Approving No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Differentiated Accountability Pilot
Resolution Number 2008-22
April 24, 2008
The Board of Education adopts the proposal for the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) differentiated accountability pilot, as follows:
No Child Left Behind Differentiated Accountability Pilot Proposal
AYP: Targeting Choice and Supplemental Services
Request: The proposed differentiated accountability model will prioritize public school choice (PSC) and supplemental educational services (SES) to low-academic and low-income students who 1) belong to the subgroup(s) for which the school did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and 2) fail the test(s) in the subject(s) in which the school did not make AYP. The prioritization plan that will apply only to those Title I schools in years 1 and 2 of improvement will be implemented as follows:
Year 1:
Public School Choice
Priority 1: PCS will be offered to parents of low-academic and low-income students in the same subject and subgroup for which the school did not make AYP.
Priority 2: PCS will be offered to parents of all other low-academic and low-income students regardless of subject or subgroup.
Priority 3: PCS will be offered to parents of all students.
Year 2:
Public School Choice
Same priorities as described above.
Supplemental Educational Services
Priority 1: SES will be offered to parents of low-income and low-academic students in the same subject and subgroup for which the school did not make AYP.
Priority 2: SES will be offered to parents of all other low-income and low-academic students regardless of subject or subgroup.
Priority 3: SES will be offered to parents of all students.
Year 3 and Beyond:
Sanctions as indicated under current NCLB statute will remain without change.
Rationale: The NCLB statute treats all schools that fail to make Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) equally, regardless of whether such failure is based on one subgroup failing to make AYP in one subject, or all subgroups failing to make AYP in both reading and mathematics. Currently, all students in a Title I school in school improvement status are eligible for school choice with priority given to academic need. In addition, all low-income students in a school that is in Year 2 school improvement status or beyond are eligible to receive supplemental services, regardless of their performance on the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments in reading/language arts and mathematics.
Using federal funds to provide school choice to all students impacts the level of
assistance available to serve students in the school that are not meeting the proficiency targets on the SOL assessments. Additionally, school divisions have reported that the majority of students who choose the choice option are not from low-income families nor are they students who are struggling academically. Similarly, using federal funds to provide tutoring services to all low-income students in a school reduces funds available to serve subgroups and individual students that are not meeting the proficiency targets on the SOL assessments in reading/language arts and mathematics. Since NCLB focuses on ensuring that one hundred percent of Virginia's students are proficient in reading/language arts and mathematics by 2013-2014, the proposed differentiated accountability model targets available resources to those students who are not proficient.
Mark E. Emblidge, President
Board of Education
Adopted in the Minutes of the Virginia Board of Education
April 24, 2008