State test results show how many students are achieving proficiency on annual exams. But some kids start further behind than others. How can you tell whether students, wherever they start, are making progress?
The Colorado Growth Model uses four key indicators – based on an analysis of students’ testing history – to paint a picture of academic progress by school and district:
Median Growth Percentile: Shows how much a group of students is progressing compared to others. Typical growth for an individual student centers around 50. Lower means slower growth, higher means better than average.
Adequate Growth Percentile: Shows the growth that students needed on average in the past year to reach or maintain proficiency within three years or by the tenth grade, whichever comes first. With this indicator, lower is better. Lower numbers mean less growth is required.
“Catching up”: The percentage of students who previously scored below proficient in this subject but who have shown enough growth in the past year to reach proficiency within three years or by 10th grade. They’re “catching up” to proficiency so a higher number is better.
“Keeping up”: The percentage of students who previously scored proficient and who are on track to maintain that level over three years or through 10th grade. They’re “keeping up” their proficiency so a higher number is better.
Search tips
- A search result of “–” or blanks means there are no public results for this category. The state does not provide data for groups of fewer than 20 students to protect their privacy.
- The database allows for multiple selections of districts, schools and subjects. To see more than one school in a district, click on the district name, press “Ctrl” (for PC users) or “Cmd” (for Mac users) and then select as many school names as you’d like. Similarly, you can click on multiple subjects for the same school.
- To check indicators for an entire district, click on the district name and then select “District Totals” in the School box.
- Clicking on a district name and “District Totals” will bring up data for each grade level – elementary, middle and high – as well as a summary of all grade levels, listed as “All.”
- You need not click an item in each box to complete a search. Clicking on Denver and Abraham Lincoln High School, for example, will bring up indicators for all subjects for the school.
Learn more
- Frequently asked questions about the Colorado Growth Model
- Video tutorial on the School Performance Framework includes sections with graphics explaining how the growth indicators are calculated.
- The Colorado Growth Model on Schoolview.org, the Colorado Department of Education’s public data portal.
- Contact us at EdNews@EdNewsColorado.org if you have questions about the data or to report a possible error.