Growth as a Measure

Growth is defined as the change in a student's score and improvement in achievement over time. NWEA assessments provide various ways of reporting a student's improvement in achievement over time.

• All growth projection Targets and references to Typical Growth shown on reports are the Average Growth exhibited by the students in the same grade who started at the same RIT level in the sample set of the NWEA RIT Scale Norms study.
• RIT Point Growth values are the number of RIT points gained by a student.
• The NWEA Growth Index represents the number of RIT points by which the students exceeded the average growth (plus values), fell short of the average growth (minus values), or equaled the average growth (0), as determined by the RIT point growth norms.
• Percent with average growth refers to the percentage of students in the reporting unit that met or exceeded their individual growth target of students in the same grade who started at the same RIT level (growth index value of greater than or equal to zero).
• Percent of average growth met refers to the total student growth divided by the total of the RIT growth targets expressed as a percentage. Classes in which 50% or more students have positive growth indices, show above average growth in relation to the norm group.

The NWEA Growth Projection Calculator is a tool provided to help you determine how much a student would be projected to grow over a specified number of instructional weeks as compared to students in the same grade and who start with the same initial RIT score. It is an interactive spreadsheet that allows you to enter a student’s RIT score in each subject area along with a number of instructional weeks in order to project a reasonable amount of growth over the time period. To download the Growth Projection Calculator, log in to the Reports site, and look for a description and link on the Home page.