Holding Schools Accountable for the Growth of Nonproficient Students: Coordinating Measurement and Accountability

A key intent of the NCLB growth pilot is to reward low‐status schools who are closing the gap to proficiency. In this article, we demonstrate that the capability of proposed models to identify those schools depends on how the growth model is incorporated into accountability decisions. Six pilot‐approved growth models were applied to vertically scaled mathematics assessment data from a single state collected over 2 years. Student and school classifications were compared across models. Accountability classifications using status and growth to proficiency as defined by each model were considered from two perspectives. The first involved adding the number of students moving toward proficiency to the count of proficient students, while the second involved a multitier accountability system where each school was first held accountable for status and then held accountable for the growth of their nonproficient students. Our findings emphasize the importance of evaluating status and growth independently when attempting to identify low‐status schools with insufficient growth among nonproficient students.