State plans

For any State desiring to receive a grant under this part, the State educational agency shall file with the Secretary a plan that is— Consultation required under paragraph (1)(A) shall not interfere with the timely submission of the plan required under this section. A State plan submitted under paragraph (1) may be submitted as part of a consolidated plan under section 7842 of this title. The Secretary shall— establish multidisciplinary peer-review teams and appoint members of such teams— who are representative of— researchers who are familiar with— have the authority to disapprove a State plan only if— the Secretary— offers the State an opportunity to revise and resubmit its State plan, and provides the State— the State— The peer-review process shall be designed to— Peer reviewers shall conduct an objective review of State plans in their totality and out of respect for State and local judgments, with the goal of supporting State- and local-led innovation and providing objective feedback on the technical and overall quality of a State plan. Neither the Secretary nor the political appointees of the Department, may attempt to participate in, or influence, the peer-review process. All written communications, feedback, and notifications under this subsection shall be conducted in a manner that is transparent and immediately made available to the public on the Department’s website, including— Each State plan shall— If a State makes significant changes to its plan at any time, such as the adoption of new challenging State academic standards or new academic assessments under subsection (b), or changes to its accountability system under subsection (c), such information shall be submitted to the Secretary in the form of revisions or amendments to the State plan. The Secretary shall review the information submitted under clause (i) and approve changes to the State plan, or disapprove such changes in accordance with paragraph (4)(A)(vi), within 90 days, without undertaking the peer-review process under such paragraph. If a State makes changes to its challenging State academic standards, the requirements of subsection (b)(1), including the requirement that such standards need not be submitted to the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(A), shall still apply. If a State fails to meet any of the requirements of this section, the Secretary may withhold funds for State administration under this part until the Secretary determines that the State has fulfilled those requirements. Each State shall make the State plan publicly available for public comment for a period of not less than 30 days, by electronic means and in an easily accessible format, prior to submission to the Secretary for approval under this subsection. The State, in the plan it files under this subsection, shall provide an assurance that public comments were taken into account in the development of the State plan. Each State, in the plan it files under subsection (a), shall provide an assurance that the State has adopted challenging academic content standards and aligned academic achievement standards (referred to in this chapter as “challenging State academic standards”), which achievement standards shall include not less than 3 levels of achievement, that will be used by the State, its local educational agencies, and its schools to carry out this part. A State shall not be required to submit such challenging State academic standards to the Secretary. Except as provided in subparagraph (E), the standards required by subparagraph (A) shall— The State shall have such academic standards for mathematics, reading or language arts, and science, and may have such standards for any other subject determined by the State. Each State shall demonstrate that the challenging State academic standards are aligned with entrance requirements for credit-bearing coursework in the system of public higher education in the State and relevant State career and technical education standards. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize public institutions of higher education to determine the specific challenging State academic standards required under this paragraph. The State may, through a documented and validated standards-setting process, adopt alternate academic achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, provided those standards— A State shall not develop, or implement for use under this part, any alternate academic achievement standards for children with disabilities that are not alternate academic achievement standards that meet the requirements of clause (i). Each State plan shall demonstrate that the State has adopted English language proficiency standards that— A State shall not be required to submit any standards developed under this subsection to the Secretary for review or approval. The Secretary shall not have the authority to mandate, direct, control, coerce, or exercise any direction or supervision over any of the challenging State academic standards adopted or implemented by a State. Nothing in this part shall prohibit a State from revising, consistent with this section, any standards adopted under this part before or after December 10, 2015. Each State plan shall demonstrate that the State educational agency, in consultation with local educational agencies, has implemented a set of high-quality student academic assessments in mathematics, reading or language arts, and science. The State retains the right to implement such assessments in any other subject chosen by the State. The assessments under subparagraph (A) shall— except as provided in subparagraph (D), be— in the case of mathematics and reading or language arts, be administered— in the case of science, be administered not less than one time during— provide for— at the State’s discretion— enable results to be disaggregated within each State, local educational agency, and school by— A State may exempt any 8th grade student from the assessment in mathematics