Tired of Waiting for Reauthorization, the Department of Education Regulates

On Tuesday, the Department of Education unveiled a new set of proposed regulations on No Child Left Behind. The major announcement was details about the new, uniform graduation rate formula that all states will have to use for NCLB accountability purposes going forward. In addition, the Department outlined new requirements for district implementation of the Supplemental Educational Services (SES) provision.

In general, the proposed regulations focus on greater transparency for what’s already happening in each state. At a briefing in Washington D.C., U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon said that the Department wants to make sure states and districts can justify what they are doing on assessment and accountability. He also raised concerns that districts are not adequately implementing NCLB’s restructuring and SES requirements, and said that the Department wants to detail and reinforce what is already required by the law.

Here’s a quick summary of the new proposed regulations, which were published today in the Federal Register and will be open for comment for 90 days:

• Uniform Graduation Rates

  By 2012-13, states, districts, and schools would have to use a “cohort graduation rate” formula, consistent with the National Governor’s Association’s formula.

  Because it will take time for many states to collect the necessary data, they would have to use an “averaged freshman graduation rate” (AFGR) in the interim.

  Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP): States currently require schools to show some improvement (generally only a minimal amount) in graduation rates in order to make AYP under NCLB. The Department wants to require that states set a specific goal and a timeline for improvement in graduation rates.

  Disaggregation: By 2012-13, states would also have to report disaggregated graduation rates and use them in AYP calculations. In the meantime, disaggregated AFGR rates would have to be reported; however, because the AFGR is not accurate enough for small data groups, disaggregation would not be used for accountability purposes at the school level until the more accurate rate is available.

• Transparency & Clarification

  “N” Size: States are currently allowed to set their own minimum subgroup sizes (“N” sizes) for AYP reporting. The Department is concerned that too many students are being excluded in some states with large N sizes, and proposes requiring states to justify their N sizes and other technical AYP components in their accountability workbooks. These explanations would then undergo a peer review.

  Restructuring: The Department wants to clarify school restructuring requirements, which it believes aren’t being effectively implemented. Districts would have to show that schools in the restructuring phase are receiving much more comprehensive, tailored interventions than schools in earlier, corrective action phases.

• Supplemental Education Services and School Choice

  Parental Notification: Schools would have to notify parents of their school choice options at least 14 days before the start of the school year. When schools send out notices of SES eligibility, they would have to be “clearly distinguishable” from other NCLB information.

  State Approval and Monitoring: The Department wants states to provide more information about how they approve and evaluate SES providers. In addition, the Department wants to expand the list of factors that a state must take into account when approving or monitoring the effectiveness of providers.

  Title I Funds: Districts are not allowed to count the costs of parental outreach towards the 20 percent of their Title I grant that must go to SES and school choice. The Department proposes permitting districts to count those costs, up to 0.2 percent of the total Title I allocation. In addition, districts would have to prove that they have sufficiently exhausted SES and school choice opportunities before they could reallocate any remaining funds to other purposes.