**CONNECTICUT**

**June 9, 2003**

**Consolidated State Application**

**Accountability Workbook**

**Updated Version**

**Modified 5/16/08**

**for State Grants under Title IX, Part C, Section 9302 of the
Elementary and**

> **Secondary Education Act (Public Law 107-110)**

![](media/image1.png)

### 

**U. S. Department of Education**

**Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Washington, D.C. 20202**

**Instructions for Completing Consolidated State Application
Accountability Workbook**

By January 31, 2003, States must complete and submit to the Department
this Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook. We
understand that some of the critical elements for the key principles may
still be under consideration and may not yet be final State policy by
the January 31 due date. States that do not have final approval for some
of these elements or that have not finalized a decision on these
elements by January 31 should, when completing the Workbook, indicate
the status of each element which is not yet official State policy and
provide the anticipated date by which the proposed policy will become
effective. In each of these cases, States must include a timeline of
steps to complete to ensure that such elements are in place by May 1,
2003, and implemented during the 2002-03 school year. By no later than
May 1, 2003, States must submit to the Department final information for
all sections of the Consolidated State Application Accountability
Workbook.

**Transmittal Instructions**

To expedite the receipt of this Consolidated State Application
Accountability Workbook, please send your submission via the Internet as
a .doc file, pdf file, rtf or .txt file or provide the URL for the site
where your submission is posted on the Internet. Send electronic
submissions to conapp@ed.gov.

A State that submits only a paper submission should mail the submission
by express courier to:

Celia Sims

U.S. Department of Education

400 Maryland Ave., SW

Room 3W300

Washington, D.C. 20202-6400

\(202\) 401-0113

# PART I: Summary of Required Elements for State Accountability Systems 

# Instructions 

# 

# The following chart is an overview of States\' implementation of the critical elements required for approval of their State accountability systems. States must provide detailed implementation information for each of these elements in Part II of this Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook. 

# 

# For each of the elements listed in the following chart, States should indicate the current implementation status in their State using the following legend:

# 

# F: State has a final policy, approved by all the required entities in the State (e.g., State Board of Education, State Legislature), for implementing this element in its accountability system. 

# 

# P: State has a proposed policy for implementing this element in its accountability system, but must still receive approval by required entities in the State (e.g., State Board of Education, State Legislature). 

# 

# W: State is still working on formulating a policy to implement this element in its accountability system. 

# 

#  

# Summary of Implementation Status for Required Elements of

# State Accountability Systems

+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| * |    | **State Accountability System Element**                      |
| * |    |                                                              |
| S |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| * |    |                                                              |
| * |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| * |    |                                                              |
| * |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| 1 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
| A |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| S |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| h |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
| * |    |                                                              |
| * |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 1  | Accountability system includes *all schools and districts in |
|   | .1 | the state*.                                                  |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 1  | Accountability system holds *all schools to the same         |
|   | .2 | criteria*.                                                   |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 1  | Accountability system incorporates the *academic achievement |
|   | .3 | standards*.                                                  |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 1  | Accountability system provides *information in a timely      |
|   | .4 | manner*.                                                     |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 1  | Accountability system includes *report cards*.               |
|   | .5 |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 1  | Accountability system includes *rewards and sanctions*.      |
|   | .6 |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| # |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| 2 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| A |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| S |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 2  | The accountability system includes *all students*            |
|   | .1 |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 2  | The accountability system has a consistent definition of     |
|   | .2 | *full academic year*.                                        |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 2  | The accountability system properly includes *mobile          |
|   | .3 | students*.                                                   |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| # |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| 3 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| M |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| h |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| f |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| A |    |                                                              |
| Y |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| D |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| m |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 3  | Accountability system expects *all student subgroups, public |
|   | .1 | schools, and LEAs to reach proficiency by 2013-14*.          |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 3  | Accountability system has a method for determining whether   |
|   | .2 | *student subgroups, public schools, and LEAs made adequate   |
|   |    | yearly progress.*                                            |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 3. | Accountability system establishes a *starting point*.        |
|   | 2a |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 3. | Accountability system establishes *statewide annual          |
|   | 2b | measurable objectives*.                                      |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 3. | Accountability system establishes *intermediate goals*.      |
|   | 2c |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| # |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| 4 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| A |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| D |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 4  | The accountability system *determines annually the progress* |
|   | .1 | of schools and districts.                                    |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+

**STATUS Legend:**

**F** -- Final state policy

**P** -- Proposed policy, awaiting State approval

**W** -- Working to formulate policy

+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| # |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| 5 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| S |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| b |    |                                                              |
| g |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| A |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| b |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| y |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 5  | The accountability system *includes all the required student |
|   | .1 | subgroups*.                                                  |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 5  | The accountability system holds *schools and LEAs            |
|   | .2 | accountable for the progress of* *student subgroups*.        |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 5  | The accountability system includes *students with            |
|   | .3 | disabilities*.                                               |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 5  | The accountability system includes *limited English          |
|   | .4 | proficient students*.                                        |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 5  | The State has determined the minimum number of students      |
|   | .5 | sufficient to yield statistically reliable information for   |
|   |    | each purpose for which disaggregated data are used.          |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 5  | The State has strategies to protect the privacy of           |
|   | .6 | individual students in reporting achievement results and in  |
|   |    | determining whether schools and LEAs are making adequate     |
|   |    | yearly progress on the basis of disaggregated subgroups.     |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| # |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| 6 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| B |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| A |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| m |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| A |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| m |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 6  | Accountability system is based *primarily on academic        |
|   | .1 | assessments*.                                                |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| # |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| 7 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| A |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| I |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 7  | Accountability system includes *graduation rate for high     |
|   | .1 | school*s.                                                    |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 7  | Accountability system includes an *additional academic       |
|   | .2 | indicator for elementary and middle school*s.                |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 7  | Additional indicators are valid and reliable.                |
|   | .3 |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| # |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| 8 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| S |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| D |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| f |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| R |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| g |    |                                                              |
| / |    |                                                              |
| L |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| g |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| g |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| A |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| M |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| h |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| m |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 8  | Accountability system holds students, schools and districts  |
|   | .1 | separately accountable for *reading/language arts* and       |
|   |    | *mathematics*.                                               |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| # |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| 9 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| S |    |                                                              |
| y |    |                                                              |
| s |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| m |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| V |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| y |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| R |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| b |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| y |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 9  | Accountability system produces *reliable decisions*.         |
|   | .1 |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 9  | Accountability system produces *valid decisions*.            |
|   | .2 |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 9  | State has a plan for addressing *changes in assessment and   |
|   | .3 | student population*.                                         |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| # |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| [ |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| 1 |    |                                                              |
| 0 |    |                                                              |
| : |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| P |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| c |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| p |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| o |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
|   |    |                                                              |
| R |    |                                                              |
| a |    |                                                              |
| t |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| ] |    |                                                              |
| { |    |                                                              |
| . |    |                                                              |
| u |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| d |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| r |    |                                                              |
| l |    |                                                              |
| i |    |                                                              |
| n |    |                                                              |
| e |    |                                                              |
| } |    |                                                              |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 10 | Accountability system has a means for calculating the *rate  |
|   | .1 | of participation* in the statewide assessment.               |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| F | 10 | Accountability system has a means for *applying the 95%      |
|   | .2 | assessment criteria to student subgroups* *and small         |
|   |    | schools.*                                                    |
+---+----+--------------------------------------------------------------+

**STATUS Legend:**

F -- Final policy

P -- Proposed Policy, awaiting State approval

W-- Working to formulate policy

**PART II: State Response and Activities for Meeting State
Accountability System Requirements**

Instructions

In Part II of this Workbook, States are to provide detailed information
for each of the critical elements required for State accountability
systems. States should answer the questions asked about each of the
critical elements in the State\'s accountability system. States that do
not have final approval for any of these elements or that have not
finalized a decision on these elements by January 31, 2003, should, when
completing this section of the Workbook, indicate the status of each
element that is not yet official State policy and provide the
anticipated date by which the proposed policy will become effective. In
each of these cases, States must include a timeline of steps to complete
to ensure that such elements are in place by May 1, 2003, and
implemented during the 2002-03 school year. By no later than May 1,
2003, States must submit to the Department final information for all
sections of the Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook.

PRINCIPLE 1. A single statewide Accountability System applied to all
public schools and LEAs.

