Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions about Pro-Core

1. What is Pro-Core?

   Pro-Core is a state curriculum-aligned learning tool designed to help teachers prepare students for success on the state’s New Learning Standards assessments.

2. Why should I use Pro-Core?

   Pro-Core reveals the needs of each student and class in the State’s New Learning Standards before summative tests are given.

3. How can Pro-Core help me to become a more effective teacher?

   Pro-Core saves teacher time and effort by generating subject and grade level learning standards reports which pinpoint class and student strengths and weaknesses.

4. What do schools use as major assessments?

   Teachers use the Pro-Core diagnostic assessments in Mathematics, Reading, Science, and Social Studies. There are three levels of the test (Forms A, B, and C) for each grade level.

5. Can I compare my district’s assessment results with other districts?

   Yes. In addition to current year Form A, B, C assessment district comparison results available within the system, you may contact Ben Hemingway to receive up to 2 additional years of district comparative results.

6. What do the Pro-Core tests look like?

   Pro-Core has a variety of question types that mirror what students will see on Ohio’s state assessments. Technology enhanced questions provide ways to assess higher cognitive levels than traditional multiple choice questions. These questions also give your students practice before they see similar items on the state exams. Follow the links below to see examples of the types of questions included on Pro-Core tests.

   Question type samples:

   • Multiple Choice Radio
   • Multiple Choice Checkbox
   • Drag & Drop
   • Fill-in-the-Blank
   • Equation Board
   • Picklist
   • Selection Object
   • Complex Multiple Choice Radio
   • Complex Multiple Choice Checkbox
   • Chart
   • Constructed Response
   • Multi-Part

7. How much time does the student need to take the subject-grade level test?

   Each subject area diagnostic assessment takes students about 80 minutes. See our Form Test Timing webpage with details about each subject.

8. Can teachers increase the security of Form A, B, or C tests administered at school or at home by “locking” a student’s test administration date and time?

   Yes. A teacher can lock in a specific date with a beginning and ending time in which a student may access a major Form assessment in school with the teacher or at home with a parent monitoring. Students are allowed up to two days to finish a Form assessment.

   Detailed lock/unlock instructions are contained online in the Pro-Core User Manual, “Setting Form Assessment Times,” Section L, page 5.

9. What about writing, extended or open-ended questions?

   Pro-Core is piloting a new assessment that provides educators with information that can be used to help them enhance writing instruction. The assessment is named Five-Tiered Writing Assessments (5TW). Click Here for an Overview.

10. How often should students be tested?

    Pro-Core recommends assessing students three times during the school year—in September to get a starting point, in January to determine student progress, and 12–16 weeks later for a final review before the state tests or as the Pro-Core summative test to determine student growth. See our Form Test Timing webpage with details about scheduling assessments.

11. Can I get a presentation of the Pro-Core system?

    Yes! Contact Ben Hemingway with your request, and he will arrange a presentation for you. Or take a look at some sample Pro-Core Assessment question by selecting Instant Demo at the top of our Pro-Core website home page.

12. What about training?

    Pro-Core provides orientation for administrators, on-site teacher workshops, in-classroom teacher mentoring as well as webinars and distance consulting. Click here to see more information about our Professional Development Webinar series.

13. What does Pro-Core cost?

    There are several flexible cost options tailored to fit your school’s needs and budget. Click here to find out more about our plan and prices.

14. Where do I find out more?

    You can contact us, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions.

Questions About Measuring Student Growth Using High Quality Student Data (HQSD)

15. What is student growth?

    Student growth is defined as the change in student achievement for an individual student between two or more points in time. Student growth can be used to measure student learning and progress toward achieving state and local standards.

16. What type of high quality student data (HQSD) does Pro-Core provide?

    There are three types of High Quality Student Data: (1) Value-Added, (2) Approved Vendor Assessments, and (3) District-determined instruments.

    Pro-Core provides Type 2, state Approved Vendor Assessments as a high quality source of student data to determine student growth using (1) Normal Curve Equivalents (NCEs) and (2) Scaled Scores.

