This report is a follow up to our October 2021 research report that focused on 2015-16 kindergartners’ aimswebPlus performance from 2015-16 to 2018-19. The current report expands on the prior report’s discussion of PSSA and aimswebPlus data, looking more deeply at the differing trajectories of aimswebPlus performance by fall of kindergarten, with comparisons between students who performed in the different spring 2018-19 third grade ELA performance groups.

This report addresses five primary research questions about how the kindergartners from different aimswebPlus performance groups later scored on the third grade ELA PSSAs:

1. How did students in the K-Below Average aimswebPlus performance group, K-Low Average aimswebPlus performance group, K-High Average aimswebPlus performance group, and K-Above Average aimswebPlus performance group score on the third grade ELA PSSA?
2. How did students in the K-Below Average aimswebPlus performance group in each third grade ELA PSSA performance group score on the aimswebPlus between kindergarten and third grade? What are the demographic characteristics of students in each ELA PSSA performance group?
3. How did students in the K-Low Average aimswebPlus performance group in each third grade ELA PSSA performance group score on the aimswebPlus between kindergarten and third grade? What are the demographic characteristics of students in each ELA PSSA performance group?
4. How did students in the K-High Average aimswebPlus performance group in each third grade ELA PSSA performance group score on the aimswebPlus between kindergarten and third grade? What are the demographic characteristics of students in each ELA PSSA performance group?
5. How did students in the K-Above Average aimswebPlus performance group in each third grade ELA PSSA performance group score on the aimswebPlus between kindergarten and third grade? What are the demographic characteristics of students in each ELA PSSA performance group?

Key findings include:

• Between 19%-33% of students who scored in the two lower aimswebPlus performance groups in kindergarten went onto perform in the Proficient or Advanced categories on the ELA PSSA three years later, experiencing an increase in average National Percentile Rank.
• Between 35%-56% of students who scored in the two higher aimswebPlus groups in kindergarten scored in the Basic or Below Basic categories on the ELA PSSA three years later, experiencing a decrease in average National Percentile Rank.
• Black/African American students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with an IEP who scored in the two lower aimswebPlus performance groups in kindergarten were underrepresented in the population of students who later performed in the Proficient or Advanced categories on the ELA PSSA in third grade.
• White students, Asian students, Hispanic/Latinx students, and students with an IEP who scored in the two higher aimswebPlus performance groups in kindergarten were underrepresented in the population of students who later performed in the Below Basic category on the ELA PSSA in third grade.