Just
the Facts for NY Parents
Note: The NCLB legislation refers to
local educational agencies, or LEAs. LEA means a public board of education
or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative
control or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary schools
or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political
subdivision of a State, or of or for a combination of school districts or counties that is
recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its public elementary schools or
secondary schools. The term includes any other public institution or agency having
administrative control and direction of a public elementary school or secondary
school. However, we use the terms 'school districts', 'charter schools' and
'schools' in order to make the following information easier to understand.
What Parents Have
a Right to Know About Their Schools
- Some schools that receive Title I funds will be
identified by the State Education Department as needing improvement. Those schools must
notify parents of this and provide an explanation of what that means, the reasons why the
school was identified, and what the school will do to address low achievement by its
students.
The Basics of
Title I
More About School Improvement
- Schools in school improvement must provide public
school choice. The school must explain to parents that they have the option of
transferring their child to another public school with transportation provided by the
school district.
More About Public
School Choice
- Some schools and charter schools
in school improvement must provide supplemental educational services in addition to public
school choice. These schools must notify parents of the availability of the services and
provide a list and description of approved services providers in the area.
More About
Supplemental Educational Services
- Schools receiving Title I funds must inform parents
of their right to request information about their children's classroom teacher(s) and
paraprofessional staff. Parents can learn about teachers' State certification status and
college degrees/majors as well as the qualifications of paraprofessionals providing
services to their children.
- Schools receiving Title I funds
must provide parents with notification if their child has been assigned to, or has been
taught for four or more consecutive weeks by, a teacher who is not highly qualified.
More
About Teacher and Paraprofessional Qualifications
- Schools using Title III funds to provide services to
limited English proficient students must tell parents that their children have been
identified as limited English proficient and in need of services. The schools must also
provide information about the services to be provided and their children's level of
learning.
- When a student becomes the victim of a violent
criminal offense while in or on the grounds of the public school he or she attends, the
school district must notify the student's parents of their right to transfer their
child to a safe public school within the district.
More About Safe
Public School Choice
Legislation by itself
will not make our schools more effective. Parent involvement is very important.
Find out more about parent
involvement.
For more detailed information about
the No Child Left Behind Act, look through other sections of New York State's NCLB website in addition to the U.S. Department of Education's No Child Left Behind website.
Since it was first enacted in 1965, the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has allocated federal funding for school districts to
promote educational services to eligible students in high-poverty schools. The No Child
Left Behind Act is the latest reauthorization of ESEA. NCLB provides for major changes in
the federal role in education, with recurring themes of accountability, choice,
information, qualifications, flexibility, and consolidation. NCLB provides more resources
and flexibility to states, local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools to support public
schools in exchange for increased accountability.
The term Title I
is often used when talking about this Act because Title I is the largest elementary and
secondary education program in ESEA. It provides assistance to improve the teaching and
learning of children in high-poverty schools to enable those children to meet challenging
standards. Title I reaches about 12.5 million students nationwide.
Individual schools with poverty rates above 40
percent may use Title I funds, along with other funds, to operate a "schoolwide
program" to upgrade the instructional program for the entire school. Schools with
poverty rates below 40 percent, or those choosing not to operate a schoolwide program,
offer a "targeted assistance program" to help students who are at risk of not
meeting State academic standards.
We commonly refer to schools that receive Title I funds as
"Title I schools".
If you have any questions about Title I, please e-mail nclbnys@mail.nysed.gov or call the Office of
Compensatory Education Services at (518) 473-0295.
School Improvement is a significant part of the NCLB
legislation. It requires that the State Education Department identify public
schools, charter schools and school districts that are not making adequate yearly progress
(AYP) towards meeting the State's learning standards. The schools then must take
action, with help from its district and the Department, to improve the performance of its
students.
Identification of Schools
A school may be identified for school
improvement only if it received Title I funding in 1999-00, 2000-01, and 2001-02, and it
will receive Title I funding in 2002-03. Schools that did not receive Title I
funding in 2000-01 or that will not receive funding in 2002-03 are not eligible for school
improvement status.
Schools in Need of
Improvement
Categories of School Improvement
Each Title I school in New York State
has been placed in one of five categories. This is based on their students' performance on
the State's 2000-01 assessments in English language arts and mathematics. If a Title I
school is identified as requiring improvement, the assessment in which its performance
fell below standards is identified.
