One extremely important set of data available to Ohio school districts for purchase from NCS Pearson, the test scoring company, is the item analysis of the Ohio Proficiency Test. Data on student responses for each proficiency question are available for the district, each testing building, and each testing classroom. This data can be ordered in two formats: paper copy and/or a floppy disk (download NCS Pearson order form).

The item analysis is a separate purchase for districts, which have until the end of December to purchase this data from NCS Pearson. The data on the floppy disk comes in the form of a text file (see above) that must be imported into some other application, such as a database or spreadsheet application, in order to view and use it.

Microsoft Excel (or any other good spreadsheet program) can be very useful in working with this data (see below). Significant data included in the file are the learner outcome and subscale for each question. Information on the type of each question is also provided. Percentages indicate how students responded to each question. The district, building, and class percentage of students who answered correctly is provided for each question Through simple sorting and filtering techniques, a great deal can be learned about student learning.

The standard Ohio Proficiency Test data received by districts, and forwarded to their data acquisition sites, enables districts, buildings, and teachers disaggregate is to zero in on finding subgroups of students who are experiencing difficulty or who are experiencing success. This data can be used to track trends related to student learning over time, which is extremely important data for school and district continuous improvement planning efforts. While the item analysis data cannot be used to examine trends, its importance lies in its ability to help teachers make decisions about instruction and learning and building and district continuous improvement planning teams to make decisions relating to professional development.