    Pro-Core student growth and achievement reports are computer-generated and can be delivered in a spread sheet format for easy school entry into the state’s reporting template.

17. How does Pro-Core determine student growth using NCEs and Scaled Scores?

    Teachers and administrators may use Pro-Core’s high-quality student data to provide evidence of student learning over the course of the year that is attributable to the teacher.

    Pro-Core determines how much students learn by measuring student growth and progress between two points in time.

    Students are given a diagnostic formative test at the beginning of the school year and a summative test at the end of instruction. The scores of the pre- and post-tests are converted to NCEs and Scaled Scores to determine student and class growth or progress attributable to a specific teacher for the course(s) and grade level(s) taught.

18. What are NCEs?

    Normal curve equivalent (NCE) scores were developed for the United States Department of Education as a way of standardizing scores received on a test into a 0–100 scale similar to a percentile-rank. NCEs are commonly used in federally funded education programs to determine whether the program is effective or not.

    NCEs are used to determine whether an instructional program has had a positive effect on a student’s achievement compared to the student’s expected achievement.

19. How are NCEs used to determine student growth?

    Student growth is determined by the standardized difference between a student’s NCE scores at the beginning and the end of a period of instruction (End NCE score − Beginning NCE score).

    The Expected Student Growth Standard is 0. Therefore, students with a growth score of 0 or above are considered to have shown improvement in the studied subject/grade.

20. Why does Pro-Core use NCEs to determine student growth?

    NCEs allow comparisons between different tests for the same student or group of students and between different students on the same test or similar tests.

    NCEs are favorable performance measures because the scale they are measured on is one of equal intervals. This attribute of NCEs makes direct averaging and comparing between two NCEs possible. That is an important characteristic when studying overall class or school performance, and in particular, in measuring gains and losses in student achievement.

21. How does Pro-Core measure student class growth?

    Students’ NCE Growth Scores (as defined in #18) in each subject/grade are averaged in each teacher’s class in the school or district at the end of a period of instruction. Class Growth Ratings are then determined by the NCE Average Growth Scores (AGS).

    The expected NCE growth target for students attaining normal growth is 0. Therefore, teacher class averages are expected to be 0. i.e. between ± 1 Standard Deviations (SD).

22. What scale is used for rating class growth?

    Class growth levels are determined by the NCE Average Growth Score (AGS) of students in each teacher’s class(es).

    Class Growth Rating Scale:

    • 5. Exceptional Growth =>+2SD of AGS
    • 4. Greater than Expected +2SD to +1SD of AGS
    • 3. Expected Growth +1SD to −1SD of AGS
    • 2. Less than Expected −1SD to −2SD of AGS
    • 1. Limited Growth =<−2SD of AGS

    Click here for further information on “Measuring Student and Class Growth Using NCEs.”

23. Can NCEs be applied to measure subject area and building level (for principals) progress?

    Yes. A major advantage of NCE scores over other types of scores, like percentile rank scores, is that they can be averaged. That is an important characteristic when studying overall school or class group performance, and in particular, in measuring school‐wide gains and losses in student achievement.

    Pro-Core provides various reports which show individual students, teacher classes, subjects, and overall building-level progress for school and district administrators at the end of a period of instruction.

24. What is a Scaled Score?

    A scaled score is a measure of student achievement on a Form assessment. It is a representation of the total number of correct questions a student has answered (raw score) that has been converted onto a consistent and standardized scale.

25. How is a Scaled Score calculated?

    The process of calculating student achievement using a scaled score on an assessment is complex. Pro-Core follows the same procedure that the state uses to determine their scaled scores. The procedure can be found in Cambium’s Technical Report that is released annually. The process is addressed in Sections 4.4, 9, and 10.