Satisfactory. The school does not require
improvement. It met one of three conditions:
- It met or exceeded the performance standards of the Department's
System of Accountability for Student Success (SASS) in 1998-99, 1999-00, or 2000-01, or
- It fell below the performance standards in all those years, but
made adequate yearly progress (AYP) in 1999-2000 and/or 2000-01, or
- It began operations after 1998-99.
School Improvement (Year 1). The school did not
meet the SASS performance standards in 1998-99, 1999-00 and 2000-01, and met one of two
conditions:
- It failed to make AYP in 1999-00 and 2000-01, or
- Its status in the 2001-02 school year was School Improvement (Year
1) and it made AYP in 2000-01.
School Improvement (Year 2). The school met one of
two conditions:
- The school's status in the 2001-02 school year was School
Improvement (Year 1), and it neither met the SASS performance standards nor made AYP in
2000-01, or
- The school's status in the 2001-02 school year was School
Improvement (Year 2), and it failed to make AYP in 1999-00 and 2000-01.
Corrective Action. The school has been in school
improvement status for three years and failed to make AYP in at least two of those years.
School Under Registration Review (SURR). The school
was under Registration Review at the end of 2001-02. SURR schools will be placed in
corrective action status, and they will also be subject to State-mandated interventions.
What Schools Must Do
NCLB requires certain actions in
Title I schools that are identified as requiring school improvement or corrective action.
School Improvement (Year 1). Within three
months of identification, the school must develop a two-year school improvement plan that
includes:
- scientifically based research to strengthen core academic subjects
- spending at least 10 percent of funds on high quality professional
development
- providing written notification to parents
- developing strategies to promote parent involvement
- incorporating a teacher mentoring program
The school must provide public school choice to all students in
the school.
School Improvement (Year 2). The school must
meet all of the requirements for School Improvement (Year 1), including providing public
school choice. It must also arrange for low-income students to receive supplemental
educational services
Corrective Action. The
school must meet all of the requirements for School Improvement (Year 2), plus the
district take at least one of the following corrective actions:
- replace school staff who are relevant to the failure
to make AYP
- institute a new curriculum
- decrease management authority at the school
- appoint an outside expert to advise the school
- extend the school day or school year
- restructure the internal organization of the school
If you have more questions about school improvement
under NCLB, e-mail nclbnys@mail.nysed.gov or
call SED at 518-474-5923 or 518-474-5283 (for areas outside of New York City) or
718-722-2647 (in New York City).
All schools designated for school improvement or
corrective action must offer every student the option to transfer to another public school
in the school district that has not been identified for school improvement or corrective
action. The ability to choose starts in the beginning of the school year immediately
following identification.
Which students in the schools are eligible for
public school choice?
All students are eligible, but priority must be
given to low-income students (as defined by the school district) if it is not possible to
serve all students.
How will parents know if they are eligible for
public school choice?
The school must tell parents that they have the
option of transferring their child to another public school.
Does the school district have to provide
transportation for each student to the new school?
Transportation must be provided or paid for by the
school district.
What happens if there is not enough room in other
schools in the district to accommodate students who choose this option?
There may be circumstances in which public school
choice is not available because the school district does not have any other schools at the
same grade level that are able to accept transfer students, but the U.S. Department of
Education has not provided definitive guidance regarding this possibility.
However, neither draft federal regulations nor the
NCLB legislation refer to capacity as a basis for denying public school choice, although
preliminary federal guidance does indicate that students may be denied the option to
transfer to a school building if the transfer would cause the school building to violate
health and safety codes by exceeding its capacity.
Can students and parents choose a specific school
to attend?
Under certain conditions, the wishes of
parents must be considered by school district officials. Draft
federal regulations provide that if a school district has more than one school that
has not been identified for school improvement or corrective action and has not been
identified as being 'persistently dangerous', then the school district must offer choice
of more than one school and take parental preferences into account.
If you have more questions about public school
choice, e-mail nclbnys@mail.nysed.gov or call
SED at 518-474-5923 or 518-474-5283 (for areas outside of New York City) or 718-722-2647
(in New York City).
What are "supplemental educational
services"?
Supplemental educational services are academic
enrichment services that are in addition to instruction provided during the regular school
day. The services must be of high-quality and designed to increase student achievement on
State assessments as well as to help students meet the State learning standards.
Those services could include tutoring, after
school services, and summer school programs.
Which schools must provide supplemental
educational services?
Schools and charter schools in their second or
greater consecutive year of school improvement or in corrective action must provide the
services. These are the schools identified in the list as being in School
Improvement (Year 2) or in Corrective Action.
