Tag Archives: Adequate Yearly Progress

Policy Letter to Chief State School Officers on Flexibility in Calculating Participation Rates Under No Child Left Behind

May 19, 2004

Dear Chief State School Officer:

In the coming months, States will be making this year’s adequate yearly progress (AYP) determinations. I am writing today to elaborate on the flexibility in participation rate calculations that are included in those determinations. This letter is a follow-up to the Secretary’s announcement regarding participation rates that occurred on March 29, 2004.

In calculating a school or local educational agency’s (LEA) participation rate, the rate must be calculated separately for reading/language arts and for mathematics. As part of its accountability plan, each State has set a minimum group size to determine whether a subgroup is sufficiently large to produce a statistically reliable participation rate for its AYP calculation. Therefore, if a school or subgroup does not meet the minimum group size set by the State for participation, a participation rate does not need to be calculated for that school or subgroup. We encourage, however, in those instances where the entire school population in the tested grades is less than this minimum group size that States check (through their small school review processes) overall participation within the school to ensure students are taking the statewide assessments.

In addition, most States have sufficiently wide testing “windows” that, if a student misses an assessment, the student can take a make-up test that would still count positively towards the school’s participation rate. We encourage States to provide students with these opportunities; if a State currently does not permit make-up tests, the State has the authority to expand its testing window to ensure that every student has an opportunity to participate. We know there may be circumstances beyond a LEA’s control, however, when a student cannot be assessed at any time during the testing window due to a significant medical emergency (e.g., a student is hospitalized due to an accident). In these cases, we do not believe the school or LEA should be penalized for that student’s absence due to the documented significant medical emergency. Therefore, when determining the percentage of students taking an assessment, States do not have to include a student with a significant medical emergency in the participation rate calculation. States desiring to use this flexibility are responsible for determining what constitutes a significant medical emergency.

Lastly, I would like to describe an additional option that will address the few instances when a school may not make AYP because a small number of students were neither able to participate in an assessment nor able to make up the assessment. As you know, the law permits the use of a uniform averaging procedure over a three-year period to determine AYP. This flexibility applies not only to assessment results, but also to participation rates for subgroups of a school or LEA over a period of up to three years. Consequently, if a school is making AYP for all its subgroups and generally has a high participation rate, but in one year a particular subgroup drops slightly below 95 percent, that school or LEA may be able to make AYP if its multiyear participation rate average is at least 95 percent.

If your State wishes to adopt a policy to deal with significant medical emergencies, please submit to my office a formal amendment to your accountability plan detailing the criteria you would use to define such an emergency. Likewise, if you elect to use the multi-year averaging procedure for participation rate calculations, you should also amend your plan. These amendments, if not already submitted, should be presented to us as soon as possible.

I hope you find this guidance to be helpful as you finalize your preparations for AYP calculations this year. Please do not hesitate to contact my staff at (202) 401-0113 if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Raymond Simon
Assistant Secretary
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Table of Contents Policy Letters to States

Adequate Yearly Progress in Title I Targeted Assistance Schools

February 4, 2004

Honorable Mike Ward
Superintendent of Education
North Carolina Department of Education
6351 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-6351

Dear Superintendent Ward:

Thank you for your letter of November 19th, in which you asked how adequate yearly progress (AYP) determinations can be made under §1116(b)(1)(D) in schools with a targeted assistance Title I program. We have considered this issue and offer the following guidance. If a local educational agency (LEA) wishes to consider the achievement only of students who are served by Title I, or who are eligible to receive Title I services, when calculating AYP for targeted assistance schools, it needs to follow the guidelines outlined in this letter.

Minimum Group Size and Subgroup Accountability. The authority in §1116(b)(1)(D) may be used only if the number of students served or eligible to be served meets the minimum group size North Carolina selected for AYP purposes (i.e., 40 students). If, among the targeted assistance students, there are sufficient numbers of students in various subgroups to meet the minimum group size, subgroup accountability is required. As in other schools, students who are members of subgroups that fall below the minimum group size at the school level must be included in the appropriate subgroups for district and State AYP calculations.

Separate Decisions for Reading and Mathematics. In the case of a targeted assistance school where Title I services are offered in only one subject, the school must still be held accountable for both reading/language arts and mathematics. An LEA would have the flexibility to calculate AYP based on—

  • The reading and mathematics assessment scores/participation rates of only students served or who are eligible for Title I services; or
  • The assessment scores/participation rates of only students served or eligible for Title I services in the subject in which Title I services are provided and of all students in the school for the subject in which Title I services are not provided.

Other Academic Indicators. The LEA may examine the data for the entire school or only those students receiving or eligible to receive Title I services to determine if AYP was made for the other indicator. When AYP is being calculated based upon only the students receiving or eligible for Title I services, those same students would be used to calculate progress on the other indicator if the LEA wants to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions. If data for the other indicator (e.g., graduation rate) cannot be collected on those students receiving or eligible for

Page 2 – Honorable Mike Ward

Title I services, the LEA must calculate AYP based on all students in the school regardless of student participation in Title I services.

Including Results at the District and State Level. When calculating AYP for a local educational agency, the State must review the progress of all students attending schools without Title I programs and with schoolwide Title I programs; in schools operating targeted assistance programs, the State may review the progress of only the students who are served or eligible for Title I services or may review the progress of all students in the school. The calculation of AYP decisions for LEAs must be conducted consistent with the guidance in this letter. The progress of all students, regardless of eligibility for Title I services, must be reviewed in AYP calculations for the State. All students must participate in the assessment at the school level, even if the school only uses results from students receiving or eligible for Title I services for accountability purposes.