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **CRITICAL ELEMENT**  | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | **MEETING STATUTORY   | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                       | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 1.  How does the      | Every public school   | A public school or    |
|     State             | and LEA is required   | LEA is not required   |
|     Accountability    | to make adequate      | to make adequate      |
|     System include    | yearly progress and   | yearly progress and   |
|     every public      | is included in the    | is not included in    |
|     school and LEA in | State Accountability  | the State             |
|     the State?        | System.               | Accountability        |
|                       |                       | System.               |
|                       | State has a           |                       |
|                       | definition of "public | State policy          |
|                       | school" and "LEA" for | systematically        |
|                       | AYP accountability    | excludes certain      |
|                       | purposes.             | public schools and/or |
|                       |                       | LEAs.                 |
|                       | -   The State         |                       |
|                       |     Accountability    |                       |
|                       |     System produces   |                       |
|                       |     AYP decisions for |                       |
|                       |     all public        |                       |
|                       |     schools,          |                       |
|                       |     including public  |                       |
|                       |     schools with      |                       |
|                       |     variant grade     |                       |
|                       |     configurations    |                       |
|                       |     (e.g., K-12),     |                       |
|                       |     public schools    |                       |
|                       |     that serve        |                       |
|                       |     special           |                       |
|                       |     populations       |                       |
|                       |     (e.g.,            |                       |
|                       |     alternative       |                       |
|                       |     public schools,   |                       |
|                       |     juvenile          |                       |
|                       |     institutions,     |                       |
|                       |     state public      |                       |
|                       |     schools for the   |                       |
|                       |     blind) and public |                       |
|                       |     charter schools.  |                       |
|                       |     It also holds     |                       |
|                       |     accountable       |                       |
|                       |     public schools    |                       |
|                       |     with no grades    |                       |
|                       |     assessed (e.g.,   |                       |
|                       |     K-2).             |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND  |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR  |                       |                       |
| MEETING               |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**        |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **CONNECTICUT'S K-12  |                       |                       |
| STATEWIDE             |                       |                       |
| ACCOUNTABILITY        |                       |                       |
| SYSTEM**              |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| ***[PURPOSES OF K-12  |                       |                       |
| STATEWIDE             |                       |                       |
| ACCOUNTABILITY        |                       |                       |
| PLAN]{.underline}***  |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| The purpose of the    |                       |                       |
| NCLB is "...to ensure |                       |                       |
| that all children     |                       |                       |
| have a fair, equal    |                       |                       |
| and significant       |                       |                       |
| opportunity to obtain |                       |                       |
| a high quality        |                       |                       |
| education and reach,  |                       |                       |
| at a minimum,         |                       |                       |
| proficiency on        |                       |                       |
| challenging state     |                       |                       |
| academic achievement  |                       |                       |
| standards and state   |                       |                       |
| academic              |                       |                       |
| assessments."         |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| Connecticut's         |                       |                       |
| purposes reflect      |                       |                       |
| those of NCLB, with a |                       |                       |
| focus on continuously |                       |                       |
| improving all student |                       |                       |
| achievements,         |                       |                       |
| reducing achievement  |                       |                       |
| gaps and having every |                       |                       |
| student reach         |                       |                       |
| proficiency on the    |                       |                       |
| CMT and CAPT.         |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| (continued next page) |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.1 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut has been converting its statewide statutory               |
| accountability system (1999-02) to the NCLB requirements (2002-14)    |
| under Sec. 10-223e of the Connecticut General Statutes adopted August |
| 12, 2002.                                                             |
|                                                                       |
| > Sec.10-223e. State-wide education accountability plan. (a) In       |
| > conformance with the No Child Left Behind Act, P.L. 107-110, the    |
| > Commissioner of Education shall prepare a state-wide education      |
| > accountability plan, consistent with federal law and regulation.    |
| > Such plan shall identify the schools and districts in need of       |
| > improvement, require the development and implementation of          |
| > improvement plans and utilize rewards and consequences.             |
| >                                                                     |
| > \(b\) Public schools identified by the State Board of Education     |
| > pursuant to section 10-223b of the general statutes, revision of    |
| > 1958, revised to January 1, 2001, as schools in need of improvement |
| > shall: (1) Continue to be identified as schools in need of          |
| > improvement, and continue to operate under school improvement plans |
| > developed pursuant to said section 10-223b through June 30, 2004;   |
| > (2) on or before February 1, 2003, be evaluated by the local board  |
| > of education and determined to be making sufficient or insufficient |
| > progress; (3) if found to be making insufficient progress by a      |
| > local board of education, be subject to a new remediation and       |
| > organization plan developed by the local board of education; (4)    |
| > continue to be eligible for available federal or state aid; (5)     |
| > beginning in February, 2003, be monitored by the Department of      |
| > Education for adequate yearly progress, as defined in the state     |
| > accountability plan prepared in accordance with subsection (a) of   |
| > this section; and (6) be subject to rewards and consequences as     |
| > defined in said plan.                                               |
|                                                                       |
| Acknowledging the requirements of the *No Child Left Behind* (NCLB)   |
| Act and the importance of its emphasis on student achievement in      |
| reading and mathematics, the State of Connecticut has and will        |
| continue to take a [broader view of the term                          |
| accountability]{.underline}.                                          |
|                                                                       |
| In the largest sense, we all have a role in the growth and            |
| development of our state's children. Parents and family members have  |
| a role as first teacher and nurturer. Schools, local and state        |
| government, teachers and administrators, community groups, employers, |
| unions, faith-based groups and others all have an important role, one |
| that is unique and one that is complementary to others.               |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.1 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut schools are accountable for implementing the spirit and   |
| the letter of our state constitution and state statutes. Our state    |
| statutes require specific curriculum, certified teachers, special     |
| education, basic skills competencies for high school graduation and a |
| number of other specific duties for local school boards, including an |
| "equal opportunity to a suitable program of educational experiences." |
| This broader accountability of 1,500 elected local school board       |
| members, thousands of local municipal officials, 50,000 teachers and  |
| administrators, and 3 million total residents is an important         |
| framework in which the NCLB Act can help Connecticut achieve its      |
| goals of reaching every child.                                        |
|                                                                       |
| Please note the State Board of Education's definition of equal        |
| educational opportunity and successful student:                       |
|                                                                       |
| "The Board's definition of equal educational opportunity is student   |
| access to a level and quality of programs and experiences that        |
| provide each child with the means to achieve the standard of an       |
| educated citizen defined by Connecticut's Common Core of Learning.    |
| Evidence of equal educational opportunity is the participation and    |
| achievement of each student in challenging educational programs,      |
| regardless of factors such as family income, race, gender or town of  |
| residence."                                                           |
|                                                                       |
| The result of greater equality of educational opportunity in          |
| Connecticut will be that all public school graduates "can read,       |
| write, compute, think creatively, solve problems and use technology.  |
| All students should enjoy and perform in the arts and athletics, and  |
| understand history, science and other cultures and languages. Each    |
| student must be responsible for his or her learning or behavior, work |
| well with and be helpful to others, and contribute to the community.  |
| Every student must graduate from high school and be prepared to move  |
| on to productive work and further study and to function in the global |
| economy. Ultimately, students must become active citizens and         |
| lifelong learners who lead healthy lives." \[SBE Position Statement   |
| on Measuring Success/Defining a successful student -- September       |
| 2000\].                                                               |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.1 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| ***[ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS]{.underline}***                  |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut's statewide accountability system will be applied to all  |
| public elementary, middle and high schools and districts. All public  |
| schools and districts will be accountable for the performance of      |
| student subgroups -- including major racial/ethnic subgroups,         |
| students with disabilities, limited-English-proficient (LEP)          |
| students, and economically disadvantaged students -- through a        |
| determination of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), provided the school  |
| and subgroup meets the minimum size requirement, as determined by the |
| State Board of Education. Both Title I and non-Title I schools and    |
| districts will be part of the single statewide accountability system. |
|                                                                       |
| Accountability for **[all]{.underline}** public schools: Schools with |
| no Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) or Connecticut Academic Performance |
| Test (CAPT) results will determine the AYP status for all their       |
| students and subgroups based on their local assessment of mathematics |
| and reading. A proficiency standard on the local assessments will be  |
| established by each district and approved by the Connecticut State    |
| Department of Education (CSDE). Once the proficiency standards are    |
| established, the percentage of students at the proficient level       |
| required for AYP will be the same as it is for the state assessments  |
| (e.g., elementary or middle school would be the same percent          |
| proficient as the CMT). State guidance will be provided to local      |
| districts on setting a proficiency standard.                          |
|                                                                       |
| **[Schedule for Adoption of Connecticut's Statewide Accountability    |
| System]{.underline}**                                                 |
|                                                                       |
| +----------------------+------------------------------------------+   |
| | -   March 5, 2003    | Draft Connecticut's Statewide            |   |
| |                      | Accountability System submitted to the   |   |
| |                      | Connecticut State Board of Education for |   |
| |                      | discussion.                              |   |
| +----------------------+------------------------------------------+   |
| | -   March 10, 2003   | Meeting of Committee of Practitioners to |   |
| |                      | review Accountability model.             |   |
| +----------------------+------------------------------------------+   |
| | -   March 10 --      | Dissemination of model to various        |   |
| |     March 24, 2003   | interest groups for review and comment.  |   |
| +----------------------+------------------------------------------+   |
| | -   March 25 --      | Department analysis and consideration of |   |
| |     March 31, 2003   | interest groups' comments and            |   |
| |                      | suggestions.                             |   |
| +----------------------+------------------------------------------+   |
| | -   April 16, 2003   | Peer Review                              |   |
| +----------------------+------------------------------------------+   |
| | -   June 4, 2003     | Connecticut State Board of Education     |   |
| |                      | adoption of Connecticut Statewide        |   |
| |                      | Accountability System                    |   |
| +----------------------+------------------------------------------+   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **CRITICAL ELEMENT**  | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | **MEETING STATUTORY   | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                       | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 1.  How are all       | All public schools    | Some public schools   |
|     public schools    | and LEAs are          | and LEAs are          |
|     and LEAs held to  | systematically judged | systematically judged |
|     the same criteria | on the basis of the   | on the basis of       |
|     when making an    | same criteria when    | alternate criteria    |
|     AYP               | making an AYP         | when making an AYP    |
|     determination?    | determination.        | determination.        |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | If applicable, the    |                       |
|                       | AYP definition is     |                       |
|                       | integrated into the   |                       |
|                       | State Accountability  |                       |
|                       | System.               |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND  |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR  |                       |                       |
| MEETING               |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**        |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| [All Schools Same     |                       |                       |
| Criteria]{.underline} |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| All schools are rated |                       |                       |
| using the same        |                       |                       |
| criteria: percent     |                       |                       |
| proficient in         |                       |                       |
| mathematics and       |                       |                       |
| reading;              |                       |                       |
| participation rate in |                       |                       |
| state assessments;    |                       |                       |
| writing test results  |                       |                       |
| will be used for the  |                       |                       |
| additional academic   |                       |                       |
| indicator for         |                       |                       |
| elementary and middle |                       |                       |
| schools and,          |                       |                       |
| graduation rate in    |                       |                       |
| the high schools.     |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| A school will be      |                       |                       |
| identified as *in     |                       |                       |
| need of improvement*  |                       |                       |
| if it does not make   |                       |                       |
| AYP for two           |                       |                       |
| consecutive years in  |                       |                       |
| the same subject on   |                       |                       |
| achievement and or    |                       |                       |
| participation in      |                       |                       |
| reading or            |                       |                       |
| mathematics and the   |                       |                       |
| additional academic   |                       |                       |
| indicator standard.   |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| Connecticut's         |                       |                       |
| definition of AYP     |                       |                       |
| establishes baselines |                       |                       |
| using 2001-02 data    |                       |                       |
| for CAPT and 2002-03  |                       |                       |
| CMT results (which    |                       |                       |
| are attributed back   |                       |                       |
| to schools where the  |                       |                       |
| students attended in  |                       |                       |
| 2001-02) for all      |                       |                       |
| schools with tested   |                       |                       |
| grades. All schools   |                       |                       |
| will be measured      |                       |                       |
| against the           |                       |                       |
| intermediate goals    |                       |                       |
| and annual objectives |                       |                       |
| with the expectation  |                       |                       |
| that 100% of all      |                       |                       |
| students will be      |                       |                       |
| proficient in         |                       |                       |
| mathematics and       |                       |                       |
| reading by 2013-14.   |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **CRITICAL ELEMENT**  | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | **MEETING STATUTORY   | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                       | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 2.  Does the State    | State has defined     | Standards do not meet |
|     have, at a        | three levels of       | the legislated        |
|     minimum, a        | student achievement:  | requirements.         |
|     definition of     | *basic*, *proficient* |                       |
|     *basic*,          | and *advanced*.[^1]   |                       |
|     *proficient* and  |                       |                       |
|     *advanced*        | Student achievement   |                       |
|     student           | levels of             |                       |
|     achievement       | *proficient* and      |                       |
|     levels in         | *advanced* determine  |                       |
|     reading/language  | how well students are |                       |
|     arts and          | mastering the         |                       |
|     mathematics?      | materials in the      |                       |
|                       | State's academic      |                       |
|                       | content standards;    |                       |
|                       | and the *basic* level |                       |
|                       | of achievement        |                       |
|                       | provides complete     |                       |
|                       | information about the |                       |
|                       | progress of           |                       |
|                       | lower-achieving       |                       |
|                       | students toward       |                       |
|                       | mastering the         |                       |
|                       | *proficient* and      |                       |
|                       | *advanced* levels.    |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND  |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR  |                       |                       |
| MEETING               |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**        |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Connecticut's         |                       |                       |
| accountability system |                       |                       |
| is based primarily on |                       |                       |
| CMT results -- which  |                       |                       |
| will be aggregated    |                       |                       |
| across grades within  |                       |                       |
| a school and district |                       |                       |
| -- and on CAPT        |                       |                       |
| results.              |                       |                       |
| Connecticut's         |                       |                       |
| assessment program is |                       |                       |
| a custom-designed     |                       |                       |
| criterion referenced  |                       |                       |
| system based on       |                       |                       |
| Connecticut student   |                       |                       |
| learning standards    |                       |                       |
| described in the      |                       |                       |
| Connecticut           |                       |                       |
| Curriculum            |                       |                       |
| Frameworks.           |                       |                       |
| Connecticut's         |                       |                       |
| assessments report    |                       |                       |
| student results in    |                       |                       |
| five performance      |                       |                       |
| categories:           |                       |                       |
| *Advanced*; *Goal*;   |                       |                       |
| *Proficient*;         |                       |                       |
| *Basic*; and, *Below  |                       |                       |
| Basic*. The three cut |                       |                       |
| scores defining four  |                       |                       |
| levels of performance |                       |                       |
| (*Goal*,              |                       |                       |
| *Proficient*, *Basic* |                       |                       |
| and *Below Basic*)    |                       |                       |
| were adopted by the   |                       |                       |
| State Board of        |                       |                       |
| Education in October  |                       |                       |
| 2000 for CMT and      |                       |                       |
| October 2001 for      |                       |                       |
| CAPT. A new cut score |                       |                       |
| which defines the     |                       |                       |
| advanced level --     |                       |                       |
| which is a subset of  |                       |                       |
| the goal level -- was |                       |                       |
| adopted by the State  |                       |                       |
| Board of Education on |                       |                       |
| June 12, 2002         |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| ***[DEFINITIONS OF    |                       |                       |
| ACHIEVEMENT           |                       |                       |
| L                     |                       |                       |
| EVELS]{.underline}*** |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| **Mathematics**       |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| [A                    |                       |                       |
| dvanced:]{.underline} |                       |                       |
| Students who score at |                       |                       |
| this level possess    |                       |                       |
| knowledge and skills  |                       |                       |
| beyond those          |                       |                       |
| necessary to perform  |                       |                       |
| the high level of     |                       |                       |
| tasks and assignments |                       |                       |
| expected of           |                       |                       |
| Connecticut's         |                       |                       |
| students. These       |                       |                       |
| students demonstrate  |                       |                       |
| well-developed        |                       |                       |
| conceptual            |                       |                       |
| understanding and     |                       |                       |
| computational skills  |                       |                       |
| as well as an         |                       |                       |
| advanced ability to   |                       |                       |
| solve complex and     |                       |                       |
| abstract mathematical |                       |                       |
| problems.             |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| (continued next page) |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.3 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| [Goal:]{.underline} Students who score at this level possess the      |
| knowledge and skills necessary to perform the high level of tasks and |
| assignments expected of Connecticut's students. These students        |
| demonstrate well-developed conceptual understanding, computational    |
| skills, and problem-solving skills.                                   |
|                                                                       |
| [Proficient:]{.underline} Students who score at this level            |
| demonstrate adequately developed conceptual understanding and         |
| computational skills, and adequately developed problem-solving        |
| skills.                                                               |
|                                                                       |
| [Basic:]{.underline} Students who score at this level demonstrate     |
| adequately developed computational skills, but limited conceptual     |
| understanding and problem-solving skills.                             |
|                                                                       |
| [Below Basic:]{.underline} Students who score at this level           |
| demonstrate some computational skills, but very limited conceptual    |
| understanding and problem-solving skills.                             |
|                                                                       |
| **Reading**                                                           |
|                                                                       |
| [Advanced:]{.underline} Students who score at this level possess      |
| knowledge and skills beyond those necessary to perform the high level |
| of tasks and assignments expected of Connecticut's students.          |
| Generally, these students can comprehend textbooks and other          |
| materials at reading levels beyond their grade, determine the main    |
| idea, draw conclusions about the author's purpose and make judgments  |
| about the text's quality and themes.                                  |
|                                                                       |
| [Goal:]{.underline} Students who score at this level possess the      |
| knowledge and skills necessary to perform the high level of tasks and |
| assignments expected of Connecticut's students. Generally, these      |
| students can comprehend textbooks and other materials intended for    |
| their grade level, can determine the main idea, draw conclusions      |
| about the author's purpose and make judgments about the text's        |
| quality and themes.                                                   |
|                                                                       |
| [Proficient:]{.underline} Students who score at this level can        |
| comprehend most grade-level or below-grade-level textbooks and other  |
| materials. They can generally determine the main idea, have an        |
| adequate understanding of the author's purpose and are able to make   |
| some judgments about a text's quality and themes.                     |
|                                                                       |
| (continued next page)                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.3 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| [Basic:]{.underline} Students who score at this level have difficulty |
| comprehending below grade-level textbooks and other materials. They   |
| may also have difficult determining the main idea, understanding the  |
| author's purpose and making judgments about a text's quality and      |
| themes.                                                               |
|                                                                       |
| [Below Basic:]{.underline} Students who score at this level have      |
| difficulty comprehending below grade-level textbooks and other        |
| materials. They also have difficult determining the main idea,        |
| understanding the author's purpose and making judgments about a       |
| text's quality and themes.                                            |
|                                                                       |
| **Writing**                                                           |
|                                                                       |
| [Advanced:]{.underline} Students who score at this level possess      |
| knowledge and skills beyond those necessary to perform the high level |
| of tasks and assignments expected of Connecticut's students.          |
| Generally, these students can produce papers that show strong         |
| organization, and are fluent, well-developed and fully elaborated     |
| with specific details. These students also possess the skills         |
| necessary to compose, edit and revise a written piece.                |
|                                                                       |
| [Goal:]{.underline} Students who score at this level possess the      |
| knowledge and skills necessary to perform the high level of tasks and |
| assignments expected of Connecticut's students. Generally, these      |
| students can produce fluent papers that are well-developed,           |
| well-organized, and elaborated with general and specific details.     |
| These students also generally possess the skills necessary to         |
| compose, edit and revise a written piece.                             |
|                                                                       |
| [Proficient:]{.underline} Students who score at this level generally  |
| can produce papers that are fluent, organized, developed and          |
| elaborated with some details. They also possess most of the skills    |
| necessary to compose, edit and revise a written piece.                |
|                                                                       |
| [Basic:]{.underline} Students who score at this level generally       |
| produce papers that are underdeveloped, brief with few details and    |
| sometimes confusing due to lack of organization or fluency. These     |
| students tend to demonstrate limited skills to compose, edit and      |
| revise a written piece.                                               |
|                                                                       |
| [Below Basic:]{.underline} Students who score at this level generally |
| produce papers which are very weak responses. These papers may be too |
| brief to indicate organization, or they may be awkward and confusing. |
| These students tend to demonstrate very limited skills to compose,    |
| edit and revise a written piece.                                      |
|                                                                       |
| (continued next page)                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.3 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| ***[BACKGROUND INFORMATION]{.underline}***                            |
|                                                                       |
| **Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT)**                                    |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut has a long history (over 20 years) of holding students    |
| and schools to very high standards using rigorous assessments to      |
| identify needs and measure growth over time. Connecticut General      |
| Statutes Section 10-14n mandates a statewide mastery test to be       |
| administered annually to all public school students enrolled in       |
| Grades 4, 6 and 8. The Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) was designed to |
| measure student performance in the areas of mathematics and reading   |
| and writing skills. The assessments focus on content that is          |
| reasonable to expect students at each grade level to have mastered.   |
| Although the legislation specifically prohibits the use of test       |
| results as the sole criterion for promotion or graduation, the CMT    |
| provides information about achievement that is used for several       |
| purposes. Some purposes of the CMT are:                               |
|                                                                       |
| -   to set high expectations and standards for student achievement;   |
|                                                                       |
| -   to test a comprehensive range of academic skills;                 |
|                                                                       |
| -   to disseminate useful test achievement information about          |
|     students, schools and districts;                                  |
|                                                                       |
| -   to identify students in need of intervention;                     |
|                                                                       |
| -   to assess equitable educational opportunities;                    |
|                                                                       |
| -   to continually monitor student progress in Grades 4, 6 and 8 over |
|     time; and                                                         |
|                                                                       |
| -   to provide guidance on needed changes in curriculum and           |
|     instruction.                                                      |
|                                                                       |
| The CMT has measured growth in achievement for Connecticut students   |
| since 1985, when it was first administered. A second generation of    |
| the CMT was introduced in 1993 and a third generation in fall 2000,   |
| which is the version currently in use statewide. A fourth generation  |
| of the CMT is scheduled to be administered to students in Grades 3-8  |
| beginning in spring 2006 (pending state legislation). New generations |
| of the test offer an opportunity to adjust content, reestablish       |
| standards, and reflect improvements in content and format.            |
|                                                                       |
| (continued next page)                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.3 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| **Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT)**                      |
|                                                                       |
| The Connecticut General Statutes (Section 10-14n) mandate a statewide |
| assessment to be administered to all public school students in Grade  |
| 10. The legislation specifies that the test cannot be used as the     |
| sole criterion for graduation or promotion, but that it will be the   |
| basis for awarding Certification of Mastery for those students who    |
| achieve the state goals in any of the subjects tested. It further     |
| specifies that a record of such performance should become part of the |
| student's permanent school record and the official high school        |
| transcript. [Connecticut General Statute 10-223a]{.mark} further      |
| states that by September 1, 2002, local and regional boards of        |
| education must include results from the CAPT when developing criteria |
| to be used in assessing whether students have the basic skills        |
| necessary for graduation. This applies to classes graduating in 2006  |
| and after.                                                            |
|                                                                       |
| The Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) is a logical         |
| extension of the state's long-established testing program. For more   |
| than a decade, students have been tested at Grades 4, 6 and 8 on the  |
| Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT). The CAPT extends Connecticut's        |
| testing program to the high school level, but serves somewhat         |
| different purposes than the previously established CMT.               |
|                                                                       |
| The purposes of the CAPT program are to:                              |
|                                                                       |
| -   set high expectations and standards for student achievement on a  |
|     comprehensive range of important skills and knowledge;            |
|                                                                       |
| -   emphasize the application and integration of skills and knowledge |
|     in realistic contexts;                                            |
|                                                                       |
| -   promote better instruction and curriculum by providing useful     |
|     test achievement information about students, schools and          |
|     districts; and                                                    |
|                                                                       |
| -   provide an expanded measure of accountability for all levels of   |
|     Connecticut's education system up to and including high school.   |
|                                                                       |
| The CAPT assesses and reports on student performance in four areas:   |
| Mathematics, Reading Across the Disciplines (based on a Response to   |
| Literature test and a Reading for Information test), Writing Across   |
| the Disciplines (based on an Interdisciplinary Writing test and an    |
| Editing & Revising test) and Science. The CAPT requires more from     |
| students than other, traditional tests. While traditional assessments |
| typically measure what students know, the CAPT uses state-of-the-art  |
| assessment techniques, such as performance tasks, to also measure     |
| what students can do with what they know. The CAPT measures students' |
| abilities to apply what they have learned in school to situations     |
| they may face throughout their lives.                                 |
|                                                                       |
| The CAPT was first administered to students in Grade 10 in the spring |
| of 1994. A second generation of the CAPT was introduced in May 2001   |
| after two years of development. A new generation of CAPT (3) is       |
| scheduled for March 2007.                                             |
|                                                                       |
| The CMT and CAPT assessments were approved by the United States       |
| Department of Education under the Improving America's Schools Act of  |
| 1994.                                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.3 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| ***[CMT AND CAPT DEVELOPMENT AND REPORTING]{.underline}***            |
|                                                                       |
| **How the Test is Developed**                                         |
|                                                                       |
| The development process is led and overseen by staff members in the   |
| Bureau of Student Assessment and Research at the Connecticut State    |
| Department of Education (CSDE), but it also involves many other       |
| Connecticut educators who represent a wide variety of perspectives    |
| and areas of expertise. Advisory committees of Connecticut educators  |
| are particularly important throughout the development of the CMT and  |
| CAPT. Advisory committees are made up of Connecticut educators with   |
| respected knowledge in particular content areas. CSDE curriculum      |
| specialists and content experts play a critical role and work closely |
| with the assessment staff throughout the process. In addition, a      |
| major testing company and other organizations and individuals with    |
| experience in educational assessment are involved at appropriate      |
| points in the development process.                                    |
|                                                                       |
| The content tested on the CMT and CAPT is directly aligned with the   |
| content outlined in *The Connecticut Framework: K-12 Curricular Goals |
| and Standards*. In addition, the reading content is aligned with      |
| National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) standards.         |
|                                                                       |
| **How the Test Results are Reported**                                 |
|                                                                       |
| In order to enhance the usefulness of the CMT and CAPT program and to |
| provide relevant information to educators, parents and other          |
| citizens, a wide variety of reports are provided. They are designed   |
| to serve different purposes at different levels. Some of these        |
| reports focus on individual student results, some provide information |
| to educators regarding the strengths and weaknesses of their          |
| programs, and some are designed to hold schools and school districts  |
| accountable for the achievement of their students.                    |
|                                                                       |
| District and School NCLB Federal Reports (which include assessment    |
| results, other academic indicators, participation rates and AYP       |
| status) will be produced annually and made available to parents and   |
| the public at the beginning of each academic year.                    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.3 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| ***[NEW GENERATION OF CMT AND CAPT]{.underline}***                    |
|                                                                       |
| A new generation of CMT (CMT-4) will be administered to students      |
| beginning in school year 2005-06, and a new generation of CAPT        |
| (CAPT-3) will be administered beginning in the school year 2006-07.   |
| This new generation of the CMT coincides with the implementation of   |
| NCLB that expands the test to include students in Grades 3 through 8, |
| and moves the administration of the CMT to the month of March. The    |
| CAPT Grade 10 administration will also move to March beginning in     |
| 2005-06.                                                              |
|                                                                       |
| For the CMT students in Grades 3 through 8 will be tested in the      |
| areas of mathematics, reading and writing starting in 2005-06, which  |
| begins a new generation of CMT (CMT-4). Science will be added in      |
| Grade 5 and Grade 8 beginning in school year 2007-08. The new         |
| generation of CAPT (CAPT-3) will also begin in the 2006-07 school     |
| year. New generations of the tests offer an opportunity to adjust     |
| content, reestablish standards and reflect improvements in content    |
| and format. Equating studies will provide comparability data relative |
| to the previous generation results.                                   |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut expects to submit amendments to this statewide            |
| Accountability System based on the new generation assessments and     |
| standards (2005-06 to 2013-14) -- to include consideration of the     |
| academic growth of a specific cohort of students as one part of       |
| accountability measure for schools and districts.                     |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+
| **CRITICAL          | **EXAMPLES FOR**    | **EXAMPLES OF**         |
| ELEMENT**           |                     |                         |
|                     | **MEETING STATUTORY | ***NOT* MEETING         |
|                     | REQUIREMENTS**      | REQUIREMENTS**          |
+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+
| 4.  How does the    | > State provides    | Timeline does not       |
|     State provide   | > decisions about   | provide sufficient time |
|     accountability  | > adequate yearly   | for LEAs to fulfill     |
|     and adequate    | > progress in time  | their responsibilities  |
|     yearly progress | > for LEAs to       | before the beginning of |
|     decisions and   | > implement the     | the next academic year. |
|     information in  | > required          |                         |
|     a timely        | > provisions before |                         |
|     manner?         | > the beginning of  |                         |
|                     | > the next academic |                         |
|                     | > year.             |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
|                     | State allows enough |                         |
|                     | time to notify      |                         |
|                     | parents about       |                         |
|                     | public school       |                         |
|                     | choice or           |                         |
|                     | supplemental        |                         |
|                     | educational service |                         |
|                     | options, time for   |                         |
|                     | parents to make an  |                         |
|                     | informed decision,  |                         |
|                     | and time to         |                         |
|                     | implement public    |                         |
|                     | school choice and   |                         |
|                     | supplemental        |                         |
|                     | educational         |                         |
|                     | services.           |                         |
+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE    |                     |                         |
| AND STATE           |                     |                         |
| ACTIVITIES FOR      |                     |                         |
| MEETING             |                     |                         |
| REQUIREMENTS**      |                     |                         |
+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+
| [Provides           |                     |                         |
| Information in a    |                     |                         |
| Timely              |                     |                         |
| Manner]{.underline} |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| The CMT is          |                     |                         |
| currently           |                     |                         |
| administered in the |                     |                         |
| fall of each school |                     |                         |
| year until 2005-06, |                     |                         |
| when it will move   |                     |                         |
| to the month of     |                     |                         |
| March.              |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| The CAPT is         |                     |                         |
| administered during |                     |                         |
| the month of March, |                     |                         |
| effective 2005      |                     |                         |
| (currently in May). |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| ***[Schedule for    |                     |                         |
| Elementary and      |                     |                         |
| Middle Schools' AYP |                     |                         |
| Sta                 |                     |                         |
| tus]{.underline}*** |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| **1. Using the fall |                     |                         |
| 2002 Connecticut    |                     |                         |
| Mastery Test (CMT)  |                     |                         |
| results, attributed |                     |                         |
| back to the schools |                     |                         |
| students attended   |                     |                         |
| during the 2001-02  |                     |                         |
| school year:**      |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| \- No later than    |                     |                         |
| Mid-August 2003:    |                     |                         |
| Elementary and      |                     |                         |
| middle schools      |                     |                         |
| receive Adequate    |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| Yearly Progress     |                     |                         |
| (AYP) status        |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| **2.** **Using the  |                     |                         |
| fall 2003 CMT       |                     |                         |
| results, attributed |                     |                         |
| back to the schools |                     |                         |
| students attended   |                     |                         |
| during the 2002-03  |                     |                         |
| school year:**      |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| \- No later than    |                     |                         |
| June 15, 2004:      |                     |                         |
| Elementary and      |                     |                         |
| middle schools      |                     |                         |
| receive AYP status  |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| and preliminary *In |                     |                         |
| Need of             |                     |                         |
| Improvement* status |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| \- June 15, 2004 to |                     |                         |
| July 15, 2004:      |                     |                         |
| School review and   |                     |                         |
| appeal period       |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| \- No later than    |                     |                         |
| August 1, 2004:     |                     |                         |
| Final               |                     |                         |
| identification of   |                     |                         |
| schools *In Need    |                     |                         |
| of*                 |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| *Improvement*       |                     |                         |
|                     |                     |                         |
| **3.** **The same   |                     |                         |
| schedule will be    |                     |                         |
| followed for the    |                     |                         |
| 2004-05 school      |                     |                         |
| year. The CMT will  |                     |                         |
| be administered in  |                     |                         |
| the spring,         |                     |                         |
| beginning in March  |                     |                         |
| 2006. The same AYP  |                     |                         |
| schedule will be    |                     |                         |
| followed (as        |                     |                         |
| indicated in #2     |                     |                         |
| above), but         |                     |                         |
| students will not   |                     |                         |
| need to be          |                     |                         |
| attributed back to  |                     |                         |
| the previously      |                     |                         |
| attended school.**  |                     |                         |
+---------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [Provides Information in a Timely Manner]{.underline} (continued)     |
|                                                                       |
| ***[Schedule for High Schools' AYP Status as Required by              |
| NCLB]{.underline}***                                                  |
|                                                                       |
| **1. Using the spring 2002 Connecticut Academic Performance Test      |
| (CAPT) results:**                                                     |
|                                                                       |
| \- No later than June 30, 2003: High schools receive AYP status for   |
| the 2002-                                                             |
|                                                                       |
| 03 school year                                                        |
|                                                                       |
| **2.** **Using the spring 2003 CAPT results:**                        |
|                                                                       |
| \- No later than September 30, 2003: High schools receive AYP status  |
| for 2003-04 and preliminary identification of schools *In Need of     |
| Improvement*                                                          |
|                                                                       |
| \- September 30 2003 to October 30, 2003: School review and appeal    |
| period                                                                |
|                                                                       |
| \- No later than Mid November 2003: Final identification of high      |
| schools *In Need of Improvement*                                      |
|                                                                       |
| **3. Using the spring 2004 CAPT results and CAPT results for each     |
| subsequent year:**                                                    |
|                                                                       |
| \- No later than June 15, 2004: High schools receive AYP status and   |
| preliminary *In Need of Improvement* status                           |
|                                                                       |
| \- June 15, 2004 to July 15, 2004 School review and appeal period     |
|                                                                       |
| \- No later than August 1, 2004: Final identification of high schools |
| *In Need of*                                                          |
|                                                                       |
| *Improvement*                                                         |
|                                                                       |
| Note: due to scoring delays of the 2006 CAPT the above schedule will  |
| need to be revised for the 2005-06 school year AYP results. The       |
| following is the best-case scenario for high school-level AYP:        |
|                                                                       |
| \- No later than August 23, 2006: High schools receive AYP status and |
| preliminary *In Need of Improvement* status                           |
|                                                                       |
| \- August 23, 2006 to September 13, 2006 School review and appeal     |
| period                                                                |
|                                                                       |
| \- No later than September 22, 2006: Final identification of high     |
| schools *In Need of*                                                  |
|                                                                       |
| *Improvement*                                                         |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ***[Schedule for Districts' AYP Status as Required by                 |
| NCLB]{.underline}***                                                  |
|                                                                       |
| In the past, Connecticut used the fall CMT with the previous spring   |
| CAPT to determine a district's AYP status for that school year. With  |
| the CMT moving to the spring in 2006, Connecticut will use the spring |
| CMT and spring CAPT for making district-level AYP determinations. The |
| result of this shift is one CAPT administration that would not be     |
| used in the district AYP analyses. To ensure that all test            |
| administrations are used for determining AYP, we will average the     |
| 2005 and 2006 CAPT administrations for the purpose of district-level  |
| AYP judgments.                                                        |
|                                                                       |
| **Using the spring 2006 Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) results and    |
| the average of the spring 2005 AND spring 2006 Connecticut Academic   |
| Performance Test (CAPT) results:**                                    |
|                                                                       |
| > \- No later than July 30, 2006: Districts receive AYP status and    |
| > preliminary                                                         |
| >                                                                     |
| > *In Need of Improvement* status                                     |
|                                                                       |
| \- July 30 2006 to August 30, 2006 District review and appeal period  |
|                                                                       |
| > \- No later than September 1, 2006: Final identification of         |
| > districts *In Need of*                                              |
|                                                                       |
| *Improvement*                                                         |
|                                                                       |
| After the 2005-06 school year the same schedule will follow using the |
| spring CMT and spring CAPT.                                           |
|                                                                       |
| Note: due to scoring delays of the 2006 CAPT the above schedule will  |
| need to be revised for the 2005-06 school year district AYP results.  |
| The following is the best-case scenario for district-level AYP:       |
|                                                                       |
| > \- No later than September 22, 2006: Districts receive AYP status   |
| > and preliminary                                                     |
| >                                                                     |
| > *In Need of Improvement* status                                     |
|                                                                       |
| \- September 22 to October 9, 2006 District review and appeal period  |
|                                                                       |
| > \- No later than October 13, 2006: Final identification of          |
| > districts *In Need of*                                              |
|                                                                       |
| *Improvement*                                                         |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **CRITICAL ELEMENT**  | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | **MEETING STATUTORY   | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                       | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 5.  Does the State    | The State Report Card | The State Report Card |
|     Accountability    | includes all the      | does not include all  |
|     System produce an | required data         | the required data     |
|     annual State      | elements \[see        | elements.             |
|     Report Card?      | Appendix A for the    |                       |
|                       | list of required data | The State Report Card |
|                       | elements\].           | is not available to   |
|                       |                       | the public.           |
|                       | The State Report Card |                       |
|                       | is available to the   |                       |
|                       | public at the         |                       |
|                       | beginning of the      |                       |
|                       | academic year.        |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | The State Report Card |                       |
|                       | is accessible in      |                       |
|                       | languages of major    |                       |
|                       | populations in the    |                       |
|                       | State, to the extent  |                       |
|                       | possible.             |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | Assessment results    |                       |
|                       | and other academic    |                       |
|                       | indicators (including |                       |
|                       | graduation rates) are |                       |
|                       | reported by student   |                       |
|                       | subgroups             |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND  |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR  |                       |                       |
| MEETING               |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**        |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| [Report               |                       |                       |
| Cards]{.underline}    |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| An annual State       |                       |                       |
| Report Card is        |                       |                       |
| published annually    |                       |                       |
| and made available to |                       |                       |
| the public through    |                       |                       |
| the state internet    |                       |                       |
| site at               |                       |                       |
| <http://www.csde.st   |                       |                       |
| ate.ct.us/public/ceda |                       |                       |
| r/nclb/dist_school_nc |                       |                       |
| lb_results/index.htm> |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+--------------------+--------------------+---------------------------+
| **CRITICAL         | **EXAMPLES FOR**   | **EXAMPLES OF**           |
| ELEMENT**          |                    |                           |
|                    | **MEETING          | ***NOT* MEETING           |
|                    | STATUTORY          | REQUIREMENTS**            |
|                    | REQUIREMENTS**     |                           |
+--------------------+--------------------+---------------------------+
| 6.  How does the   | State uses one or  | State does not implement  |
|     State          | more types of      | rewards or sanctions for  |
|     Accountability | rewards and        | public schools and LEAs   |
|     System include | sanctions, where   | based on adequate yearly  |
|     rewards and    | the criteria are:  | progress.                 |
|     sanctions for  |                    |                           |
|     public schools | -   Set by the     |                           |
|     and LEAs?[^2]  |     State;         |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
|                    | -   Based on       |                           |
|                    |     adequate       |                           |
|                    |     yearly         |                           |
|                    |     progress       |                           |
|                    |     decisions;     |                           |
|                    |     and,           |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
|                    | -   Applied        |                           |
|                    |     uniformly      |                           |
|                    |     across public  |                           |
|                    |     schools and    |                           |
|                    |     LEAs.          |                           |
+--------------------+--------------------+---------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE   |                    |                           |
| AND STATE          |                    |                           |
| ACTIVITIES FOR     |                    |                           |
| MEETING            |                    |                           |
| REQUIREMENTS**     |                    |                           |
+--------------------+--------------------+---------------------------+
| **Identification   |                    |                           |
| Model**            |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| All schools that   |                    |                           |
| are *In Need of    |                    |                           |
| Improvement* will  |                    |                           |
| be identified      |                    |                           |
| under one of the   |                    |                           |
| following four     |                    |                           |
| categories:        |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| I.  School *In     |                    |                           |
|     Need of        |                    |                           |
|     Improvement*   |                    |                           |
|     in Reading and |                    |                           |
|     Mathematics,   |                    |                           |
|     academic       |                    |                           |
|     achievement    |                    |                           |
|     and or         |                    |                           |
|     participation  |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| II. School *In     |                    |                           |
|     Need of        |                    |                           |
|     Improvement*   |                    |                           |
|     in Reading or  |                    |                           |
|     Mathematics,   |                    |                           |
|     academic       |                    |                           |
|     achievement    |                    |                           |
|     and or         |                    |                           |
|     participation  |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| III. School *In    |                    |                           |
|      Need of       |                    |                           |
|      Improvement*  |                    |                           |
|      for Subgroup  |                    |                           |
|      Performance   |                    |                           |
|      Only          |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| IV. School *In     |                    |                           |
|     Need of        |                    |                           |
|     Improvement*   |                    |                           |
|     for Additional |                    |                           |
|     Academic       |                    |                           |
|     Indicator Only |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| V.  School *In     |                    |                           |
|     Need of        |                    |                           |
|     Improvement*   |                    |                           |
|     for            |                    |                           |
|     Participation  |                    |                           |
|     Only           |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| **Rewards and      |                    |                           |
| Sanctions for All  |                    |                           |
| Public Schools**   |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| **Rewards**        |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| The Connecticut    |                    |                           |
| State Board of     |                    |                           |
| Education has been |                    |                           |
| and will continue  |                    |                           |
| to recognize       |                    |                           |
| outstanding        |                    |                           |
| achievements by    |                    |                           |
| students,          |                    |                           |
| teachers, schools, |                    |                           |
| districts and      |                    |                           |
| administrators. As |                    |                           |
| a part of          |                    |                           |
| expanding and      |                    |                           |
| focusing these     |                    |                           |
| prior efforts, all |                    |                           |
| statewide          |                    |                           |
| recognition and    |                    |                           |
| honor programs     |                    |                           |
| will begin to use  |                    |                           |
| "demonstrated      |                    |                           |
| improvement in     |                    |                           |
| student            |                    |                           |
| achievements" as   |                    |                           |
| one key criteria.  |                    |                           |
|                    |                    |                           |
| The Department is  |                    |                           |
| also in            |                    |                           |
| collaboration with |                    |                           |
| the Connecticut    |                    |                           |
| Business and       |                    |                           |
| Industry           |                    |                           |
| Association and    |                    |                           |
| several            |                    |                           |
| Connecticut        |                    |                           |
| businesses and     |                    |                           |
| other              |                    |                           |
| organizations and  |                    |                           |
| is establishing a  |                    |                           |
| program of rewards |                    |                           |
| for                |                    |                           |
| high-performing    |                    |                           |
| schools and        |                    |                           |
| districts.         |                    |                           |
+--------------------+--------------------+---------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.6 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| The program will identify, based on the state's assessment system, a  |
| number of high-performing schools and districts and designate them as |
| "vanguard" schools or "vanguard" districts. These will be schools and |
| districts that have made AYP and where a significant number of        |
| students outperform the state and the Education Reference Group (ERG) |
| of their district on the state tests. The effective school            |
| improvement strategies used in these schools or districts will be     |
| identified, benchmarked and analyzed. Technical assistance will be    |
| provided to schools *In Need of Improvement* to replicate these       |
| strategies and effective practices. Proven, effective school          |
| improvement strategies will be converted into practical, efficient    |
| resources and tools that are practitioner oriented. These tools will  |
| be used to generate more effective, integrated organizational change. |
| The model focuses on school and district leadership teams,            |
| fundamental organizational change and student work.                   |
|                                                                       |
| The vanguard schools and vanguard districts will be rewarded with a   |
| statewide recognition event, the publication of case studies on       |
| implementation of effective strategies on a designated State          |
| Department of Education website, the awarding of banners designating  |
| the school or district as vanguard, recognition by the State Board of |
| Education, and participation in a technical assistance/consulting     |
| network that acknowledges and builds on their expertise as            |
| instructional leaders. In addition, vanguard schools and districts    |
| will be asked to partner with one or more schools *In Need of         |
| Improvement.* Hopefully, federal funds will be available to support   |
| the vanguard schools and districts in their continued improvement and |
| outreach.                                                             |
|                                                                       |
| During the last two and one-half years, schools and school districts  |
| with (a) outstanding achievement and (b) large numbers of poor        |
| students with high achievement have been invited to publicly describe |
| their success and attribute that success to a number of specific      |
| interventions. Their best practices have been recorded and they will  |
| be eligible to be designated as some of Connecticut's first vanguard  |
| schools. This practice will continue.                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.6 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| **School Improvement Plans**                                          |
|                                                                       |
| For those schools/districts that have not made AYP for two            |
| consecutive years and thus are identified as *In Need of              |
| Improvement,* the following requirements would have to be met.        |
|                                                                       |
| **[ALL SCHOOLS *IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT*]{.underline}**                |
|                                                                       |
| A two-year School Improvement Plan will have to be developed or       |
| revised in consultation with parents, school and district staff       |
| members and outside experts within 90 days of identification. This    |
| will include Title I and non-Title I schools. The plan will focus on  |
| strategies based on scientifically based research that target the     |
| school's greatest deficiencies on the state tests. The plan will need |
| to be approved by the local board of education. An annual report of   |
| progress will have to be submitted by the superintendent of schools   |
| to the local board of education and the Connecticut State Department  |
| of Education no later than 60 days after the close of each school     |
| year.                                                                 |
|                                                                       |
| The annual report of progress -- which documents academic progress -- |
| The annual report of progress will include the following: state test  |
| results; estimated hours of instruction per year in core academic     |
| subjects; types of supplemental instructional services provided to    |
| students who are not proficient in language arts and math; percentage |
| of students retained in grade; percentage of students enrolled in     |
| bilingual or English as a second language programs; percentage of     |
| students enrolled in special education; percentage of students in     |
| full- or extended-day kindergarten; percentage of students enrolled   |
| in preschool; student attendance; teacher attendance; percentage of   |
| certified staff members; percentage of certified staff members        |
| assigned to the same school the previous year; percentage of          |
| certified staff members with advanced degrees; percentage of staff    |
| members trained as mentors, assessors or cooperating teachers;        |
| percentage of noncertified instructional staff members; average class |
| size; and, in addition for high schools, the dropout rate, graduation |
| rate and graduate follow-up data; and any other qualitative or        |
| quantitative information that the school believes demonstrates        |
| progress in achieving success.                                        |
|                                                                       |
| NOTE: Title I school improvement funds must be targeted to the        |
| implementation of the School Improvement Plan                         |
|                                                                       |
| **Sanctions for Schools *In Need of Improvement***                    |
|                                                                       |
| In addition to the state-required School Improvement Plan, Title I    |
| schools *In Need of Improvement* will be subject to the following     |
| federal requirements.                                                 |
|                                                                       |
| **[Title I Schools]{.underline}**                                     |
|                                                                       |
| [First Year of School Improvement]{.underline}                        |
|                                                                       |
| -   Public School Choice                                              |
|                                                                       |
| -   Technical Assistance from the District/State                      |
|                                                                       |
| [Second Year of School Improvement]{.underline}                       |
|                                                                       |
| -   Public School Choice                                              |
|                                                                       |
| -   Supplemental Educational Services (may be delayed if one year of  |
|     AYP is made)                                                      |
|                                                                       |
| -   Technical Assistance from the District/State                      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.6 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| [Corrective Action (Third Year)]{.underline}                          |
|                                                                       |
| -   Public School Choice                                              |
|                                                                       |
| -   Supplemental Educational Services                                 |
|                                                                       |
| -   Technical Assistance from the District/State                      |
|                                                                       |
| -   Disseminate information about action taken to public and parents  |
|                                                                       |
| > At least one action required:                                       |
|                                                                       |
| -   Replacement of certain staff members                              |
|                                                                       |
| -   Institute a new curriculum plus professional development          |
|                                                                       |
| -   Decrease management authority at school level                     |
|                                                                       |
| -   Appoint outside expert                                            |
|                                                                       |
| -   Extend school year or school day                                  |
|                                                                       |
| -   Restructure internal organization of the school                   |
|                                                                       |
| [Corrective Action (Fourth Year)]{.underline}                         |
|                                                                       |
| -   Public School Choice                                              |
|                                                                       |
| -   Supplemental Educational Services                                 |
|                                                                       |
| -   Restructuring Plan                                                |
|                                                                       |
| [Alternative Governance (Fifth Year)]{.underline}                     |
|                                                                       |
| -   Public School Choice                                              |
|                                                                       |
| -   Supplemental Educational Services                                 |
|                                                                       |
| > At least one action required:                                       |
|                                                                       |
| -   Reopening as a charter school                                     |
|                                                                       |
| -   Replacement of all or most of staff members                       |
|                                                                       |
| -   New management                                                    |
|                                                                       |
| -   State take-over                                                   |
|                                                                       |
| -   Fundamental changes in governance                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1.6 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| **[ALL DISTRICTS *IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT*]{.underline}**              |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut will identify an LEA for improvement when it misses AYP   |
| in the same subject and in all grade spans for two consecutive years. |
|                                                                       |
|                                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| The district is required to develop and implement a district          |
| improvement plan incorporating scientifically-based research          |
| strategies, address professional development needs, include           |
| measurable achievement goals and targets, address the specific        |
| academic problems of low-achieving students, extend learning          |
| opportunities, and strategies to promote effective parent             |
| involvement. In addition, the state is to provide technical           |
| assistance. If the district does not make AYP in the next two         |
| consecutive years, then the following corrective action is required   |
| if the district receives Title I funds.                               |
|                                                                       |
| #                                                                     |
|                                                                       |
| **Sanctions for Districts *In Need of Improvement***                  |
|                                                                       |
| In addition to the state-required District Improvement Plan, Title I  |
| Districts *In Need of Improvement* for 2006-07 will be subject to the |
| following federal requirements:                                       |
|                                                                       |
| [Corrective Action (At least one)]{.underline}                        |
|                                                                       |
| -   Defer federal programmatic funds or reduce federal administrative |
|     funds.                                                            |
|                                                                       |
| -   Implement district-wide new curriculum.                           |
|                                                                       |
| -   Replace LEA personnel.                                            |
|                                                                       |
| -   Remove schools from jurisdiction of the LEA.                      |
|                                                                       |
| -   Appoint a trustee to replace superintendent.                      |
|                                                                       |
| -   Abolish or restructure district.                                  |
|                                                                       |
| -   Student transfer to public school in another LEA (must select one |
|     other action).                                                    |
|                                                                       |
| Districts identified as *In Need of Improvement* will be categorized  |
| using categories I-V shown on page 22. Connecticut's first list of    |
| districts *In Need of Improvement* will be for the 2004-05 school     |
| year.                                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