Which students in the schools are eligible?
An eligible student will be from a low-income
family as defined by the school district or charter school. A student's past academic
performance is not a criterion for eligibility.
As a parent, how would I know if my child is
eligible? Who selects my child's provider?
School districts and charter schools required
to provide supplemental educational services must annually notify parents of the
availability of the services, including the identity of approved providers that are
located within the school district or whose services are available in neighboring school
districts. They must also describe the providers' services, their qualifications,
and the demonstrated effectiveness of their services.
Parents select their children's providers, although
they can ask for help from the school district or charter school. The school district or
charter school would then enter into an agreement with the provider for each student.
Who provides supplemental services?
As long as they have been approved by the New York
State Education Department, the services can be provided by for-profit or non-profit
entities or by school districts. The providers must have a demonstrated record of
effectiveness in increasing student academic achievement and be capable of providing
services that are consistent with the school district's or charter school's education
programs and the State learning standards. Providers may be religiously affiliated,
although providers must ensure that all instruction and content is secular, neutral, and
nonideological.
The State Education Department is responsible for
developing a list of approved providers by school district as well as monitoring the
quality and effectiveness of the approved providers. It must also annually distribute
information to potential providers about becoming approved providers.
Will transportation be provided to students
receiving supplemental services?
School districts will not be required to
provide or pay for transportation.
Must a school district provide these services to
every eligible student in the identified school, regardless of cost?
No. The federal government establishes a
maximum per-pupil amount that a school district or charter school must make available for
supplemental educational services. If federal funding is not sufficient to cover the
expenses of supplemental educational services in a school, then priority must be given to
eligible students who are performing at the lowest levels.
If you have more questions about supplemental
educational services, e-mail nclbnys@mail.nysed.gov
or call SED at 518-474-5283 (for areas outside of New York City) or 718-722-2647 (in New
York City).
Safe Public School Choice
What is a violent criminal offense?
A "violent criminal offense" is a
crime that:
- Involves infliction of a serious physical injury upon
another as defined in the State Penal Law; or
- Is a sex offense that involves forcible compulsion;
or
- Is any other offense defined in the State Penal Law
that involves the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon.
A serious physical injury is a physical injury which
creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes death or serious and protracted
disfigurement, protracted impairment of health or protracted loss or impairment of the
function of any bodily organ.
A deadly weapon is any loaded weapon from which a
shot, readily capable of producing death or other serious physical injury, may be
discharged, or a switchblade knife, gravity knife, pilum ballistic knife, metal knuckle
knife, dagger, billy, blackjack, or metal knuckles.
List
of violent criminal offenses classified as felonies in the Penal Law
Who determines if a student has been a victim of
a violent criminal offense?
The superintendent of the school district will
determine if a student has been the victim of a violent criminal offense.
Before the superintendent
makes such a determination, he or she must consult with any law enforcement agency
investigating the alleged violent criminal incident and consider any reports or records
provided by the agency. The superintendent may also wish to consult with the school
district’s attorney prior to making a determination that a student has been a victim
of a violent criminal offense.
A criminal conviction is not required prior to the
superintendent’s determination that a student has been a victim of a violent criminal
offense.
Will I be notified if my child has been
determined to be a victim of a violent criminal offense?
Parents of a student who has been determined
to be a victim of a violent criminal offense must receive notice of their right to
transfer their child to a safe public school within 24 hours of the
determination.
However, school districts are not obligated to
notify parents if there are no other safe public schools within the district at the same
grade level.
While parents must be offered the opportunity
to transfer their child, they may choose to have the child remain at the school.
Do all school districts have to provide
safe public school choice?
The safe public school choice will not be
available in school districts where there are no other safe public schools at the same
grade level.
How will I know which schools are safe in
my school district?
In school districts where the safe public school
choice option is available, the district will establish procedures for designating safe
public schools to which a student who has been determined to be the victim of a violent
criminal offense may transfer.
The alternative safe public school(s) must be
at the same grade level as the school from which the student is transferring.
Does a safe school have to be a
high-performing school?
To the extent possible, the transfer should be
to a school that is making adequate yearly progress (AYP) and has not been identified as
requiring school improvement, corrective action or restructuring.
Learn the
Details of Providing Safe Public School Choice
If you have more questions about safe public school
choice, e-mail mchaps@mail.nysed.gov or call
(518) 486-6090.
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