AYP for Schools without Tested Grades. When Title I services are provided in grades that are not assessed, an LEA has several options for determining AYP:

  • Back-mapping the performance of students in the grade assessed to the grades in which services are provided; or
  • Forward-mapping by examining the achievement of students who received services once those students are in the grades where assessments are given; or
  • Examining the achievement of the students who would have been eligible for Title I services in the grades assessed.

Other approaches for providing an AYP determination in schools without tested grades may be used if they are specified in your State accountability plan.

North Carolina’s Accountability Plan. If North Carolina has LEAs that want to take advantage of these provisions, the State needs to develop procedures for implementing this approach consistent with the guidance provided in this letter and in conjunction with those districts, including ensuring that LEAs provide information to the State concerning their plans to do so and that they in fact do so only if consistent with the guidance provided in this letter. Further, North Carolina would need to indicate that LEAs are using this approach and amend its own State Accountability Plan. The amendments to the accountability plan should indicate that there are LEAs that will be using this approach, and provide an assurance that the State will develop procedures (or provide guidance to districts) for calculating AYP in these situations consistent with the guidance in this letter.

If a school is identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under this process, all students in the school are eligible for public school choice and all low-income students in the school are eligible for supplemental educational services as appropriate (as opposed to only those students who are served or eligible for Title I services).

Page 3 – Honorable Mike Ward

Please feel free to call me if there are additional questions that I can answer on this issue.

Sincerely,

Raymond Simon
Assistant Secretary,
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Table of Contents SEA Policy Letters

Honorable Mike Ward
Superintendent of Education
North Carolina Department of Education
6351 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-6351

Dear Superintendent Ward:

Thank you for your letter of November 19th, in which you asked how adequate yearly progress (AYP) determinations can be made under §1116(b)(1)(D) in schools with a targeted assistance Title I program. We have considered this issue and offer the following guidance. If a local educational agency (LEA) wishes to consider the achievement only of students who are served by Title I, or who are eligible to receive Title I services, when calculating AYP for targeted assistance schools, it needs to follow the guidelines outlined in this letter.

Minimum Group Size and Subgroup Accountability. The authority in §1116(b)(1)(D) may be used only if the number of students served or eligible to be served meets the minimum group size North Carolina selected for AYP purposes (i.e., 40 students). If, among the targeted assistance students, there are sufficient numbers of students in various subgroups to meet the minimum group size, subgroup accountability is required. As in other schools, students who are members of subgroups that fall below the minimum group size at the school level must be included in the appropriate subgroups for district and State AYP calculations.

Separate Decisions for Reading and Mathematics. In the case of a targeted assistance school where Title I services are offered in only one subject, the school must still be held accountable for both reading/language arts and mathematics. An LEA would have the flexibility to calculate AYP based on—

  • The reading and mathematics assessment scores/participation rates of only students served or who are eligible for Title I services; or
  • The assessment scores/participation rates of only students served or eligible for Title I services in the subject in which Title I services are provided and of all students in the school for the subject in which Title I services are not provided.

Other Academic Indicators. The LEA may examine the data for the entire school or only those students receiving or eligible to receive Title I services to determine if AYP was made for the other indicator. When AYP is being calculated based upon only the students receiving or eligible for Title I services, those same students would be used to calculate progress on the other indicator if the LEA wants to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions. If data for the other indicator (e.g., graduation rate) cannot be collected on those students receiving or eligible for

Page 2 – Honorable Mike Ward

Title I services, the LEA must calculate AYP based on all students in the school regardless of student participation in Title I services.

Including Results at the District and State Level. When calculating AYP for a local educational agency, the State must review the progress of all students attending schools without Title I programs and with schoolwide Title I programs; in schools operating targeted assistance programs, the State may review the progress of only the students who are served or eligible for Title I services or may review the progress of all students in the school. The calculation of AYP decisions for LEAs must be conducted consistent with the guidance in this letter. The progress of all students, regardless of eligibility for Title I services, must be reviewed in AYP calculations for the State. All students must participate in the assessment at the school level, even if the school only uses results from students receiving or eligible for Title I services for accountability purposes.

AYP for Schools without Tested Grades. When Title I services are provided in grades that are not assessed, an LEA has several options for determining AYP:

  • Back-mapping the performance of students in the grade assessed to the grades in which services are provided; or
  • Forward-mapping by examining the achievement of students who received services once those students are in the grades where assessments are given; or
  • Examining the achievement of the students who would have been eligible for Title I services in the grades assessed.

Other approaches for providing an AYP determination in schools without tested grades may be used if they are specified in your State accountability plan.

North Carolina’s Accountability Plan. If North Carolina has LEAs that want to take advantage of these provisions, the State needs to develop procedures for implementing this approach consistent with the guidance provided in this letter and in conjunction with those districts, including ensuring that LEAs provide information to the State concerning their plans to do so and that they in fact do so only if consistent with the guidance provided in this letter. Further, North Carolina would need to indicate that LEAs are using this approach and amend its own State Accountability Plan. The amendments to the accountability plan should indicate that there are LEAs that will be using this approach, and provide an assurance that the State will develop procedures (or provide guidance to districts) for calculating AYP in these situations consistent with the guidance in this letter.

If a school is identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under this process, all students in the school are eligible for public school choice and all low-income students in the school are eligible for supplemental educational services as appropriate (as opposed to only those students who are served or eligible for Title I services).

Page 3 – Honorable Mike Ward

Please feel free to call me if there are additional questions that I can answer on this issue.

Sincerely,
Raymond Simon
Assistant Secretary,
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Table of Contents SEA Policy Letters