PRINCIPLE 2. All students are included in the State Accountability
System.

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **CRITICAL ELEMENT**  | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | **MEETING STATUTORY   | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                       | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 1.  How does the      | All students in the   | Public school         |
|     State             | State are included in | students exist in the |
|     Accountability    | the State             | State for whom the    |
|     System include    | Accountability        | State Accountability  |
|     all students in   | System.               | System makes no       |
|     the State?        |                       | provision.            |
|                       | The definitions of    |                       |
|                       | "public school" and   |                       |
|                       | "LEA" account for all |                       |
|                       | students enrolled in  |                       |
|                       | the public school     |                       |
|                       | district, regardless  |                       |
|                       | of program or type of |                       |
|                       | public school.        |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND  |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR  |                       |                       |
| MEETING               |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**        |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| [Includes All         |                       |                       |
| Students]{.underline} |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| Section 10-14n of the |                       |                       |
| Connecticut General   |                       |                       |
| Statutes requires all |                       |                       |
| students in the       |                       |                       |
| public schools in     |                       |                       |
| Grades 4, 6, 8 and 10 |                       |                       |
| to participate in the |                       |                       |
| state assessments.    |                       |                       |
| Students in Grades 3, |                       |                       |
| 5 and 7 will also be  |                       |                       |
| included in the state |                       |                       |
| assessments starting  |                       |                       |
| with the 2005-06      |                       |                       |
| school year.          |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| Alternate assessments |                       |                       |
| are provided for a    |                       |                       |
| small percentage of   |                       |                       |
| special education     |                       |                       |
| students who are not  |                       |                       |
| able to take the      |                       |                       |
| state test with       |                       |                       |
| accommodations.       |                       |                       |
| Make-up sessions are  |                       |                       |
| required for students |                       |                       |
| absent from school on |                       |                       |
| scheduled testing     |                       |                       |
| dates. Alternate      |                       |                       |
| assessments results   |                       |                       |
| are included in the   |                       |                       |
| grade level           |                       |                       |
| accountability        |                       |                       |
| calculations.         |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| LEP students, during  |                       |                       |
| their first academic  |                       |                       |
| year of enrollment in |                       |                       |
| a U.S. school,        |                       |                       |
| [must]{.underline}    |                       |                       |
| take the state        |                       |                       |
| English proficiency   |                       |                       |
| test and              |                       |                       |
| [may]{.underline}     |                       |                       |
| participate in the    |                       |                       |
| reading/language      |                       |                       |
| arts/writing subtests |                       |                       |
| of the state          |                       |                       |
| assessment. Such      |                       |                       |
| students' scores      |                       |                       |
| shall not be included |                       |                       |
| in the AYP            |                       |                       |
| proficiency           |                       |                       |
| determinations for    |                       |                       |
| reading and language  |                       |                       |
| arts. If these        |                       |                       |
| students take the     |                       |                       |
| English language      |                       |                       |
| proficiency test      |                       |                       |
| and/or the            |                       |                       |
| reading/language      |                       |                       |
| arts/writing subtests |                       |                       |
| of the state          |                       |                       |
| assessment, they are  |                       |                       |
| counted as            |                       |                       |
| participants for the  |                       |                       |
| purpose of meeting    |                       |                       |
| the 95% participation |                       |                       |
| requirement for AYP.  |                       |                       |
| LEP students during   |                       |                       |
| their first academic  |                       |                       |
| year of enrollment in |                       |                       |
| a U.S. school         |                       |                       |
| [must]{.underline}    |                       |                       |
| take the state        |                       |                       |
| mathematics           |                       |                       |
| assessment with       |                       |                       |
| appropriate           |                       |                       |
| accommodations but    |                       |                       |
| shall not be included |                       |                       |
| in the AYP            |                       |                       |
| proficiency           |                       |                       |
| determinations for    |                       |                       |
| mathematics. If these |                       |                       |
| students take the     |                       |                       |
| mathematics           |                       |                       |
| assessment, they are  |                       |                       |
| counted toward        |                       |                       |
| meeting the 95%       |                       |                       |
| participation         |                       |                       |
| requirement for AYP.  |                       |                       |
| All other LEP         |                       |                       |
| students are expected |                       |                       |
| to participate in the |                       |                       |
| standard assessments, |                       |                       |
| with accommodations,  |                       |                       |
| if necessary.         |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| Students who have     |                       |                       |
| been deemed to have a |                       |                       |
| significant medical   |                       |                       |
| emergency will be     |                       |                       |
| omitted from the      |                       |                       |
| participation rate    |                       |                       |
| calculations and the  |                       |                       |
| percent at or above   |                       |                       |
| proficient            |                       |                       |
| calculations (see     |                       |                       |
| Attachment A-3 for    |                       |                       |
| Connecticut's medical |                       |                       |
| emergency criteria).  |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| Connecticut has       |                       |                       |
| developed a           |                       |                       |
| comprehensive set of  |                       |                       |
| decision rules to     |                       |                       |
| ensure that every     |                       |                       |
| student is accounted  |                       |                       |
| for (see Attachment   |                       |                       |
| A-1) and included the |                       |                       |
| accountability system |                       |                       |
| (see Attachment A-2). |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **CRITICAL ELEMENT**  | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | **MEETING STATUTORY   | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                       | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 2.  How does the      | The State has a       | LEAs have varying     |
|     State define      | definition of "full   | definitions of "full  |
|     "full academic    | academic year" for    | academic year."       |
|     year" for         | determining which     |                       |
|     identifying       | students are to be    | The State's           |
|     students in AYP   | included in decisions | definition excludes   |
|     decisions?        | about AYP.            | students who must     |
|                       |                       | transfer from one     |
|                       | The definition of     | district to another   |
|                       | full academic year is | as they advance to    |
|                       | consistent and        | the next grade.       |
|                       | applied statewide.    |                       |
|                       |                       | The definition of     |
|                       |                       | full academic year is |
|                       |                       | not applied           |
|                       |                       | consistently.         |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND  |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR  |                       |                       |
| MEETING               |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**        |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| [Definition of Full   |                       |                       |
| Academic              |                       |                       |
| Year]{.underline}     |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| Effective in October  |                       |                       |
| 2002, the Public      |                       |                       |
| School Information    |                       |                       |
| System (PSIS)         |                       |                       |
| collects individual   |                       |                       |
| student data from     |                       |                       |
| local districts.      |                       |                       |
| Districts are         |                       |                       |
| required to report    |                       |                       |
| student enrollment as |                       |                       |
| of October 1 and at   |                       |                       |
| two other times:      |                       |                       |
| January and           |                       |                       |
| June-July.            |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| For purposes of the   |                       |                       |
| school and district   |                       |                       |
| accountability        |                       |                       |
| system, a student is  |                       |                       |
| considered to be      |                       |                       |
| enrolled in a school  |                       |                       |
| for a full year if    |                       |                       |
| he/she is enrolled as |                       |                       |
| of October 1 of any   |                       |                       |
| school year and       |                       |                       |
| remains enrolled at   |                       |                       |
| that school up to and |                       |                       |
| including the dates   |                       |                       |
| of the CAPT test      |                       |                       |
| administration in the |                       |                       |
| spring of that school |                       |                       |
| year. For a student   |                       |                       |
| taking the fall CMT,  |                       |                       |
| he/she will be        |                       |                       |
| considered to be      |                       |                       |
| enrolled in a school  |                       |                       |
| for a full year if    |                       |                       |
| he/she is enrolled as |                       |                       |
| of October 1 in the   |                       |                       |
| previous school year  |                       |                       |
| and remains enrolled  |                       |                       |
| at that school        |                       |                       |
| through June of that  |                       |                       |
| year (until spring    |                       |                       |
| 2006 when CMT will be |                       |                       |
| administered in       |                       |                       |
| April; at that time   |                       |                       |
| the "full academic    |                       |                       |
| year" will be         |                       |                       |
| calculated the same   |                       |                       |
| as for CAPT).         |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| For the purposes of   |                       |                       |
| determining AYP for   |                       |                       |
| school districts, the |                       |                       |
| scores of all         |                       |                       |
| students attending    |                       |                       |
| district schools for  |                       |                       |
| one academic year     |                       |                       |
| will be included in   |                       |                       |
| the calculations.     |                       |                       |
| Students not included |                       |                       |
| in the school AYP     |                       |                       |
| calculations will be  |                       |                       |
| included in the       |                       |                       |
| district's AYP        |                       |                       |
| calculations.         |                       |                       |
| Students not in the   |                       |                       |
| school or district    |                       |                       |
| for one academic year |                       |                       |
| will be included in   |                       |                       |
| the state's AYP       |                       |                       |
| calculations.         |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **CRITICAL ELEMENT**  | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | **MEETING STATUTORY   | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                       | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 3.  How does the      | State holds public    | State definition      |
|     State             | schools accountable   | requires students to  |
|     Accountability    | for students who were | attend the same       |
|     System determine  | enrolled at the same  | public school for     |
|     which students    | public school for a   | more than a full      |
|     have attended the | full academic year.   | academic year to be   |
|     same public       |                       | included in public    |
|     school and/or LEA | State holds LEAs      | school                |
|     for a full        | accountable for       | accountability.       |
|     academic year?    | students who transfer |                       |
|                       | during the full       | State definition      |
|                       | academic year from    | requires students to  |
|                       | one public school     | attend school in the  |
|                       | within the district   | same district for     |
|                       | to another public     | more than a full      |
|                       | school within the     | academic year to be   |
|                       | district.             | included in district  |
|                       |                       | accountability.       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       |                       | State holds public    |
|                       |                       | schools accountable   |
|                       |                       | for students who have |
|                       |                       | not attended the same |
|                       |                       | public school for a   |
|                       |                       | full academic year.   |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND  |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR  |                       |                       |
| MEETING               |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**        |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| The Connecticut State |                       |                       |
| Department of         |                       |                       |
| Education has         |                       |                       |
| implemented a Public  |                       |                       |
| School Information    |                       |                       |
| System (PSIS) for the |                       |                       |
| 2002-03 school year   |                       |                       |
| which collects        |                       |                       |
| individual student    |                       |                       |
| data and can be used  |                       |                       |
| to determine which    |                       |                       |
| students have         |                       |                       |
| attended the same     |                       |                       |
| public school or      |                       |                       |
| district for a full   |                       |                       |
| academic year. The    |                       |                       |
| data elements         |                       |                       |
| collected are         |                       |                       |
| described at the      |                       |                       |
| following website:    |                       |                       |
| <http:                |                       |                       |
| //www.csde.state.ct.u |                       |                       |
| s/public/studentid/>. |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| For the 2002-03       |                       |                       |
| determination,        |                       |                       |
| districts provided an |                       |                       |
| electronic file       |                       |                       |
| indicating the        |                       |                       |
| district and school   |                       |                       |
| and date of           |                       |                       |
| enrollment for each   |                       |                       |
| student in Grades 4,  |                       |                       |
| 6, 8 and 10 for the   |                       |                       |
| previous school year. |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

