(1) "Oversight Committee" means the Education Oversight Committee established in Section 59-6-10.
(2) "Standards based assessment" means an assessment where an individual's performance is compared to specific performance standards and not to the performance of other students.
(3) "Disaggregated data" means data broken out for specific groups within the total student population, such as by race, gender, and family income level.
(4) "Longitudinally matched student data" means examining the performance of a single student or a group of students by considering their test scores over time.
(5) "Norm-referenced assessment" means assessments designed to compare student performance to a nationally representative sample of similar students known as the norm group.
(6) "Academic achievement standards" means statements of expectations for student learning.
(7) "Department" means the State Department of Education.
(8) "Absolute performance" means the rating a school will receive based on the percentage of students meeting standard on the state's standards based assessment.
(9) "Improvement performance" means the rating a school will receive based on longitudinally matched student data comparing current performance to the previous year's for the purpose of determining student academic growth.
(10) "Objective and reliable statewide assessment" means assessments that yield consistent results and that measure the cognitive knowledge and skills specified in the state-approved academic standards and do not include questions relative to personal opinions, feelings, or attitudes and are not biased with regard to race, gender, or socioeconomic status. The assessments must include a writing assessment and multiple-choice questions designed to reflect a range of cognitive abilities beyond the knowledge level. Constructive response questions may be included as a component of the writing assessment.
(11) "Division of Accountability" means the special unit within the oversight committee established in Section 59-6-100.
(12) "Formative assessment" means assessments used within the school year to analyze general strengths and weaknesses in learning and instruction, to understand the performance of students individually and across achievement categories, to adapt instruction to meet students' needs, and to consider placement and planning for the next grade level. Data and performance from the formative assessments must not be used in the calculation of school or district ratings.