Accountability under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act began in the 2002–03 school year. This memorandum contains important information for public schools, school districts, and charter schools about the implications of NCLB for testing and reporting requirements. In particular, you should be aware that for a district/school to make adequate yearly progress, NCLB requires that 95 percent of students enrolled in the district/school and in each accountability subgroup, as described below, participate in required assessments in language arts and mathematics. Key changes in accountability for elementary- and middle-level students, secondary-level students, limited English proficient students, and students with disabilities are outlined below.

The Secretary of the United States Department of Education (USDOE) has approved New York State’s plan for implementing the accountability provisions of NCLB. Please see the Department’s Web site (www.emsc.nysed.gov) for detailed information on the approved plan. The Board of Regents will adopt regulations to implement the plan later this school year.

The Department is taking the necessary steps to implement NCLB in the 2002–03 school year. The Department will establish annual measurable objectives, as required by law, for the school years 2002–03 through 2013–14. There will be separate annual measurable objectives in English language arts and mathematics at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels. The annual measurable objectives for elementary- and middle-level language arts and mathematics will continue to be based on the school accountability performance index. Similarly, annual measurable objectives at the secondary level will be based on the English and mathematics performance of the high school cohort. To comply with the NCLB requirement for a third performance indicator at each grade level, performance standards will be set for elementary- and middle-level science and for high school graduation rate. The Department will publish the annual measurable objectives and performance standards on its Web site as soon as they are established.

The NCLB accountability requirements apply not only to all students in the district/school but also to the following subgroups of students (provided that there are sufficient numbers of students in the subgroup to provide a reliable measure, as determined by the Department):

 

• economically disadvantaged students;
• students from major racial/ethnic groups;
• students with disabilities; and
• students with limited English proficiency.

Districts/schools that test the required number of students (described below) will make adequate yearly progress if they achieve one of the following criteria:

 

• the performance of continuously enrolled students in the district/school and in each of the required subgroups meets or exceeds the appropriate annual measurable objectives for language arts and mathematics and the district/school meets the performance standard for science (elementary or middle level) or graduation rate (secondary level); or
• any district, school, or student subgroup that did not meet or exceed the annual measurable objective makes "safe harbor," that is, compared with the previous year, the gap between the performance index and the goal of 200 on the performance index decreased by 10 percent, and that district, school, or student subgroup met the State performance standard for science (elementary and middle level) or graduation rate (secondary level).

   

The remainder of this memorandum provides specific information on NCLB testing, reporting, and accountability requirements for districts, for elementary- and middle-level students, secondary-level students, limited English proficient students, and students with disabilities.

NCLB requires that the same accountability standards that are applied to public schools also be applied to all school districts. Beginning with the 2002–03 school year, determinations regarding the adequate yearly progress of districts will be based upon the performance of all students who were continuously enrolled in the district or were placed by the district Committee on Special Education in an out-of-district placement, such as a BOCES program, an approved private school, or a State-supported school. Districts must meet the criteria outlined above for schools in order to make adequate yearly progress.

To make adequate yearly progress, districts/schools must administer the English language arts and mathematics assessments to at least 95 percent of students in grades 4 and 8 (and ungraded students with disabilities of equivalent age) enrolled on test administration day. Students who have not been continuously enrolled since BEDS day must be counted for this purpose. Districts/schools must also test at least 95 percent of students in each accountability subgroup. Districts/schools failing to do so cannot make adequate yearly progress. Students are counted as tested if they take the general assessment, the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA), the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT), or a "locally selected" assessment for certain students with disabilities for 2002–03 (counted as Level 1) and receive valid scores. (For special provisions regarding limited English proficient students, see the section on those students below.) Moreover, districts/schools may not systematically exclude any students or subgroup of students from participating in the assessments.

The approved plan calls for the continued use of the high school cohort as the basis for secondary-level accountability. Cohort members are considered to be continuously enrolled for accountability purposes. Beginning with the cohort of students who entered grade 9 in 2000–01, schools may no longer exclude students from the cohort by reason of severe disability or limited English proficiency. Districts and schools must administer the New York State Alternate Assessment to students with severe disabilities, as indicated on the students' individualized education programs.

NCLB requires the establishment of a district-level cohort. The district cohort will include all cohort members in district schools plus any students excluded from school cohorts because they transferred between district schools or were placed by the district Committee on Special Education in an out-of-district placement during the required period for continuous enrollment. The 1999 district accountability cohort will include all students who first entered ninth grade (anywhere) in the 1999–2000 school year and who were continuously enrolled in (or dropped out of or graduated from) district schools or out-of-district placements from October 4, 2001 until June 18, 2003, unless they meet other criteria for exclusion from the cohort.

The State will use a performance index for high school accountability. The index (scaled from 0 to 200) will be similar to that used at the elementary and middle levels. For high school accountability, four performance levels have been defined. (See table below.) The performance index will be calculated by summing the percentage of cohort members scoring at the basic proficiency level or above and the percentage scoring at the proficient level or above.