**PRINCIPLE 3. State definition of AYP is based on expectations for
growth in student achievement that is continuous and substantial, such
that all students are proficient in reading/language arts and
mathematics no later than 2013-14.**

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      | MEETING               |                       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      |                       | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 1.  How does the     | The State has a       | State definition does |
|     State's          | timeline for ensuring | not require all       |
|     definition of    | that all students     | students to achieve   |
|     adequate yearly  | will meet or exceed   | proficiency by        |
|     progress require | the State's           | 2013-14.              |
|     all students to  | proficient level of   |                       |
|     be proficient in | academic achievement  | State extends the     |
|     reading/language | in reading/language   | timeline past the     |
|     arts and         | arts[^3] and          | 2013-14 academic      |
|     mathematics by   | mathematics, not      | year.                 |
|     the 2013-14      | later than 2013-14.   |                       |
|     academic year?   |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| [All Reach           |                       |                       |
| Proficiency          |                       |                       |
| 2013-14]{.underline} |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| Starting points,     |                       |                       |
| intermediate goals   |                       |                       |
| and annual           |                       |                       |
| measurable           |                       |                       |
| objectives have been |                       |                       |
| set separately for   |                       |                       |
| reading and          |                       |                       |
| mathematics in the   |                       |                       |
| elementary and       |                       |                       |
| middle schools and   |                       |                       |
| for the high         |                       |                       |
| schools.             |                       |                       |
| Connecticut's        |                       |                       |
| definition of AYP    |                       |                       |
| includes all         |                       |                       |
| students meeting or  |                       |                       |
| exceeding the        |                       |                       |
| proficient level of  |                       |                       |
| academic achievement |                       |                       |
| in reading and       |                       |                       |
| mathematics not      |                       |                       |
| later than 2013-14.  |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| After the spring     |                       |                       |
| 2006 test            |                       |                       |
| administrations,     |                       |                       |
| Connecticut will     |                       |                       |
| investigate the use  |                       |                       |
| of an index to       |                       |                       |
| compute proficiency  |                       |                       |
| levels as a method   |                       |                       |
| for determining the  |                       |                       |
| AYP status of our    |                       |                       |
| districts and        |                       |                       |
| schools. The index   |                       |                       |
| would give partial   |                       |                       |
| credit for a student |                       |                       |
| scoring in level 2   |                       |                       |
| (Basic) and full     |                       |                       |
| credit for a student |                       |                       |
| scoring at or above  |                       |                       |
| level 3 (Proficient  |                       |                       |
| and above), thereby  |                       |                       |
| giving schools and   |                       |                       |
| districts credit for |                       |                       |
| moving students from |                       |                       |
| below proficient     |                       |                       |
| into higher          |                       |                       |
| achievement levels.  |                       |                       |
| If the index appears |                       |                       |
| to be a feasible     |                       |                       |
| method for           |                       |                       |
| Connecticut,         |                       |                       |
| supporting           |                       |                       |
| documentation and    |                       |                       |
| data will be         |                       |                       |
| provided to USDE.    |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| **SEE PAGE 37 FOR    |                       |                       |
| THE SPECIFIC         |                       |                       |
| TIMELINE.**          |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      | MEETING               |                       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      |                       | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 2.  How does the     | For a public school   | State uses different  |
|     State            | and LEA to make       | method for            |
|     Accountability   | adequate yearly       | calculating how       |
|     System determine | progress, each        | public schools and    |
|     whether each     | student subgroup must | LEAs make AYP.        |
|     student          | meet or exceed the    |                       |
|     subgroup, public | State annual          |                       |
|     school and LEA   | measurable            |                       |
|     makes AYP?       | objectives, each      |                       |
|                      | student subgroup must |                       |
|                      | have at least a 95%   |                       |
|                      | participation rate in |                       |
|                      | the statewide         |                       |
|                      | assessments, and the  |                       |
|                      | school must meet the  |                       |
|                      | State's requirement   |                       |
|                      | for other academic    |                       |
|                      | indicators.           |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | However, if in any    |                       |
|                      | particular year the   |                       |
|                      | student subgroup does |                       |
|                      | not meet those annual |                       |
|                      | measurable            |                       |
|                      | objectives, the       |                       |
|                      | public school or LEA  |                       |
|                      | may be considered to  |                       |
|                      | have made AYP, if the |                       |
|                      | percentage of         |                       |
|                      | students in that      |                       |
|                      | group who did not     |                       |
|                      | meet or exceed the    |                       |
|                      | proficient level of   |                       |
|                      | academic achievement  |                       |
|                      | on the State          |                       |
|                      | assessments for that  |                       |
|                      | year decreased by 10% |                       |
|                      | of that percentage    |                       |
|                      | from the preceding    |                       |
|                      | public school year;   |                       |
|                      | that group made       |                       |
|                      | progress on one or    |                       |
|                      | more of the State's   |                       |
|                      | academic indicators;  |                       |
|                      | and that group had at |                       |
|                      | least 95%             |                       |
|                      | participation rate on |                       |
|                      | the statewide         |                       |
|                      | assessment.           |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.2                                                                   |
|                                                                       |
| [Student Subgroups, Public Schools and LEAs Made AYP]{.underline}     |
|                                                                       |
| State, district and school reports have been disaggregated by each    |
| student subgroup, as defined by NCLB, since 2001.                     |
|                                                                       |
| AYP will be determined using the 2001-02 data as the baseline for     |
| CAPT and 2002-03 data for CMT. The starting points are calculated for |
| CMT and CAPT pursuant to NCLB rule requirements: "the percentage of   |
| students at the proficient level who are in the school at the 20^th^  |
| percentile in the state, based on enrollment, among all the schools   |
| ranked by the percentage of students at the proficient level for      |
| elementary and middle schools and for high schools." The starting     |
| points for mathematics and reading and annual measurable goals apply  |
| to all students and subgroups for elementary and middle schools and   |
| the district. Separate starting points for mathematics and reading    |
| and separate annual measurable goals apply to all students and        |
| subgroups at the high school and the district.                        |
|                                                                       |
| Participation rates, writing test results in elementary and middle    |
| schools, and graduation rates will also be collected and calculated   |
| (beginning in the 2002-03 school year) as part of the determination   |
| for AYP.                                                              |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      | MEETING               |                       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      |                       | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 3.2a What is the     | Using data from the   | The State             |
| State's starting     | 2001-02 school year,  | Accountability System |
| point for            | the State established | uses a different      |
| calculating Adequate | separate starting     | method for            |
| Yearly Progress?     | points in             | calculating the       |
|                      | reading/language arts | starting point (or    |
|                      | and mathematics for   | baseline data).       |
|                      | measuring the         |                       |
|                      | percentage of         |                       |
|                      | students meeting or   |                       |
|                      | exceeding the State's |                       |
|                      | proficient level of   |                       |
|                      | academic achievement. |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | Each starting point   |                       |
|                      | is based, at a        |                       |
|                      | minimum, on the       |                       |
|                      | higher of the         |                       |
|                      | following percentages |                       |
|                      | of students at the    |                       |
|                      | proficient level: (1) |                       |
|                      | the percentage in the |                       |
|                      | State of proficient   |                       |
|                      | students in the       |                       |
|                      | lowest-achieving      |                       |
|                      | student subgroup; or, |                       |
|                      | (2) the percentage of |                       |
|                      | proficient students   |                       |
|                      | in a public school at |                       |
|                      | the 20^th^ percentile |                       |
|                      | of the State's total  |                       |
|                      | enrollment among all  |                       |
|                      | schools ranked by the |                       |
|                      | percentage of         |                       |
|                      | students at the       |                       |
|                      | proficient level.     |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | A State may use these |                       |
|                      | procedures to         |                       |
|                      | establish separate    |                       |
|                      | starting points by    |                       |
|                      | grade span; however,  |                       |
|                      | the starting point    |                       |
|                      | must be the same for  |                       |
|                      | all like schools      |                       |
|                      | (e.g., one same       |                       |
|                      | starting point for    |                       |
|                      | all elementary        |                       |
|                      | schools, one same     |                       |
|                      | starting point for    |                       |
|                      | all middle            |                       |
|                      | schools...).          |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.2a                                                                  |
|                                                                       |
| [Starting Point]{.underline}                                          |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut calculated starting points for reading and for            |
| mathematics using the NCLB prescribed methodology: the percentage of  |
| students at the proficient level who are in the school at the 20^th^  |
| percentile in the state, based on enrollment, among all schools       |
| ranked by the percentage of students at the proficient level for      |
| elementary and middle schools and for high schools.                   |
|                                                                       |
| +------------------+----------------------+----------------------+    |
| | Starting Points  |                      |                      |    |
| +------------------+----------------------+----------------------+    |
| |                  | **CMT                | **CAPT**             |    |
| |                  | Elementary/Middle**  |                      |    |
| |                  |                      | **High School**      |    |
| +------------------+----------------------+----------------------+    |
| | **Mathematics**  | 65% Proficient       | 59% Proficient       |    |
| +------------------+----------------------+----------------------+    |
| | **Reading**      | 57% Proficient       | 62% Proficient       |    |
| +------------------+----------------------+----------------------+    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      | MEETING               |                       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      |                       | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 2.  What are the     | State has annual      | The State             |
|     State's annual   | measurable objectives | Accountability System |
|     measurable       | that are consistent   | uses another method   |
|     objectives for   | with a state's        | for calculating       |
|     determining      | intermediate goals    | annual measurable     |
|     adequate yearly  | and that identify for | objectives.           |
|     progress?        | each year a minimum   |                       |
|                      | percentage of         | The State             |
|                      | students who must     | Accountability System |
|                      | meet or exceed the    | does not include      |
|                      | proficient level of   | annual measurable     |
|                      | academic achievement  | objectives.           |
|                      | on the State's        |                       |
|                      | academic assessments. |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | The State's annual    |                       |
|                      | measurable objectives |                       |
|                      | ensure that all       |                       |
|                      | students meet or      |                       |
|                      | exceed the State's    |                       |
|                      | proficient level of   |                       |
|                      | academic achievement  |                       |
|                      | within the timeline.  |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | The State's annual    |                       |
|                      | measurable objectives |                       |
|                      | are the same          |                       |
|                      | throughout the State  |                       |
|                      | for each public       |                       |
|                      | school, each LEA, and |                       |
|                      | each subgroup of      |                       |
|                      | students.             |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Connecticut has      |                       |                       |
| established separate |                       |                       |
| reading and          |                       |                       |
| mathematics          |                       |                       |
| statewide annual     |                       |                       |
| measurable           |                       |                       |
| objectives for       |                       |                       |
| elementary and       |                       |                       |
| middle schools and   |                       |                       |
| for high school      |                       |                       |
| grades that identify |                       |                       |
| a minimum percentage |                       |                       |
| of students who must |                       |                       |
| meet the proficient  |                       |                       |
| level of academic    |                       |                       |
| achievement. Annual  |                       |                       |
| measurable           |                       |                       |
| objectives will      |                       |                       |
| utilize the same     |                       |                       |
| percent proficient   |                       |                       |
| as the most recent   |                       |                       |
| intermediate goal.   |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      | MEETING               |                       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      |                       | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 3.2c What are the    | State has established | The State uses        |
| State's intermediate | intermediate goals    | another method for    |
| goals for            | that increase in      | calculating           |
| determining adequate | equal increments over | intermediate goals.   |
| yearly progress?     | the period covered by |                       |
|                      | the State timeline.   | The State does not    |
|                      |                       | include intermediate  |
|                      | -   The first         | goals in its          |
|                      |     incremental       | definition of         |
|                      |     increase takes    | adequate yearly       |
|                      |     effect not later  | progress.             |
|                      |     than the 2004-05  |                       |
|                      |     academic year.    |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | -   Each following    |                       |
|                      |     incremental       |                       |
|                      |     increase occurs   |                       |
|                      |     within three      |                       |
|                      |     years.            |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **Intermediate       |                       |                       |
| Goals: Percent       |                       |                       |
| Proficient on**      |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| **Mathematics and    |                       |                       |
| Reading Tests to     |                       |                       |
| Determine AYP and**  |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| **Reach 100%         |                       |                       |
| Proficient by        |                       |                       |
| 2013-14**            |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| A new intermediate   |                       |                       |
| goal will be         |                       |                       |
| established in       |                       |                       |
| 2004-05 and every    |                       |                       |
| three years until    |                       |                       |
| the final three      |                       |                       |
| years.               |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| Although annual      |                       |                       |
| increases are        |                       |                       |
| identified for       |                       |                       |
| district and school  |                       |                       |
| planning purposes,   |                       |                       |
| the annual           |                       |                       |
| measurable           |                       |                       |
| objectives will use  |                       |                       |
| the same percent     |                       |                       |
| *proficient* as the  |                       |                       |
| most recent          |                       |                       |
| intermediate goal.   |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| Those                |                       |                       |
| schools/districts    |                       |                       |
| that make AYP with   |                       |                       |
| the percentage of    |                       |                       |
| students proficient  |                       |                       |
| well above the       |                       |                       |
| intermediate goals   |                       |                       |
| are expected to make |                       |                       |
| annual increases     |                       |                       |
| each year that will  |                       |                       |
| result in 100        |                       |                       |
| percent proficiency  |                       |                       |
| in 2013-14.          |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3.2c (continued)                                                      |
|                                                                       |
| The participation, writing and graduation standards do not change     |
| over the 12-year period.                                              |
|                                                                       |
|   --------- --------- ----------- -----                               |
| -------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------------- ----------- |
|                                                                       |
|                                                                       |
|                                                                       |
|             **CMT**                                                   |
|                                 **CAPT**                              |
|                                                                       |
|             Reading                                                   |
|       Mathematics               Reading                Mathematics    |
|                                                                       |
|                       Suggested                                       |
|            Suggested              Suggested                 Suggested |
|                                                                       |
|             AYP       Annual                                          |
| AYP           Annual      AYP        Annual      AYP           Annual |
|                                                                       |
|             Level     Targets     L                                   |
| evel         Targets     Level      Targets     Level         Targets |
|                                                                       |
|   2002-03   57%       57%                                             |
|    65%           65%         62%        62%         59%           59% |
|                                                                       |
|   2003-04             60%                                             |
|                  67%                    65%                       62% |
|                                                                       |
|   2004-05             68%                                             |
|                  74%                    72%                       69% |
|                                                                       |
|   2005-06   68%       71%                                             |
|    74%           77%         72%        75%         69%           73% |
|                                                                       |
|   2006-07             75%                                             |
|                  80%                    78%                       76% |
|                                                                       |
|   2007-08             79%                                             |
|                  82%                    81%                       80% |
|                                                                       |
|   2008-09   79%       82%                                             |
|    82%           85%         81%        84%         80%           83% |
|                                                                       |
|   2009-10             85%                                             |
|                  89%                    88%                       87% |
|                                                                       |
|   2010-11             89%                                             |
|                  91%                    91%                       90% |
|                                                                       |
|   2011-12   89%       94%                                             |
|    91%           96%         91%        96%         90%           95% |
|                                                                       |
|   2012-13             98%                                             |
|                  99%                    99%                       98% |
|                                                                       |
|   2013-14   100%      100%                                            |
|   100%          100%        100%       100%        100%          100% |
|   --------- --------- ----------- -----                               |
| -------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------------- ----------- |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

**PRINCIPLE 4. State makes annual decisions about the achievement of all
public schools and LEAs.**

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | ## EXAMPLES FOR       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | **MEETING             | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 1.  How does the     | AYP decisions for     | AYP decisions for     |
|     State            | each public school    | public schools and    |
|     Accountability   | and LEA are made      | LEAs are not made     |
|     System make an   | annually.[^4]         | annually.             |
|     annual           |                       |                       |
|     determination of |                       |                       |
|     whether each     |                       |                       |
|     public school    |                       |                       |
|     and LEA in the   |                       |                       |
|     State made AYP?  |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Beginning with the   |                       |                       |
| 2002-03 school year, |                       |                       |
| AYP decisions will   |                       |                       |
| be made annually for |                       |                       |
| each public school   |                       |                       |
| and school district  |                       |                       |
| in Connecticut based |                       |                       |
| on assessment        |                       |                       |
| results and          |                       |                       |
| additional           |                       |                       |
| indicators.          |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| All NCLB reporting   |                       |                       |
| requirements have    |                       |                       |
| been incorporated    |                       |                       |
| into the School and  |                       |                       |
| District NCLB        |                       |                       |
| Federal Reports as   |                       |                       |
| of November 2002     |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| The AYP status of    |                       |                       |
| each school and      |                       |                       |
| district will be     |                       |                       |
| incorporated into    |                       |                       |
| the School and       |                       |                       |
| District NCLB        |                       |                       |
| Federal Reports      |                       |                       |
| beginning 2003-04.   |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| AYP Report Cards can |                       |                       |
| be found online at:  |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| <h                   |                       |                       |
| ttp://www.csde.state |                       |                       |
| .ct.us/public/cedar/ |                       |                       |
| nclb/dist_school_ncl |                       |                       |
| b_results/index.htm> |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

