESEA Flexibility Waiver) The state’s AMAO status results for the 2012-2013 school year are:

State / State
Target / County Performance /

AMAO

Status
AMAO 1 / 31.5% / MET or NOT MET
AMAO 2 / 8.5% / MET or NOT MET
AMAO 3 / State Assessment Performance / AMAOs of at least 75% by the year 2020 / MET or NOT MET
Graduation Rate / 4-year adjusted-cohort rate of 85% by 2020
5-year adjusted-cohort rate of 87.5% by 2020
State Assessment Participation Rate / 95%

*Suppressed for reporting

Accountability for Meeting the AMAOs

If an LEA fails to make progress toward meeting the AMAOs for two consecutive years, the State shall require the LEA to develop an improvement plan that will ensure that the AMAOs are met. The improvement plan shall specifically address the factors that prevented the district from achieving the AMAOs. If the LEA fails to meet the AMAOs for four consecutive years, the state shall require the LEA to modify its curriculum, program, and method of instruction, or make a determination whether the LEA shall continue to receive Title III funds (Section 3122 (b)).