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An Adobe PDF version of this letter is available for download
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July 23, 2010 TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED: The federal accountability system, established by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), requires that states submit changes to their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) calculations prior to determining district and campus results. The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has recently approved the requested changes to the 2010 AYP calculations for Texas with a revision to the AYP Graduation Rate limited English proficient (LEP) student group definition. Also, the statewide graduation rate goal and annual targets are approved and will be implemented in the 2010 AYP results. Requested amendments to the state’s 2010 Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook were submitted to the USDE on February 12, 2010. The initial amendment requests reviewed by the Title I Committee of Practitioners (COP) included a modified definition of the LEP student group to be used for the AYP graduation rate indicator. The requested LEP graduation rate student group would include students identified as LEP during any of their years of attendance in Texas public schools from kindergarten through grade 12. On July 12, 2010, the USDE informed the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that the requested change to the LEP student group was not allowable, but ultimately approved a revised definition. The revised LEP graduation rate student group may include students identified as LEP at any time while attending grades 9 - 12 in Texas public schools. The revised definition and other amendment requests submitted in February 2010 were fully approved on July 12, 2010. Note that the LEP student group definition for the AYP performance and participation indicators is unchanged and will be applied in the same manner in 2010 as in prior years. TEA has also submitted an amendment request to reinstate the use of uniform averaging of data across years for districts and campuses with small numbers of tested students. Contingent on USDE approval, this feature will also be incorporated in the 2010 AYP calculations. Despite the delayed approval of amendments by the USDE, TEA will maintain the scheduled release of the preliminary 2010 AYP and School Improvement program (SIP) statuses, as shown below.
For the 2010 AYP calculations, Texas will implement the required statewide graduation rate goal and annual targets which include the allowed use of a five-year graduation rate. Federal regulations finalized in October 2008 required each state to incorporate a statewide goal and annual targets to determine AYP beginning with the 2010 AYP results. Research on graduation rate requirements and options allowed by the federal regulation began in the spring of 2009. From September to December, 2009, possible options under consideration were presented to school district and Education Service Center (ESC) staff through Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) conferences, Texas Education Telecommunications Network (TETN) Accountability sessions, and ESC Title I meetings. On November 10, 2009, proposed amendments including the graduation rate required elements were presented for review by the Title I COP. Directed by federal regulation to review and comment on any proposed or final state Title I programs policy, the Title I COP also reviewed final decisions on the graduation rate goal, annual targets, and alternative calculations which were subsequently submitted on January 15, 2010, for USDE approval through a peer review process. The graduation rate calculations that were approved by the USDE include five alternatives for districts and campuses to meet the required goal and targets:
Note that the requested AYP LEP graduation rate student group results were reported to districts on the completion summary reports and student listings released on the TEASE Accountability application on June 18, 2010, with the annotation of AYP LEP student group/Ever LEP in K-12. The Ever LEP in K-12 rate will not be used to determine 2010 AYP graduation results. The 2010 AYP Preliminary Data Tables released on July 29 will show the revised LEP student group graduation rates as required by the USDE, and the AYP LEP graduation rate student group definition used in prior years. Both of the LEP student groups, the previous LEP definition (based on the LEP status of the student's final record in the cohort) and the revised LEP definition (LEP at anytime in grades 9-12) will be reported on the 2010 AYP Preliminary Data Tables for the class of 2009 four-year, class of 2008 four-year, and class of 2008 five-year longitudinal Graduation Rates. A summary of the AYP graduation rate goal and targets to be used in the 2010 AYP calculations can be found on the AYP website at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/ayp/index.html. Key chapters of the 2010 AYP Guide are posted at this site and include a detailed description of the 2010 graduation rate calculations in Sections II and III. Section V: Appeals provides information on consideration of AYP appeals from districts and high schools adversely impacted by the use of the revised LEP student group definition on the performance improvement/safe harbor provisions of the graduation rate indicator when compared to the previous LEP definition used in prior years. For further assistance about the 2010 AYP results, please contact your regional education service center. If you still have questions, you may contact the Division of Performance Reporting at (512) 463-9704 or via electronic mail at Performance.Reporting@tea.state.tx.us. Contact Information  |
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