SMART Early Warning Definitions & Calculations
- Nancy Nguyen
- Paula Leggett
- 1.1 How to Access the Early Warning Reports
- 1.2 SMART Student Risk List
- 1.3 Background
- 1.4 Early Warning Indicators
- 1.5 Definitions & Calculations
- 1.5.1 Attendance Risk
- 1.5.2 Discipline Risk
- 1.5.3 Suspension Risk
- 1.5.4 GPA Risk
- 1.5.5 Cumulative Ds (Final Grades for Current School Year)
- 1.5.6 Cumulative Fs (Final Grades for Current School Year)
- 1.5.7 SBA Risk (ELA & Math)
- 1.5.8 iReady Overall Relative Placement (ELA & Math)
- 1.5.9 DIBELS Composite Level
- 1.5.10 F&P Raw Score (ELA)
- 1.5.11 NWEA MAP Test RIT Score (ELA & Math)
- 1.5.12 STAR Scaled Score (ELA & Math)
- 1.5.13 FastBridge Raw Score (ELA & Math)
- 1.5.14 District Graduation Status
- 1.5.15 A-G Ready
- 2 Bibliography & Research
How to Access the Early Warning Reports
From the SMART landing page, find the Early Warning Reports heading and click on the + Create New Early Warning Report button.
SMART Student Risk List
The SMART Early Warning Report allows users to select which risk to include or exclude from the Measures button. There are filters at the top of each measure column that allows users to select which risk values to include or exclude. Users can also click on a student’s name or ID to open that individual student’s profile in another browser tab. The names and IDs are underlined and blue to denote links.
Background
The purpose of DataZone’s Early Warning (EW) Report is to identify students most at risk of dropping out or not completing high school on time. With that as the goal, there are some key assumptions about which we should be explicit. Researchers in the field of early warning indicators confirm that a student doesn’t become at-risk the moment s/he hits a specific threshold indicator. Dropping out should be considered an extended process rather than a single event. In some cases, these risk factors may appear very early in a student’s life and are likely driven by multiple factors. Some factors are individual to the child, and others are more reflective of the community or society at large. As such, the drop-out process will vary significantly between students and will consist of different pathways to dropping out. It is also important to remember that the data used to measure student risk factors is imperfect. Many variables overlap with one another, some variables are more susceptible to being of poor quality, and the predictive power of variables varies. These limitations should not prevent the use of this information but offer implications for how we communicate about the EWIS and its intended use.
In alignment with and supporting a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), the EW dashboards in K12 Analytics and EW report in SMART will alert educators about at-risk students as early as possible so that they can begin the process of identification and intervention. Designing programs and interventions around the Early Warning indicators will help to ensure that interventions are designed and implemented at the student, classroom, and school level to provide targeted support based on student needs.
Early Warning Indicators
The EW Indicators are based on research-based thresholds outlined below. The thresholds are ternary - represented as a High Risk, Medium Risk, and Low Risk categorization.
Definitions & Calculations
Below are the definitions for each Risk Indicator available. Terms and definitions in light grey text are currently in development.
Terms | Definition | Period | Threshold | Detailed Definition |
Attendance Risk | % of Days Missed | Year to Date | High < = 90% Medium > 90 and < 95 Low >= 95 | The Attendance Risk indicator highlights students who have missed more than 5% of school days so far in the current school year. |
Discipline Risk | Count of Referrals | Year to Date | High > 5 incidents Medium <= 5 and > 2 Low <= 2 | The Discipline Risk indicator identifies students who have been cited for any disciplinary incident so far in the current school year. |
Suspension Risk | Count of ISS + OSS | Year to Date | High > 1 suspension Medium 1 Low 0 | The Suspension Risk indicator identifies students who have been cited for a disciplinary incident warranting suspension or so far in the current school year. |
GPA Risk | GPA Value | Cumulative | High < 2.5 Medium <= 2.5 and >= 3.0 Low > 3 | The GPA Risk indicator identifies students with cumulative GPAs below 2.0. |
Cumulative Ds | Count of Ds | Year to Date | High > 3 Medium <= 3 and >= 2 Low < 2 | The Ds & Fs Risk factor identifies students who are receiving poor marks and are therefore at-risk of not graduating on time. |
Cumulative Fs | Count of Fs | Year to Date | High > 1 Medium 1 Low 0 | |
SBA Risk (ELA & Math) | Proficiency Band | Last taken | High Standard Not Met Medium Standard Nearly Met Low Standard Exceeded or Standard Met | The State and Local Assessment Risk factor identifies students who are not meeting grade-level standards. |
iReady Overall Relative Placement (ELA & Math) | Proficiency Band | Last taken | High 2 Grade Levels Below; 3 or More Grade Levels Below Medium 1 Grade Level Below Low Mid or Above Grade Level; Early On Grade Level | |
DIBELS Composite Level | Proficiency Band | Last taken | High Well Below Benchmark Medium Below Benchmark Low Above Benchmark; | |
F&P Raw Score (ELA) | Proficiency Band | Last taken | High Not Met Medium Nearly Met Low Met | |
NWEA MAP Test RIT Score (ELA & Math) | Proficiency Band | Last taken | High Low; LoAvg Medium Avg Low High; HiAvg | |
STAR Scaled Score (ELA & Math) | Proficiency Band | Last taken | High Urgent Intervention; Intervention Medium On Watch Low At Benchmark; Above Benchmark | |
FastBridge Raw Score (ELA & Math) | Proficiency Band | Last taken | High High Risk Medium Some Risk Low Low Risk | |
District Graduation Status | On/Off Track Status | BOY, MOY, EOY | High Extremely Off Track; Moderately Off Track Medium Slightly Off Track Low On Track | The thresholds for each status are determined by credit calculations at the start of the year and every time final marks are published. Credit calculations are completed at the Beginning of Year, Middle of Year, and End of Year to determine on/off track status.
|
A-G Ready |
|
|
| Definition under development |
Bibliography & Research