The math healthy indicator reports are located on the Mathematics report on the State, AEA, District, and School tabs. While similar to the literacy healthy indicator reports, there are a few important differences to be aware of when using them outlined below.
Differences in Math Healthy Indicator Data and Function
1. These are the FastBridge math assessments with data populating into Healthy Indicator Reports in Student Success:
- earlyMath
- aMath
- CBMmath Automaticity
While there are additional math assessments in Student Success, they are not included in Healthy Indicators.
2. Only schools that identified a math default assessment in CASA before the deadline (and selected one of the three math assessments listed above) will see the math healthy indicator reports on their Mathematics report. Schools/districts that did not identify a default math assessment will not be able to view math healthy indicator reports in Student Success.
3. Currently, the aggregated data on the state and AEA level reports are not complete or accurate. This is due to the limitations of the available data (see details in numbers 1 and 2 above).
4. The data available on the district level reports may also be inaccurate or incomplete, depending on the number of schools in the district that selected a default math assessment and whether it was one of the three math assessments populating in Student Success.
Differences in Healthy Indicator Guidance
The healthy indicators encourage the use of data to examine the health of the system.A good way to examine the health of the system is to consider whether universal instruction is meeting the needs of at least 80% of students without further intervention.
There is no state legislation requiring mathematics screening or progress monitoring, therefore there is not an approved list of screening or progress monitoring measures. To support healthy practices, healthy indicator displays will be provided, but these are not used in Iowa Performance Profiles for compliance nor for identifying systems that need support.
FastBridge math assessments have not been reviewed for technical adequacy by AEAs statewide nor the Iowa Department of Education. Best practice in assessment includes reviewing information from the test developer. FastBridge recommends earlyMath and aMath for screening purposes, along with additional measures if more information is needed to identify risk. There is a FASTtrack math feature in the system that results in recommendations in FastBridge’s Screening-to-Intervention report for classwide intervention and grouping and knowledge base information about choosing a math progress monitoring measure.
FastBridge math measures were designed differently than literacy measures. Testing or monitoring off-level is strongly discouraged for literacy, as the materials were built to identify and monitor readers on grade-level materials, with sensitivity to the growth of struggling readers. In math, additional assessment in conceptual areas, such as automaticity, is encouraged to determine what prerequisite or corollary skills might be interfering with meeting benchmarks. To continue with the example of automaticity, it is identified as an additional screening measure for grades 1-3 but it is also encouraged by FastBridge to be used at upper grades for more information about risk. Keep in mind the data is not intended to be used as an individual diagnostic but can give general indicators about group and instructional needs.