COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2120
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 1
January 4, 2002
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Jo Lynne
DeMary Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
The
Virginia State Assessment Program Requirement for Home-Instructed Students |
The
parent who elects to provide home instruction shall provide the division
superintendent by August 1 following the school year in which the child has
received home instruction with either (I) evidence that the child has attained
a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on a battery of achievement
tests which have been approved by the Board of Education for use in the public
schools, or (ii) an evaluation or assessment which, in the judgment of the
division superintendent, indicates that the child is achieving an adequate
level of educational growth and progress.
In
the event that evidence of progress as required in this subsection is not
provided by the parent, the home instruction program for that child may be
placed on probation for one year.
Parents shall file with the division superintendent evidence of their
ability to provide an adequate education for their child in compliance with
subsection A of this section and a remediation plan for the probationary year
which indicates their program is designed to address any educational
deficiency. Upon acceptance of such
evidence and plan by the division superintendent, the home instruction may
continue for probationary year. If the
remediation plan and evidence are not accepted or the required evidence of progress
is not provided by August 1 following the probationary year, home instruction
shall cease and the parent shall make other arrangements for the education of
the child which comply with 22.1-254.
The requirements of subsection C shall not apply to children who are
under the age of six as of September 30 of the school year.
Within the
VSAP, the Stanford Achievement Test,
Ninth Edition Form TA, Abbreviated (Stanford
9 TA) is administered during the fall semester to all public-school
students in Virginia in grades 4, 6, and 9.
During the spring semester, school divisions are required to offer the
VSAP testing program to home-instructed students in grades 3, 5, and 8, which
use the same levels of the secure Stanford 9 TA administered during the fall
semester in grades 4, 6, and 9.
Administration of the Stanford 9 TA to home-instructed students in
grades 3, 5, and 8 should take place during the spring norming window of April
1-30.
Further, a
school division that administers Stanford
9 to students in grade levels other than those mandated by the state
(typically referred to as off-grade testing) should also offer
home-instructed students at those levels the option to participate in
testing. However, school divisions are
under no obligation to offer testing to home-instructed students in grade
levels in which no such testing is offered to public school students in the
school division. Administration of the Stanford 9 to home-instructed students
in off-grade levels should also take place during the norming window of April
1-30.
The
Department of Education will continue to pay the cost of materials and scoring
for spring semester Stanford 9 testing
of home-instructed students. This will
include testing of home-instructed students at all off-grade levels, including
those grade levels in which public school students are not tested.
The following
questions and answers explain how this would work in a school division where
the VSAP is administered at grades 4,6, and 9 as part of the state-mandated
program during the fall semester, and where the same school division augments
the program with off-grade Stanford 9 testing
of public school students in grades 2 and 7 in the spring.
Question #1
Is it
required that the school division offer the Stanford
9 TA tests to home-instructed students in grades 3, 5, and 8 in the spring
semester?
Yes. The Stanford 9 TA tests must be offered to
home-instructed students in grades 3, 5, and 8 because the test forms that are
administered to these students are the same as those administered to public
school students in the fall of grades 4, 6, and 9.
Yes.
Question #2
Because the
school division conducted off-grade Stanford
9 testing in grades 2 and 7, must it also offer Stanford 9 to
home-instructed students in grades 2 and 7?
Yes, and the state will
pay for materials and scoring for those home-instructed students.
Question #3
Is the school
division obligated to offer Stanford 9 to
home-instructed students in other off-grades?
No. Doing so is completely at the divisions
option. If the division elects to use
this option, the state will pay for materials and scoring for home-instructed
students in those other off-grades.
A copy of the
complete section of the code related to
home-instructed
students is attached for your reference. Should you have questions regarding
the assessment of home-instructed students in the VSAP, please contact Lolita
B. Hall, associate director for assessment, by e-mail: (mailto:lhall@mail.vak12ed.edu) or by
phone: (804) 786-9422.
Attachment
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