NEWS RELEASES 2009-10
NCDPI ADOPTS NEW MATH MEASURE TO
BOOST STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Beginning this year, students receiving their end-of-grade and end-of-course score reports for mathematics will notice a new number beside their test grades. This new number reflects a Quantile measure and offers another way to gauge a student's math achievement level while also providing teachers and parents with an additional tool they can use to connect students with targeted instructional resources. The new number is a result of work the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction completed last year to link all statewide mathematics assessments to the Quantile Framework® for Mathematics.
"Lexile measures have proven to be so valuable in enabling our reading teachers to differentiate classroom instruction that we wanted to provide this same benefit to our mathematics teachers," said State Superintendent June Atkinson. "By reporting Lexile and Quantile measures for our students, we are providing teachers with tools to more effectively target classroom learning at the student level, and are helping parents to support a child's academic development outside of school."
The Quantile Framework was developed by MetaMetrics, an educational measurement organization based in Durham, and provides a common, developmental scale for measuring student mathematics achievement, the difficulty of mathematical skills and concepts, and the materials for teaching mathematics. By placing the curriculum, teaching materials and students on the same scale, Quantile measures enable teachers to describe which math skills and concepts a student is ready to learn and identify those that will require additional instruction so students can be matched with resources that meet their learning needs. North Carolina is one of four states currently using this framework.
Parents can use Quantile measures to support students' mathematical development by connecting them with targeted mathematics activities at home. Additional information about Quantile measures as well as resources including a math skills database, family-friendly math activities and a math textbook search tool, are available at www.quantiles.com.
"We are excited to broaden our relationship with State Superintendent Atkinson, the Department of Public Instruction and the state's many talented educators to continue supporting students at all academic and achievement levels," said Malbert Smith III, Ph.D., Metametrics' president.
"In addition to matching resources with the needs of individual students, educators and parents can use Lexile and Quantile measures to track students' reading and mathematics growth throughout their educational lifecycles."
Since 1996, North Carolina students in grades 3–8 have received a Lexile® measure for reading on their end-of-grade score reports. Last December, the NCDPI extended the availability of Lexile measures to ninth graders who took the English I end-of-course test. The NCDPI also joined with Gov. Bev Perdue last summer to promote the Lexile Find-a-Book online book database, available at http://www.lexile.com, to encourage students to use their Lexile scores to select books for summer reading.
For more information on North Carolina's adoption of the Quantile Framework, contact the NCDPI's Communications division at 919-807-3450
About the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction:
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction provides leadership to 115 local public school districts and 126 charter schools serving over 1.5 million students in kindergarten through high school graduation. The agency is responsible for all aspects of the state's public school system and works under the direction of the North Carolina State Board of Education.
For more information:
NCDPI Communication and Information Division, 919.807.3450.