**PRINCIPLE 5. All public schools and LEAs are held accountable for the
achievement of individual subgroups.**

+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | **MEETING             | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                     | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+=====================+=======================+=======================+
| 1.  How does the    | Identifies subgroups  | State does not        |
|     definition of   | for defining adequate | disaggregate data by  |
|     adequate yearly | yearly progress:      | each required student |
|     progress        | economically          | subgroup.             |
|     include all the | disadvantaged, major  |                       |
|     required        | racial and ethnic     |                       |
|     student         | groups, students with |                       |
|     subgroups?      | disabilities, and     |                       |
|                     | students with limited |                       |
|                     | English proficiency.  |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | Provides definition   |                       |
|                     | and data source of    |                       |
|                     | subgroups for         |                       |
|                     | adequate yearly       |                       |
|                     | progress.             |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE    |                       |                       |
| AND STATE           |                       |                       |
| ACTIVITIES FOR      |                       |                       |
| MEETING             |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**      |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| [All                |                       |                       |
| Sub                 |                       |                       |
| groups]{.underline} |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| Since 2000-01,      |                       |                       |
| Connecticut has     |                       |                       |
| reported subgroups' |                       |                       |
| results on CMT and  |                       |                       |
| CAPT.               |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| Please see:         |                       |                       |
| www.cmtreports.com  |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| Subgroup results    |                       |                       |
| were included in    |                       |                       |
| the 2002 School and |                       |                       |
| District NCLB       |                       |                       |
| Reports and         |                       |                       |
| subgroup ratings    |                       |                       |
| and AYP             |                       |                       |
| determinations will |                       |                       |
| be included in the  |                       |                       |
| 2003 School and     |                       |                       |
| District NCLB       |                       |                       |
| Federal Reports --  |                       |                       |
| and annually        |                       |                       |
| thereafter.         |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| Please see AYP      |                       |                       |
| Report Cards online |                       |                       |
| at:                 |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| <http:              |                       |                       |
| //www.csde.state.ct |                       |                       |
| .us/public/cedar/nc |                       |                       |
| lb/dist_school_nclb |                       |                       |
| _results/index.htm> |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | **MEETING             | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                     | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+=====================+=======================+=======================+
| 2.  How are public  | Public schools and    | State does not        |
|     schools and     | LEAs are held         | include student       |
|     LEAs held       | accountable for       | subgroups in its      |
|     accountable for | student subgroup      | State Accountability  |
|     the progress of | achievement:          | System.               |
|     student         | economically          |                       |
|     subgroups in    | disadvantaged, major  |                       |
|     the             | ethnic and racial     |                       |
|     determination   | groups, students with |                       |
|     of adequate     | disabilities, and     |                       |
|     yearly          | limited English       |                       |
|     progress?       | proficient students.  |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE    |                       |                       |
| AND STATE           |                       |                       |
| ACTIVITIES FOR      |                       |                       |
| MEETING             |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**      |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Connecticut         |                       |                       |
| requires that       |                       |                       |
| schools and LEAs    |                       |                       |
| (districts) report  |                       |                       |
| student race,       |                       |                       |
| ethnicity, gender,  |                       |                       |
| disability status,  |                       |                       |
| migrant status,     |                       |                       |
| English             |                       |                       |
| proficiency, and    |                       |                       |
| economic status as  |                       |                       |
| part of its Public  |                       |                       |
| School Information  |                       |                       |
| System (PSIS). The  |                       |                       |
| state aggregates    |                       |                       |
| these data and      |                       |                       |
| produces LEA and    |                       |                       |
| school reports with |                       |                       |
| results             |                       |                       |
| disaggregated by    |                       |                       |
| these groups to     |                       |                       |
| determine adequate  |                       |                       |
| yearly progress for |                       |                       |
| the subgroups.      |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| Connecticut         |                       |                       |
| disaggregates and   |                       |                       |
| will hold schools   |                       |                       |
| and LEAs            |                       |                       |
| accountable for the |                       |                       |
| performance of each |                       |                       |
| of the following    |                       |                       |
| student subgroups   |                       |                       |
| that meet the       |                       |                       |
| minimum size        |                       |                       |
| requirements for    |                       |                       |
| accountability      |                       |                       |
| purposes:           |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| -   All Students    |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| -   Asian           |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| -   Black           |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| -   Hispanic        |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| -   Native American |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| -   White           |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| -   Economically    |                       |                       |
|     Disadvantaged   |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| -   Limited English |                       |                       |
|     Proficient      |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| -   Students with   |                       |                       |
|     Disabilities    |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| For each school and |                       |                       |
| LEA, the state will |                       |                       |
| determine for each  |                       |                       |
| group of sufficient |                       |                       |
| size whether the    |                       |                       |
| group achieved the  |                       |                       |
| annual measurable   |                       |                       |
| objective or met    |                       |                       |
| the "Safe Harbor"   |                       |                       |
| provision of NCLB   |                       |                       |
| and met the 95%     |                       |                       |
| participation rate  |                       |                       |
| criteria. For a     |                       |                       |
| school or LEA to    |                       |                       |
| make AYP, each      |                       |                       |
| group for which a   |                       |                       |
| school or LEA is    |                       |                       |
| accountable must    |                       |                       |
| make AYP.           |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| Once a student is   |                       |                       |
| designated as LEP,  |                       |                       |
| the assessments of  |                       |                       |
| this student will   |                       |                       |
| continue to be      |                       |                       |
| calculated for AYP  |                       |                       |
| based on their      |                       |                       |
| original subgroup   |                       |                       |
| designation for two |                       |                       |
| academic years      |                       |                       |
| after exiting the   |                       |                       |
| LEP subgroup. Such  |                       |                       |
| students are not    |                       |                       |
| required to         |                       |                       |
| continue taking the |                       |                       |
| English language    |                       |                       |
| proficiency         |                       |                       |
| assessments and are |                       |                       |
| not required to     |                       |                       |
| receive services as |                       |                       |
| LEP students.       |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | **MEETING             | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                     | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+=====================+=======================+=======================+
| 1.  How are         | All students with     | The State             |
|     students with   | disabilities          | Accountability System |
|     disabilities    | participate in        | or State policy       |
|     included in the | statewide             | excludes students     |
|     State's         | assessments: general  | with disabilities     |
|     definition of   | assessments with or   | from participating in |
|     adequate yearly | without               | the statewide         |
|     progress?       | accommodations or an  | assessments.          |
|                     | alternate assessment  |                       |
|                     | based on grade level  | State cannot          |
|                     | standards for the     | demonstrate that      |
|                     | grade in which        | alternate assessments |
|                     | students are          | measure grade-level   |
|                     | enrolled.             | standards for the     |
|                     |                       | grade in which        |
|                     | State demonstrates    | students are          |
|                     | that students with    | enrolled.             |
|                     | disabilities are      |                       |
|                     | fully included in the |                       |
|                     | State Accountability  |                       |
|                     | System.               |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE    |                       |                       |
| AND STATE           |                       |                       |
| ACTIVITIES FOR      |                       |                       |
| MEETING             |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**      |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| [Students With      |                       |                       |
| Disabi              |                       |                       |
| lities]{.underline} |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| The majority of     |                       |                       |
| students with       |                       |                       |
| disabilities        |                       |                       |
| participate in the  |                       |                       |
| standard CMT or     |                       |                       |
| CAPT, with          |                       |                       |
| accommodations, if  |                       |                       |
| required. Students  |                       |                       |
| for whom -- due to  |                       |                       |
| their impairment    |                       |                       |
| and according to    |                       |                       |
| their Individual    |                       |                       |
| Education Plan      |                       |                       |
| (IEP) -- the        |                       |                       |
| standard test is    |                       |                       |
| not appropriate may |                       |                       |
| take an alternative |                       |                       |
| assessment:         |                       |                       |
| Out-of-Level        |                       |                       |
| assessment (for     |                       |                       |
| those students      |                       |                       |
| working on the      |                       |                       |
| general education   |                       |                       |
| curriculum but      |                       |                       |
| whose progress is   |                       |                       |
| substantially       |                       |                       |
| delayed); or a      |                       |                       |
| CMT/CAPT Skills     |                       |                       |
| Checklist (for      |                       |                       |
| those students with |                       |                       |
| significant         |                       |                       |
| disabilities whose  |                       |                       |
| educational program |                       |                       |
| is more functional  |                       |                       |
| in nature). CMT and |                       |                       |
| CAPT results -- for |                       |                       |
| all disabled        |                       |                       |
| students who take   |                       |                       |
| the standard or     |                       |                       |
| CMT/CAPT Skills     |                       |                       |
| Checklist           |                       |                       |
| assessments-- are   |                       |                       |
| included in school  |                       |                       |
| and district        |                       |                       |
| accountability      |                       |                       |
| calculations.       |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| Students            |                       |                       |
| participating in    |                       |                       |
| the CMT/CAPT Skills |                       |                       |
| Checklist who score |                       |                       |
| at the proficient   |                       |                       |
| level or above will |                       |                       |
| be included in the  |                       |                       |
| school and district |                       |                       |
| calculations. **For |                       |                       |
| the purpose of      |                       |                       |
| calculating AYP at  |                       |                       |
| the LEA or state    |                       |                       |
| levels, the number  |                       |                       |
| of students who     |                       |                       |
| score at the        |                       |                       |
| proficient level    |                       |                       |
| and above on the    |                       |                       |
| CMT/CAPT Skills     |                       |                       |
| Checklist shall not |                       |                       |
| exceed 1.0 percent  |                       |                       |
| of all students in  |                       |                       |
| the grades tested   |                       |                       |
| at the LEA or state |                       |                       |
| level. The CSDE     |                       |                       |
| shall include the   |                       |                       |
| scores of students  |                       |                       |
| who exceed the      |                       |                       |
| percentage cap in   |                       |                       |
| the AYP             |                       |                       |
| calculations at the |                       |                       |
| LEA or state level  |                       |                       |
| as below basic. The |                       |                       |
| CSDE will review    |                       |                       |
| LEA requests for    |                       |                       |
| waivers from the 1  |                       |                       |
| percent cap on a    |                       |                       |
| case by case        |                       |                       |
| basis.**            |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| The CSDE may        |                       |                       |
| include in the      |                       |                       |
| Students with       |                       |                       |
| Disabilities        |                       |                       |
| subgroup a student  |                       |                       |
| who had been        |                       |                       |
| previously          |                       |                       |
| identified as a     |                       |                       |
| special education   |                       |                       |
| student during the  |                       |                       |
| past two years, to  |                       |                       |
| calculate AYP for   |                       |                       |
| schools, districts, |                       |                       |
| and the state.      |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | **MEETING             | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                     | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+=====================+=======================+=======================+
| 2.  How are         | All LEP student       | LEP students are not  |
|     students with   | participate in        | fully included in the |
|     limited English | statewide             | State Accountability  |
|     proficiency     | assessments: general  | System.               |
|     included in the | assessments with or   |                       |
|     State's         | without               |                       |
|     definition of   | accommodations or a   |                       |
|     adequate yearly | native language       |                       |
|     progress?       | version of the        |                       |
|                     | general assessment    |                       |
|                     | based on grade level  |                       |
|                     | standards.            |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | State demonstrates    |                       |
|                     | that LEP students are |                       |
|                     | fully included in the |                       |
|                     | State Accountability  |                       |
|                     | System.               |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE    |                       |                       |
| AND STATE           |                       |                       |
| ACTIVITIES FOR      |                       |                       |
| MEETING             |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**      |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Effective September |                       |                       |
| 2003, all LEP       |                       |                       |
| students **except   |                       |                       |
| for those students  |                       |                       |
| in their first      |                       |                       |
| academic year of    |                       |                       |
| enrollment in a     |                       |                       |
| U.S. school,** will |                       |                       |
| participate in the  |                       |                       |
| state assessments,  |                       |                       |
| with or without     |                       |                       |
| accommodations, and |                       |                       |
| their results will  |                       |                       |
| be included in the  |                       |                       |
| State               |                       |                       |
| Accountability      |                       |                       |
| System. LEP         |                       |                       |
| students are        |                       |                       |
| defined as a        |                       |                       |
| student who is      |                       |                       |
| enrolled in a       |                       |                       |
| public school,      |                       |                       |
| grades kindergarten |                       |                       |
| to twelve,          |                       |                       |
| inclusive, whose    |                       |                       |
| dominate language   |                       |                       |
| is other than       |                       |                       |
| English and         |                       |                       |
| proficiency in      |                       |                       |
| English is not      |                       |                       |
| sufficient to       |                       |                       |
| assure equal        |                       |                       |
| educational         |                       |                       |
| opportunities in    |                       |                       |
| the regular school  |                       |                       |
| program.            |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| Because the         |                       |                       |
| Department is       |                       |                       |
| currently reviewing |                       |                       |
| all statutes and    |                       |                       |
| regulations in      |                       |                       |
| light of No Child   |                       |                       |
| Left Behind (NCLB), |                       |                       |
| following           |                       |                       |
| three-step process  |                       |                       |
| has been            |                       |                       |
| recommended to LEAs |                       |                       |
| as they determine   |                       |                       |
| whether a student   |                       |                       |
| is an English       |                       |                       |
| Language Learner.   |                       |                       |
| Note, the           |                       |                       |
| Connecticut State   |                       |                       |
| Department of       |                       |                       |
| Education now       |                       |                       |
| refers Limited      |                       |                       |
| English Proficient  |                       |                       |
| (LEP) students as   |                       |                       |
| English Language    |                       |                       |
| Learners (ELL).     |                       |                       |
| These steps         |                       |                       |
| include:            |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| 1\. Administration  |                       |                       |
| of a three-question |                       |                       |
| survey (preliminary |                       |                       |
| assessment of       |                       |                       |
| dominant language)  |                       |                       |
| e.g., what language |                       |                       |
| did you (your       |                       |                       |
| child) learn to     |                       |                       |
| speak first? What   |                       |                       |
| is the primary      |                       |                       |
| language spoken by  |                       |                       |
| you (your parents   |                       |                       |
| /guardians) or      |                       |                       |
| other persons       |                       |                       |
| living in your      |                       |                       |
| home? What is the   |                       |                       |
| primary language    |                       |                       |
| spoken by you (your |                       |                       |
| child) at home?     |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| 2\. Use of a dual   |                       |                       |
| language test       |                       |                       |
| **or** an           |                       |                       |
| observation         |                       |                       |
| procedure to        |                       |                       |
| determine a         |                       |                       |
| student's dominant  |                       |                       |
| language (final     |                       |                       |
| determination of    |                       |                       |
| dominant language); |                       |                       |
| and                 |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 5.4 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| 3\. Determining whether a student's English proficiency is limited    |
| based on three indicators:                                            |
|                                                                       |
| -   a standardized English proficiency test;                          |
|                                                                       |
| -   an oral interview conducted in English; and                       |
|                                                                       |
| -   an examination of other indicators such as report cards, test     |
|     scores, etc. that demonstrate whether achievement in academic     |
|     subjects taught in English is below average. These may be         |
|     available if a student is new to your school and brings his/her   |
|     school records. For new students without records, a determination |
|     of academic functioning within the classroom will need to be      |
|     made.                                                             |
|                                                                       |
| If as a result of the assessment it is determined that the student is |
| an English Language Learner, an appropriate program of English        |
| language instruction must be provided and the student must be entered |
| as ELL.                                                               |
|                                                                       |
| LEP students, during their first academic year of enrollment in a     |
| U.S. school, [must]{.underline} take the state English proficiency    |
| test and [may]{.underline} participate in the reading/language        |
| arts/writing subtests of the state assessments. Such students' scores |
| shall not be included in the AYP proficiency determinations for       |
| reading and language arts. If these students take the English         |
| language proficiency test and/or the reading/language arts/writing    |
| subtests of the state assessment, they are counted as participants    |
| for the purpose of meeting the 95% participation requirement for AYP. |
| LEP students during their first academic year of enrollment in a U.S. |
| school [must]{.underline} take the state mathematics assessment with  |
| appropriate accommodations, but their scores shall not be included in |
| the AYP proficiency determinations for mathematics. Such students,    |
| however, are counted toward meeting the 95% participation requirement |
| for AYP.                                                              |
|                                                                       |
| Directions for test accommodations for LEP students that provides     |
| [both]{.underline} compliance with NCLB, and recognize the            |
| educational needs of students without English skills -- will be       |
| provided by the CSDE to local school districts -- no later than       |
| August 1, 2003.                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| ***In order for students to exit the ELL program, they must score at  |
| the highest level on the LAS Links and meet or exceed the CMT         |
| "proficient" level for mathematics and reading and the "basic" level  |
| for writing.***                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| The CSDE may include in the LEP subgroup a student who had been       |
| previously considered an LEP student during the past two years, to    |
| calculate AYP for schools, districts, and the state. Such students    |
| are not required to continue taking the English language proficiency  |
| assessments or to receive services as LEP students.                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | **MEETING             | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                     | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 1.  What is the     | State defines the     | State does not define |
|     State\'s        | number of students    | the required number   |
|     definition of   | required in a         | of students in a      |
|     the minimum     | subgroup for          | subgroup for          |
|     number of       | reporting and         | reporting and         |
|     students in a   | accountability        | accountability        |
|     subgroup        | purposes, and applies | purposes.             |
|     required for    | this definition       |                       |
|     reporting       | consistently across   | Definition is not     |
|     purposes? For   | the State.[^5]        | applied consistently  |
|     accountability  |                       | across the State.     |
|     purposes?       | Definition of         |                       |
|                     | subgroup will result  | Definition does not   |
|                     | in data that are      | result in data that   |
|                     | statistically         | are statistically     |
|                     | reliable.             | reliable.             |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE    |                       |                       |
| AND STATE           |                       |                       |
| ACTIVITIES FOR      |                       |                       |
| MEETING             |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**      |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| For [reporting      |                       |                       |
| pur                 |                       |                       |
| poses]{.underline}, |                       |                       |
| a minimum of 20     |                       |                       |
| students in a       |                       |                       |
| subgroup or school  |                       |                       |
| will be required.   |                       |                       |
| Connecticut has a   |                       |                       |
| large number of     |                       |                       |
| small               |                       |                       |
| schools/districts   |                       |                       |
| with small numbers  |                       |                       |
| of subgroups and we |                       |                       |
| want to ensure      |                       |                       |
| confidentiality for |                       |                       |
| all students        |                       |                       |
| [and]{.underline}   |                       |                       |
| prevent erroneous   |                       |                       |
| generalizations     |                       |                       |
| about subgroup      |                       |                       |
| performance-based   |                       |                       |
| only on a small     |                       |                       |
| group of students.  |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| **Validity and      |                       |                       |
| Reliability**       |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| In a statewide      |                       |                       |
| accountability      |                       |                       |
| system for public   |                       |                       |
| education with      |                       |                       |
| significant         |                       |                       |
| consequences for    |                       |                       |
| not making adequate |                       |                       |
| progress, it is     |                       |                       |
| critical to         |                       |                       |
| understand the      |                       |                       |
| potential for       |                       |                       |
| errors in           |                       |                       |
| measurement and to  |                       |                       |
| take steps to       |                       |                       |
| minimize the impact |                       |                       |
| of those errors.    |                       |                       |
| This is             |                       |                       |
| particularly true   |                       |                       |
| in the earliest     |                       |                       |
| years of a new      |                       |                       |
| system. These       |                       |                       |
| errors include: the |                       |                       |
| failure of any one  |                       |                       |
| written examination |                       |                       |
| to measure a        |                       |                       |
| student's skills;   |                       |                       |
| the differences     |                       |                       |
| between cohort      |                       |                       |
| groups of students  |                       |                       |
| in their            |                       |                       |
| achievement; the    |                       |                       |
| misuses of test     |                       |                       |
| data, the           |                       |                       |
| over-generalization |                       |                       |
| of failure or       |                       |                       |
| success of a school |                       |                       |
| or district based   |                       |                       |
| on reading and      |                       |                       |
| mathematic scores;  |                       |                       |
| and, the            |                       |                       |
| attribution of      |                       |                       |
| achievement levels  |                       |                       |
| to subgroups based  |                       |                       |
| on limited data.    |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| The validity of an  |                       |                       |
| accountability      |                       |                       |
| system pertains to  |                       |                       |
| the inferences that |                       |                       |
| are drawn and the   |                       |                       |
| decisions that are  |                       |                       |
| thus made. An       |                       |                       |
| accountability      |                       |                       |
| system is           |                       |                       |
| considered to have  |                       |                       |
| validity when the   |                       |                       |
| evidence is judged  |                       |                       |
| to be strong enough |                       |                       |
| to support the      |                       |                       |
| inferences that are |                       |                       |
| made. Therefore, if |                       |                       |
| the inference is    |                       |                       |
| that a school       |                       |                       |
| identified as not   |                       |                       |
| making AYP is not   |                       |                       |
| meeting the         |                       |                       |
| academic needs of   |                       |                       |
| students, then that |                       |                       |
| determination of    |                       |                       |
| AYP, based solely   |                       |                       |
| on the              |                       |                       |
| administration of a |                       |                       |
| single type of      |                       |                       |
| assessment, must    |                       |                       |
| meet the highest    |                       |                       |
| tests for           |                       |                       |
| reliability and     |                       |                       |
| validity.           |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| Under NCLB, schools |                       |                       |
| are held            |                       |                       |
| accountable for     |                       |                       |
| overall             |                       |                       |
| performance, as     |                       |                       |
| well as for         |                       |                       |
| improving the       |                       |                       |
| performance of      |                       |                       |
| different groups of |                       |                       |
| students each year. |                       |                       |
| It is not based on  |                       |                       |
| measuring the       |                       |                       |
| ongoing growth of   |                       |                       |
| the same cohort of  |                       |                       |
| students.           |                       |                       |
| Therefore, the size |                       |                       |
| of the school and   |                       |                       |
| subgroups needs to  |                       |                       |
| be sufficient to    |                       |                       |
| accurately identify |                       |                       |
| a school based      |                       |                       |
| solely on a         |                       |                       |
| particular sample   |                       |                       |
| of students.        |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 5.5 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| Table A                                                               |
|                                                                       |
| Misclassification rates at                                            |
|                                                                       |
| Different Sample Sizes                                                |
|                                                                       |
| (Hill & DePascale Parameters)                                         |
|                                                                       |
|   ----                                                                |
| ---- -------------- -------------- ------------------- -------------- |
|   N Count  False Negative False Positive Total               \% False |
|                                                                       |
|                                       Misclassification   Negative of |
|                                                                       |
|                                                             the Total |
|                                                                       |
|   20       12.6           3.8            16.3                77       |
|                                                                       |
|   30       6.9            4.7            11.6                60       |
|                                                                       |
|   40       6.9            3.8            10.7                64       |
|                                                                       |
|   50       4.7            4.1            8.8                 53       |
|                                                                       |
|   100      3.4            3.1            6.6                 52       |
|   ----                                                                |
| ---- -------------- -------------- ------------------- -------------- |
|                                                                       |
| Clearly, the misclassification rates are high, especially the more    |
| serious false negative rates. Table B below presents comparable       |
| results using the distribution parameters for the CMT mathematics and |
| reading.                                                              |
|                                                                       |
| Table B                                                               |
|                                                                       |
| Misclassification rates at                                            |
|                                                                       |
| Different Sample Sizes                                                |
|                                                                       |
| (CMT Parameters)                                                      |
|                                                                       |
|   ------- ---------- ----                                             |
| --- ---------- ------- ------------------- ------- ---------- ------- |
|   N Count False                                                       |
|            False              Total                       \% False    |
|           Negative                                                    |
|            Positive           Misclassification           Negative    |
|                                                                       |
|                                                           of the      |
|                                                                       |
|                                                           Total       |
|                                                                       |
|           MA                                                          |
|  RD      MA         RD      MA                  RD      MA         RD |
|                                                                       |
|   22\*    8.3                                                         |
|  7.7     3.2        3.0     11.4                10.7    73         72 |
|                                                                       |
|   30      6.2                                                         |
|  5.2     3.0        3.2     9.2                 8.4     67         62 |
|                                                                       |
|   40      4.3                                                         |
|  3.5     3.4        3.6     7.7                 7.1     56         49 |
|                                                                       |
|   50      3.3                                                         |
|  3.8     3.5        2.7     6.8                 6.6     49         57 |
|                                                                       |
|   100     2.3                                                         |
|  2.2     2.4        2.3     4.7                 4.5     49         49 |
|   ------- ---------- ----                                             |
| --- ---------- ------- ------------------- ------- ---------- ------- |
|                                                                       |
| \*The starting N was chosen at 22 because the standard deviation of   |
| school scores was 21.                                                 |
|                                                                       |
| Again, the false negative misclassification rates are quite high, and |
| are more serious at the small N sizes. The percentages in the last    |
| two columns highlight that, if we used minimum N sizes of 20 or 30,   |
| the majority of the misclassification errors could be identifying     |
| schools for not meeting AYP while in fact they do meet AYP. At an N   |
| of 20, for example, 73 percent of the misclassified schools in        |
| mathematics could result from false negatives. As N size increases to |
| 40, the two types of errors become more comparable.                   |
|                                                                       |
| Increasing the minimum N size does not eliminate the                  |
| misclassification errors totally. [Even at N sizes of 40, there could |
| still be a chance to falsely identify about 43 in 1000 schools in     |
| mathematics, and about 35 in 1000 schools in reading.]{.underline}    |
| Hence we decided to address other sources of error besides minimum N  |
| sizes. Specifically, we adjusted school scores for standard errors    |
| associated with examinees misclassifications (SEM), and standard      |
| errors associated with sampling of examinees at any given year        |
| (SESP).                                                               |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 5.5 (continued                                                        |
|                                                                       |
| [Confidence Interval]{.underline}                                     |
|                                                                       |
| Not every grade of students in a school takes state examinations in   |
| any given year, so decisions must be made about the school based on   |
| the performance of its test takers. The test data obtained in any     |
| single year comes from a sample of students; not just a sample of the |
| students that are enrolled that year, but of all possible students    |
| who could attend the school. Calculations that are made from a small  |
| number of students are less stable than those made from a large       |
| number of students. The fact that, for any given grade(s), the school |
| is evaluated on a different set of students from year to year, and    |
| the fact that these numbers are often small, creates error or         |
| instability in the data. In addition to this, because no test is      |
| perfectly reliable, there is a small amount of error or instability   |
| associated with the reliability of the test. This "margin for error"  |
| can be estimated and the range of values can be calculated that       |
| contain the value of a school's or a subgroup's real performance 99   |
| percent of the time. This produces a more accurate identification of  |
| schools/subgroups that have not made adequate yearly progress, and    |
| reduces false negative assumptions about a school's/subgroup's        |
| performance. In coming years, as targets are set for                  |
| schools/subgroups and their progress is evaluated toward these        |
| targets, a school/subgroup would only be identified as not making AYP |
| if the percentage of proficient students plus its margin for error    |
| are below the annual objective. This will enhance the reliability and |
| validity of the school accountability decisions.                      |
|                                                                       |
| ***[Impact Analysis]{.underline}***                                   |
|                                                                       |
| ***The decision to use a subgroup of 40 plus a confidence interval    |
| must be examined in the context of Connecticut's total assessment     |
| program:***                                                           |
|                                                                       |
| a.  ***Connecticut has a 17 year tradition of assessing students in   |
|     mathematics, reading and writing and has redesigned the content   |
|     and testing format over three generations of the CMT and two      |
|     generations of CAPT. The assessments reflect the rigorous         |
|     curriculum standards Connecticut has established.***              |
|                                                                       |
| b.  ***The proficient standard was maintained; it was not set at a    |
|     lower level for purposes of NCLB. Connecticut's assessment        |
|     standards of basic, proficient and goal are well understood and   |
|     utilized by local school districts.***                            |
|                                                                       |
| c.  ***The present state assessment of Grades 4, 6 and 8 for 2003-04  |
|     and 2004-05 will be replaced in 2005-06 and thereafter with       |
|     Grades 3 though 8. This will roughly double the students          |
|     assessed, and the impact of the subgroup size will change         |
|     significantly.***                                                 |
|                                                                       |
| **Taken as a whole, Connecticut is projecting that its assessments,   |
| standards and AYP methodology will result in [20 percent to 30        |
| percent of its schools labeled as *In Need of                         |
| Improvement*]{.underline}. Further, it is estimated that              |
| approximately one-half of its school districts could also be          |
| identified as *In Need of Improvement* as early as 2004-05** -- most  |
| likely due to the performance of special education and limited        |
| English proficient students -- and that the entire state would also   |
| be *In Need of Improvement* for subgroup performance. Lastly,         |
| Connecticut's [past statewide performance growth]{.underline} has     |
| averaged [approximately a two percentage point gain per               |
| year]{.underline} in students meeting our state goal or the state     |
| proficiency standard. The [AYP requirements]{.underline} of NCLB      |
| project a required statewide growth of approximately a four           |
| percentage point gain per year. This has led to the conclusion that   |
| each year after 2004-05, a number of schools will be added to the     |
| list of schools *In Need of Improvement*, and only significantly      |
| extraordinary growth at a school or the very highest achieving        |
| schools will make AYP.                                                |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 5.5 (continued                                                        |
|                                                                       |
| As of 2001-02, there were 562,932 students in Connecticut's public    |
| schools. The subgroups represent the following percentages of         |
| Connecticut's students:                                               |
|                                                                       |
| +-------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+   |
| | **[                     | **Percentage of     | **Percentage of |   |
| | Subgroup]{.underline}** | Total**             | These Subgroups |   |
| |                         |                     | in**            |   |
| |                         | **[State            |                 |   |
| |                         | Popula              | **[ERGs H and   |   |
| |                         | tion]{.underline}** | I               |   |
| |                         |                     | ]{.underline}** |   |
| +-------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+   |
| | Black                   | 13.8                | 70.4            |   |
| +-------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+   |
| | Hispanic                | 13.7                | 76.3            |   |
| +-------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+   |
| | Special Education       | 12.3                | 36.0            |   |
| +-------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+   |
| | LEP                     | 3.7                 | 80.5            |   |
| +-------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+   |
| | Economically            | 22.2                | 67.8            |   |
| | Disadvantaged           |                     |                 |   |
| +-------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+   |
|                                                                       |
| The largest proportion (two-thirds to four-fifths) of black,          |
| Hispanic, LEP and economically disadvantaged students are in school   |
| districts that represent Connecticut's two poorest Education          |
| Reference Groups (ERG), H and I. Therefore, these schools and         |
| districts in ERGs H and I have the largest number of subgroups with a |
| minimum of 40 or more compared with the rest of the state.            |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut has not had completely accurate information on the        |
| identification of LEP, special education and free/reduced lunch       |
| students. The good news is that, as of this school year 2002-03, a    |
| new statewide student information system allows the Department to     |
| collect individual student information which can then be verified.    |
| Even in the absence of accurate identification of students, it is     |
| expected that the schools and districts, which will be analyzed for   |
| their subgroup performance, have the largest majority of neediest     |
| students and will not only be accountable for their subgroup          |
| performance, but will be identified as *In Need of Improvement* in    |
| the early years of the NCLB program.                                  |
|                                                                       |
| In summary, Connecticut's system of standards, assessments and AYP    |
| methodology is not only statistically valid and reliable (and meets   |
| the requirements of NCLB), but it also builds on and fits             |
| Connecticut's prior experience and greater expectations for each      |
| student.                                                              |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | **MEETING             | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                     | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+=====================+=======================+=======================+
| 1.  How does the    | Definition does not   | Definition reveals    |
|     State           | reveal personally     | personally            |
|     Accountability  | identifiable          | identifiable          |
|     System protect  | information.[^6]      | information.          |
|     the privacy of  |                       |                       |
|     students when   |                       |                       |
|     reporting       |                       |                       |
|     results and     |                       |                       |
|     when            |                       |                       |
|     determining     |                       |                       |
|     AYP?            |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE    |                       |                       |
| AND STATE           |                       |                       |
| ACTIVITIES FOR      |                       |                       |
| MEETING             |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**      |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **Reporting**       |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| To ensure the       |                       |                       |
| confidentiality of  |                       |                       |
| all students, a     |                       |                       |
| minimum of 20       |                       |                       |
| students in a       |                       |                       |
| subgroup or school  |                       |                       |
| will be required to |                       |                       |
| report its results. |                       |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
| In compliance with  |                       |                       |
| the Family          |                       |                       |
| Educational Rights  |                       |                       |
| and Privacy Act     |                       |                       |
| (FERPA), in cases   |                       |                       |
| where there are 20  |                       |                       |
| or more students,   |                       |                       |
| [all]{.underline}   |                       |                       |
| of whom score       |                       |                       |
| within the same     |                       |                       |
| level (basic or     |                       |                       |
| below basic), it    |                       |                       |
| will be reported    |                       |                       |
| that 80 percent or  |                       |                       |
| more scored at that |                       |                       |
| level.              |                       |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

