The EPSS (Educational Plan for Student Success) is a state-mandated document which each school and district is required to prepare annually, though the same goals may well be in place over a period of years. All EPSS's are aligned with the district goals. For the most part they are found in a district database. Each EPSS Goal is accompanied with baseline and status data as well as a current year's objective. Then a series of Strategies are determined to implement the goal and carried out throughout the school and across the year. These strategies may include the necessary Professional Development or training, purchase of new materials, specific classroom activities, etc.

The development of the EPSS should include staff, administration, parents and possibly the community.

The TerraNova is a Normed Referenced Test (NRT) that shows the achievement of the test taker relative to a large national sample of students. The composite score is a combination of Reading, Language Arts, and Math.

This test was administered to grades 4, 6, and 8 in the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 school years, to grades 3-9 in the 1999-2000, 2000-2001, and 2001-2002 school years, and grades 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9 in the 2003-2004 school year.

Percentile ranks, which range from 1 to 99 are commonly used for reporting test results to students and parents/guardians. You may interpret a percentile as the percentage of students in a norm group whose scores fall below a given student's score. For example, if a student scores a national percentile rank (NP) of 72, the student scored higher than approximately 72 percent of the students in the national norm group.

The American College Testing (ACT) service in Iowa City, Iowa created the ACT which ranges from 1-36 on each of the tests. There are four subtests and a Composite score that are reported. The scores on the ACT are not recentered so the national average fluctuates a little every year. For 2004, the national averages were English 20.4, Math 20.7, Reading 21.3, Science Reasoning 20.9, and the Composite 20.9.

Nowadays most colleges accept either ACT or SAT scores for their college entrance exam requirement.

The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is produced by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey and is made up of two tests: Verbal and Math. The scores on both range from 200-800 with the average being recentered each year since 1996 so that the average hovers around 500. Knowing that the standard deviation is 100 is helpful for students if they want to compare themselves to other students nationally who took the test. APS students who want to go out of state to college, in particularly those who want to apply to schools back East, usually are the ones who take the SAT.

Nowadays most colleges accept either ACT or SAT scores for their college entrance exam requirement.

The SAT scores reported here for each school are the SAT I, and not the SAT II, which are content area tests in 18 subject areas like Writing, Chemistry, Calculus, and World History. Many colleges do not require the SAT II and so fewer students take them.

In the spring of 2005, just in time for the class of 2006, a new SAT I will be unveiled. It will have a total of 2400 points, instead of the normal 1600, because there will be a Writing section which is worth 800 points just like the Verbal and Math sections. The most drastic changes will require a written essay and making grammatical corrections in a multiple-choice format in the Writing section, the elimination of analogies in the Verbal section, and the addition of Algebra II concepts in the Math section.

More detailed information is given on the Collegeboard website.

Student achievement is measured by the TerraNova achievement test in New Mexico for the Accountability Rating System. Achievement as a snapshot of student performance provides each school points in the state matrix.

Student growth in achievement from year to year makes up the remaining points for the accountability rating system. Low performing schools are expected to make more growth than high performing schools to achieve the same categorical rating. For high schools, the New Mexico High School Competency Exam also contributes to the student achievement indicator.

Attendance rates and dropout rates are given one point each in the state accountability matrix. Parent and community involvement and school safety are both used as gate keepers and are not assigned points in the data matrix.

Ratings for each of the five statewide indicators are combined to produce an overall school rating based on the following criteria:

For a more detailed explanation, go the state website at http://www.sde.state.nm.us/div/ais/si/index.html

Please note: Starting with the 2003-2004 school year, the school rating will only reflect whether a particular school has met the Adequate Yearly Progress or not.