Request to Amend Accountability Plans – Wyoming – NCLB Policy Letters to States

July 1, 2004

The Honorable Trent Blankenship
Superintendent
Wyoming Department of Education
Hathaway Building
2300 Capitol Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0050

Dear Superintendent Blankenship:

I am writing in response to Wyoming’s request to amend its State accountability plan under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Following our discussions with your staff, those changes that are aligned with NCLB are now included in an amended State accountability plan that Wyoming submitted to the Department on June 29, 2004. A list of the changes is enclosed with this letter. I am pleased to approve Wyoming’s amended plan, which we will post on the Department’s website.

This letter also documents one aspect of Wyoming’s amendments for which final action is still needed. Wyoming wishes to apply a confidence interval to safe harbor determinations. Wyoming may use this statistical test (limited to a 75% confidence interval) for making adequate yearly progress (AYP) determinations this school year. We request, however, that Wyoming provide impact data from the 2003-2004 AYP data regarding the use of this statistical test for “safe harbor” when available. These data will provide valuable information regarding this particular aspect of the accountability system.

If, over time, Wyoming makes changes to the accountability plan that has been approved, Wyoming must submit information about those changes to the Department for review and approval, as required by section 1111(f)(2) of Title I. Approval of Wyoming’s accountability plan is not also an approval of Wyoming’s standards and assessment system. As Wyoming makes changes in its standards and assessments to meet requirements under NCLB, Wyoming must submit information about those changes to the Department for peer review through the standards and assessment process.

Please also be aware that approval of Wyoming’s accountability plan for Title I, including the amendments approved above, does not indicate that the plan complies with Federal civil rights requirements, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

I hope that you have found the accountability plan amendment process effective for implementing a State accountability system that best serves the needs of Wyoming’s students and schools and that will lead to improving the academic achievement of all students. As evidenced by the diversity among State accountability plans and State consolidated applications, States have great flexibility in the design of their systems and implementation of particular NCLB provisions. If, as you implement your accountability plan, you find additional elements of your plan that you believe should be refined or amended for next school year to best serve the needs of your students and schools, I encourage you to explore all the areas of flexibility available to your State.

In addition to the flexibility available to States in the design and implementation of their accountability plans, I also encourage you and your districts to utilize the additional flexibility available for the administration and operation of NCLB programs. NCLB continued the flexibility available to States and districts under the 1994 reauthorization of the ESEA, including the ability to consolidate State and local administrative funds (sections 9201 and 9203), to operate schoolwide programs (section 1114), and to participate in the Education Flexibility Partnership Program (“Ed-Flex”). Additionally, NCLB created several new flexibility options for States and districts for the operation of federal programs. These new flexibility provisions include the State Flexibility Authority (sections 6141 through 6144), the Local Flexibility Demonstration program (sections 6151 through 6156), Transferability (sections 6121 through 6123), and the Rural Education Achievement program (sections 6201 through 6234). These flexibilities truly offer States and districts the ability to target federal resources to their unique and individual needs.

I am confident that Wyoming will continue to advance its efforts to hold schools and school districts accountable for the achievement of all students. I wish you well in your school improvement efforts. If I can be of any additional assistance to Wyoming in its efforts to implement other aspects of NCLB, please do not hesitate to call.

Sincerely,

Raymond Simon
Assistant Secretary
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

cc: Governor Dave Freudenthal

enclosure

Amendments to the Wyoming Accountability Plan

These statements are summaries of the amendments. For complete details, please refer to the Wyoming Accountability plan on the Department’s website: http://www.ed.govhttps://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/stateplans03/index.html

Use of Averaged Data (Element 4.1)

Revision: Wyoming will use up to two years of achievement data when making AYP determinations. If a school or district does not make AYP on the basis of the current year’s data, Wyoming will make a secondary examination based on averaged data from the current and prior year to determine if a school or district has made AYP.

Alternate Assessments (Element 5.3)

Revision: Wyoming will use the final regulation in the Federal Register issued December 9, 2003, concerning the 1.0 percent cap. Specifically, Wyoming will ensure that the “number of proficient and advanced scores based on the alternate achievement standards” does not exceed 1.0 percent of all students in the grades assessed at the State and LEA levels.

Assessment and Accountability for LEP students (Element 5.4)

Revision: Wyoming will include in its accountability plan the flexibility that the Secretary’s letter of February 20, 2004, provides relative to limited English proficient students for assessment and accountability purposes.

Confidence Intervals (Element 5.5)

Revision: Wyoming will apply a 75% confidence interval to “safe harbor” calculations. Wyoming will provide data regarding how the confidence interval is applied to “safe harbor” determinations of AYP.

Graduation Rate for Students with Disabilities (Element 7.1)

Revision: Wyoming will consider as a student graduating with a regular diploma in the standard number of years a student with a disability who receives a regular diploma in the number of years specified in the student’s IEP.

Graduation Rate for Very Small Schools (Element 7.3)

Revision: Wyoming will review the graduation rate for very small high schools. Small schools with less than thirty exiters will be examined individually to ensure a valid decision. This examination will include an examination of past trend data utilizing a trend line of three years data to ensure positive progress is being demonstrated in graduation rate over time.

Participation Rate (Element 10.1)

Revision: Wyoming will adopt the new flexibility regarding multi-year averaging of participation rate. Wyoming will also adopt the new flexibility regarding students who have significant medical emergencies during the testing window and its affect on a school’s participation rate.

Decision Letters on State Accountability Plans