**PRINCIPLE 6. State definition of AYP is based primarily on the State's
academic assessments.**

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | ## EXAMPLES FOR       | ## EXAMPLES OF        |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | **MEETING             | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 1.  How is the       | Formula for AYP shows | Formula for AYP shows |
|     State's          | that decisions are    | that decisions are    |
|     definition of    | based primarily on    | based primarily on    |
|     adequate yearly  | assessments.[^7]      | non-academic          |
|     progress based   |                       | indicators or         |
|     primarily on     | Plan clearly          | indicators other than |
|     academic         | identifies which      | the State             |
|     assessments?     | assessments are       | assessments.          |
|                      | included in           |                       |
|                      | accountability.       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Reading and          |                       |                       |
| mathematics          |                       |                       |
| assessment scores on |                       |                       |
| the CMT and CAPT are |                       |                       |
| the primary          |                       |                       |
| determinant of AYP.  |                       |                       |
| The required         |                       |                       |
| additional academic  |                       |                       |
| indicator for        |                       |                       |
| elementary and       |                       |                       |
| middle schools,      |                       |                       |
| writing, and the     |                       |                       |
| graduation rate for  |                       |                       |
| high schools and the |                       |                       |
| participation rate   |                       |                       |
| will also be part of |                       |                       |
| the AYP calculation. |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| ***[ADEQUATE YEARLY  |                       |                       |
| PROG                 |                       |                       |
| RESS]{.underline}*** |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| **Elementary and     |                       |                       |
| Middle Schools**     |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| For a school to make |                       |                       |
| AYP for the 2002-03  |                       |                       |
| through the 2004-05  |                       |                       |
| school years, all    |                       |                       |
| students and each    |                       |                       |
| subgroup in the      |                       |                       |
| school must meet the |                       |                       |
| following standards  |                       |                       |
| that were            |                       |                       |
| established using    |                       |                       |
| the 2002-03 CMT test |                       |                       |
| scores:              |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| 57% *Proficient* or  |                       |                       |
| Above -- Reading CMT |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| 65% *Proficient* or  |                       |                       |
| Above -- Mathematics |                       |                       |
| CMT                  |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| 95% Participation    |                       |                       |
| Across All State     |                       |                       |
| Tests (Standard, Out |                       |                       |
| of Level, CMT        |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| > Skills Checklist)  |                       |                       |
| > -- assessed        |                       |                       |
| > separately for     |                       |                       |
| > mathematics and    |                       |                       |
| > reading            |                       |                       |
| >                    |                       |                       |
| > 70% Basic or Above |                       |                       |
| > -- Writing CMT or  |                       |                       |
| > percentage at or   |                       |                       |
| > above basic must   |                       |                       |
| > improve from the   |                       |                       |
| > previous year (for |                       |                       |
| > whole school)      |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| The AYP calculations |                       |                       |
| for all public       |                       |                       |
| elementary and       |                       |                       |
| middle schools will  |                       |                       |
| be available in      |                       |                       |
| Mid-August 2003.     |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 6.1 (continued) **High School**                                       |
|                                                                       |
| For a school to make AYP for the 2002-03 and the 2003-04 school       |
| years, all students and each subgroup in the school must meet the     |
| following standards that were established using the 2001-02 CAPT test |
| scores:                                                               |
|                                                                       |
| 62% *Proficient* or Above -- Reading CAPT                             |
|                                                                       |
| 59% *Proficient* or Above -- Mathematics CAPT                         |
|                                                                       |
| 95% Participation Across All State Tests (Standard, Out of Level,     |
| CAPT                                                                  |
|                                                                       |
| > Skills Checklist) -- assessed separately for mathematics and        |
| > reading                                                             |
| >                                                                     |
| > 70% Graduation Rate or growth in the 2002 graduation rate compared  |
| > to the previous year (for whole school)                             |
|                                                                       |
| The AYP calculations for all public high schools and districts will   |
| be available by June 30, 2003, based on the CAPT 2002 administration  |
| and in October 2003, based on the CAPT 2003 administration.           |
|                                                                       |
| After 2003-04, the percent proficient standards for both reading and  |
| mathematics will increase, according to the schedule on page 36. The  |
| standards for participation, CMT, writing, and graduation rate will   |
| remain the same.                                                      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 6.1 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| ***[SAFE HARBOR]{.underline}***                                       |
|                                                                       |
| If a school, or subgroup within a school, does not meet the reading   |
| or the mathematics annual AYP objective, the school may still be      |
| considered to have made adequate yearly progress under the "safe      |
| harbor" provision of NCLB. Under this provision, the percentage of    |
| non-proficient students in the group (subgroup or entire school) that |
| did not meet the objective must have been reduced by 10 percent from  |
| the previous year, and the group must also have met the requirement   |
| for the additional indicator (writing for CMT and for CAPT until      |
| 2010, when the graduation rate will be available by subgroup for      |
| CAPT) and the 95 percent participation rate.                          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

PRINCIPLE 7. State definition of AYP includes graduation rates for
public High schools and an additional indicator selected by the State
for public Middle and public Elementary schools (such as attendance
rates).

+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT | **EXAMPLES FOR**      | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | **MEETING             | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                     | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+=====================+=======================+=======================+
| 1.  What is the     | State definition of   | State definition of   |
|     State           | graduation rate:      | public high school    |
|     definition for  |                       | graduation rate does  |
|     the public high | -   Calculates the    | not meet these        |
|     school          |     percentage of     | criteria.             |
|     graduation      |     students,         |                       |
|     rate?           |     measured from the |                       |
|                     |     beginning of the  |                       |
|                     |     school year, who  |                       |
|                     |     graduate from     |                       |
|                     |     public high       |                       |
|                     |     school with a     |                       |
|                     |     regular diploma   |                       |
|                     |     (not including a  |                       |
|                     |     GED or any other  |                       |
|                     |     diploma not fully |                       |
|                     |     aligned with the  |                       |
|                     |     state's academic  |                       |
|                     |     standards) in the |                       |
|                     |     standard number   |                       |
|                     |     of years; or,     |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | -   Uses another more |                       |
|                     |     accurate          |                       |
|                     |     definition that   |                       |
|                     |     has been approved |                       |
|                     |     by the Secretary; |                       |
|                     |     and               |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | -   Must avoid        |                       |
|                     |     counting a        |                       |
|                     |     dropout as a      |                       |
|                     |     transfer.         |                       |
|                     |                       |                       |
|                     | Graduation rate is    |                       |
|                     | included (in the      |                       |
|                     | aggregate) for AYP,   |                       |
|                     | and disaggregated (as |                       |
|                     | necessary) for use    |                       |
|                     | when applying the     |                       |
|                     | exception clause[^8]  |                       |
|                     | to make AYP.          |                       |
+---------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 7.1                                                                   |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut has implemented a public school information system that   |
| allows for the collection of individual student information at three  |
| points during the school year. Using this system, the CSDE will be    |
| able to calculate a graduation rate using the following definition    |
| for the class of 2010 and each class following. The rate will be      |
| calculated as follows:                                                |
|                                                                       |
| > Number of June 2010 four-year graduates, with regular diploma (may  |
| > include special education students who have until age 21 to earn a  |
| > regular diploma).                                                   |
| >                                                                     |
| > Number of June 2010 graduates plus number of 2009-10 12^th^ grade   |
| > dropouts; plus number of 2008-09 11^th^ grade dropouts; plus number |
| > of 2007-08 10^th^ grade dropouts; plus number of 2006-07 9^th^      |
| > grade dropouts.                                                     |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut has implemented a public school information system that   |
| allows for the collection of individual student information; however, |
| the system does not yet track students who graduate. Because of this, |
| Connecticut currently only be able to report on the subgroups of      |
| race, gender and special education. We are requesting an extension of |
| the date for which we originally anticipated reporting a graduation   |
| rate for each subgroup, from the graduating class of 2006 to the      |
| graduating class of 2010.                                             |
|                                                                       |
| In the interim, Connecticut plans on using an alternative measure     |
| based on schools' reported aggregate graduation data that is          |
| currently collected and has been collected and reported for over a    |
| decade. The graduation rate will be calculated as described above,    |
| but will be based on aggregate data reported by districts and used in |
| the determination of AYP for high schools.                            |
|                                                                       |
| Connecticut will use the CAPT writing standard (at least 70 percent   |
| basic or above, or improvement based on previous year) disaggregated  |
| for all subgroups to determine Safe Harbor.                           |
|                                                                       |
| []{.mark}                                                             |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
| ##               | **EXAMPLES FOR**   | **EXAMPLES OF**              |
| CRITICAL ELEMENT |                    |                              |
|                  | **MEETING          | ***NOT* MEETING              |
|                  | REQUIREMENTS**     | REQUIREMENTS**               |
+==================+====================+==============================+
| 1.  What is the  | State defines the  | State has not defined an     |
|     State's      | additional         | additional academic          |
|     additional   | academic           | indicator for elementary and |
|     academic     | indicators, e.g.,  | middle schools.              |
|     indicator    | additional State   |                              |
|     for public   | or locally         |                              |
|     elementary   | administered       |                              |
|     schools for  | assessments not    |                              |
|     the          | included in the    |                              |
|     definition   | State assessment   |                              |
|     of AYP? For  | system,            |                              |
|     public       | grade-to-grade     |                              |
|     middle       | retention rates or |                              |
|     schools for  | attendance         |                              |
|     the          | rates.[^9]         |                              |
|     definition   |                    |                              |
|     of AYP?      | An additional      |                              |
|                  | academic indicator |                              |
|                  | is included (in    |                              |
|                  | the aggregate) for |                              |
|                  | AYP, and           |                              |
|                  | disaggregated (as  |                              |
|                  | necessary) for use |                              |
|                  | when applying the  |                              |
|                  | exception clause   |                              |
|                  | to make AYP.       |                              |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE |                    |                              |
| AND STATE        |                    |                              |
| ACTIVITIES FOR   |                    |                              |
| MEETING          |                    |                              |
| REQUIREMENTS**   |                    |                              |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
| Connecticut will |                    |                              |
| use results from |                    |                              |
| the statewide    |                    |                              |
| writing          |                    |                              |
| assessment as an |                    |                              |
| additional       |                    |                              |
| academic         |                    |                              |
| indicator for    |                    |                              |
| elementary and   |                    |                              |
| middle schools.  |                    |                              |
| To meet the      |                    |                              |
| writing          |                    |                              |
| standard, at     |                    |                              |
| least 70 percent |                    |                              |
| of students must |                    |                              |
| score at the     |                    |                              |
| basic level or   |                    |                              |
| above, or the    |                    |                              |
| percentage at or |                    |                              |
| above basic must |                    |                              |
| improve from the |                    |                              |
| previous year.   |                    |                              |
| Schools and      |                    |                              |
| districts that   |                    |                              |
| achieve or       |                    |                              |
| exceed the       |                    |                              |
| threshold for    |                    |                              |
| the writing      |                    |                              |
| standard as well |                    |                              |
| as those that    |                    |                              |
| are below the    |                    |                              |
| threshold but    |                    |                              |
| improve (when    |                    |                              |
| compared to the  |                    |                              |
| previous year),  |                    |                              |
| would have met   |                    |                              |
| the other        |                    |                              |
| academic         |                    |                              |
| indicator for    |                    |                              |
| the purposes of  |                    |                              |
| calculating AYP. |                    |                              |
|                  |                    |                              |
| Subgroups within |                    |                              |
| schools would be |                    |                              |
| required to meet |                    |                              |
| the writing      |                    |                              |
| threshold or     |                    |                              |
| improve their    |                    |                              |
| writing as a     |                    |                              |
| requirement for  |                    |                              |
| the safe harbor  |                    |                              |
| provision.       |                    |                              |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
| 2.  Are the      | State has defined  | State has an academic        |
|     State's      | academic           | indicator that is not valid  |
|     academic     | indicators that    | and reliable.                |
|     indicators   | are valid and      |                              |
|     valid and    | reliable.          | State has an academic        |
|     reliable?    |                    | indicator that is not        |
|                  | State has defined  | consistent with nationally   |
|                  | academic           | recognized standards.        |
|                  | indicators that    |                              |
|                  | are consistent     | State has an academic        |
|                  | with nationally    | indicator that is not        |
|                  | recognized         | consistent within grade      |
|                  | standards, if any. | levels.                      |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE |                    |                              |
| AND STATE        |                    |                              |
| ACTIVITIES FOR   |                    |                              |
| MEETING          |                    |                              |
| REQUIREMENTS**   |                    |                              |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+
| Using the Public |                    |                              |
| School           |                    |                              |
| Information      |                    |                              |
| System (PSIS),   |                    |                              |
| the collection   |                    |                              |
| of individual    |                    |                              |
| student          |                    |                              |
| enrollment data  |                    |                              |
| will greatly     |                    |                              |
| enhance the      |                    |                              |
| reliability of   |                    |                              |
| the data         |                    |                              |
| reported.        |                    |                              |
| Connecticut's    |                    |                              |
| graduation rate  |                    |                              |
| calculation      |                    |                              |
| would be subject |                    |                              |
| to audit and     |                    |                              |
| verification at  |                    |                              |
| the state level. |                    |                              |
|                  |                    |                              |
| The Writing      |                    |                              |
| subtest of the   |                    |                              |
| CMT will be used |                    |                              |
| as an additional |                    |                              |
| academic         |                    |                              |
| indicator for    |                    |                              |
| elementary and   |                    |                              |
| middle schools.  |                    |                              |
| In order for the |                    |                              |
| CMT to serve its |                    |                              |
| intended         |                    |                              |
| purpose, it is   |                    |                              |
| critical that    |                    |                              |
| users of the     |                    |                              |
| test results be  |                    |                              |
| confident that   |                    |                              |
| those results    |                    |                              |
| are meaningful.  |                    |                              |
| The test must    |                    |                              |
| provide a        |                    |                              |
| consistent       |                    |                              |
| measurement of   |                    |                              |
| the competencies |                    |                              |
| being assessed   |                    |                              |
| (i.e., the test  |                    |                              |
| must be          |                    |                              |
| "reliable"). The |                    |                              |
| test must also   |                    |                              |
| accurately       |                    |                              |
| measure those    |                    |                              |
| competencies     |                    |                              |
| that it purports |                    |                              |
| to measure       |                    |                              |
| (i.e., the test  |                    |                              |
| results are      |                    |                              |
| "valid" for the  |                    |                              |
| purposes to      |                    |                              |
| which they are   |                    |                              |
| being applied).  |                    |                              |
|                  |                    |                              |
| The Writing test |                    |                              |
| scale and        |                    |                              |
| standards are    |                    |                              |
| based on a       |                    |                              |
| combination of   |                    |                              |
| scores from the  |                    |                              |
| Direct           |                    |                              |
| Assessment of    |                    |                              |
| Writing and the  |                    |                              |
| Editing and      |                    |                              |
| Revising test.   |                    |                              |
|                  |                    |                              |
| For the extended |                    |                              |
| single-item      |                    |                              |
| response, Direct |                    |                              |
| Assessment of    |                    |                              |
| Writing,         |                    |                              |
| estimation of    |                    |                              |
| test reliability |                    |                              |
| is approached    |                    |                              |
| through the      |                    |                              |
| consistency of   |                    |                              |
| scoring of       |                    |                              |
| student work by  |                    |                              |
| raters.          |                    |                              |
| Inter-rater      |                    |                              |
| agreement is the |                    |                              |
| rate of          |                    |                              |
| agreement        |                    |                              |
| between the      |                    |                              |
| scores that two  |                    |                              |
| different        |                    |                              |
| scorers assign   |                    |                              |
| to the student   |                    |                              |
| responses. In    |                    |                              |
| addition, the    |                    |                              |
| distribution of  |                    |                              |
| student scores   |                    |                              |
| is analyzed for  |                    |                              |
| each Direct      |                    |                              |
| Assessment of    |                    |                              |
| Writing test at  |                    |                              |
| the pilot stage. |                    |                              |
| This facilitates |                    |                              |
| the examination  |                    |                              |
| of the           |                    |                              |
| consistency of   |                    |                              |
| scores across    |                    |                              |
| Direct           |                    |                              |
| Assessment of    |                    |                              |
| Writing tests.   |                    |                              |
|                  |                    |                              |
| (continued next  |                    |                              |
| page)            |                    |                              |
+------------------+--------------------+------------------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND STATE ACTIVITIES FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS**      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 7.3 (continued)                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| To examine the validity of the CMT for its intended applications, a   |
| number of studies have been conducted. The first focused on           |
| establishing content validity of each part of the CMT. In October     |
| 1984 (the year before the first administration of the grade 4 CMT), a |
| survey of the objectives proposed for the grade 4 CMT was sent to     |
| more than 3,000 Connecticut educators. The purpose of the survey was  |
| to determine (1) the importance of the proposed writing objectives    |
| and (2) whether the objectives were taught prior to the fall of grade |
| 4. Similar surveys of objectives proposed for grades 6 and 8 were     |
| sent to more than 8,000 Connecticut educators in October 1985. For    |
| the third generation, another survey was developed and distributed in |
| January 2000 for the same purposes. The respondents characterized the |
| objectives as important educational outcomes to which students would  |
| be instructed prior to being tested.                                  |
|                                                                       |
| In addition to the test objective validation process, a two-step      |
| validation process was carried out. First, content experts reviewed   |
| all objectives and test items, examining the relationship between     |
| each item and its associated objective. Second, content experts       |
| judged how well each item and objective measured the purported        |
| content domain.                                                       |
|                                                                       |
| When establishing validity for a newly developed test, it is common   |
| to correlate the examinee scores of the new test with the scores of   |
| other tests intended to measure similar content. The two tests need   |
| not be parallel or interchangeable, nor do they need to be used for   |
| the same purpose.                                                     |
|                                                                       |
| The Direct Assessment of Writing portion of the CMT is a single,      |
| extended-response measure and, therefore, considerably different from |
| the rest of the CMT tests. Validity concerns in this measure include  |
| the relationship of the writing sample with the other language arts   |
| scores. Correlations between the Direct Assessment of Writing test    |
| and other language arts tests (i.e., Degrees of Reading Power®,       |
| Reading Comprehension and Editing & Revising) were calculated to      |
| establish evidence of construct and concurrent validity.              |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

