Rankings Explained - Utah Charter Access Point

CHARTER SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK

Utah State Charter School Board

PERCENTILE RANKINGS EXPLAINED

USBE PERCENTILE SCHOOL RANKINGS

The SCSB's Academic Pathways 1 and 2 use percentile rankings to evaluate a school's academic performance, based on data from the Utah School Report Cards provided by the Utah State Board of Education (USBE). These report cards highlight how schools are performing in various areas, known as school performance indicators, such as Achievement and Growth. While each school is unique, the indicators used for school accountability are consistent across all schools in the state.

Utah has established specific indicators to support student learning and school improvement. These indicators are rated on a scale from Exemplary, Commendable, Typical, Developing, to Critical Needs. Each indicator is assigned a certain number of possible points. For elementary and middle schools, the total possible points for accountability is 150, while for high schools, it is 225. If a school has fewer than 10 students in any given indicator, the points for that indicator are excluded from the school's total possible points.

ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS

Indicator (3-8)	Percentage of Total Points	Total Points Possible
Proficiency	37%	56
Growth	37%	56
English Learner Progress	9%	13
Growth of Lowest 25%	17%	25
Total	100%	150

HIGH SCHOOLS

Indicator (9-12)	Percentage of Total Points	Total Points Possible
Proficiency	25%	56
Growth	25%	56
English Learner Progress	6%	13
Growth of Lowest 25%	11%	25
High School Graduation	11%	25
ACT	11%	25
Advanced Coursework	11%	25
Total	100%	225

Utah’s accountability system is designed to numerically aggregate the indicators of school accountability into an overall score. To determine the overall school accountability score, all points for indicators which can be calculated for each school are summed to calculate an overall total and percentage. The overall score and percentage of points earned are used to rank all schools and determine school improvement designations. The points for each indicator are summed to determine the percentage of total points possible and overall rating of a school’s performance.

SCORE INDICATORS

Display Label	Exemplary	Commendable	Typical	Developing	Critical Needs
	5	4	3	2	1
	Range of points earned - Elementary and Middle Schools
Indicator (3-8)	Exemplary	Commendable	Typical	Developing	Critical Needs
Achievement	1.0 - 0.68	0.679 - 0.57	0.569 - 0.36	0.359 - 0.2	0.199 - 0.0
Growth	1.0 - 0.6	0.59 - 0.48	0.479 - 0.36	0.359 - 0.3	0.299 - 0.0
English Learners Progress	1.0 - 0.69	0.689 - 0.54	0.539 - 0.38	0.379 - 0.31	0.309 - 0.0
	Range of points earned - High Schools
Indicator (9-12)	Exemplary	Commendable	Typical	Developing	Critical Needs
Achievement	1.0 - 0.57	0.569 - 0.45	0.449 - 0.29	0.289 - 0.18	0.179 - 0.0
Growth	1.0 - 0.54	0.539 - 0.41	0.409 - 0.29	0.289 - 0.23	0.229 - 0.0
English Learners Progress	1.0 - 0.85	0.849 - 0.75	0.749 - 0.64	0.639 - 0.33	0.329 - 0.0
Postsecondary Readiness	1.0 - 0.85	0.849 - 0.79	0.789 - 0.64	0.639 - 0.33	0.329 - 0.0

Watch the video to learn about how SGP and MGP's are defined.

Watch the video to learn about student growth targets.

Find more information on Utah's acountability system, using the Utah State Board of Education website, specifically on Assessment and Accountability.

Target: ≤ %

Transfer Rate = Number of transfered students / Total students

Definition: The percentage of students who leave the school during the year to go to another private or public school in the state, to go to home school, or who dropped out. Excluded are non-residents, students whose school of record is another school, students who attended the school for less than 10 days, and students in kindergarten.

Data Source: Enrollment and exit data reported to UTREx.

Target: ≥ %

Retention Rate = Students enrolled at end of previous year and still enrolled on October 1st / Students enrolled at end of previous year

Definition: Percentage of students enrolled at year-end who returned to a school within the LEA by October 1st of the following school year.

Data Source: Enrollment and exit data reported to UTREx.

Target: ≥ % of prior year October 1st enrollment count

Enrollment Trends = Current year October 1st count / Prior year October 1st count

Definition: A trajectory of October 1st enrollment and Average Daily Membership (ADM) derived from enrollment data reported to UTREx.

Data Source: Enrollment data reported to UTREx.

