2415.01 ACADEMIC
STANDARDS, ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
M
The No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), §1111, requires
Testing
Requirements
In accordance
with NCLB, beginning in the 2002-2003 school year, schools must administer
language arts/literacy and mathematics tests in three grade spans: grades 3
through 5, grades 6 through 8, and grades 10 through 12 in all schools.
By the 2005-2006 tests must be administered every year in grades three through
eight and one year in grades ten through twelve. Beginning in the
2007-2008 school year, science achievement must also be tested. At least
95% of each pupil group must participate in the assessment process.
Pupils who have been enrolled in the school for less than one academic year are
not included in the accountability process. Pupils with disabilities who
are moved from their neighborhood school to receive services at another school
will be included in their home school’s accountability process. Pupils
with limited English proficiency must also be assessed, with
accommodations. Pupil progress must also be assessed by pupil group
(pupils from major racial and ethnic groups, economically disadvantaged pupils,
pupils with disabilities, and pupils with limited English proficiency) in
accordance with the requirements of NCLB.
Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP)
The New Jersey
Department of Education (NJDOE) will establish starting points for AYP and
incremental increases in expectations for all schools with the goal of all
schools and pupil groups reaching 100 percent proficiency in language
arts/literacy, math, and science by the 2013-2014 school year.
School Level
Accountability
Each school’s
proficiency statistics in each area and pupil subgroup will be compared to the
State-wide benchmarks. Results for subgroups with fewer than the number
of pupils designated by the NJDOE will be suppressed or excluded from the
analysis. Intervals of confidence of 90% will be applied to school
results. If a subgroup is identified as not having met AYP, “safe harbor”
may be reached if the percentage of pupils not meeting AYP has decreased by 10%
from the previous school year.
The NJDOE will
classify schools into six categories of progress based on a school’s progress
toward meeting the established standards. These categories are:
1. Category
I – Schools in Need of Improvement
These schools did not achieve AYP and have an
achievement gap of more than 25% in attaining the State standards. The
progress achieved by these schools demonstrates that significantly greater
assistance is needed to reach full State standards.
This includes those schools that met the above
criteria for one or more grade levels, even though they also achieved Category
II, Schools in Performance Monitoring, in another grade level.
2. Category
II – Schools in Performance Monitoring
These schools did not achieve AYP; however the
schools have demonstrated the ability to make progress toward incrementally
eliminating the achievement gap; 25% or less of students failed to achieve the
State standards in one content area. If AYP is not made in the next
academic year the school will enter Category I.
Category II includes those schools that met the
above criteria even though they also achieved Category III, Schools Approaching
the Standards, in another grade level.
3. Category
III – Schools Approaching the Standards
These schools have nearly achieved AYP; less
than 5% of students have not achieved State standards in only one content
area. These schools are likely to meet the State standards within one
academic year. However, if AYP is not made in the next academic year the school
will enter Category II.
Category III includes those schools that met the
above criteria even though they also achieved Category IV, Schools Receiving
Conditional Approval, in another grade level.
4. Category
IV – Schools Receiving Conditional Approval
These schools have achieved their designated AYP
and are progressing toward meeting the State standards. These schools
must be monitored for maintenance of achievement.
Category IV includes those schools that met the
above criteria even though they also achieved Category V, Schools Receiving
Full Approval, in another grade level.
5. Category
V – Schools Receiving Full Approval
Category V schools have met State standards in
at least one of the prior two years in each subject area.
6. Category
VI – Schools Demonstrating Excellence
Category VI schools have always met or exceeded
State standards and may be considered exemplary models of success.
The School
Improvement Process
Schools that
have not made adequate yearly progress for two consecutive school years in the
same content area will be identified as needing school improvement before the
beginning of the next school year. If any school in the district is
identified as a Title I school in need of improvement, the following steps need
to be taken in the Title I portion of the Consolidated Application/Plan for
funding of programs governed under the No Child Left Behind Act. The plan
must be developed in accordance with NCLB §1116 and NJDOE guidelines and shall
include:
1. Improvement
Plan – The school must develop a two-year improvement plan showing programs and
strategies that will be adopted to improve teaching and learning.
2. Professional
Development – The school must provide professional development for the school’s
staff to improve their skills. At least ten percent of the school’s Title
I allocation for two years must be spent to support these professional
development activities.
3. Intra-district
Choice – The district must develop and offer an intra-district school choice
program that includes the process to be used to notify parent(s)/legal
guardian(s) of pupils enrolled in the school of the school’s designation as a
school in need of improvement. An intra-district school choice program
must offer parent(s)/legal guardian(s) the opportunity to transfer their child
to another school within the district that is not identified for improvement.
4. Supplemental
Services – The school must offer and provide supplemental educational services
to disadvantaged children in accordance with NCLB and NJDOE guidelines.
Districts with
schools that fail to make AYP, after being identified as needing school improvement,
by the end of the first full year after identification must continue to:
1. Offer
the intra-district school choice option to parent(s)/legal guardian(s);
2. Make
available supplemental educational services in accordance with NCLB §1116; and
3. Provide
technical assistance in accordance with NCLB §1116.
Districts that
have schools that fail to make AYP by the end of the second full year after
being identified as needing school improvement must continue 1, 2 and 3 above
and take at least one of the following corrective actions as identified in
NCLB:
1. Replace
the school staff who are relevant to the failure to make adequate yearly
progress;
2. Institute
and fully implement a new curriculum that includes appropriate professional
development for all relevant staff that is based on scientifically based
research and offers substantial promise of improving educational achievement
for low-achieving students and enabling the school to make adequate yearly
progress;
3. Significantly
decrease management authority at the school level;
4. Appoint
an outside expert to advise the school on its progress toward making adequate
yearly progress based on its school plan;
5. Extend
the school year or school day for the school; and/or
6. Restructure
the internal organizational structure of the school.
If, after one
full year of corrective action, a school subject to corrective action continues
to fail to make AYP, the district shall continue to offer the intra-district
school choice option, make available supplemental educational services and
prepare a plan and make necessary arrangements for alternative governance in
accordance with NCLB §1116.
The district
may delay, for a period not to exceed one year, implementation of certain
corrective action and/or restructuring in accordance with NCLB §1116.
Funds for
transportation and supplemental educational services shall be provided in
accordance with NCLB, §1116.
No Child Left
Behind §1116
Adopted:
12 March 2007
Revised:
9 February 2009