**PRINCIPLE 8. AYP is based on reading/language arts and mathematics
achievement objectives.**

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      | MEETING               |                       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      |                       | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 1.  Does the state   | State AYP             | State AYP             |
|     measure          | determination for     | determination for     |
|     achievement in   | student subgroups,    | student subgroups,    |
|     reading/language | public schools and    | public schools and    |
|     arts and         | LEAs separately       | LEAs averages or      |
|     mathematics      | measures              | combines achievement  |
|     separately for   | reading/language arts | across                |
|     determining AYP? | and mathematics.      | reading/language arts |
|                      | [^10]                 | and mathematics.      |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | AYP is a separate     |                       |
|                      | calculation for       |                       |
|                      | reading/language arts |                       |
|                      | and mathematics for   |                       |
|                      | each group, public    |                       |
|                      | school, and LEA.      |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| The AYP calculation  |                       |                       |
| will examine         |                       |                       |
| separately the       |                       |                       |
| proportion of        |                       |                       |
| students proficient  |                       |                       |
| in reading and       |                       |                       |
| mathematics, as well |                       |                       |
| as the rates of      |                       |                       |
| participation in     |                       |                       |
| reading and          |                       |                       |
| mathematics. In      |                       |                       |
| determining whether  |                       |                       |
| each subgroup,       |                       |                       |
| school, and          |                       |                       |
| district, as well as |                       |                       |
| the state as a whole |                       |                       |
| meets the annual     |                       |                       |
| measurable           |                       |                       |
| objectives,          |                       |                       |
| Connecticut will     |                       |                       |
| calculate --         |                       |                       |
| separately for       |                       |                       |
| reading and for      |                       |                       |
| mathematics -- the   |                       |                       |
| percentage of the    |                       |                       |
| tested students who  |                       |                       |
| achieve the          |                       |                       |
| proficient level or  |                       |                       |
| higher, examine      |                       |                       |
| participation rates  |                       |                       |
| and employ the safe  |                       |                       |
| harbor provision.    |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

**PRINCIPLE 9. State Accountability System is statistically valid and
reliable.**

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      | MEETING               |                       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      |                       | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 1.  How do AYP       | State has defined a   | State does not have   |
|     determinations   | method for            | an acceptable method  |
|     meet the State's | determining an        | for determining       |
|     standard for     | acceptable level of   | reliability (decision |
|     acceptable       | reliability (decision | consistency) of       |
|     reliability?     | consistency) for AYP  | accountability        |
|                      | decisions.            | decisions, e.g., it   |
|                      |                       | reports only          |
|                      | State provides        | reliability           |
|                      | evidence that         | coefficients for its  |
|                      | decision consistency  | assessments.          |
|                      | is (1) within the     |                       |
|                      | range deemed          | State has parameters  |
|                      | acceptable to the     | for acceptable        |
|                      | State, and (2) meets  | reliability; however, |
|                      | professional          | the actual            |
|                      | standards and         | reliability (decision |
|                      | practice.             | consistency) falls    |
|                      |                       | outside those         |
|                      | State publicly        | parameters.           |
|                      | reports the estimate  |                       |
|                      | of decision           | State's evidence      |
|                      | consistency, and      | regarding             |
|                      | incorporates it       | accountability        |
|                      | appropriately into    | reliability (decision |
|                      | accountability        | consistency) is not   |
|                      | decisions.            | updated.              |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | State updates         |                       |
|                      | analysis and          |                       |
|                      | reporting of decision |                       |
|                      | consistency at        |                       |
|                      | appropriate           |                       |
|                      | intervals.            |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| The historical       |                       |                       |
| reliability of the   |                       |                       |
| CMT and CAPT is very |                       |                       |
| high, with small     |                       |                       |
| standard errors of   |                       |                       |
| measurement.         |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| For                  |                       |                       |
| criterion-referenced |                       |                       |
| tests, the most      |                       |                       |
| appropriate type of  |                       |                       |
| reliability is       |                       |                       |
| decision accuracy    |                       |                       |
| (i.e., test          |                       |                       |
| classification       |                       |                       |
| versus "true         |                       |                       |
| scores") and         |                       |                       |
| consistency (i.e.,   |                       |                       |
| test classification  |                       |                       |
| versus hypothetical  |                       |                       |
| parallel test).      |                       |                       |
| Overall decision     |                       |                       |
| accuracy and         |                       |                       |
| consistency across   |                       |                       |
| all grades, subjects |                       |                       |
| and cut scores is    |                       |                       |
| very high (range=.67 |                       |                       |
| to .89).             |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| For school and       |                       |                       |
| district level AYP   |                       |                       |
| decisions,           |                       |                       |
| Connecticut will     |                       |                       |
| incorporate the use  |                       |                       |
| of a standard error  |                       |                       |
| for a sample         |                       |                       |
| proportion (SESP)    |                       |                       |
| into its model. When |                       |                       |
| calculations are     |                       |                       |
| made from a small    |                       |                       |
| number of students,  |                       |                       |
| they are less stable |                       |                       |
| than those made from |                       |                       |
| a large number of    |                       |                       |
| students. Also, for  |                       |                       |
| any given grade, the |                       |                       |
| school is evaluated  |                       |                       |
| on a different set   |                       |                       |
| of students from     |                       |                       |
| year to year. With a |                       |                       |
| SESP, a margin for   |                       |                       |
| error can be         |                       |                       |
| estimated that       |                       |                       |
| provides the range   |                       |                       |
| of values that       |                       |                       |
| should contain the   |                       |                       |
| value of a school's  |                       |                       |
| or subgroup's real   |                       |                       |
| performance for a    |                       |                       |
| specified percentage |                       |                       |
| of time. With this   |                       |                       |
| model, the margin    |                       |                       |
| for error for small  |                       |                       |
| schools is greater   |                       |                       |
| than the margin of   |                       |                       |
| error for schools    |                       |                       |
| with more students.  |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| Connecticut proposes |                       |                       |
| to incorporate a 75  |                       |                       |
| percent confidence   |                       |                       |
| interval to its safe |                       |                       |
| harbor               |                       |                       |
| calculations**.**    |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      | MEETING               |                       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      |                       | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 2.  What is the      | State has established | State does not have a |
|     State\'s process | a process for public  | system for handling   |
|     for making valid | schools and LEAs to   | appeals of            |
|     AYP              | appeal an             | accountability        |
|     determinations?  | accountability        | decisions.            |
|                      | decision.             |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Connecticut's        |                       |                       |
| assessment system    |                       |                       |
| results have been    |                       |                       |
| validated using      |                       |                       |
| comparisons with     |                       |                       |
| other standardized   |                       |                       |
| tests and review of  |                       |                       |
| alignment with state |                       |                       |
| curricular           |                       |                       |
| frameworks. These    |                       |                       |
| assessment results   |                       |                       |
| are the primary      |                       |                       |
| indicators on which  |                       |                       |
| AYP and schools *In  |                       |                       |
| Need of Improvement* |                       |                       |
| determinations are   |                       |                       |
| made.                |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| Connecticut's        |                       |                       |
| timeline for         |                       |                       |
| designation of AYP   |                       |                       |
| and school           |                       |                       |
| improvement status   |                       |                       |
| allows for a 30 day  |                       |                       |
| appeal process.      |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| +---+------------+   |                       |                       |
| | * |            |   |                       |                       |
| | * |            |   |                       |                       |
| | [ |            |   |                       |                       |
| | S |            |   |                       |                       |
| | A |            |   |                       |                       |
| | M |            |   |                       |                       |
| | P |            |   |                       |                       |
| | L |            |   |                       |                       |
| | E |            |   |                       |                       |
| | S |            |   |                       |                       |
| | C |            |   |                       |                       |
| | H |            |   |                       |                       |
| | E |            |   |                       |                       |
| | D |            |   |                       |                       |
| | U |            |   |                       |                       |
| | L |            |   |                       |                       |
| | E |            |   |                       |                       |
| | ] |            |   |                       |                       |
| | { |            |   |                       |                       |
| | . |            |   |                       |                       |
| | u |            |   |                       |                       |
| | n |            |   |                       |                       |
| | d |            |   |                       |                       |
| | e |            |   |                       |                       |
| | r |            |   |                       |                       |
| | l |            |   |                       |                       |
| | i |            |   |                       |                       |
| | n |            |   |                       |                       |
| | e |            |   |                       |                       |
| | } |            |   |                       |                       |
| | * |            |   |                       |                       |
| | * |            |   |                       |                       |
| +---+------------+   |                       |                       |
| | M | State      |   |                       |                       |
| | a | A          |   |                       |                       |
| | r | ssessments |   |                       |                       |
| | c |            |   |                       |                       |
| | h |            |   |                       |                       |
| +---+------------+   |                       |                       |
| | M | >          |   |                       |                       |
| | i | Assessment |   |                       |                       |
| | d | > results  |   |                       |                       |
| | - | > by       |   |                       |                       |
| | J | > school   |   |                       |                       |
| | u | > and      |   |                       |                       |
| | n | > district |   |                       |                       |
| | e | > provided |   |                       |                       |
| |   | > to       |   |                       |                       |
| | t | >          |   |                       |                       |
| | h | districts: |   |                       |                       |
| | r |            |   |                       |                       |
| | o | -   Paper  |   |                       |                       |
| | u |            |   |                       |                       |
| | g |    reports |   |                       |                       |
| | h |     and    |   |                       |                       |
| |   |            |   |                       |                       |
| | M | electronic |   |                       |                       |
| | i |     file   |   |                       |                       |
| | d |     of all |   |                       |                       |
| | - |            |   |                       |                       |
| | J |    student |   |                       |                       |
| | u |     data.  |   |                       |                       |
| | l |            |   |                       |                       |
| | y | -   State  |   |                       |                       |
| |   |            |   |                       |                       |
| |   |   provides |   |                       |                       |
| |   |            |   |                       |                       |
| |   |  software, |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     MTIS,  |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     for    |   |                       |                       |
| |   |            |   |                       |                       |
| |   |  districts |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     to     |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     verify |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     data.  |   |                       |                       |
| |   |            |   |                       |                       |
| |   | -   P      |   |                       |                       |
| |   | reliminary |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     d      |   |                       |                       |
| |   | esignation |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     of AYP |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     and    |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     p      |   |                       |                       |
| |   | reliminary |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     school |   |                       |                       |
| |   |     i      |   |                       |                       |
| |   | mprovement |   |                       |                       |
| |   |            |   |                       |                       |
| |   |    status. |   |                       |                       |
| |   |            |   |                       |                       |
| |   | >          |   |                       |                       |
| |   |  Districts |   |                       |                       |
| |   | > ve       |   |                       |                       |
| |   | rify/amend |   |                       |                       |
| |   | > student  |   |                       |                       |
| |   | > data.    |   |                       |                       |
| |   | >          |   |                       |                       |
| |   | >          |   |                       |                       |
| |   |  Districts |   |                       |                       |
| |   | > may      |   |                       |                       |
| |   | > appeal   |   |                       |                       |
| |   | > AYP      |   |                       |                       |
| |   | > status.  |   |                       |                       |
| +---+------------+   |                       |                       |
| | A | D          |   |                       |                       |
| | u | esignation |   |                       |                       |
| | g | of AYP and |   |                       |                       |
| | u | school     |   |                       |                       |
| | s | i          |   |                       |                       |
| | t | mprovement |   |                       |                       |
| | 1 | status --  |   |                       |                       |
| |   | sent to    |   |                       |                       |
| |   | districts  |   |                       |                       |
| |   | and on     |   |                       |                       |
| |   | Department |   |                       |                       |
| |   | website.   |   |                       |                       |
| +---+------------+   |                       |                       |
| | N | School and |   |                       |                       |
| | o | district   |   |                       |                       |
| | v | NCLB       |   |                       |                       |
| | e | Reports    |   |                       |                       |
| | m | sent to    |   |                       |                       |
| | b | districts. |   |                       |                       |
| | e |            |   |                       |                       |
| | r |            |   |                       |                       |
| | 1 |            |   |                       |                       |
| +---+------------+   |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF**       |
|                      | MEETING               |                       |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | ***NOT* MEETING       |
|                      |                       | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 3.  How has the      | State has a plan to   | State's transition    |
|     State planned    | maintain continuity   | plan interrupts       |
|     for              | in AYP decisions      | annual determination  |
|     incorporating    | necessary for         | of AYP.               |
|     into its         | validity through      |                       |
|     definition of    | planned assessment    | State does not have a |
|     AYP anticipated  | changes, and other    | plan for handling     |
|     changes in       | changes necessary to  | changes: e.g., to its |
|     assessments?     | comply fully with     | assessment system, or |
|                      | NCLB.[^11]            | the addition of new   |
|                      |                       | public schools.       |
|                      | State has a plan for  |                       |
|                      | including new public  |                       |
|                      | schools in the State  |                       |
|                      | Accountability        |                       |
|                      | System.               |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | State has a plan for  |                       |
|                      | periodically          |                       |
|                      | reviewing its State   |                       |
|                      | Accountability        |                       |
|                      | System, so that       |                       |
|                      | unforeseen changes    |                       |
|                      | can be quickly        |                       |
|                      | addressed.            |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Connecticut will     |                       |                       |
| incorporate grades   |                       |                       |
| 3, 5 and 7 into its  |                       |                       |
| state assessment     |                       |                       |
| system (currently 4, |                       |                       |
| 6, 8 and 10) in      |                       |                       |
| school year 2005-06. |                       |                       |
| The new assessments  |                       |                       |
| will be an extension |                       |                       |
| of the current       |                       |                       |
| assessment system.   |                       |                       |
| Current state        |                       |                       |
| standards will be    |                       |                       |
| "projected" onto the |                       |                       |
| new assessments so   |                       |                       |
| that the transition  |                       |                       |
| should be relatively |                       |                       |
| "seamless." Since    |                       |                       |
| Connecticut will     |                       |                       |
| calculate school and |                       |                       |
| district AYP by      |                       |                       |
| aggregating across   |                       |                       |
| grades, we don't     |                       |                       |
| foresee a problem in |                       |                       |
| maintaining          |                       |                       |
| continuity in AYP    |                       |                       |
| decisions.           |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| Connecticut has a    |                       |                       |
| long history of      |                       |                       |
| upgrading its        |                       |                       |
| statewide            |                       |                       |
| assessments every    |                       |                       |
| six or seven years.  |                       |                       |
| The current CMTs are |                       |                       |
| in the third         |                       |                       |
| generation, begun in |                       |                       |
| 2000 and ending in   |                       |                       |
| 2004-05. The current |                       |                       |
| CAPT is in its       |                       |                       |
| second generation,   |                       |                       |
| begun in 2001 and    |                       |                       |
| ending 2005-06. Each |                       |                       |
| move to a new        |                       |                       |
| generation           |                       |                       |
| maintained           |                       |                       |
| approximately 80     |                       |                       |
| percent of the       |                       |                       |
| format and content   |                       |                       |
| of the previous      |                       |                       |
| generation.          |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

**PRINCIPLE 10. In order for a public school or LEA to make AYP, the
State ensures that it assessed at least 95% of the students enrolled in
each subgroup.**

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF\        |
|                      | MEETING               | *NOT* MEETING         |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 1.  What is the      | State has a procedure | The state does not    |
|     State\'s method  | to determine the      | have a procedure for  |
|     for calculating  | number of absent or   | determining the rate  |
|     participation    | untested students (by | of students           |
|     rates in the     | subgroup and          | participating in      |
|     State            | aggregate).           | statewide             |
|     assessments for  |                       | assessments.          |
|     use in AYP       | State has a procedure |                       |
|     determinations?  | to determine the      | Public schools and    |
|                      | denominator (total    | LEAs are not held     |
|                      | enrollment) for the   | accountable for       |
|                      | 95% calculation (by   | testing at least 95%  |
|                      | subgroup and          | of their students.    |
|                      | aggregate).           |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
|                      | Public schools and    |                       |
|                      | LEAs are held         |                       |
|                      | accountable for       |                       |
|                      | reaching the 95%      |                       |
|                      | assessed goal.        |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Connecticut now has  |                       |                       |
| reliable October 1   |                       |                       |
| enrollment data from |                       |                       |
| the PSIS, and the    |                       |                       |
| CMT and CAPT         |                       |                       |
| assessment programs. |                       |                       |
| We annually          |                       |                       |
| calculate and report |                       |                       |
| participation rates  |                       |                       |
| on the standard      |                       |                       |
| state tests.         |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| For the School and   |                       |                       |
| District NCLB        |                       |                       |
| Federal Reports, the |                       |                       |
| calculation for      |                       |                       |
| student              |                       |                       |
| participation is as  |                       |                       |
| follows:             |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| > Number of Students |                       |                       |
| > Taking Any State   |                       |                       |
| > Tests              |                       |                       |
| >                    |                       |                       |
| > \_\_\_\_\_\_\_     |                       |                       |
| \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ |                       |                       |
| \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ |                       |                       |
| \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ |                       |                       |
| \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ |                       |                       |
| \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ |                       |                       |
| >                    |                       |                       |
| > Total Number of    |                       |                       |
| > Students Enrolled  |                       |                       |
| > at the Time Of     |                       |                       |
| > Test               |                       |                       |
| > Administration     |                       |                       |
|                      |                       |                       |
| Connecticut will     |                       |                       |
| calculate the        |                       |                       |
| average              |                       |                       |
| participation rate   |                       |                       |
| for the past one or  |                       |                       |
| two years and use    |                       |                       |
| the higher of the    |                       |                       |
| two numbers (the     |                       |                       |
| average or the       |                       |                       |
| current              |                       |                       |
| participation rate)  |                       |                       |
| to use to determine  |                       |                       |
| if the 95 percent    |                       |                       |
| participation        |                       |                       |
| requirement was met. |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| ## CRITICAL ELEMENT  | **EXAMPLES FOR\       | **EXAMPLES OF\        |
|                      | MEETING               | *NOT* MEETING         |
|                      | REQUIREMENTS**        | REQUIREMENTS**        |
+======================+=======================+=======================+
| 10.2 What is the     | State has a policy    | State does not have a |
| State\'s policy for  | that implements the   | procedure for making  |
| determining when the | regulation regarding  | this determination.   |
| 95% assessed         | the use of 95%        |                       |
| requirement should   | allowance when the    |                       |
| be applied?          | group is              |                       |
|                      | statistically         |                       |
|                      | significant according |                       |
|                      | to State rules.       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **STATE RESPONSE AND |                       |                       |
| STATE ACTIVITIES FOR |                       |                       |
| MEETING              |                       |                       |
| REQUIREMENTS**       |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Schools and          |                       |                       |
| districts are        |                       |                       |
| required to          |                       |                       |
| administer the       |                       |                       |
| statewide test to    |                       |                       |
| all students         |                       |                       |
| enrolled at the time |                       |                       |
| of the test.         |                       |                       |
| Schools, subgroups   |                       |                       |
| and districts in     |                       |                       |
| which at least 95    |                       |                       |
| percent of the       |                       |                       |
| students enrolled at |                       |                       |
| the time of the test |                       |                       |
| take the statewide   |                       |                       |
| assessment will meet |                       |                       |
| the AYP standard. An |                       |                       |
| *N* of 40 would be   |                       |                       |
| required to          |                       |                       |
| calculate the        |                       |                       |
| participation rate.  |                       |                       |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

# Appendix A

Required Data Elements for State Report Card

**1111(h)(1)(C)**

1\. Information, in the aggregate, on student achievement at each
proficiency level on the State academic assessments (disaggregated by
race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, migrant status, English
proficiency, and status as economically disadvantaged, except that such
disaggregation shall not be required in a case in which the number of
students in a category is insufficient to yield statistically reliable
information or the results would reveal personally identifiable
information about an individual student.

