703 KAR 5:160. Commonwealth Accountability Testing System administration procedures.
RELATES TO: KRS 158.645, 158.6451, 158.6453, 158.6455, 158.6457, 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 156.029, 156.070, 158.6453, 158.6455
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 158.6455 requires the Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations to establish a system to create and implement a statewide assessment program. This administrative regulation establishes test administrative procedures.
Section 1. Test Administration Procedures. (1) Retained students. A student retained in a grade in which state-required assessments are administered shall participate in the assessments for that grade again and shall continue to be included in all accountability calculations. A high school senior taking more than four (4) years to complete high school shall repeat grade twelve (12) state-required assessments.
(2) Double or multiple grade promotions and state-required assessments. If a student is double promoted or otherwise skips a grade in the normal progression of grades primary through twelve (12), the student shall take the state-required assessments associated with the grade being skipped. A student shall be included in participation rate calculations of the current grade placement of the student at the beginning of the testing window.
(3) Norm referenced test requirements and end of primary students.
(a) An exiting primary student shall take the nationally norm-referenced assessment and any additional assessments that may be required as a part of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System.
(b) If a school is certain that a student will continue in the primary program and the student’s parents have been informed, then the student shall not be required to take the nationally norm-referenced assessment or other state-required assessment components until the year the student exits the primary program.
(c) If school personnel are not sure that a student will remain in the primary program when the nationally norm-referenced assessment and any other assessments that may be required as a part of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System are administered, the student shall take the test. If the student remains in the primary program for an additional year, the student shall retake state-required assessments in the year the student exits the primary program.
(4) Students not participating in state-required assessments.
(a) If a student does not participate in state-required assessments, the school at which the student was enrolled on the first day of the testing window shall complete and submit to the testing contractor all general and demographic background data fields regarding the student.
(b) A student who does not take the Kentucky core content tests or the nationally norm-referenced test shall be assigned novice nonperformance scores on the appropriate test.
(c) A student who does not submit a required portfolio, either writing or alternate, shall be scored novice nonperformance.
(5) Students twenty-one (21) years of age or older. A student reaching the age of twenty-one (21) years of age who no longer generates state funding under Support Education Excellence in Kentucky shall not be required to participate in state-required assessments.
(6) Expelled students.
(a) A student who is expelled and legally not provided instructional services under the standards established in KRS 158.150 shall not be considered to be enrolled for a full academic year, and shall not be included in calculations necessary for either federal or state accountability procedures.
(b) A student who is suspended or expelled but continues to receive instructional services required under KRS 158.150 shall participate in the state-required assessments and shall be included in the participation rate calculation.
(c) If a student has been expelled or suspended at some point during a year and is enrolled but does not complete the state-required assessment, the student shall be included in the participation rate calculation.
(7) Medical exemption.
(a) If participation in the state-required assessment would jeopardize a student’s physical, mental or emotional well being, a school or district shall submit a request for medical exemption, which is subject to the approval of the Department of Education and which describes the medical condition that warrants exempting a student from all or portions of the assessments.
(b) An identified disability or handicapping condition alone shall not be considered sufficient reason for granting a medical exemption to state-required assessment and accountability requirements.
(c) A student with an approved medical exemption shall be excluded from state-required assessments and state and federal accountability calculations.
(8) Foreign exchange students. A foreign exchange student may be assessed with state-required assessments, but the foreign exchange student scores shall not be included in the school or district federal and state accountability calculations.
(9) Dropout status and assessment requirements.
(a) A student who drops out of school prior to the testing window shall be included in the school’s nonacademic data only.
(b) For purposes of calculating percent proficient and above for reading and mathematics and the academic index components of Kentucky’s academic and accountability indices, a student who drops out of school and who is maintained on a sixty (60) day waiting list for confirmation shall not be included.
(c) The roster shall include an annotation indicating the date the school is notified of the student dropping out of school.
(10) State and federal accountability student roster.
(a) A school shall test all students enrolled in each accountability grade on the first day of the school’s testing window and shall provide Kentucky’s testing contractor with a roster of these same students. The roster shall include:
1. The district and school names and code numbers;
2. Grade;
3. Each student’s name;
4. Whether the student has completed a full academic year in the school, in the district, or in the state; and
5. Whether the student participated in state-required assessments.
(b)1. For purposes of calculating a school’s academic indices in the state dimension and for determining adequate yearly progress in the federal dimension, each school shall be held accountable based on an aggregated average of the academic performance of the elementary, middle, or high school students who have been enrolled in the school for a full academic year in the accountability grades; and each district shall be held accountable based on an aggregated average of the academic performance of the elementary, middle, or high school students who have been enrolled in the district for a full academic year in the accountability grades.
2. If a school or district has a different announced testing window and a student is enrolled in more than one (1) school or district during this period, the student shall be attributed for state and federal academic accountability calculations purposes to the school or district having the earliest announced testing window.
3. If the student moves out of state or to a private school before state-required assessments can be completed in the school or district’s announced testing window, the student shall be excluded from state and federal academic accountability calculations.
(11) Enrolling transient students. A school receiving a transfer student from another school just prior to or during the testing window shall not deny or delay enrollment of that student without legally-valid reasons.
(12) Adjustments to testing window due to natural disasters. A district or school that experiences a natural disaster or calamity during their chosen testing window option may request an adjustment to the testing window. The request shall be made by email or letter to the Kentucky Department of Education Office of Assessment and Accountability.
Section 2. Portfolios. (1) Writing and alternate portfolio completion date. A student entry into and all substantive work on the writing and alternate portfolio shall be completed on or before the first day of the testing window in the school where the student is enrolled. At the discretion of the district, this date may be set earlier in the school year. A school using a modified or alternative block scheduling may follow a different routine for portfolio development if the school submits a request to the Kentucky Department of Education, Office of Assessment and Accountability, and it is approved.
(2) Portfolio scoring. Before scoring the alternate or writing portfolio, a teacher shall participate in annual training by the Kentucky Department of Education or the department’s designee. If a school does not participate in this scoring training, the school shall be responsible for securing the scoring services of appropriately-trained portfolio scorers.
(3) Writing portfolio scoring timelines and postadministration assessment administration activities. Local scoring of writing portfolios and other local logistics required after test administration shall be completed by the date set by the local district assessment coordinator. The local district shall establish these schedules so that all materials are shipped to Kentucky’s assessment contractor by the dates established annually by the Kentucky Department of Education.
(4) Portfolio rescore and audit procedures. A school and district shall cooperate fully in alternate and writing portfolio monitoring and auditing as implemented by the Kentucky Department of Education.
(5) Alternate and writing portfolios storage. A school shall store its alternate and writing portfolios in a location that is accessible to the district assessment coordinator or the district assessment coordinator’s designee. A portfolio shall be stored until the portfolio no longer impacts data on a potential appeal of a performance judgment. (30 Ky.R. 1891; Am. 2306; eff. 4-17-2004.)