The HONOLULU Magazine Formula for Grading the Public Schools, 2017–2018
The methodology we used to rank Hawai‘i’s public schools.
We rate each school in the following categories of school performance data:
1. Achievement.
The percentage of a school’s students meeting language arts, math and science standards, based on Smarter Balanced Assessments in ELA and math; HSA alternate assessments in ELA, math and science; Kaiapuni Assessment of Educational Outcomes for grades 3 and 4 in Hawaiian language arts, math and science (grade 4 only); HSA science (grades 4 and 8); and Biology I end-of-course exam (high school only).
2. Growth.
The median percentile that a school’s students improved in math and English language arts, compared with the previous year, for SBA students. For HSA-Alt and KAEO students (marked with a *), it’s the percentage of students meeting growth.
3. Readiness
a. Elementary: Points are awarded based on the percentage of a school’s students absent for 15 or more days in a school year, as well as the percentage of third-grade students above or at/near meeting grade level standards for reading.
b. Middle: Points are awarded based on the percentage of a school’s students absent for 15 or more days in a school year, as well as the percentage of eighth-grade students above or at/near meeting grade level standards for reading.
c. High School: A combination of five factors—the percentage of a school’s students absent for 15 or more days in a school year; the four-year graduation rate; the percentage of high school graduates enrolling in a post-secondary institution by the following fall; the percentage of first-time ninth-graders promoted to 10th grade on time; and the percentage of 12th-grade students completing a CTE program of study with a C or higher.
4. Achievement Gap:
The percentage gap in proficiency between a school’s high-need students and non-high-need students. High-need students include economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities and students still learning the English language.
5. School Climate:
The percent reporting positively on the School Climate Dimension of the Tripod Student Perception Survey. The survey, sent by the DOE to students statewide, asks students about the quality of their instruction, and safety and relationships.
For more details on these categories, see Strive HI’s 2018 Technical Guide here.
We weight these categories on a 400-point scale as follows:
Elementary Schools:
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Achievement: 100 points
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Growth: 120 points
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Readiness: 40 points
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Achievement Gap: 40 points
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School Climate: 100 points
Intermediate Schools:
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Achievement: 80 points
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Growth: 140 points
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Readiness: 40 points
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Achievement Gap: 20 points
-
School Climate: 120 points
High Schools:
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Achievement: 100 points
-
Growth: 40 points
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Readiness: 160 points
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Achievement Gap: 20 points
-
School Climate: 80 points
For a more detailed look at how we calculated the points awarded to schools in each category, see below.
The Formulas
Want the nitty gritty details of how we awarded points to each of the schools? Here are the spreadsheet formulas we used for each of the performance categories, which you could use to replicate our results. Note that the formulas often change between the elementary, middle and high school levels.
1. ACHIEVEMENT
Elementary: Combine the Math, Reading and Science proficiency percentages and divide by 3 for a max of 100 points.
Middle: Combine the Math, Reading and Science proficiency percentages and divide by 3.75 for a max of 80 points.
High: Combine the Math, Reading and Science proficiency percentages and divide by 3 for a max of 100 points.
2. GROWTH
Elementary: Combine the Math Growth and Reading Growth percentages and multiply by 0.6 for a max of 120 points.
Middle: Combine the Math Growth and Reading Growth percentages and multiply by 0.7 for a max of 140 points.
High: Combine the Math Growth and Reading Growth percentages and multiply by 0.2 for a max of 40 points.
3. READINESS
Elementary: Made up of two categories. (1) Assign 20 points for zero Chronic Absenteeism, down to a minimum of zero points for 50 percent or greater absenteeism. Points assigned according to this formula: Y = ((-1/5)(X)+10) x 2, where X is the percentage of absenteeism. (2) Multiply the Third-Grade Literacy rate by 0.2 for a max of 20 points. Add the Abseenteeism and Literacy points for a total out of 40.
Middle: Made up of two categories. (1) Assign 20 points for zero Chronic Absenteeism, down to a minimum of zero points for 50 percent or greater absenteeism. Points assigned according to this formula: Y = ((-1/5)(X)+10) x 2, where X is the percentage of absenteeism. (2) Multiply the Eighth-Grade Literacy rate by 0.2 for a max of 20 points. Add the Abseenteeism and Literacy points for a total out of 40.
High: Made up of five categories. (1) Assign 20 points for zero Chronic Absenteeism, down to a minimum of zero points for 50 percent or greater absenteeism. Points assigned according to this formula: Y = ((-1/5)(X)+10) x 2, where X is the percentage of absenteeism. (2) Multiply the Graduation Rate by 0.5 for a max of 50 points. (3) Multiple the College-Going Rate by 0.3 for a max of 30 points. (4) Multiply the percentage of 12th-grade students completing a CTE program of study by 0.3 for a max of 30 points. (5) Multiply the percentage of first-time ninth-graders promoted to 10th grade on time by 0.3 for a max of 30 points. Add all the points for a total max of 160.
4. ACHIEVEMENT GAP
Elementary: Assign 20 points for zero achievement gap, down to a minimum of zero points for 100 percent achievement gap. Points assigned according to this formula: Y = ((-1/10)(X)+10) x 2, where X is the gap percentage. Add the Math Gap to the ELA Gap for a max of 40 points.
Middle: Assign 10 points for zero achievement gap, down to a minimum of zero points for 100 percent achievement gap. Points assigned according to this formula: Y = (-1/10)(X)+10, where X is the gap percentage. Add the Math Gap to the ELA Gap for a max of 20 points.
High: Assign 10 points for zero achievement gap, down to a minimum of zero points for 100 percent achievement gap. Points assigned according to this formula: Y = (-1/10)(X)+10, where X is the gap percentage. Add the Math Gap to the ELA Gap for a max of 20 points.
5. SCHOOL CLIMATE
Elementary: The School Climate score, for a max of 100 points.
Middle: The School Climate score multiplied by 1.2 for a max of 120 points.
High: The School Climate score multiplied by 0.8 for a max of 80 points.
A few technical notes:
Strive HI pools the data from up to two years prior when there isn’t a sufficient n-size of data for the current year. If there still isn’t enough information, the column is marked with N/A. Several schools did not report certain categories of data (such as achievement gap) for privacy reasons. For missing data, we proportionally redistributed the potential points for that category to their other categories. We excluded from this chart any schools missing two or more categories of data, or missing a vital category (such as school climate). This eliminated many of the charter schools, but you can still find each school’s data online at hawaiipublicschools.org.
