Coursework EWS Determination Rules

Coursework Watch List

Before data elements become available in the current school year, a watch list for each core subject is created based on the student's prior performance. The watch list involves binary statuses so a student is either on or off the list. The purpose of the watch list is to provide an extra layer of data for teachers to plan instruction prior to the beginning of the new school year or before current year data becomes available. The determination rules are:

		On Watch List	Off Watch List
Took only one course in the core subject the previous year	If both SOL and grade were available, use the SOL only.	Failed the SOL	Passed the SOL
	If SOL is not available and only grade is available, use the grade.	Had a <75 grade	Had a >=75 grade
Took more than one course in the core subject the previous year	If a mixture of SOL(s) and grade(s) was available, use the SOL only; and if more than one SOL, use the one with the lowest score.	Failed the SOL	Passed the SOL
	If SOL is not available and only grade is available, use the grade; and if more than one grade, use the one with the lowest score.	Had a <75 grade	Had a >=75 grade

If a student did not take a core subject the previous year, the student is off the watch list. 

Coursework EWS Status Designation 

The Coursework EWS determination is based on students’ performance on the four core subjects: English, Math, History & Social Studies, and Science. It utilizes core subject grades from the current and previous school year, as well as previous year SOL data to calculate a weighted score that will be used to determine the student’s EWS designation. This process is slightly more nuanced, and it takes multiple steps to reach the designation of status.

Step 1: Core Subject EWS Calculation

Each course has a detailed heuristic that utilizes prior school year’s SOL or course grade at the beginning of the current school year. As the current school year progresses and more data points are available, the current year’s grades and performance has a bigger percentage of the course EWS calculation.

Part 1: Determine Current Year Coursework Weighted Score – Core Subject Level

The current year core course grade will be an average of grades for all completed grading periods.  The following weight will then be assigned as in the below table.  Two key points:

• The thresholds will be defined by the VDOE and can be updated at their discretion.
• In cases where a student takes two or more courses in a core subject, the lowest grade will be used to determine the core subject score.

(Lowest) Grade	Weight
>= 75%	3
65% - 74%	2
< 65%	1

Part 2: Determine Prior Year Coursework Weighted Score – Core Subject Level

Prior Year Core Subject EWS Scores will be calculated using the student’s score from the prior year’s SOL test score. If a prior year SOL score is not available, the student’s prior year final class grade will be used, following the same logic as their current year coursework score, outlined above. For SOLs, the following mapping will apply.  If a student took more than one course and had more than one SOL in a core subject in the same year, the lowest SOL score will be used. If a student did not take SOL and instead had more than one final grade, the lowest grade will be used.  

(Lowest) SOL Score	Weight
Pass/Proficient	3
Pass/Advanced	3
Fail/Basic	2
Fail/Does Not Meet	2
Fail/Below Basic	1

(Lowest) Final Grade	Weight
>= 75%	3
65% - 74%	2
< 65%	1

 If a student did not take a core subject the previous year, and did not have an SOL score or a final grade, then their current year core subject course grades will be determined by current year data solely.

NOTE:  If the Division uses a Binary Scale or Standards-Based grading, the calculation rules will be amended after the division provides an example of how the coursework data is being displayed in the SIS.

Part 3: Calculate Core Subject Weighted Score

Once Current and Prior Year Scores have been determined, the current coursework weighted score will be calculated by combining the Prior Year and Current Year weighted score as shown in the table below.  Key notes:

• The weight distribution is dependent on the number of data points available in the current year. The data points would only entail summative assessment data stored in the SIS.
• VDOE has defined the weighting below and can change it at their discretion. School Divisions will not have the option of defining their own weighting.

Number of Current Year Data Points Available	Prior Year	Current Year
1-2 Data Points	50%	50%
3-4 Data Points	30%	70%
>=5 Data Points	0%	100%

As the year progresses, the calculated score above will be grouped into one of the following weight categories for the final ‘Core Subject Weighted Score’ and subject EWS designation.