described in subparagraph (B)(v)(I)(aa) if— in high school, such student takes a mathematics assessment pursuant to subparagraph (B)(v)(I)(bb) that— A State may provide for alternate assessments aligned with the challenging State academic standards and alternate academic achievement standards described in paragraph (1)(E) for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, if the State— ensures that the parents of such students are clearly informed, as part of the process for developing the individualized education program (as defined in section 614(d)(1)(A) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)(1)(A)))— describes in the State plan that general and special education teachers, and other appropriate staff— develops, disseminates information on, and promotes the use of appropriate accommodations to increase the number of students with significant cognitive disabilities— Subject to the authority and requirements for the individualized education program team for a child with a disability under section 614(d)(1)(A)(i)(VI)(bb) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)(1)(A)(i)(VI)(bb)), such team, consistent with the guidelines established by the State and required under section 612(a)(16)(C) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1412(c)(16)(C)) 55 So in original. Probably should be “(20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(16)(C))”. and clause (i)(II) of this subparagraph, shall determine when a child with a significant cognitive disability shall participate in an alternate assessment aligned with the alternate academic achievement standards. Nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to permit the Secretary or a State educational agency to impose on any local educational agency a cap on the percentage of students administered an alternate assessment under this subparagraph, except that a local educational agency exceeding the cap applied to the State under clause (i)(I) shall submit information to the State educational agency justifying the need to exceed such cap. A State shall provide appropriate oversight, as determined by the State, of any local educational agency that is required to submit information to the State under subclause (II). This subparagraph shall be subject to the waiver authority under section 7861 of this title. If a State educational agency provides evidence, which is satisfactory to the Secretary, that neither the State educational agency nor any other State government official, agency, or entity has sufficient authority, under State law, to adopt challenging State academic standards, and academic assessments aligned with such standards, which will be applicable to all students enrolled in the State’s public elementary schools and secondary schools, then the State educational agency may meet the requirements of this subsection by— adopting and implementing policies that ensure that each local educational agency in the State that receives grants under this part will adopt academic content and student academic achievement standards, and academic assessments aligned with such standards, which— Each State plan shall identify the languages other than English that are present to a significant extent in the participating student population of the State and indicate the languages for which annual student academic assessments are not available and are needed. The State shall make every effort to develop such assessments and may request assistance from the Secretary if linguistically accessible academic assessment measures are needed. Upon request, the Secretary shall assist with the identification of appropriate academic assessment measures in the needed languages, but shall not mandate a specific academic assessment or mode of instruction. Each State plan shall demonstrate that local educational agencies in the State will provide for an annual assessment of English proficiency of all English learners in the schools served by the State educational agency. The assessments described in clause (i) shall be aligned with the State’s English language proficiency standards described in paragraph (1)(F). Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit a local educational agency from administering a locally-selected assessment in lieu of the State-designed academic assessment under subclause (I)(bb) and subclause (II)(cc) of subparagraph (B)(v), if the local educational agency selects a nationally-recognized high school academic assessment that has been approved for use by the State as described in clause (iii) or (iv) of this subparagraph. To allow for State approval of nationally-recognized high school academic assessments that are available for local selection under clause (i), a State educational agency shall establish technical criteria to determine if any such assessment meets the requirements of clause (v). If a State educational agency chooses to make a nationally-recognized high school assessment available for selection by a local educational agency under clause (i), which has not already been approved under this clause, such State educational agency shall— If a local educational agency chooses to submit a nationally-recognized high school academic assessment to the State educational agency, subject to the approval process described in subclause (I) and subclause (II) of clause (iii) to determine if such assessment fulfills the requirements of clause (v), the State educational agency may approve the use of such assessment consistent with clause (i). Upon such approval, the State educational agency shall approve the use of such assessment in any other local educational agency in the State that subsequently requests to use such assessment without repeating the process described in subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (iii). To receive approval from the State educational agency under clause (iii), a locally-selected assessment shall— A local educational agency shall notify the parents of high