DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O.
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 176
August 8, 2008
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Billy K. Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Appeals of
AYP Accountability Decisions for Schools and School Divisions Under the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 |
In the coming
weeks, the adequate yearly progress (AYP) status for schools and school
divisions will be announced.
The No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and
accompanying federal regulations permit schools and school divisions to appeal
their AYP accountability decisions. Those
AYP accountability decisions include:
The
Board of Education approved the appeals processes through its adoption of the Amended
Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook on May 26, 2004.
Section 1116(b)(2) of NCLB states that school divisions must provide schools with an opportunity to review the data upon which their AYP accountability decisions are based. If a school believes the proposed decision is in error, the school may provide supporting evidence to the school division, and the school division must review the evidence before making a final decision. The decision is forwarded to the Department of Education, Office of Program Administration and Accountability.
The
guidelines and procedures for school divisions to use in considering schools'
appeals to their AYP accountability decisions are found in Attachment A of this
memorandum.
The
Virginia Department of Education must receive appeals filed by the division superintendent
within 15 business days of the school receiving official notice of its AYP accountability
decision or no later than September 26,
2008.
Section 1116(c)(5) of NCLB specifies that states must provide school divisions with an opportunity to review the data upon which their AYP accountability decisions are based. If a school division believes the proposed decision is in error, the division may provide supporting evidence to the state, and the state must review the evidence before making a final decision. The evidence is forwarded to the Department of Education, Office of Program Administration and Accountability.
The
guidelines and procedures for school divisions to use in appealing AYP
accountability decisions are found in Attachment B of this memo.
The school division
should ensure appropriate record changes, if any, have been made before
submitting an appeal. The Department of
Education has sent instructions for online record changes to the division
director of testing (DDOT). If you have questions about the record change
process, please contact the Division of Assessment and Reporting at darfax@doe.virginia.gov or by phone
at (804) 786-3112 (option #2).
If you have
questions or need additional information about either the school or school
division appeals process, contact Becky Marable, reports and grants manager, by
e-mail at Rebecca.Marable@doe.virginia.gov
or at (804) 371-0044.
BKCJr/RLM
Attachments
a. Appeal by School of its AYP Accountability
Decision (PDF)
b. Appeal by School Division of its AYP Accountability
Decision (PDF)