Release to School Administrative Units of 2008 MEA and PAAP Reports

INFORMATIONAL LETTER NO: 112
POLICY CODE: ILB

TO: Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, Special Education Directors, Curriculum Coordinators, Elementary and Middle School Principals, and Guidance Directors
FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner
DATE: June 20, 2008
RE: Release to School Administrative Units of 2008 MEA and PAAP Reports

Key Points Covered In this Informational Letter:

Access to Reports Online
Delivery of Reports to School Administrative Units (SAUs)
Procedures for Data Verification
July 9th MEA Enrollment and Participation Verification Deadline
July 30th PAAP Report Verification Deadline
Contact Information

2008 Maine Educational Assessment Reports – Grades 3 through 8
Monday, June 23, 2008 – Security Pass Codes Mailed.
Measured Progress, the MEA contractor, mails security pass codes to principals’ and superintendents’ office for access to reports online. These reports include: school and SAU data; class analysis reports (with accompanying CSV files); school, SAU and state summary pages, plus an electronic version of parent letters. The online reporting tool has several new features this year, including class analysis reports with school, SAU and state level summary data for each item and accessibility to released items as part of the item-level data.

Grade 8 Writing Results will not be released this year due to results that were inconsistent with field test results for this prompt. New reformatted prompts were field tested and benchmarked against a revised rubric this year and will be used to inform the writing assessment next year.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 – MEA Results Available Online
MEA results for grades 3-8, except for grade 8 writing, will be posted on a secure website.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All schools and SAUs should download their 2006-07 MEA CSV student files from the MEA reporting tool to a secure location immediately if they have not already done so. The only CSV files available on http://iservices.measuredprogress.org/ as of June 24, 2008 will be 2007-08 information. Static school and SAU reports from previous years will continue to be available.

Friday, June 27, 2008 – MEA Materials Shipped to SAUs
Additional MEA materials will be shipped via UPS from Measured Progress to superintendents for the SAUs and schools within the SAUs. The shipment will include information for the SAU as well as an envelope for each school that will contain: paper copies of parent letters; student labels; released item CDs, and CDs containing student responses to the grade 5 writing prompt. Superintendents will be responsible for distributing these envelopes containing MEA information to schools.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 – Deadline for Confirmation of Data Accuracy – As done over the past years, it is imperative that principals review all data carefully to confirm that the assessment reports contain only those students who were enrolled at their school during the testing window. That enrollment data is the data that schools reported to our student data information system (MEDMS) as of March 28, 2008. No individual student demographic corrections for MEA reports will be accepted. Please also review for accurate participation data for all students, as well as anything that appears aberrant. This 10 business day review period is the only time we have to address any issues before the reports are finalized and made public. Notify Susan Smith, MEA Coordinator, at susan.smith@maine.gov or 624-6775 no later than July 9, 2008 with your concerns or for any assistance you require in order to conduct this review and verification of your MEA student enrollment and participation data.

Accuracy of data is essential for fidelity in meeting the federal No Child Left Behind Act that requires the use of MEA data to determine if schools and SAUs meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). If you have questions or concerns about AYP, you may also contact Rachelle Tome, AYP Coordinator, at rachelle.tome@maine.gov or 624-6705.

2008 Personalized Alternate Assessment Portfolio Results
Please be sure to verify with Special Education Directors that the enrollment and participation data included in MEA reports are accurate for students participating in a PAAP at grades 3-8, and report any inconsistencies by July 9, 2008.

July 25, 2008 - PAAP Results Available Online
2008 PAAP reports for grades 3-8, 10, and 11 will be posted on the secure website. You may use the same access codes as those supplied for the MEA. More information will be provided by Measured Progress in July.

July 30, 2008 – Deadline for Confirmation of PAAP Report Accuracy
Report any discrepancies to Kimberly Schroeter, PAAP Coordinator, by July 30, 2008, if any reporting issues are observed. Contact information is included at the end of this letter.

September 12, 2008 – PAAP Materials Shipped to Schools

PAAP portfolios, paper copies of individual student reports, and student score labels for those students participating in PAAP will be shipped directly to schools that administered PAAPs.

Once the data have been verified, the Department will release MEA, PAAP, and AYP results to the public on the following schedule: MEA results in mid July, PAAP results in early August and AYP results on August 8, 2008.

In Summary:

Look for mail from Measured Progress containing access codes.
Review and verify data.
Report MEA enrollment and participation discrepancies for all students no later than July 9, 2008.
Report PAAP reporting discrepancies by July 30, 2008.

Contact Information:
Rachelle Tome, AYP Coordinator, at rachelle.tome@maine.gov or 624-6705 for AYP-related issues
Susan Smith, MEA Coordinator, at susan.smith@maine.gov or 624-6775 for MEA issues
Kimberly Schroeter, Alternate Assessment (PAAP) Coordinator, at kimberly.schroeter@maine.gov or
624-6774 for PAAP issues