Mississippi Report Card for 2002-2003 (Part A: NCLB)

Codes and Data Values Used in the Report Cards

The following codes are used to identify information about the tests that are part of the assessment system.

(1) The Test
      MCT=Mississippi Curriculum Test (for grades 2-8)
      WRIT=Writing Assessment (for grades 4 and 7)
      SATP=Subject Area Testing Program (for certain courses)
      NRT=Norm-Referenced Assessment--the TerraNova Survey (for grade 6)
      ALT=Alternate Assessments for (Some) Students with Disabilities

(2) The Subject Area, Course, or Section of the Test
      READ=Reading
      LANG=Language
      MATH=Mathematics
      ALG1=Algebra I
      BIOL=Biology I
      HIST=U.S. History from 1877
      ENGL=English II Reading & Language Conventions Test
      NAR=Narrative essay on the English II Writing Assessment
      INF=Informative essay on the English II Writing Assessment
      COMP=Composite (across subjects/sections)

(3) The Grade (or other information)
      GR2=Grade 2 (same format used for grades 3-8)
      L12=Instructional Level Testing at Level 12 (L13=Level 13,etc.)
      ALL=Data for all students participating in Alternate Assessments
      %P=Percentage of students passing the test on the first attempt

The test data values represent different kinds of measures for different tests. The following data formats are used in the Mississippi Report Card.

      MCT: BB/PP where BB=% Basic & Above, PP=% Proficient & Above
      WRIT: BB/PP where BB=% Scoring 2 & Above, PP=% Scoring 3 & Above
      SATP (most): XXX.X = Mean Scale Score
      SATP NAR & INF: X.X = Mean Writing Assessment Raw Score
      SATP (all): XXX.X = Percentage Passing
      NRT: XX.X = Mean NCE Score
      Note: For test results expressed as a percentage of students, very low and very
      high percentages appear as "fuzzed" values to protect student confidentiality.
            "##" means 0%-4%.
            "**" means 96%-100%.
      For all tests:
            "-" means that the student N-Count was 0.
            "<" means that the student N-Count was between 1 and 9.

Special note concerning the MCT: There are four proficiency levels on the MCT. They are (from lowest to highest) Minimal, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. The reporting format used in the Mississippi Report Card allows the maximum amount of information to be reported in the smallest possible space. This format is compliant with federal Title 1 regulations and is similar to the format used for reporting NAEP results.

The percentage of students "Basic & Above" includes all students scoring in the Basic, Proficient, and Advanced proficiency levels. The percentage of students "Proficient and Above" includes all students scoring in the Proficient and Advanced proficiency levels. The percentage of students in the lowest proficiency level (Minimal) can be determined by subtracting the percentage "Basic and Above" from 100%. The percentage of students in the highest proficiency level (Advanced) cannot be determined from the reported data.

The 2002/3003 student assessment results presented in the Report Card are for students who were enrolled in the school (or district) for a full academic year as defined by the Mississippi State Board of Education. Those are the same students who were included in a school or district's accountability results.

Disaggregation of Subgroups

All test results reported in the Mississippi Report Card are disaggregated by subgroup as required by federal law. The codes used to label the subgroups are listed below followed by additional information about test data disaggregation.

      ALL=All students in the state, the district, or the school
      NDO=Non-Disabled Students Only
      DO=Only Students with Disabilities under IDEA
      MAL=Male
      FEM=Female
      BLK=Black
      WHT=White
      ASI=Asian
      HIS=Hispanic
      NAM=Native American
      ELL=English Language Learner
      ED=Economically Disadvantaged
      NED=Not Economically Disadvantaged
      MIG=Migrant

The determination of a student's classification in the subgroups was made on the basis of demographic information in the student's MSIS record (MSIS is Mississippi's statewide student level database). Data for these subgroups represented students whose test data could be accurately matched to the MSIS database. The statewide match rate for the MCT, the Writing Assessment, and the SATP was approximately 99%, but the match rate for individual districts and schools may have been higher or lower.

      NDO=Non-Disabled Students Only (IEP not "Y" in MSIS)
      DO=Only Students with Disabilities (IEP = "Y" in MSIS)
      MAL=Male
      FEM=Female
      BLK=Black
      WHT=White
      ASI=Asian
      HIS=Hispanic
      NAM=Native American
      ELL=English Language Learner (LEP = "Y" in MSIS)
      MIG=Migrant (MIGR = "Y" in MSIS)
      ED=Economically Disadvantaged (see note below)
      NED=Not Economically Disadvantaged (see note below)
      Note: The ED subgroup includes students who were coded as free lunch ("F") in
      MSIS after the "cleanup" process conducted by MIS during late spring 2003.