school students served by the local educational agency— A State may defer the commencement, or suspend the administration, but not cease the development, of the assessments described in this paragraph, for 1 year for each year for which the amount appropriated for grants under part B is less than $369,100,000. Subject to clause (ii), a State retains the right to develop and administer computer adaptive assessments as the assessments described in this paragraph, provided the computer adaptive assessments meet the requirements of this paragraph, except that— such assessment— In developing and administering computer adaptive assessments— as the assessments allowed under subparagraph (D), a State shall ensure that such computer adaptive assessments— as the assessments required under subparagraph (G), a State shall ensure that such computer adaptive assessments— Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as preempting a State or local law regarding the decision of a parent to not have the parent’s child participate in the academic assessments under this paragraph. Subject to Federal or State requirements related to assessments, evaluations, and accommodations, each State may, at the sole discretion of such State, set a target limit on the aggregate amount of time devoted to the administration of assessments for each grade, expressed as a percentage of annual instructional hours. With respect to recently arrived English learners who have been enrolled in a school in one of the 50 States in the United States or the District of Columbia for less than 12 months, a State may choose to— exclude— for the purposes of the State-determined accountability system— With respect to a student previously identified as an English learner and for not more than 4 years after the student ceases to be identified as an English learner, a State may include the results of the student’s assessments under paragraph (2)(B)(v)(I) within the English learner subgroup of the subgroups of students (as defined in subsection (c)(2)(D)) for the purposes of the State-determined accountability system. Each State plan shall describe a statewide accountability system that complies with the requirements of this subsection and subsection (d). In this subsection and subsection (d), the term “subgroup of students” means— Each State shall describe— with respect to any provisions under this part that require disaggregation of information by each subgroup of students— The statewide accountability system described in paragraph (1) shall be based on the challenging State academic standards for reading or language arts and mathematics described in subsection (b)(1) to improve student academic achievement and school success. In designing such system to meet the requirements of this part, the State shall carry out the following: Establish ambitious State-designed long-term goals, which shall include measurements of interim progress toward meeting such goals— for all students and separately for each subgroup of students in the State— for, at a minimum, improved— high school graduation rates, including— Except for the indicator described in clause (iv), annually measure, for all students and separately for each subgroup of students, the following indicators: For all public schools in the State, based on the long-term goals established under subparagraph (A), academic achievement— For public elementary schools and secondary schools that are not high schools in the State— For public high schools in the State, and based on State-designed long term goals established under subparagraph (A)— For public schools in the State, progress in achieving English language proficiency, as defined by the State and measured by the assessments described in subsection (b)(2)(G), within a State-determined timeline for all English learners— For all public schools in the State, not less than one indicator of school quality or student success that— Establish a system of meaningfully differentiating, on an annual basis, all public schools in the State, which shall— with respect to the indicators described in clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (B) afford— Based on the system of meaningful differentiation described in subparagraph (C), establish a State-determined methodology to identify— beginning with school year 2017–2018, and at least once every three school years thereafter, one statewide category of schools for comprehensive support and improvement, as described in subsection (d)(1), which shall include— For the purpose of measuring, calculating, and reporting on the indicator described in subparagraph (B)(i), include in the denominator the greater of— In the case of a student who has not attended the same school within a local educational agency for at least half of a school year, the performance of such student on the indicators described in clauses (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) of subparagraph (B)— In the case of a high school student who has not attended the same school within a local educational agency for at least half of a school year and has exited high school without a regular high school diploma and without transferring to another high school that grants a regular high school diploma during such school year, the local educational agency shall, in order to calculate the graduation rate pursuant to subparagraph (B)(iii), assign such student to the high school— The accountability provisions under this chapter shall be overseen for charter schools in accordance with State charter school law. Each State educational agency receiving funds under this part shall notify each local educational agency in the State of any school served by the local educational agency that is identified for comprehensive support and improvement under subsection (c)(4)(D)(i). Upon receiving such information from the State, the local educational agency shall, for each school identified by the State and in partnership with stakeholders (including principals