26. How do Pro-Core and Ohio Scaled Scores differ?

    There are a few differences in how Pro-Core calculates the scaled scores:

    • While Ohio uses a scaled score of 700 to separate Basic and Proficient Performance levels, Pro-Core uses 500.
    • While Ohio uses a scaled score of 725 to separate Proficient and Accomplished Performance levels, Pro-Core uses 525.
    • Also, while students scaled scores can “max out” for Ohio when the Ohio Theta is 3.5 (see Appendix H Raw-to-Scale Score Conversion Tables in Cambium’s Technical Report) Pro-Core’s scaled scores continue to increase for those top students. This gives these top students a better probability of achieving top growth scores (NOTE: Ohio uses different calculations for growth so this is not a problem for Ohio scores).
    • Pro-Core uses the Ohio Theta values set during Ohio’s Standard Setting in Exhibits 9.2.1 to 9.2.4.

    To view Pro-Core and State of Ohio scaled score ranges and performance levels, click here.

27. How are Scaled Scores used?

    Students earn a scaled score on each Pro-Core Form A/B/C assessment they take. The scaled score determines a student’s achievement or performance level in each subject to show whether they are meeting expectations.

    The difference in scaled scores between two Pro-Core Form tests determines the student’s progress or growth rating in a subject.

28. What are the Pro-Core Performance Levels?

    The performance level indicates what a typical student at each level should know based on their command of grade-level standards in a subject. There are five achievement/performance levels:

    • Level 5: Advanced
    • Level 4: Accomplished
    • Level 3: Proficient
    • Level 2: Basic
    • Level 1: Limited

29. What are the Pro-Core Growth Ratings?

    The growth rating indicates how much progress students have made in a subject between two Form assessments. There are five growth ratings:

    • Level 5: Exceptional Growth – top 10% of students
    • Level 4: Above Average Growth – 20% of students
    • Level 3: Average Growth – mid 40% of students
    • Level 2: Near Average Growth – 20% of students
    • Level 1: Below Average Growth – lowest 10% of students

    These categories are set for each subject. A different change in scaled score is needed for each subject.

    Click here for further information on Pro-Core measures of “Growth vs Achievement.”

30. What are the benefits of Pro-Core’s methodology?

    • Pro-Core limits many variables that may affect outcomes in other types of assessments.
    • The Pro-Core pre- and post-tests are standards-focused—aligned to the state’s curriculum content and learning standards being taught in the classroom.
    • Only the same students taking the same Pro-Core pre- and post-tests are being compared—in the same grades and in the same school year.

    Pro-Core diagnostic pre-tests inform teachers of student AND class strengths and weaknesses in each subject’s learning standards at the beginning of instruction, so teachers can plan instruction that will most benefit their own students and classes.

Questions about using the Pro-Core system

31. How are administrators, students and teachers enrolled into the Pro-Core System?

    Beginning the 2023 school year, a district Managing Administrator or Tech Person will be responsible for enrolling (uploading) school students, teachers and classes into the Pro-Core system using a special Data File spreadsheet or using the Clever.com API.

    Detailed enrollment procedures and instructions are contained online in the updated “User Manual for the Pro-Core Online System,” Sections C and D.

32. How soon will my school be ready to log-into the Pro-Core system?

    Your teachers and students will be able to log into the Pro-Core system immediately after your school enrollment has been successfully completed.

33. What types of Learning Standards assessments can the teacher select?

    Teachers give 4 types of Learning Standards assessments:

    1. Pre-Test (Form A): Diagnostic Assessment of all subject and grade-level standards
    2. Short-cycle Tests: A defined set of 8 or more questions for each learning standard in each subject chosen from a bank of questions
    3. Interim Test (Form B): Formative Assessment of all subject and grade-level standards
    4. Post Test (Form C): Summative Assessment of all subject and grade-level standards

34. What Other Assessments are available?

    Additional Unit Tests in Social Studies are available, and teachers may create their own Teacher Personalized Assessments (TPAs).

35. May calculators be used by students on the Pro-Core assessments?

    Pro-Core follows the state Guidelines for student use of calculators.

    A built-in online calculator is provided by Pro-Core for Math 8, for one section of Math 6 and 7, and for Physical Science and Chemistry.