December 11, 2003

Dear Chief State School Officers:

No Child Left Behind provides historic levels of resources and flexibility 
  to improve results for all children, especially for those who may need extra 
  assistance meeting state goals. In NCLB, we have a powerful tool to support 
  our efforts to provide all children opportunities to make progress, meet academic 
  goals, and receive the education they deserve.

One of our continuing challenges is that, in some cases, students with disabilities 
  have been excluded from assessments and accountability systems, and as a result 
  they may not have received the academic attention that they deserved. As parents 
  of children with disabilities note, such exclusion not only makes it difficult 
  for parents to know whether their children are getting a quality education, 
  but also wrongly stigmatizes children with disabilities as unable to achieve 
  to high standards. Through the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities 
  Education Act (IDEA), we have been working to include all students with disabilities 
  in state assessments and increase their access to the general curriculum.

I am writing to inform you of a new regulation that offers some valuable flexibility 
  in meeting the law's goals for including students with disabilities in state 
  assessment and accountability systems. The Department developed this regulation 
  after publishing a proposed regulation and considering the public comments we 
  received.

Specifically, this new regulation permits states to use alternate achievement 
  standards to measure the progress of students with the most significant cognitive 
  disabilities. These alternate achievement standards must be aligned with the 
  state's academic content standards, promote access to the general curriculum, 
  and reflect professional judgment of the highest achievement standards possible; 
  they do not, however, have to measure grade-level achievement. When measuring 
  Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), states and school districts may count the "proficient" or "advanced" scores of students with the 
  most significant cognitive disabilities who take assessments based on alternate 
  achievement standards - so long as the number of those proficient and advanced 
  scores does not exceed one percent of all students in the grades tested at the 
  state or district level, respectively (about nine percent of students with disabilities). 
  Without this flexibility, those scores would have to be assessed against grade-level 
  standards and would be considered "not proficient."

The new provision will ensure that schools, districts and states receive credit 
  for the progress of all children - including students with the most significant 
  cognitive disabilities. The new regulation takes effect on January 8, 2004. 
  The regulation is available on our website at http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/finrule/2003-4/120903a.html.

This new provision also protects children with disabilities from being excluded 
  from accountability systems that provide valuable information to parents and 
  educators. All students - including students with disabilities - deserve teachers 
  who believe in their potential and who will encourage them to achieve to high 
  standards, just as all parents and teachers ought to have the assessment information 
  they need to target their efforts and provide all students a high-quality education.

I am enclosing a summary of the key regulatory provisions. I have also directed 
  my staff to undertake a number of outreach efforts to ensure that information 
  on this new regulation is accessible and clearly understood. Information on 
  these efforts will be forthcoming. As you work to improve the accessibility 
  of your assessment and accountability system for the widest range of students 
  possible, we would like to hear from you about how we can help.

If you wish to discuss the implications of this regulation for your state assessment 
  and accountability system, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for 
  your many efforts on behalf of these students. I look forward to our continued 
  partnership as we work together to ensure no child is left behind.

Sincerely,

/s/

Rod Paige



Enclosure

|Last Modified: 04/14/2004
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