6/14/2016 “A Horse of a Different Color” No Child Left Behind and Accountability The State Testing Program Louisiana Mandate for FLES The Typical FLES Program: “What It Should Be, What It May Be”

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) President Bush called for: increased accountability for States, school districts, and schools; greater choice for parents and students, particularly those attending low-performing schools; more flexibility for states and local educational agencies (LEAs) in the use of federal education dollars; and a stronger emphasis on reading, especially for our youngest children.

Accountability The NCLB Act will strengthen Title I accountability by requiring States to implement statewide accountability systems covering all public schools and students. These systems must be based on challenging State standards in reading and mathematics, annual testing for all students in grades 3-8, and annual statewide progress objectives ensuring that all groups of students reach proficiency within 12 years.

Assessment results and State progress objectives must be broken out by poverty, race, ethnicity, disability, and limited English proficiency to ensure that no group is left behind. School districts and schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward statewide proficiency goals will, over time, be subject to improvement, corrective action, and restructuring measures aimed at getting them back on course to meet State standards. Schools that meet or exceed AYP objectives or close achievement gaps will be eligible for State Academic Achievement Awards.

Choice All schools must meet their AYP. LEAs must give students attending schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring the opportunity to attend a better public school, which may include a public charter school, within the school district. The district must provide transportation to the new school.

Flexible Funding New flexibility provisions in the NCLB Act include authority for States and LEAs to transfer up to 50 percent of the funding they receive under 4 major State grant programs to any one of the programs, or to Title I. The covered programs include Teacher Quality State Grants, Educational Technology, Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

Putting Reading First No Child Left Behind stated President Bush's unequivocal commitment to ensuring that every child can read by the end of third grade. To accomplish this goal, the new Reading First initiative would significantly increase the Federal investment in scientifically based reading instruction programs in the early grades. One major benefit of this approach would be reduced identification of children for special education services due to a lack of appropriate reading instruction in their early years.

Reading First Local recipients will administer screening and diagnostic assessments to determine which students in grades K-3 are at risk of reading failure, and provide professional development for K-3 teachers in the essential components of reading instruction.

Louisiana’s Testing Program DIBELS ILEAP LEAP GEE ELDA

DIBELS Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills The DIBELS measures were specifically designed to assess 3 of the 5 Big Ideas of early literacy: Phonological Awareness, Alphabetic Principle, Fluency with Connected Text The measures are linked to one another, both psychometrically and theoretically, and have been found to be predictive of later reading proficiency.

DIBELS Given in Kindergarten through 2 nd grade.

iLEAP integrated Louisiana Educational Assessment Program In January 2003, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (SBESE) approved the use of augmented norm- referenced tests, referred to as iLEAP, at grades 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9 in response to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Reading Math Science Social Studies This is not a high-stakes examination.

iLEAP The iLEAP English Language Arts and Math tests consist of norm-referenced test (NRT) components supplemented with items developed to align with the Louisiana Grade-Level Expectations (GLEs). The additional GLE-based items combine with The Iowa Test items that align with GLEs to form the criterion- referenced test (CRT) component of iLEAP. The two components yield two types of test scores: scores that represent students’ performance compared to the national norms (NRT scores) scores that represent students’ performance according to the Louisiana content standards (CRT scores)

iLEAP The iLEAP English Language Arts and Math tests are administered at grades 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9. The iLEAP Social Studies and Science are administered in grades 3,5,6, and 7. All test items are aligned with the GLEs.

LEAP Louisiana Educational Assessment Program The Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) is part of Louisiana’s criterion-referenced testing (CRT) program. LEAP exams are high-stakes tests. They measure how well a student has mastered the state content standards. LEAP is administered at grades 4 and 8. LEAP is given in ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies.

Grade 4 and 8 students are required to score Basic or above on either the English Language Arts and the Mathematics tests and Approaching Basic or above on Science and Social Studies to progress to the next grade. Intensive summer remediation must be offered to students who do not score at the achievement level required for promotion, and those students have the opportunity to retest after remediation concludes in the summer.

GEE Graduation Exit Exam The Graduation Exit Examination (GEE) is part of Louisiana’s criterion-referenced testing (CRT) program. GEE examinations are high-stakes tests. They measure how well a student has mastered the state content standards. GEE is administered at grades 10 and 11. Grade 10: ELA and Math Grade 11: Science and Social Studies

GEE Students must pass all portions of the GEE in order to obtain a high school diploma.

Rigor of the examinations LEAP and GEE, by law, are directly aligned with the state content standards. Second, these tests by law must be as rigorous as those of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Scoring the iLEAP, LEAP, and GEE Advanced: A student at this level has demonstrated superior performance beyond the level of mastery. Mastery: A student at this level has demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter and is well prepared for the next level of schooling. Basic: A student at this level has demonstrated only the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of schooling. Approaching Basic: A student at this level has only partially demonstrated the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of schooling. Unsatisfactory: A student at this level has not demonstrated the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of schooling.

ELDA English Language Development Assessment The ELDA is given to all students in grades Kindergarten through 12 who have been designated English Language learners.

FLES Programs in Louisiana Foreign Language in the Elementary School Elementary schools shall offer an articulated foreign language program for 30 minutes daily in grades four through six, and 150 minutes per week in grades seven and eight. NOTE: Refer to A Guide for Administrators of Elementary Level Second Language and Immersion Programs in Louisiana Schools.

The Reality of FLES “Recently, it has come to our attention that some districts offer foreign language in the elementary and/or middle schools once or twice per week. Just as it would not be to anyone’s benefit to teach math once a week, it is not beneficial to teach foreign language once a week. Foreign language, a core subject under No Child Left Behind legislation, needs to be reinforced daily like any other core subject.” (2007) Paul Pastorek, State Superintendent of Education

Like a Boy Scout… Be prepared for… More “alphabet soup” The Unexpected!