RULES AND REGULATIONS
Title 22--EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[22 PA. CODE CH. 403]
Compliance With the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
[32 Pa.B. 6096] The Department of Education (Department) adds Chapter 403 (relating to Compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001).
Contact Person
Questions regarding these standards should be directed to Dr. Frances Warkomski, Director of the Bureau of Special Education, Department of Education, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333, (717) 783-2311.
Effective Date
The standards will be effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Statutory Authority
The Department acts under the authority of section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P. S. § 26-2603-B(d)(10)(i)) (code), which was added by section 31 of the act of June 29, 2002 (P. L. 524, No. 88) (Act 88). Section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code empowers the Department, with the approval of the State Board of Education (State Board), to adopt standards to comply with the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) (Pub. L. No. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425) to maintain the eligibility of the Commonwealth to receive Federal funding for education programs. Under section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code, the State Board must approve or disapprove the standards within the 30 days of submission to its office or at its next scheduled meeting, whichever is sooner. Failure of the State Board to approve or disapprove the standards within the time prescribed results in its deemed approval of the standards proposed by the Department.
Standards promulgated by the Department under section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the code must be deposited with the Pennsylvania Bulletin for publication, see section 2603-B(d)(10)(ii) of the code, but they are exempt from the following laws:
(a) Sections 201--205 of the act of July 31, 1968 (P. L. 769, No. 240) (71 P. S. §§ 1201--1205), known as the Commonwealth Documents Law.
(b) Section 204(b) of the Commonwealth Attorneys Act (71 P. S. § 732-204(b)).
(c) The Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. §§ 745.1--745.15).
In light of these exemptions and the express approval of the State Board, the Department is depositing these standards for publication in final-form.
Description of Process
On September 18, 2002, the Department presented to the State Board two sets of proposed standards necessary to comply with NCLB. On September 18, 2002, the special committee of the State Board established to work with the Department in the development and review of standards necessary to comply with NCLB (the NCLB committee) conducted a public meeting to review and discuss the standards proposed by the Department and to receive public comment on the proposal.
At the regular business meeting of the State Board held September 19, 2002, the Secretary of Education made a detailed presentation explaining the proposed standards. At its September 19, 2002, meeting, the State Board publicly voted to approve the proposed standards presented by the Department. On September 26, 2002, the Chairperson of the State Board signed two resolutions delineating the standards. Those resolutions were published at 32 Pa.B. 5151 (October 12, 2002).
Background and Need for Standards
On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed NCLB into law. The NCLB, inter alia, amends Titles I and III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) (Pub. L. 89-10, 79 Stat. 27) (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged) (20 U.S.C.A. §§ 6301--6578 and 6801--7014). The purpose of Title I is to ensure that all children have the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State achievement standards and academic assessments. In furtherance of this purpose, Title I provides grants to State education agencies and sub-grants to local educational agencies. To remain eligible for funding under Title I, State and local educational agencies must comply with the NCLB.
Section 1111(b)(2)(A) of Title I, as added by NCLB (20 U.S.C.A. § 6311(b)(2)(A)), requires each state to demonstrate that it has developed and is implementing a single, statewide accountability system that will be of high quality, technically valid and reliable, aligned with the state's academic content and student achievement standards, and based upon the same content expectations for all children. It is further required, by section 1111 of NCLB, that the single, statewide accountability system be effective in ensuring that all Local Education Agencies (LEAs), public elementary schools and public secondary schools make adequate yearly progress (AYP), as defined in section 1111(b)(2)(C) of Title I.
In addition, section 1111(b)(3)(A) of Title I requires that, beginning no later than the 2005-06 school year, states assess all students in grades three through eight against the challenging State academic content standards in, at a minimum, math and reading or language arts and, beginning in the 2007-08 school year, in science for students in grades four, seven and ten.
Section 3121 of Title III of the ESEA, added by NCLB (20 U.S.C.A. § 6841), requires that each state approve evaluation measures that are designed to assess the progress of children in attaining English proficiency, including a child's level of comprehension, listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in English.
Description of Standards
The standards proposed by the Department and approved by the State Board provide for a single, Statewide accountability system. More specifically, the standards provide for the fulfillment of the NCLB's assessment requirements and the calculation of AYP.
Fiscal Impact
These standards are necessary to ensure that the State and its local educational agencies remain eligible to receive Federal funding under Titles I and III of the ESEA. The standards will not result in new costs to the State, as the Department will continue to access State Title I funds. In addition, Title VI of the ESEA (Flexibility and Accountability), as amended by the NCLB (20 U.S.C.A. §§ 7301--7372), provides $11.6 million in funds to implement this program.
Since the standards as adopted allow the LEAs to choose from a list of commercially available assessments that are currently used as local assessments in grades four, six and seven, the fiscal impact to school districts is expected to be minimal. To the extent that funding is available, the Department expects to offset at least some of the costs that school districts may incur.
Paperwork Requirements
The additional paperwork requirements resulting from these standards are minimal and mandated by NCLB.
Regulatory Review
Under section 2603-B(d)(10(iii) of the code, these standards are exempt from the Regulatory Review Act.
Findings
The Department finds that:
(1) Proposed rulemaking in advance of the promulgation of standards is not required under section 2603-B(d)(10)(iii)(A) of the code added by section 31 of Act 88, which expressly provides that the standards are exempt from the requirements of sections 201--205 of the Commonwealth Documents Law.
