Request to Amend Accountability Plan – West Virginia – NCLB Policy Letters to States
June 22, 2005
Dr. Steve Paine
State Superintendent of Schools
West Virginia Department of Education
Building 6, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.
Charleston, WV 25305-0330
Dear Superintendent Paine:
I am writing in response to West Virginia’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). The change you requested is aligned with NCLB and is now included in an amended State accountability plan that West Virginia submitted to the Department on July 1, 2005. The change is listed in an attachment to this letter. I am pleased to fully approve West Virginia’s amended plan, which we will post on the Department’s website.
If, over time, West Virginia makes additional changes to the accountability plan that has been approved, West Virginia must submit information about those changes to the Department for review and approval, as required by section 1111(f)(2) of Title I. Note that approval of West Virginia’s accountability plan is not also an approval of West Virginia’s standards and assessment system. West Virginia has submitted changes in its standards and assessment system to the Department for peer review and we have communicated the results of that review separately.
Please also be aware that approval of West Virginia’s accountability plan for Title I, including the amendment 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 am confident that West Virginia 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 West Virginia in its efforts to implement other aspects of NCLB, please do not hesitate to call.
Sincerely,
Raymond Simon
Attachment
cc: Governor Joe Manchin III
Attachment
Amendment to the West Virginia Accountability Plan
This attachment is a summary of the amendment. For complete details, please refer to the West Virginia accountability plan on the Department’s website: www.ed.govhttps://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/stateplans03/index.html.
Adequate yearly progress determinations (Element 5.3)
Revision: West Virginia will use the “proxy method” (Option 1 in ED’s guidance dated May 7, 2005) to take advantage of the Secretary’s interim flexibility regarding calculating AYP for students with disabilities. West Virginia will calculate a proxy to determine the percentage of students with disabilities that is equivalent to 2.0 percent of all students assessed. For this year only, this proxy will then be added to the percent of students with disabilities who are proficient. For any school or district that did not make AYP solely due to its students with disabilities subgroup, West Virginia will use this adjusted percent proficient to reexamine if the school or district made AYP for the 2004-05 school year.
Decision Letters on State Accountability Plans