and other school leaders, teachers, and parents), locally develop and implement a comprehensive support and improvement plan for the school to improve student outcomes, that— With respect to any high school in the State identified under subsection (c)(4)(D)(i)(II), the State educational agency may— permit differentiated improvement activities that utilize evidence-based interventions in the case of such a school that predominantly serves students— A local educational agency may provide all students enrolled in a school identified by the State for comprehensive support and improvement under subsection (c)(4)(D)(i) with the option to transfer to another public school served by the local educational agency, unless such an option is prohibited by State law. In providing students the option to transfer to another public school, the local educational agency shall give priority to the lowest-achieving children from low-income families, as determined by the local educational agency for the purposes of allocating funds to schools under section 6313(a)(3) of this title. A student who uses the option to transfer to another public school shall be enrolled in classes and other activities in the public school to which the student transfers in the same manner as all other students at the public school. A local educational agency shall permit a student who transfers to another public school under this paragraph to remain in that school until the student has completed the highest grade in that school. A local educational agency may spend an amount equal to not more than 5 percent of its allocation under subpart 2 of this part to pay for the provision of transportation for students who transfer under this paragraph to the public schools to which the students transfer. Each State educational agency receiving funds under this part shall, using the meaningful differentiation of schools described in subsection (c)(4)(C)— Each school receiving a notification described in this paragraph, in partnership with stakeholders (including principals and other school leaders, teachers and parents), shall develop and implement a school-level targeted support and improvement plan to improve student outcomes based on the indicators in the statewide accountability system established under subsection (c)(4), for each subgroup of students that was the subject of notification that— A plan described in subparagraph (B) that is developed and implemented in any school receiving a notification under this paragraph from the local educational agency in which any subgroup of students, on its own, would lead to identification under subsection (c)(4)(D)(i)(I) using the State’s methodology under subsection (c)(4)(D) shall also identify resource inequities (which may include a review of local educational agency and school level budgeting), to be addressed through implementation of such plan. The State educational agency, based on the State’s differentiation of schools under subsection (c)(4)(C) for school year 2017–2018, shall notify local educational agencies of any schools served by the local educational agency in which any subgroup of students, on its own, would lead to identification under subsection (c)(4)(D)(i)(I) using the State’s methodology under subsection (c)(4)(D), after which notification of such schools under this paragraph shall result from differentiation of schools pursuant to subsection (c)(4)(C)(iii). To ensure continued progress to improve student academic achievement and school success in the State, the State educational agency— shall— establish statewide exit criteria for— periodically review resource allocation to support school improvement in each local educational agency in the State serving— provide technical assistance to each local educational agency in the State serving a significant number of— may— take action to initiate additional improvement in any local educational agency with— Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to alter or otherwise affect the rights, remedies, and procedures afforded to school or local educational agency employees under Federal, State, or local laws (including applicable regulations or court orders) or under the terms of collective bargaining agreements, memoranda of understanding, or other agreements between such employers and their employees. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize or permit the Secretary— when promulgating any rule or regulation, to promulgate any rule or regulation on the development or implementation of the statewide accountability system established under this section that would— as a condition of approval of the State plan, or revisions or amendments to, the State plan, or approval of a waiver request submitted under section 7861 of this title, to— prescribe— numeric long-term goals or measurements of interim progress that States establish for all students, for any subgroups of students, and for English learners with respect to English language proficiency, under this part, including— to issue new non-regulatory guidance that— In carrying out this part, the Secretary shall not, through regulation or as a condition of approval of the State plan or revisions or amendments to the State plan, promulgate a definition of any term used in this part, or otherwise prescribe any specification for any such term, that is inconsistent with or outside the scope of this part or is in violation of paragraph (1). Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter any State law or regulation granting parents authority over schools that repeatedly failed to make adequate yearly progress under this part, as in effect on the day before December 10, 2015. Each State plan shall describe— how the State educational agency will support local educational agencies receiving assistance under this part to improve school conditions for student learning, including through reducing— the steps a State educational agency will take to ensure collaboration with the State agency responsible for administering the State plans under parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq. and 670 et seq.) to ensure the educational stability of children in foster care, including assurances that— Each State plan shall contain assurances that— the State educational agency will provide the information described in clauses (ii), (iii), and (vii) of subsection (h)(1)(C) to the public in an easily accessible and user-friendly manner that can be cross-tabulated by, at a minimum, each major racial and ethnic group, gender, English proficiency status, and children with or without disabilities, which— shall be presented in a manner that— Nothing in paragraph (2)(N) shall be construed to— Upon request by a State educational agency, the Secretary shall provide technical assistance to such agency to— A State that receives assistance under this part shall prepare and disseminate widely to the public an annual State report card for the State as a whole that meets the requirements of this paragraph. The State report card required under this paragraph shall be— Each State report card required under this subsection shall include the following information: A clear and concise description of the State’s accountability system under subsection (c), including— the State’s system for meaningfully differentiating all public schools in the State, including— For all students and disaggregated by each of the subgroups of students, as defined in subsection (c)(2), and for purposes of subclause (II) of this clause, homeless status and status as a child in foster care— Information submitted by the State educational agency and each local educational agency in the State, in accordance with data collection conducted pursuant to section 3413(c)(1) of this title, on— the number and percentage of students enrolled in— The professional qualifications of teachers in the State, including information (that shall be presented in the aggregate and disaggregated by high-poverty compared to low-poverty schools) on the number and percentage of— Where available, for each high school in the State, and beginning with the report card prepared under this paragraph for 2017, the cohort rate (in the aggregate, and disaggregated for each subgroup of students defined in subsection (c)(2)), at which students who graduate from the high school enroll, for the first academic year that begins after the students’ graduation— Nothing in subparagraph (C)(viii) shall be construed as requiring— A local educational agency that receives assistance under this part shall prepare and disseminate an annual local educational agency report card that includes information on such agency as a whole and each school served by the agency. Each local educational agency report card shall be— accessible to the public, which shall include— The State educational agency shall ensure that each local educational agency collects appropriate data and includes in the local educational agency’s annual report the information described in paragraph (1)(C), disaggregated in the same manner as required under such paragraph, except for clause (xii) of such paragraph, as applied to the local educational agency and each school served by the local educational agency, including— In the case of a local educational agency that issues a report card for all students, the local educational agency may include the information under this section as part of such report. A State educational agency or local educational agency may use public report cards on the performance of students, schools, local educational agencies, or the State, that were in effect prior to December 10, 2015, for the purpose of this subsection, so long as any such report card is modified, as may be needed, to contain the information required by this subsection, and protects the privacy of individual students. Each State educational agency and local educational agency receiving assistance under this part shall, wherever possible, take steps to reduce data collection costs and duplication of effort by obtaining the information required under this subsection through existing data collection efforts. Each State educational agency receiving assistance under this part shall report annually to the Secretary, and make widely available within the State— the number and names of each public school in the State— information on the professional qualifications of teachers in the State, including information on the number and the percentage of the following teachers: Information collected or disseminated under this section (including any information collected for or included in the reports described in subsection (h)) shall be collected and disseminated in a manner that protects the privacy of individuals consistent with section 1232g of this title (commonly known as the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974”) and this chapter. The reports described in subsection (h) shall only include data that are sufficient to yield statistically reliable information. Disaggregation under this section shall not be required if such disaggregation will reveal personally identifiable information about any student, teacher, principal, or other school leader, or will provide data that are insufficient to yield statistically reliable information. A State retains the right to enter into a voluntary partnership with another State to develop and implement the challenging State academic standards and assessments required under this section, except that the Secretary shall not attempt to influence, incentivize, or coerce State— In determining the assessments to be used by each school operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Education receiving funds under this part, the following shall apply until the requirements of section 7824(c) of this title have been met: Nothing in this part shall be construed to prescribe the use of the academic assessments described in this part for student promotion or graduation purposes.