February 7, 2007

Dear Chief State School Officer:

I want to take this opportunity to update you on several recent developments related 
to the implementation of the assessment and accountability requirements of Title 
I. Our primary goal continues to be for all students to reach grade-level standards 
by 2013–14. I emphatically support the cornerstones of the *No Child 
Left Behind Act of 2001* (NCLB): all students must be held to challenging 
academic content and achievement standards; their progress must be measured annually 
by high-quality assessments aligned with those high standards; and schools and 
school districts must be held accountable for achieving results.

One key step in achieving these goals is for each State to have a fully approved 
  assessment system that meets the requirements of NCLB. Annually assessing all 
  students is essential for tracking progress toward proficiency in reading and 
  mathematics and for determining areas where improvements in instruction and 
  achievement may be needed. Currently, 18 State assessment systems are *Fully 
  Approved*. Two State assessment systems are in *Approval Expected* 
  status, which means that the evidence submitted to date suggests that these 
  systems are fully compliant but a few final technical pieces must be peer reviewed. 
  I applaud these States for meeting the requirements of NCLB and appreciate the 
  hard work required to do so. The remaining States have an assessment system 
  that is in *Approval Pending* status. I remind you that all States must 
  administer a fully approved assessment system this school year or risk substantial 
  consequences. The Department remains available to provide technical assistance, 
  however necessary, to help States meet this deadline.

A second important step to meeting the goals of NCLB is school and district 
  accountability. As you know, in November 2005, I announced a pilot program for 
  up to ten States to use a longitudinal student growth model in their accountability 
  systems. The goal of this pilot is to determine whether measures of individual 
  student growth across grades can provide another measure of school accountability. 
  To date, I have approved North Carolina, Tennessee, Delaware, and Arkansas to 
  include their growth model in determinations of adequate yearly progress (AYP). 
  In addition, Florida’s model is approved provided its standards and assessment 
  system receives full approval by the end of the 2006–07 school year. Currently, 
  we are reviewing growth model proposals from an additional ten States to determine 
  whether they meet the requirements we have established for inclusion in the 
  pilot. Proposals that meet these principles will be forwarded to a group of 
  peers that includes both members from the original panel as well as a number 
  of new members. The peers will meet in March to review each proposal based on 
  the Peer Review Guidance (http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/growthmodelguidance.doc) 
  issued by the Department. I am pleased to announce that Dr. Anthony Bryk from 
  Stanford University will chair this review panel. The other peer reviewers, 
  who represent academia, private organizations, and State and local educational 
  agencies, are listed in Enclosure A.

I also would like to take a moment to update you on the December 2005 notice 
  of proposed rulemaking that would permit States to develop modified academic 
  achievement standards for a limited group of students with disabilities who 
  may not be able to reach grade-level academic achievement standards within the 
  same timeframe as other students. We expect, very shortly, to issue the final 
  regulations on this issue. During the drafting of the proposed rule and while 
  it was out for public comment, eligible States that expressed interest in developing 
  modified academic achievement standards were able to take advantage of interim 
  flexibility. For the 2004–05 school year, 31 States were permitted to 
  exercise additional flexibility in determining AYP for the students with disabilities 
  subgroup (based on assessments given during that school year). For the 2005–06 
  school year, 28 States were permitted to exercise this flexibility.

Today, I am announcing that I am extending this flexibility for the 2006–07 
  school year to eligible States. To qualify for this flexibility in 2006–07, 
  a State must assess all students and meet other specific core requirements of 
  NCLB related to students with disabilities (see www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/raising/disab-acctplan.html 
  for those requirements and Enclosure B for a description of the flexibility 
  options). Please also note that we will take into account the approval status 
  of a State’s standards and assessment system when determining whether 
  a State is eligible for this flexibility. Any State interested in this interim 
  flexibility, including those previously approved, must submit an amendment to 
  its accountability plan providing recent data in support of its request.

A State that desires to take advantage of the interim flexibility or request 
  other amendments to its Accountability Workbook must submit to the Department 
  a written request, including the rationale for the amendment and any evidence 
  relevant to the effect the amendment may have on the State’s accountability 
  system. States should submit proposed amendments that apply to AYP determinations 
  based on data from the 2006–07 school year as soon as possible, but no 
  later than February 15, 2007. This timeline is designed to provide sufficient 
  time for the Department to review and approve the amendments and to notify the 
  State of such approval so that the State can apply the amendments without delaying 
  AYP determinations and school improvement identifications. I would like to emphasize 
  that the State must receive approval for its amendments from the Department 
  and incorporate them into its Consolidated State Application Accountability 
  Workbook *prior to implementing any revisions to its accountability plan*. 
  In an effort to improve the transparency of the accountability workbook amendment 
  process, this year the Department will provide formal feedback on all amendment 
  requests, including those we cannot approve.

Thank you for your continued hard work to make the goals of NCLB a reality. 
  We are beginning to see real and meaningful improvements in student achievement. 
  These outcomes are due, in no small part, to the efforts of the dedicated educators 
  in each State.

| | Sincerely,        
| | ------------------
| | /s/               
| | Margaret Spellings

Enclosure A

Enclosure B

|Last Modified: 02/26/2007
|-------------------------