703 KAR 5:040. Statewide Assessment and Accountability Program; relating accountability to A1 schools and A2-A6 programs.
RELATES TO: KRS 158.6451, 158.6453, 158.6455
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 158.6455
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 158.6455 requires the Kentucky Board of Education to create and implement a statewide assessment program to ensure accountability for student achievement of the goals set forth in KRS 158.645 and 158.6451. The purpose of this administrative regulation is to establish how data from A1 schools, and A2, A3, A4, A5, and A6 programs will be included in school, district or state accountability.
Section 1. Assignment of Accountability Indices and School Classifications. (1) Accountability indices, school classifications, and related statistics for both the state and federal accountability dimensions as established in 703 KAR 5:020 shall be calculated for those schools classified as A1 schools, and for A3, A5, and A6 programs if they are final programs of placement.
(2) A final program of placement shall include an A3, A5, or A6 program that enrolls at least ten (10) students in each grade in which NCLB assessments are administered and at least sixty (60) students in these grades combined, in which a student is placed for the purpose of completing the student’s elementary program (primary through grade 5), middle school program (grades 6-8), or high school program (grades 9-12), and whose district requests the program be a final program of placement. Programs enrolling students that may be expected to transition back to an A1 school shall not be considered a final program of placement.
Section 2. School and District Accountability. (1) A student enrolled in an A1 school shall be counted in the membership of the A1 school and shall be attributed to the A1 school for accountability purposes as specified in 703 KAR 5:020. This shall include students who have been enrolled in an A1 school by any authority including state agency children.
(2) A student enrolled in an A1 school and attending an A2 program shall be counted in the membership of the A1 school and shall be attributed to the A1 school for accountability purposes as specified in 703 KAR 5:020.
(3) A student enrolled in an A4 program shall not participate in the state-required assessment program and no student performance data shall be generated for the state accountability system from an A4 program.
(4) Notwithstanding any other administrative regulatory provision, individual student data resulting from the administration of state-required assessments to students enrolled in A3, A5, or A6 programs shall be assigned to A1 schools, districts or the state for accountability index purposes as follows:
(a) If an A1 school places one of its students in an A3, A5, or A6 program or if the placement is the result of local school district policies or procedures, the assessment data for that student shall be attributed to the sending A1 school and district. If the placement is an A3, A5, or A6 final program of placement, for accountability calculation purposes the assessment data shall be attributed to the sending A1 school and district, as well as the A3, A5, or A6 final program of placement and the district in which the final program of placement is housed; and
(b) If a student is placed in an A3, A5, or A6 program by a court, a governmental agency other than a Kentucky public school or Kentucky school district, an A1 school other than the student’s home A1 school, or self-placed (and accepted by the program as meeting the criteria for the program), and the student has been enrolled in a single A1 school or district for a full academic year that school year prior to the placement in the A3, A5, or A6 program, the student’s data shall be attributed to the A1 school or district where the student was enrolled for the full academic year consistent with 703 KAR 5:160.
Section 3. State Accountability. (1) Student data from A3, A5, and A6 programs that have not been attributed to an A3, A5, or A6 final program of placement or have not been attributed to an A1 school or district shall be aggregated into a state level accountability report resulting in state and federal accountability.
(2) The Commissioner of Education shall appoint a committee of persons consisting of staff of the Kentucky Department of Education, local school districts in which A3, A5, and A6 programs are located, and other state agencies affecting the delivery of services in A3, A5, and A6 programs for purposes of reviewing the performance of these programs in the aggregate and, if appropriate, with disaggregations of the data. Based on this review, this committee shall report to the commissioner and the Kentucky Board of Education within four (4) months of the annual public release of state assessment and accountability data. This report shall include findings on quality of educational and other services, adequacy of academic performance growth, nonacademic growth, changes in population served by these programs, and recommended actions needed to improve conditions in and performance of these programs.
Section 4. Accountability for Student Nonacademic Data. (1) Nonacademic data collection procedures, including collection and verification procedures, shall apply to all schools classified as A1 and all programs classified as A2, A3, A4, A5, or A6. Any nonacademic data collected from A4 programs shall not be included in any accountability calculations for any A1 school, A3, A5, or A6 final programs of placement, or local school district.
