Octorara’s Subgroup Performance

Identifying subgroup performance is suppose to one of the most significant accountability components of The No Child Left Behind. The law requires that state assessment scores of English language learners and Special Education students, among others, be disaggregated and publicly reported. This post is intended to report achievement gaps within Octorara’s student-body.

I’m not going to give a lot of commentary on each subgroup. I think the data speaks for itself. I did not believe it was necessary to compare all schools within Chester County. It starts to become redundant after a while. We already know Octorara has the second highest percentage testing at or Below Basic.

All data is sorted by number score. I did not list subgroups that were not relevant to Octorara.

Math

Pennsylvania’s minimum standard in math is a combined 78% Advanced and Proficient. Octorara is at 78.1%.

Group	Number Scored Math	% Advanced Math	% Proficient Math	% Basic Math	% Below Basic
All Students	1313	48.1	30.0	12.8	9.1
White	1118	52.4	29.3	10.8	7.4
Male	657	47.8	27.2	15.1	9.9
Female	656	48.3	32.8	10.5	8.4
Economically Disadvantaged	429	27.5	33.6	21.7	17.2
IEP	196	12.2	28.1	20.9	38.8
Hispanic	118	27.1	37.3	19.5	16.1
Black	71	14.1	29.6	32.4	23.9
ELL	15	0.0	46.7	26.7	26.7

Reading

Pennsylvania’s minimum standard in reading is a combined 81% Advanced and Proficient. Octorara is at 71.1%.

Group	Number Scored Reading	% Advanced Reading	% Proficient Reading	% Basic Reading	% Below Basic
All Students	1312	35.7	35.4	15.0	13.9
White	1118	39.4	35.8	13.5	11.4
Female	656	43.9	33.5	13.6	9.0
Male	656	27.4	37.2	16.5	18.9
Economically Disadvantaged	428	16.6	33.6	23.1	26.6
IEP	196	11.2	18.4	18.4	52.0
Hispanic	118	12.7	35.6	25.4	26.3
Black	70	12.9	31.4	21.4	34.3
ELL	15	0.0	20.0	40.0	40.0

Whether we are discussing test scores, graduation rates, or college readiness there is a problem. Low student achievement scores, whether in the aggregate or in particular subgroups, are results, not causes.