Definition: A comparison of a school’s end of year ADM to that school year’s October 1 counts. A significantly lower ADM compared to October 1 enrollment may negatively affect funding and could signal problems for a school to retain enrollment levels.

Data Source: Enrollment data reported to UTREx.

Unrestricted Days Cash on Hand = (Cash + Cash Equivalent - Total Funds in Restricted Programs) x 365 / (Total Operating Expenses - Annual Depreciation Expense)

Target:

UDCOH ≥ 60 days

OR UDCOH is between 30 and 60 days with a positive increase from previous year

New LEAs: This will not be used in the Financial Framework Report for LEAs in their first two years of operations.

Does the school have the cash to pay bills?

Definition: How long, in days, the school could meet their operating expenses without receiving new income.

Data Source:
Cash and Cash Equivalents: statement of net position
Cash Equivalent: statement of net position
Total Operating Expenses: statement of activities
Annual Depreciation: notes to financial statements

Total Funds in Restricted Programs are restricted funds that are entered in to reflect the decrease in cash.

Facility Ratio = (Operation and Maintenance of Facilities + Lease Payment + Debt Service) / Total Revenue

Debt Service = Annual Principal + Interest

Target: ≤ 24%

Definition: Total operation and maintenance of facility.

Data Source:
Statement of Revenue, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balance – Governmental Funds.
Notes Section of the Audited Financials.

Salaries and Benefits Ratio = (Total Salaries + Total Benefits) / Total Revenue

Target: ≤ -1%

Definition: The total salaries and benefits to the total revenue.

Data Source:
Summary - All Funds

Debt Service Coverage Ratio = (Change in Net Position + Depreciation + Interest Expense) / (Annual Principal + Interest + Lease Payment)

Target: ≥ 1.1

Is an LEA able to cover its debt obligations?

Definition: The ratio indicates a school's ability to cover its debt obligations in a current year.

Data Source:
AFS of public financial reporting download in October, Government wide

Debt to Asset = Total Liabilities / Total Assets

Target: ≤ 0.9

To what extent does an LEA rely on borrowed funds to finance its operations?

Definition: The amount of liabilities a school owes versus the assets they own.

Data Source: AFS or public financial reporting download in October, Government wide

Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities

Target: Current ratio ≥ 1

Does the school have enough assets to meet its financial obligations over the next year?

Definition: Measures the school's ability to pay its obligations over the next 12 months. It shows how quickly short-term assets can be converted into cash to pay short-term liabilities.

Data Source: Statement of net position

Cash Flow = Current year cash balance - last year cash balance

Target: Cash Flow > $0

Does the LEA have a positive cash flow year over year?

Definition: The LEA's cash generated over a period of time indicating long-term financial stability.

Data Source: AFS or public financial reporting download in October, General Fund

Total Margin = Change in Net Position/Total Revenue

Change in Net Position = Total Revenue - Total Expenses

3 year aggregated = Sum of 3 years' Change in Net Position/Sum of 3 years' Total Revenue

2 year aggregated = Sum of 2 years' Change in Net Position/Sum of 2 years' Total Revenue

Target:

most recent Total Margin > 0% and 3 year aggregated is positive

OR 3 year aggregated > -1.5% and the previous year is positive and most recent year is positive

Is the LEA living within its means?

Definition: Measures an LEA's deficit or surplus out of total revenues (Includes change in temporary restricted net assets)

Data Source: AFS or public financial reporting download in October.

Deficit/Surplus (i.e. Change In Net Position) = Revenue - Expenses

Target: Surplus/Revenue > $0

Is the school living within its available resources?

Definition: Measures an LEA's deficit or surplus out of total revenues (Does not include temporary restricted net assets)

Data Source: Statement of Activities.

Enrollment Variance = Current year enrollment/budgeted enrollment

Target: Enrollment variance >= 95%

Is the enrollment sufficient to cover expenses?

Definition: Measures an LEA's student enrollment to their budgeted (projected) enrollment.

Data Source: UCAP, OCT 1 student enrollment, projections

Target: The LEA has not defaulted on loan covenant(s) or is not delinquent with debt service payments

Has the LEA defaulted on loan covenant(s) or is it delinquent with debt service payments?

Definition: Checks the LEA's responisibility towards loan covenants and debt service payments.

Data Source: AFS unless schools self reported

Material Audit Findings: PASSED

Is the LEAs audit satisfactory?

Definition: Auditor finds the financial statements to be accurate and complete, without material weakness, significant deficiency, or other matters.

Data Source: AFS