Core Subj Weighted Score	Weight	Subject EWS Status
>= 2.7	3	On Track
>= 2.0 and < 2.7	2	Early Warning
< 2.0	1	Needs Intervention

Step 2: Determine the Student Overall Coursework EWS Status

After the EWS status has been calculated for each Core Subject, then the lowest EWS status across the core subjects will be used as the final overall coursework EWS status.  

A Scenario 

The Coursework EWS determination is based on students’ performance on the four core subjects: English, Math, History & Social Studies, and Science. It utilizes core subject grades from the current and previous school year, as well as previous year SOL data to calculate a weighted score that will be used to determine the student’s EWS designation. The document provides a scenario to walk through the rules. 

Student 1: May Archer 

Core Subject: 5th Grade Math

The following chart documents how May’s grade in Math changes during the course of the school year. How would her Math EWS status change over the year? 

Beginning of the School Year: 

At the beginning of the school year, before any current school year assessment data become available, May will not be assigned with a coursework EWS category, and instead there will be a Watch List. The status of the Watch List is determined by prior year’s performance (i.e., SOL score, and if SOL score is not available, then it is determined by the final grade. And if neither is available from the prior year and a student such as at high school did not take a core subject the previous year, the student is Off the Watch List). Since May passed her SOL the previous year, she is not on the Watch List. 

1-2 Data Points Available:

When 1 and 2 assessment data points become available for the current school year, the converted scores for prior year and current year will be weighted equally. According to the calculation rules listed on the right, May passed her SOL in the prior year, so that leads to a 3 for the converted score for prior performance. She has a grade of 73 (Note: this can be dynamic and LASER just pulls the most recent grade and refreshes the calculation on a daily basis), which leads to a 2 for current year performance. Each score has a 50% weight. That results in a sum product of: (3 × 0.5) + (2 × 0.5) = 2.5. And according to the thresholds set in the chart on the right, 2.5 is in the second band of “>=2.0 and <2.7,” so it is converted to 2 and corresponds to “Early Warning” for subject-level EWS status. 

3-4 Data Points Available:

When 3-4 current-school-year data points roll in, the weight of prior performance decreases to 30% while the weight of current year performance increases to 70%. May’s grade has dropped to 60 up to this point of the school year, so the converted score is a 1. The sum product of both prior-year and current-year performance is:  (3 × 0.3) + (1 × 0.7) = 1.6. According to the rules shown earlier, 1.6 is in the third band of “<2.0”, so it is converted to 1 and corresponds to “Needs Intervention” for subject-level EWS status.

>= 5 Data Points Available:

May’s current-year grade has improved to 70. That is converted to a 2. Since there are 5 or more data points of current year available, the EWS status is 100% determined by current year performance. The weighted sum product is: (3 × 0) + (2 × 1) = 2 and corresponds to “Early Warning” for subject-level EWS status. 

The charts above delineate how May’s Math EWS status changes over the year. In order to reach the Overall Coursework EWS status, the same calculation needs to be executed for the other three core subjects as well: English, Science, and Social Studies/History. The lowest EWS status across the four core subjects will be adopted as the final Overall Coursework EWS status. For instance, if May has the following composition of EWS across the four core subjects at a certain point of the school year, and since Early Warning is the lowest category, this would become her Overall Coursework EWS status at that time.

[Note: There would be cases where a student took two or more courses in a certain core subject in the prior year. How to determine the Watch List status and assign Prior Performance Converted Score? For instance, Hammad took two courses in Math the previous year (Geometry and Pre-Calculus) and has a mixture of SOL score and final grades. In this case, the SOL score takes priority over the final grades. Since Hammad passed the SOL test, he is not on the Watch List this year and will have a converted score of 3 for prior performance.]

[Note: What if a student took two or more courses in a certain core subject in the prior year, and no SOL score is available? For instance, Diana took two math courses the previous year. The lower score of the two (i.e., 70) will be used to determine if she would be on the Watch List and also determine her prior performance converted score. And since 70 falls within the range of 65-74, Diana will be on the Watch List and her converted score for prior performance is 2.]

[Note: What if a student takes two or more courses in a certain core subject in the current year. Similar to the previous scenario, the lowest score will be used to determine the converted score.]