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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April
18, 2002
State
Board of Education Adopts School Accountability Requirements
of
Federal No Child Left Behind Law
The
State Board of Education began making policy decisions at
its April meeting to align Illinois' school accountability
measures with the new federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
law signed by President George W. Bush January 8.
Adequate
Yearly Progress on State Standards-based tests
NCLB
requires all schools to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
targets on state tests or face severe sanctions. A new standard
for AYP was established by NCLB requiring schools, overall
and by eight subgroups of their students, to reach 100 percent
meeting state standards by 2013-14. The previous AYP criteria
required schools to make sufficient annual progress to reach
50% meeting state standards over five years, but the standard
applied only to the composite school score and not to subgroups.
State
policy makers are required to establish starting points for
determining AYP for schools and for the state as a whole.
Two options are available under NCLB, and states are to establish
the higher of the two. Option one would establish the starting
point for AYP at the percent of students meeting state standards
in the lowest-achieving subgroup. The lowest scoring subgroup
on 2001 tests in Illinois was 16% meeting for mathematics
and 24% for reading.
In
compliance with NCLB, the State Board established the starting
point as the percent of students meeting state standards for
the school at the top of the lowest-achieving 20% of the state's
students. Using 2001 results, this would establish starting
points of 38% meets for mathematics and 40% for reading. With
those same results in the baseline year of 2002, the state's
schools and subgroups would need to meet those targets plus
5% growth each year to reach 100% meeting standards by 2013-14.
The
aggregate percentage of students in Illinois meeting state
reading and mathematics standards on the 2001 ISAT was considerably
above the 40%, with 60% meeting state standards, but subgroups
ranged from 16% meeting to 81% meeting. The aggregate percentage
and the percentage meeting for each of the eight subgroups
would have to reach the annual target for schools and for
the state to be making AYP expectations under NCLB.
Schools
receiving federal Title 1 funds that do not make AYP for two
consecutive years will be required to offer their students
the opportunity to choose another higher-achieving public
school within the district and pay the cost of transporting
students who choose other schools. The AYP required on the
2002 tests is the current definition of making progress toward
50% in five years.
Offering
choice to students will start this fall for schools that do
not make AYP on 2002 ISAT tests if they also have not reached
AYP for the last two years. Sanctions in later years would
require offering choice or supplemental educational services
to students. No schools will have this dual requirement before
the 2003-04 school year, since NCLB provides that schools
remain in the school improvement status they were in when
the bill was signed.
Highly
Qualified Teachers
NCLB
requires all newly hired Title 1 teachers to meet the federal
definition of "highly qualified" in order to teach
in a school that receives Title 1 funding. Paraprofessionals
hired after January 8, 2002, with Title 1 funds to work with
students in an instructional capacity would also have to meet
strict qualifications in the NCLB law. New Title 1-funded
teachers would need to be "highly qualified" this
fall, and all teachers in the state must meet the definition
by the end of the 2005-06 school year. All paraprofessionals
working in Title 1-funded programs must meet qualifications
in the law by January 8, 2006.
The
Board affirmed the federal definition Thursday for "highly
qualified" teacher and paraprofessional qualifications
that conform to the requirements of NCLB. The definitions
apply to training and teaching assignment. To be considered
highly qualified, a teacher must hold full state certification
and not have any provisions waived on an emergency, temporary
or provisional basis. In addition, teachers must meet the
requirements established by the state for their teaching assignments.
Paraprofessionals
hired after January 8 with Title 1 funding to work in Title
1 programs must have--
- Completed
at least two years of higher education;
- Obtained
at least an associate's degree; or
- Demonstrated
on a state or local academic assessment the mastery of rigorous
standards in reading, mathematics and writing.
Staff
members noted two areas of continued analysis regarding provisions
of NCLB that have significant implications for the state:
teachers who are teaching out-of-field and bilingual teachers
with certificates good for 6 - 8 years may not meet the NCLB
definition of highly qualified teacher. Staff continues to
seek clarification of this issue and will present recommendations
addressing these two issues that have significant policy implications
since the state has a shortage of teachers in several specialty
areas, including bilingual.
MEETING
NOTICE
April 22 -- Education Funding Advisory Board
A Joint meeting of the Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB)
Property Tax Work Group and Revenue Source Work Group will
be held on Monday, April 22, 2002, from 9:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
at the James R. Thompson Center in the Governor's Large Conference
Room, 16th floor, 100 W. Randolph, Chicago, Illinois.
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