For determination of the high school performance indices in English and mathematics, each district and school will report all scores attained by each cohort member as of June 18, 2003 on applicable Regents examinations, Regents competency tests, or approved alternatives.

NCLB requires that graduation rate be the third accountability indicator at the secondary level. Graduation rate for 2003 accountability will be computed as follows: The numerator will be the number of students in the 1999 cohort who earned a local diploma (with or without a Regents endorsement) by June 2003. The denominator will be the sum of the count of 1999 cohort members as of June 2003 plus the count of students eliminated from that cohort because they transferred to a general education development (GED) program. The annual dropout rate will no longer be an accountability measure. The Department will notify you at a later date as to how graduation rate will be calculated for future cohorts.

NCLB requires that the English proficiency of all limited English proficient students (as defined in Education Law § 3204[2-a][3]) be tested annually. New York State is introducing the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT) as the assessment of English language proficiency for limited English proficient students. Beginning in May 2003, all LEP students, regardless of grade, must take the NYSESLAT. LEP students must take this assessment to evaluate English proficiency even if they take a grade 4 or 8 English language arts assessment, the Regents examination in comprehensive English, or, for certain LEP students with disabilities, a Regents competency test in reading or writing in the spring of 2003.

Elementary- and Middle-Level English Language Arts. NCLB requires that the language arts proficiency of LEP students be measured as part of the school accountability program. USDOE has approved the use of the NYSESLAT as the required measure of language arts proficiency for LEP students in grades 4 and 8 who have attended school in the United States (not including Puerto Rico) for fewer than three consecutive years and for LEP students who have attended for four or five years and have received an exemption as described below. The Department will count the NYSESLAT scores of these LEP students in computing the school’s accountability performance index. If the district chooses to give the general English language arts assessment to fourth- and/or eighth-grade LEP students who have attended school in the United States (not including Puerto Rico) for fewer than three consecutive years, the Department will count the students’ ELA score for computing the school and district’s accountability performance index.

All fourth- and eighth-grade LEP students who have attended school in the United States (not including Puerto Rico) for three or more consecutive school years are required to take the grade 4 or 8 English language arts assessment in 2003, unless an exemption is granted as described below. This policy supersedes the Department’s previous policy that allowed LEP students who scored below the 30th percentile on a standardized test of English to use alternative reading tests to meet assessment requirements. LEP students now enrolled in grade 4 or 8 who were enrolled in United States (not including Puerto Rico) schools on January 2, 2000 and at any time in each succeeding year must take the appropriate English language arts assessment in 2003.

NCLB allows for some exemptions to this rule. For LEP students who have attended school in the United States (not including Puerto Rico) for four or five consecutive years, districts or charter schools may determine annually, on an individual basis, that the NYSESLAT, rather than the grade 4 or 8 English language arts assessment, would likely yield more accurate and reliable information on what a student knows and can do. Districts and charter schools must ensure that records of such individual exemptions are maintained. No exemption is available beyond the student’s fifth year, and the student must take the grade 4 or 8 English language arts assessment.

Secondary-Level English Language Arts. As indicated previously, LEP students in grades 9 through 12 must take the NYSESLAT annually as a measure of English proficiency. LEP students must pass the Regents examination in comprehensive English to earn a high school diploma, unless they are eligible under the safety net to take the Regents competency tests for graduation credit. All LEP students who meet the criteria for the high school cohort must be included.

Other Academic Areas. All LEP students must take the required State assessments in mathematics, science, and social studies. These tests may be administered in the student’s native language. Schools are advised to obtain local translations for students for whom a State alternative-language edition is not available in their first language, particularly if the student is receiving instruction in the first language. Failure to test students on the mathematics assessment could result in the school failing to make adequate yearly progress. To ensure valid and reliable test results, districts and charter schools are permitted to offer LEP students reasonable accommodations approved by the Department.

Required Participation Rate. Districts/schools must administer the appropriate English language arts and mathematics assessments to all LEP students as described in the paragraph headed Elementary- and Middle-Level Students. Failure to test 95 percent of all enrolled students and 95 percent of LEP students (assuming that the district/school has sufficient LEP students to form an accountability subgroup) in grades 4 and 8 will result in the district/school not making adequate yearly progress.

All students with disabilities in the required grades or, if ungraded, at the required ages must take the general assessments in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies or the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA), if eligible, in those subjects. Districts/schools that fail to test in language arts and mathematics at least 95 percent of students with disabilities enrolled in district schools or out-of-district placements will not make adequate yearly progress.

No final regulations have been issued by USDOE relating to the use of the NYSAA in determining adequate yearly progress. At this time, all students who take the NYSAA are counted as attaining Level 1 on the required State assessment.

Future Department memoranda will provide additional information on the NCLB school accountability program. We will notify the field as soon as policy issues are resolved. The following individuals can be contacted for more information on the topics discussed in this memo.

cc: District Superintendents

Regional Information Center Directors

Lawrence Gloeckler