When students do not take the CSAP, they do not receive a score. A Student Data Grid is filled out on each student, whether they take the test or not, and every student is counted in the total population. This number is used to form the denominator for the five categories reported for each building. Thus, the only scores reported in the performance categories are for students who actually took the test. If that did occur, the zero would be viewed as a score and added to the Unsatisfactory category, which obviously, is not appropriate.
Some confusion exists as to the effect of including all students in the denominator.
The following example shows the same school, eliminating the students who have No Scores Reported. As this example demonstrates, the change in the denominator effects all proficiency categories, so that the percentages increase in each category.