(2) The State Board approved the proposed standards by public vote at its September 19, 2002, meeting.
(3) The promulgation of these standards is necessary for compliance with the NCLB.
Order
The Department, acting under the authorizing statute, orders that:
(a) The regulations of the Department, 22 Pa. Code, are amended by adding §§ 403.1--403.3 to read as set forth in Annex A.
(b) The Secretary of Education will certify this order and Annex A and deposit them with the Legislative Reference Bureau as required by law.
(c) This order shall take effect upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
CHARLES B. ZOGBY,
SecretaryFiscal Note: 6-284. No fiscal impact; (8) recommends adoption.
Annex A
TITLE 22. EDUCATION
PART XVI. STANDARDS
CHAPTER 403. COMPLIANCE WITH THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001 Sec.
403.1. Purpose and scope. 403.2. Definitions. 403.3. Single accountability system. § 403.1. Purpose and scope.
This chapter describes the standards of the Department, approved by the State Board, that have been adopted under section 2603-B(d)(10) of the Public School Code (24 P. S. § 26-2603-B(d)(10)) to facilitate compliance by the Commonwealth with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Pub. L. No. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425).
§ 403.2. Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
AYP--Adequate yearly progress as defined by section 1111(b)(2)(C) of Title I (20 U.S.C.A. § 6311(b)(2)(C)), added by NCLB.
Department--The Department of Education of the Commonwealth.
ESEA--The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.A. §§ 6301--7941), as amended by the NCLB.
LEA--A local educational agency.
NCLB--The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Pub. L. No. 107--110, 115 Stat. 1425) (20 U.S.C.A. §§ 6053e, 6054b, 6055h, 6056a, 1041--1044, 3427 and 6052).
PSSA--The Pennsylvania System of State Assessment.
State Board--The State Board of Education of the Commonwealth.
Title I--Title I of the ESEA (20 U.S.C.A. §§ 6301--6578), as amended by NCLB.
§ 403.3. Single accountability system.
(a) Requirement of NCLB. Section 1111 of Title I, added by NCLB (20 U.S.C.A. § 6311), requires each state to develop and implement a single, statewide state accountability system that will be effective in ensuring that all LEAs, public elementary schools and public secondary schools make AYP as defined in section 1111(b)(2)(C) of Title I.
(b) Proficiency as a measure of student progress.
(1) As the starting point for calculating the AYP, the Department will use the proficient level of student performance, as adopted by the State Board on May 10, 2001. See 31 Pa.B. 2763 (May 26, 2001).
(2) Using data from the 2001-02 school year as the baseline, the Department will determine the number of students meeting or exceeding the proficient level of achievement on State assessments.
(c) Adequate yearly progress.
(1) The Department will calculate the AYP by using the ''intermediate method'' of calculation, involving ''stepped goals.''
(2) The Department will provide yearly targets to assist the LEAs in measuring progress within the intermediate method.
(3) The Department will use graduation rates as an additional indicator of the AYP for secondary schools and students.
(4) The Department will use child attendance rates as an additional indicator of the AYP for elementary schools and students.
(5) The Department will use 75 as the required number of students tested per building to form a group for the purposes of measuring the AYP of students with disabilities, limited English proficient students and students who are members of economically disadvantaged, major racial and ethnic groups.
(d) Assessments.
(1) Section 1111(b)(3)(A) of Title I specifically requires that, beginning no later than the 2005-06 school year, states must assess all students in grades three through eight against the challenging state academic content standards in, at a minimum, math and reading or language arts, or both. In addition, beginning in the 2007-08 school year, states must assess all students in grades four, seven and ten against the challenging state academic content standards for science.
(i) To accomplish the mandates described in paragraph (1), the LEAs shall continue to use the PSSA to assess students in grades three, five, eight and eleven in reading and mathematics and to assess students in grades six, nine and eleven in writing.
(ii) For determining the tests to be administered in grades four, six and seven, the Department will adhere to the following procedure:
(A) The Department will identify a limited number of commercially available assessments that are currently used as local assessments in grades four, six and seven as tests that may be used for compliance with the NCLB.
(B) The tests identified by the Department will be augmented, if necessary, for alignment with State academic standards.
(C) From these tests, each LEA shall choose the assessment that it will use to test students in grades four, six and seven.
(iii) The Value Added Assessment System shall be implemented as a component of the Commonwealth's assessment system to provide the LEAs with analyses and reports to offer valuable information for focused program improvement to increase performance.
(2) Section 3121 of Title III of the ESEA, added by the NCLB (20 U.S.C.A. § 6841), requires that each state approve evaluation measures that are designed to assess the progress of children in attaining English proficiency, including a child's level of comprehension, listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in English.
(i) To accomplish the mandates described in paragraph (2), the Commonwealth will serve as the leader in a consortium of states seeking to develop a language proficiency assessment that will meet the needs of the NCLB.
(ii) The Department will use the consortium's assessment to evaluate the progress of students in attaining English proficiency, including a child's level of comprehension, listening, reading and writing skills in English.
(iii) The Department will identify one or more commercially developed language proficiency assessments that the LEAs shall administer until the assessment developed by the consortium is available.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 02-2219. Filed for public inspection December 13, 2002, 9:00 a.m.]
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