Math and Reading Student Achievement Test Gains, 2003/4 Portland Public Schools, by Ability and Special Groups

--Portland Public Schools, Student Achievement Gains 2003-4 by Ability and Special Groups: Reading

(this is a .pdf file)

--Portland Public Schools, Student Achievement Gains 2003-4 by Ability and Special Group: Math

(this is a .pdf file)

Notes:  These graphs were compiled in 2005 from data on the Portland Public Schools website, in the section for "Testing".  See http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/rne/2004/  Numbers from several different tables were combined and a graphing program was used to display the numbers.

The data for "gains" subtracts student achievement test scores for each student in 2003 from the achievement test score for the same student in 2004 except in the case of tenth grade gains.  As there is no ninth grade test, the scores of students from 2002, when they were in the eighth. grade, are subtracted from their scores for 2004 when they were in the tenth grade. Students taking the test are grouped by ability in five groups: "Very Low, Low, Nearly Meets, Meets, and Exceeds."

The graph compares the gains for students who exceeded the benchmarks with gains for students who met benchmarks.  In addition, score gains for Free and Reduced Lunch, African American, and Hispanic American students who exceeded benchmarks in the previous test are shown. 

The graph represents a "snapshot," not a trend.  It does NOT trace gains from third grade to tenth grade for a single cohort of students.  It compares the gains achieved by students in different grades who all took one test last year and another test one or two years previously.

The most accurate way to represent such data is with a bar graph, as this does not imply a relationship across the grade levels.  Bar graphs are included below the line graphs.  However, I find them more difficult to read, so I have included both.  Both the bar graph and the line graph for each area (reading and math) represent the same data.

The graphs only represent student learning for the curriculum that was included in the test and may not fully represent what students actually covered or learned during a year. 

Please note that the scales for the two graphs are not the same.  Math runs from -4 to 8 (12 points) while Reading runs from -2 to 8 (10 points).

In addition, confidence bands were not available this year.  Results might look different if confidence bands were included.

I'd like to thank my husband for helping me to format these graphs and display them as .pdf files.

Margaret DeLacy, February 2005