The New York State Testing Program Standard Performance Index (SPI) for Mathematics, 2002

For the May 2002 Grades 4 and 8 Mathematics test administration, the interpretation of the Mathematics Standard Performance Index (SPI) scores depends on the language in which the test was administered to the student. The explanation below is of the SPI scores expected of students at the cut points for levels 2, 3, and 4 for each language version of the test. This explanation was included in the Guide to the New York State Testing Program Score Reports that was sent to schools.

The New York State Testing Program Standard Performance Index (SPI) for Mathematics, 2002

The New York State Testing Program Standard Performance Index (SPI) represents the number of items a student, based on performance on the test, would be expected to answer correctly if there were 100 items measuring each of the New York State Mathematics Standard Key Ideas. The SPI is a diagnostic tool in the sense that it provides a profile of a student's relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of the New York State Mathematics content standards. However, just because a student has a higher SPI on Key Idea 1 than that on Key Idea 2 does not mean that he or she is stronger on the Key Idea 1 content standards and weaker on the Key Idea 2 content standards. This can occur if Key Idea 1 items tend to be easier than Key Idea 2 items.

Below are the SPIs expected of students who are just at each of the New York State Mathematics Performance Levels. In other words, these are the SPIs one would expect of students at the scale scores distinguishing between Performance Level 1 and Level 2, Level 2 and Level 3, and Level 3 and Level 4. These are expected SPIs; SPIs of actual students at these scale scores may vary, because the SPI calculation depends on how a student performs on each individual item as well. For 2002, the New York State Testing Program expected SPIs differ slightly for students taking different language versions of the test.

For grade 4 mathematics, the expected SPIs of students taking or having access to the Spanish version of the test differ slightly from those of students taking the English and the four other alternative language versions.

Grade 4 Language Version:	Chinese, English, Haitian Creole, Korean, and Russian			Spanish
	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Key Idea	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
1	27	56	89	31	62	92
2	38	61	87	37	60	86
3	34	60	87	35	61	88
4	36	53	78	36	53	78
5	39	62	84	39	62	84
6	29	56	90	29	56	90
7	21	42	74	25	47	80

For grade 8 mathematics, the expected SPIs of students taking or having access to the Chinese and Spanish and Russian versions of the test differ slightly from those of students taking the English and the two other alternative language versions.

Grade 8 Language Version:	English, Haitian Creole, and Korean			Chinese			Spanish and Russian
	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Key Idea	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
1	49	73	91	54	76	92	49	73	91
2	30	57	88	30	57	88	30	57	88
3	32	56	90	32	56	90	32	56	90
4	34	58	82	34	58	82	35	58	83
5	27	43	73	35	54	79	27	43	73
6	38	61	84	38	61	84	38	61	84
7	20	42	80	20	42	80	20	42	80