(2) If a local board of education issues a high school diploma or a certificate under 704 KAR 3:305 to students in an A3, A5, or A6 program, the program staff shall monitor graduates to determine the status of the students for purposes of reporting transition to adult life data, and shall indicate the A1 sending school to which the graduate data should be attributed for accountability purposes. However, if an accountability index and a school classification can be applied to the A3, A5, or A6 final program of placement as specified in this administrative regulation, the graduation and successful transition to adult life data shall be applied to the A3, A5, or A6 final program of placement and the district in which the final program of placement is housed.
(3) If a student is placed in a final program of placement by an A1 school or a local district, the transition to adult life data shall be attributed for accountability index calculation purposes to the sending A1 school and district, as well as the A3, A5, or A6 final program of placement and the district in which the final program of placement is housed.
Section 5. Student Placement. (1) A student shall not be placed in an A3, A5, or A6 program by an A1 school or local district beyond the highest grade served by the sending A1 school. If a student placed in an A3, A5, or A6 program by an A1 school is promoted to a grade higher than is served by the sending A1 school, the student shall be entered into an appropriate A1 school and educationally sound procedures shall be used to determine the most appropriate means of delivering educational services to the student. This may result in the student attending an A3, A5, or A6 program, but the new and appropriate A1 school shall be considered responsible for the placement.
(2) Except for students placed in an A3, A5, or A6 program by a court, a governmental agency other than a Kentucky public school or Kentucky school district, an A1 school other than the student’s home A1 school, or self-placed (and accepted by the program as meeting the criteria for the program), a district shall not enter a newly enrolled student directly into an A3, A5, or A6 program, but shall enter the student into an appropriate A1 school and educationally sound procedures shall be used to determine the most appropriate means of delivering educational services to the student. This may mean sending the student to an A3, A5, or A6 program, but the appropriate A1 school shall be considered responsible for the placement.
(3) A district may place a student considered a danger to self or others directly into a placement other than an A1 school provided formal documentation is present. The formal documentation shall address strategies for transitioning the student into a regular A1 school or provide clear justification as to why such transition should not occur. For accountability purposes the student’s data shall be attributed to the district that made the assignment.
Section 6. Rewards and Assistance for A2, A3, A4, A5, and A6 Programs. (1) Except for the A3, A5, and A6 final programs of placement for which accountability indices and school classifications can be calculated as specified in Section 1 of this administrative regulaton, for purposes of rewards or recognition and assistance resulting from the implementation of the accountability system staff of the A2, A3, A4, A5, and A6 programs shall be attached to the central office and viewed as providing a service to the total district.
(2) If a district receives rewards or recognition under the accountability program, A2-A6 programs located within the district that are not assigned their own school classification shall also receive rewards or recognition.
(3) If under the provisions of 703 KAR 5:130 assistance is required for the district central office, this assistance shall also apply to the A2, A3, A4, A5, or A6 programs operated by the district that are not assigned their own school classification.
(4) For purposes of rewards or recognition, an A2, A3, A4, A5, or A6 program that is not assigned its own school classification and is a program serving multiple public school districts shall be eligible for rewards or recognition if more than ten (10) percent of the program’s total aggregate membership for the biennium at the accountability grades is generated from districts which have qualified for rewards or recognition. The percent of students shall be calculated from student enrollment on the first day of the district’s grade-appropriate testing windows. The amount of any reward money shall be proportionate to this percent. The principal or head administrator of the A2, A3, A4, A5, or A6 program shall decide how any rewards received shall be used for school purposes.
(5) An A2, A3, A4, A5, or A6 program that is not assigned its own school classification shall be subject to assistance if more than fifty (50) percent of the aggregate membership of the program for the biennium at the accountability grades is generated from districts being required to receive assistance. The percent of students shall be calculated from student enrollment on the first day of the district’s grade-appropriate testing windows. (25 Ky.R. 2241; Am. 2602; eff. 6-7-99; 31 Ky.R. 221; eff. 9-13-04.)