Accountability

Please reach out to you District Data Coordinator with specific questions regarding your district.

Update April 6: Board of Regents Action

School and District Accountability

The federal government has provided New York State with a one-year waiver from provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) pertaining to State assessments and school and district accountability determinations due to the unique circumstances that have arisen as a result of the COVOID-19 crisis. Therefore, the Department amends the Commissioner’s regulations to specify that the Commissioner will not conduct a review of school and district performance using 2019-20 school year data. The accountability status of public schools and districts for the 2020-21 school year will remain the same as for the 2019-20 school year; and 2018-19 school year results shall be used in any instance where 2019-20 school year results would have been used as part of the process of making 2021-22 school year accountability determinations.

Additionally, the proposed amendment provides that the Commissioner may, upon a finding of good cause, modify timelines for the 2019-20 through 2021-22 school years [any required timelines] pertaining to notifications, plans, reports, or implementation of activities required of schools and districts because of their accountability status during those school years.

Update: On March 26, 2020, NYSED applied for a waiver of "assessments, accountability and school identification, and reporting requirements". The waiver request contains the following specifics:

1. Assessment requirements in section 1111(b)(2): the requirements to administer all required assessments in school year 2019-2020.

2. Accountability and school identification requirements in sections 1111(c)(4) and1111(d)(2)(C)-(D): the requirements that a State annually meaningfully differentiate all public schools and the requirements to identify schools for comprehensive and targeted support and improvement and additional targeted support and improvement based on data from the 2019-2020 school year.

3. Report card provisions related to certain assessments and accountability in section1111(h) based on data from the 2019-2020 school year.

With regard to state assessments, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) has indicated that it "will apply for waivers for schools impacted by the extraordinary circumstances associated with COVID-19 to the greatest extent permitted by federal law. Additionally, NYSED will ensure that no school or district is unfairly penalized for closures due to COVID-19." USDOE has indicated that it will consider targeted one-year waivers for an impacted school to not factor the participation rate into its Academic Achievement indicator and to exclude the chronic absenteeism indicator from a State’s accountability system. NYSED will apply for such waivers for schools impacted by the extraordinary circumstances associated with COVID-19 to the greatest extent permitted by federal law.

The U.S. Department of Education (USDoE) has published a Fact Sheet: Impact of COVID-19 on Assessments and Accountability under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It states that the Secretary of the USDoE is permitted "to grant waivers of certain ESEA requirements and, thus, allows the Department to provide some flexibility to schools, districts, and States that may be necessary due to the impact of COVID-19 on the provision of educational services. "

Other key excerpts from the USDoE Fact Sheet include:

• Overall Accountability:

"If needed, the Department would consider a targeted one-year waiver of the requirement to identify a school for comprehensive or targeted support and improvement if the reason for the identification was related to the school being closed for a significant portion of the school year. "

• Assessments:

"The Department generally does not grant statewide waivers of assessment requirements ... However, due to the unique circumstances that may arise as a result of COVID-19... the Department would consider a targeted one-year waiver of the assessment requirements for those schools impacted by the extraordinary circumstances. States with schools that must close due to the COVID-19 may also want to consider whether it is possible to adjust or extend the testing window to accommodate as many students as possible, including students in schools that were closed for some period."

• 95 percent assessment participation rate:

"We [USDOE] recognize that students may be absent during the test window, leading to a participation rate below 95 percent. In such a case, the Department would consider a targeted one-year waiver for an impacted school to not factor the participation rate into its Academic Achievement indicator."

• Chronic absenteeism:

"This indicator is perhaps the most likely to be impacted by COVID-19 due to school closures or student absences. For this reason, the Department would consider a one-year waiver to exclude this indicator from a State’s accountability system."