2\. Information that provides a comparison between the actual
achievement levels of each student subgroup and the State's annual
measurable objectives for each such group of students on each of the
academic assessments.

3\. The percentage of students not tested (disaggregated by the student
subgroups), except that such disaggregation shall not be required in a
case in which the number of students in a category is insufficient to
yield statistically reliable information or the results would reveal
personally identifiable information about an individual student.

4\. The most recent 2-year trend in student achievement in each subject
area, and for each grade level, for the required assessments.

5\. Aggregate information on any other indicators used by the State to
determine the adequate yearly progress of students in achieving State
academic achievement standards disaggregated by student subgroups.

6\. Graduation rates for secondary school students disaggregated by
student subgroups.

7\. Information on the performance of local educational agencies in the
State regarding making adequate yearly progress, including the number
and names of each school identified for school improvement under section
1116.

8\. The professional qualifications of teachers in the State, the
percentage of such teachers teaching with emergency or provisional
credentials, and the percentage of classes in the State not taught by
highly qualified teachers, in the aggregate and disaggregated by
high-poverty compared to low-poverty schools which (for this purpose)
means schools in the top quartile of poverty and the bottom quartile of
poverty in the State.

**Attachment A-1**

![](media/image2.png){width="6.963888888888889in" height="9.875in"}

![](media/image3.png){width="7.416666666666667in" height="8.75in"}

**School Code Options: A Guide for School Officials and Department
Staff**

**[General Description of a School]{.underline}**

While there is no statutory definition of a school, the following
general description of a school is provided by the Connecticut State
Department of Education (CSDE) for consideration in your deliberations.
If the instructional program meets the following criteria it should be
considered a [school]{.underline}.

**[Criteria:]{.underline}**

-   Is housed in an identifiable facility.

-   Has students enrolled for the full school year.

-   Has a faculty assigned to the facility.

-   Is run by a certified administrator who does not report to another
    school's administrator.

-   Provides a completely separate and self-contained learning
    experience.

-   Grants diplomas (at the secondary level).

-   Complies with all appropriate state statutes (e.g., operates for 180
    days and offers 900 hours of instruction).

If it is determined that a former program falls within the above general
description of a school, please contact Mr. William Choquette at (860)
713-6867 (e-mail <william.choquette@po.state.ct.us>) to obtain a school
code. All instructional programs with a [School Code]{.underline}
designation are required to complete all appropriate CSDE data report
forms. Please refer to the CSDE Data Acquisition Plan or contact Mr.
Choquette for a copy.

# School Code Procedures for CSDE (regular education programs)

1)  If the school district determines that the instructional program
    fits the description of a school, assign a school code.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
1)  If the school district determines that the instructional program
    [does not]{.underline} fit the description of a school, then the
    district must report [all]{.underline} student and staff information
    through the school that the students would normally attend.

School Code Options

Page 2

**[School Code Procedures for CSDE (special education
programs)]{.underline}**

1)  If the special education program is housed in a separate facility
    and is considered a school by the local school district, assign a
    school code.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
1)  If the special education program is housed in a separate facility
    that is not considered a school by the local school district, and
    the students are not reported through the school they would normally
    attend, assign a special education code 90-95.

2)  If the special education program is housed in a school with a
    different grade range than the special education population served
    (e.g., elementary special education students housed in a wing of the
    high school), and the students are not reported through the school
    they would normally attend, assign a special education code 90-95.

3)  If the special education program is housed in a school with the same
    grade range as the special education population served (e.g.,
    elementary special education students housed in an elementary
    school), the special education population would be reported along
    with regular education students.

> **[School Code Procedures for CSDE (Pre-Kindergarten
> programs)]{.underline}**

1)  If the pre-kindergarten program is housed in a separate facility,
    assign a pre-kindergarten code 80-87.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
1)  If the pre-kindergarten program is housed in a school with a grade
    range other than elementary (e.g., pre-kindergarten students housed
    in a wing of the high school), assign a pre-kindergarten code 80-87.

2)  If the pre-kindergarten program is housed in an elementary school
    (e.g., pre-kindergarten students housed in a K-5 elementary school),
    the pre-kindergarten students would be reported along with the
    regular school population.

Note: If pre-kindergarten students are also special education students,
they should always be reported using the 80-87 codes reserved for Pre-K
programs.

School Code Options

Page 3

## 

## School Code Structure

> Elementary Schools 01-49
>
> Middle Schools\* 50-59
>
> High Schools 60-79
>
> District-wide Pre K 80-87
>
> District-wide Special Education 90-95

-   Middle/Junior High Schools are defined as any school containing
    grade 7, 8, or 9 BUT not less than grade 4 or not higher than grade
    9 in grade range. A school that was just grade 7 or 8 or 9 would be
    considered a middle school. To be a middle school you have to have
    one of these three grades.

-   Two schools may share the same facility (e.g., a 7-12 junior/senior
    high school) can be reported as a junior high school using a
    middle/junior high school code and a high school using a high school
    code. In this case, separate date report forms would need to be
    completed and filed for each school.

A complete listing of schools and codes by district can be found in the
Connecticut Education Directory.

**Attachment A-2**

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **CMT and NCLB**      |                       |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
| **Comparison of       |                       |                       |
| Methods of Reporting  |                       |                       |
| Results**             |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **Topic**             | **CMT**               | **NCLB**              |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 1.  In what school    | The school attended   | The school attended   |
|     are students      | at the time of        | the prior year.       |
|     reported?         | testing.              | Schools serving       |
|                       |                       | students below Grade  |
|                       |                       | 3 develop own         |
|                       |                       | assessment method for |
|                       |                       | math and reading.     |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 2.  Are students who  | Yes                   | No                    |
|     are in a school   |                       |                       |
|     for less than a   |                       |                       |
|     year included     |                       |                       |
|     when reporting    |                       |                       |
|     results for that  |                       |                       |
|     school?           |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 3.  Are grades        | Yes                   | No                    |
|     reported          |                       |                       |
|     separately?       |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 4.  What is the key   | Percent at or above   | Percent at or above   |
|     reporting unit?   | Goal (Level 4,        | Proficient (Levels    |
|                       | including Advanced)   | III and IV)           |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 5.  What size group   | Groups of 10 or more  | Scores will be        |
|     is reported?      | are reported.         | reported whenever the |
|                       |                       | group result would    |
|                       |                       | not reveal an         |
|                       |                       | individual student's  |
|                       |                       | performance. Only     |
|                       |                       | groups of 20 will be  |
|                       |                       | included in           |
|                       |                       | determining school    |
|                       |                       | performance.          |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 6.  What levels are   | Advanced              | Advanced              |
|     reported?         |                       |                       |
|                       | Goal                  | Proficient            |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | Proficient            | Basic                 |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | Basic                 |                       |
|                       |                       |                       |
|                       | Below basic           |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 7.  What denominator  | The denominator is    | The denominator for   |
|     is used in        | the number of valid   | performance levels is |
|     calculating       | test scores. It does  | all students, except  |
|     performance?      | not include students  | students who were     |
|                       | who take OOL tests or | absent and did not    |
|                       | the Skills Checklist, | take a make-up test.  |
|                       | or students who are   |                       |
|                       | absent, exempt, use   |                       |
|                       | special               |                       |
|                       | modifications, leave  |                       |
|                       | a test blank, or      |                       |
|                       | whose Direct          |                       |
|                       | Assessment of Writing |                       |
|                       | tests are unable to   |                       |
|                       | be scored.            |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **Topic**             | **CMT**               | **NCLB**              |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 8.  How are           | Students taking the   | Students taking the   |
|     performance       | standard CMT will be  | standard CMT will be  |
|     levels determined | placed in a level     | placed in a level     |
|     for students      | based on the score    | based on the score    |
|     based on the test | earned. Those taking  | earned. Those taking  |
|     taken?            | OOL and Skills        | OOL, use special      |
|                       | Checklist are not put | modifications, leave  |
|                       | into levels with      | the test blank, or    |
|                       | students taking the   | are unable to be      |
|                       | grade level test. OOL | scored will be placed |
|                       | students are given    | in below basic.       |
|                       | OOL individual        | Students judged       |
|                       | reports with level    | proficient on the     |
|                       | information. Students | skills checklist will |
|                       | who are absent,       | be counted as         |
|                       | exempt, use special   | proficient.           |
|                       | modifications, leave  |                       |
|                       | a test blank, or      |                       |
|                       | whose Direct          |                       |
|                       | Assessment of Writing |                       |
|                       | tests are unable to   |                       |
|                       | be scored are not put |                       |
|                       | into levels.          |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 9.  Are scale scores  | Scale scores are      | No                    |
|     reported?         | reported for those    |                       |
|                       | students taking the   |                       |
|                       | standard CMT. Scale   |                       |
|                       | scores are not        |                       |
|                       | reported for those    |                       |
|                       | taking the Skills     |                       |
|                       | Checklist or for      |                       |
|                       | those students who    |                       |
|                       | are absent, exempt,   |                       |
|                       | use special           |                       |
|                       | modifications, or     |                       |
|                       | leave a test blank,   |                       |
|                       | or whose Direct       |                       |
|                       | Assessment of Writing |                       |
|                       | tests are unable to   |                       |
|                       | be scored. OOL        |                       |
|                       | students have scale   |                       |
|                       | scores reported on    |                       |
|                       | OOL reports but not   |                       |
|                       | on grade level        |                       |
|                       | reports.              |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 10. Is non-scorable a | Non-scorable is       | Non-scorable students |
|     reported          | reported for the      | are automatically put |
|     category?         | Direct Assessment of  | in the below basic    |
|                       | Writing test only, as | level for Writing.    |
|                       | applicable. In that   |                       |
|                       | case, a student does  |                       |
|                       | not receive total     |                       |
|                       | Writing scale score.  |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 11. How are "Void"    | Students are no       | Voids are not         |
|     students handled? | longer reported as    | reported. When a      |
|                       | Voids. When a student | student becomes ill   |
|                       | becomes ill or cheats | or cheats on any      |
|                       | on any subtest (these | subtest, they must be |
|                       | are the only two      | given a breach form   |
|                       | situations when a     | of the test. That     |
|                       | Void was previously   | student is given the  |
|                       | given), students must | score earned on that  |
|                       | be administered a     | breach form.          |
|                       | breach form of the    |                       |
|                       | test. That student is |                       |
|                       | given the score       |                       |
|                       | earned on that breach |                       |
|                       | form.                 |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 12. How are Limited   | LEP students are      | LEP students are      |
|     English           | reported as a group.  | reported as a group.  |
|     Proficient (LEP)  |                       |                       |
|     students          |                       |                       |
|     reported?         |                       |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| **Topic**             | **CMT**               | **NCLB**              |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 13. How are special   | These students are    | Students taking OOL   |
|     education         | reported as taking    | tests are             |
|     students who take | OOL tests on the      | automatically         |
|     Out of Level      | standard rosters and  | reported in the below |
|     tests reported?   | are not reported with | basic level.          |
|                       | scale scores on       |                       |
|                       | levels. On the OOL    |                       |
|                       | roster, they are      |                       |
|                       | reported with scores  |                       |
|                       | and levels. OOL       |                       |
|                       | students are not      |                       |
|                       | included in the       |                       |
|                       | denominator when      |                       |
|                       | calculating           |                       |
|                       | performance on the    |                       |
|                       | standard test.        |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 14. How are special   | These students are    | Students judged       |
|     education         | reported as taking    | proficient on the     |
|     students who take | the Skills Checklist  | Skills Checklist      |
|     the Skills        | on the standard       | (limited to 1% of all |
|     Checklist         | rosters and are not   | students) are         |
|     reported?         | reported with scale   | reported as           |
|                       | scores or levels.     | proficient.           |
|                       | Skills Checklist      |                       |
|                       | students are not      |                       |
|                       | included in           |                       |
|                       | denominators when     |                       |
|                       | calculating           |                       |
|                       | performance on the    |                       |
|                       | standard test.        |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 15. How are students  | These students are    | These students are    |
|     reported who are  | not given scores and  | not given scores.     |
|     present but leave | are reported as       | These students are    |
|     a test blank?     | leaving a test blank. | included in the       |
|                       | These students are    | denominator for       |
|                       | not included in       | participation and     |
|                       | denominators when     | performance levels.   |
|                       | calculating           |                       |
|                       | performance on the    |                       |
|                       | standard test.        |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 16. How are students  | These students are    | These students are    |
|     who are absent    | not given sores and   | reported as absent    |
|     from the test     | are reported as       | and are not given     |
|     reported?         | absent. These         | scores. These         |
|                       | students are not      | students are included |
|                       | included in           | in the denominator    |
|                       | denominators when     | for participation but |
|                       | calculating           | NOT for performance   |
|                       | performance on the    | levels.               |
|                       | standard test.        |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 17. How are LEP       | These students are    | LEP students are no   |
|     students who are  | not given scores and  | longer exempt from    |
|     exempt reported?  | are reported as       | the state tests.      |
|                       | exempt. These         |                       |
|                       | students are not      |                       |
|                       | included in           |                       |
|                       | denominators when     |                       |
|                       | calculating           |                       |
|                       | performance on the    |                       |
|                       | standard test.        |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 18. What students are | Participation rates   | One participation     |
|     considered        | are calculated using  | rate is calculated.   |
|     participants and  | total enrollment as   | Students who take     |
|     how is            | the denominator. The  | standard, OOL, Skills |
|     participation     | percent of total      | Checklist, and        |
|     reported?         | enrollment in each    | students who use      |
|                       | category is provided: | special               |
|                       | standard, OOL, Skills | modifications, who    |
|                       | Checklist, exempt,    | leave a test blank,   |
|                       | absent, and No Valid  | or whose Direct       |
|                       | Score (includes       | Assessment of Writing |
|                       | students who leave a  | tests are unable to   |
|                       | test blank, students  | be scored are         |
|                       | who use special       | included as           |
|                       | modifications, and    | participants. Absent  |
|                       | students whose Direct | students are not      |
|                       | Assessment of Writing | included as           |
|                       | tests are unable to   | participants. The     |
|                       | be scored.)           | denominator includes  |
|                       |                       | all students.         |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

**Attachment A-3**

# Final

**06/10/04**

**CRITERIA FOR EXEMPTION FROM TESTING DUE TO A MEDICAL EMERGENCY**

**The exemption determination for a medical emergency rests primarily on
the following criteria.**

**The student is unable to attend school and is medically/emotionally
unavailable for homebound/hospitalized instruction.**

[Rationale]{.underline}: We typically consider students who are well
enough to receive homebound or hospitalized instruction well enough to
be tested. The test schedule can be modified for these students so that
they take only one test a day.

While we ask that the medical emergency be attested to by a physician,
this attestation speaks to whether or not the student is available for
homebound/hospitalized instruction. The physician is not asked to
determine whether the student should take the test; the physician should
determine whether the student is well enough to receive homebound or
hospitalized instruction.

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

**Factors to consider when in conversation with parents and/or school
district personnel.**

**The illness, injury or condition is of an unexpected nature. It is not
a chronic condition.**

[Rationale:]{.underline} It is expected that if the student has a
chronic condition the district has taken the necessary steps to provide
homebound/hospitalized instruction as necessary; has accommodations in
place for test administration and is generally prepared to deal with the
situation.

**The emergency may be physical or emotional in nature, e.g., psychotic
episode requiring hospitalization.**

[Rationale]{.underline}: Especially with adolescents, it is not unusual
that the medical emergency is emotional in nature rather than just
physical. We need to be sensitive to these emotional issues without
exempting large numbers of students who are "nervous" and/or "anxious"
about the test. We will need documentation of emotional incapacitation
resulting in unavailability for instruction as determined by a qualified
medical professional as the criteria for an emotional issue that is
severe enough to warrant an exemption.

**The student is absent due to a documented medical condition for the
whole test window, including the make-up period.**

[Rationale:]{.underline} The testing window is generally long enough (
about 3 weeks) to allow sufficient time for a student to make up any
testing that has been missed. If the student has recovered and has time
to make up the testing during the testing window, an exemption is not
warranted.

**Documentation of the medical emergency is required. The physician or
psychiatrist must attest to the inability of the student to be available
for instruction and testing. Physician means a Doctor of Medicine or
Osteopathy licensed to practice medicine and surgery according to
Chapter 370 and 371 of the Connecticut General Statutes, or licensed to
practice medicine in another state. For the purpose of determining a
medical emergency, this means attestation required from an MD, DO or
Psychiatrist. Attestations from social workers will not suffice.**

[Rationale:]{.underline} The circumstances surrounding a medical
emergency must have a significant impact on the student's ability to
participate in the entire test. Since we are looking for documentation
of a medical condition, it seems reasonable to expect the documentation
come from the student's doctor.

**It may be necessary for the school nurse to have a discussion with the
medical personnel caring for the student in order to fully understand
the emergency situation, rather than relying solely upon district or
parental explanations of the situation.**

[Rationale]{.underline}: It is not uncommon during the testing window to
have school personnel or parents call the CSDE to report on the
medical/emotional status of a student as an argument for not
participating in the test. It is frequently difficult to make a valid
judgment about such circumstances from afar. Having the school nurse in
communication with the doctor, as necessary, will be helpful in
determining and communicating the extent of the medical emergency. The
school nurse will need to obtain proper authorization from the parent to
communicate directly with the physician caring for the student.

**The district may have to wait until the end of the test window to
determine if the student will have qualified for a medical emergency
exemption, will be considered absent, or will participate in some or all
of the subtests.**

[Rationale]{.underline}: It is often difficult in the week(s) before the
testing window to predict the extent of the medical emergency and
whether the student will be able to participate in the test during the
course of the test window.

**The Department will need to develop a method of collecting the
exemption-for-medical emergency-data regarding who and where these
students are in any given test administration.**

[Rationale]{.underline}: Based on past practice, the USDE and/or NCEO,
CCSSO or some other agency or organization will want this data. We can
keep it in much the same way we currently collect the "special
accommodations/modifications" information.

**If the district is able to have a discussion with CSDE staff about the
particular student in question and submit appropriate medical
documentation prior to the end of the test window, then no answer
booklet will be submitted to the test contractor for scoring. This
student will not be reflected in CAPT reports or in the AYP
calculations.**

**If the district is unable to secure and submit medical documentation
to the CSDE before the end of the test window, a test booklet must be
submitted for the student. The student will be recorded as absent in
CAPT reports but will not be included in AYP calculations.**

[Rationale:]{.underline} Because medical documentation is necessary for
the exemption determination, until the documentation is available for
review and discussion there is no exemption. Thus, an answer booklet
must be submitted. There is no easy way to "pull" an answer booklet once
it has been submitted to the test contractor for scoring.

[^1]: System of State achievement standards will be reviewed by the
    Standards and Assessments Peer Review. The Accountability Peer
    Review will determine that achievement levels are used in
    determining AYP.

[^2]: The state must provide rewards and sanctions for all public
    schools and LEAs for making adequate yearly progress, except that
    the State is not required to hold schools and LEAs not receiving
    Title I funds to the requirements of section 1116 of NCLB
    \[§200.12(b)(40)\].

[^3]: If the state has separate assessments to cover its language arts
    standards (e.g., reading and writing), the State must create a
    method to include scores from all the relevant assessments.

[^4]: Decisions may be based upon several years of data and data may be
    averaged across grades within a public school \[§1111(b) (2) (J)\].

[^5]: The minimum number is not required to be the same for reporting
    and accountability.

[^6]: The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits an
    LEA that receives Federal funds from releasing, without the prior
    written consent of a student's parents, any personally identifiable
    information contained in a student's education record.

[^7]: State Assessment System will be reviewed by the Standards and
    Assessments Peer Review Team.

[^8]: See USC 6311(b)(2)(I)(i), and 34 C.F.R. 200.20(b)

[^9]: NCLB only lists these indicators as examples.

[^10]: If the state has more than one assessment to cover its language
    arts standards, the State must create a method for including scores
    from all the relevant assessments.

[^11]: Several events may occur which necessitate such a plan. For
    example, (1) the State may need to include additional assessments in
    grades 3-8 by 2005-06; (2) the State may revise content and/or
    academic achievement standards; (3) the State may need to
    recalculate the starting point with the addition of new assessments;
    or (4) the State may need to incorporate the graduation rate or
    other indicators into its State Accountability System. These events
    may require new calculations of validity and reliability.