UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

THE UNDER SECRETARY

July 1, 2003

The Honorable Wanda Barrs

Chair
Georgia State Board of Education
2035 Twin Towers East
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

The Honorable Kathy Cox

State Superintendent of Schools
Georgia Department of Education
2062 Twin Towers East
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Dear Ms. Barrs and Ms. Cox:

I am writing to follow up on Secretary Paige’s letter of May 19, 2003, in which he

approved the basic elements of Georgia’s State accountability plan under Title I of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001 (NCLB). I join Secretary Paige in congratulating you on Georgia’s commitment
to holding schools and districts accountable for the achievement of all students.

I appreciate Georgia’s efforts to meet the Title I requirements and your responsiveness to
making changes as a result of the external peer review of Georgia’s accountability plan.
The purpose of this letter is to document those aspects of Georgia’s plan for which final
action is still needed. Specifically,

 Georgia must establish the standards and benchmarks for the other indicators (through
the menu of indicators) and incorporate these indicators into the adequate yearly
progress (AYP) definition for use in the 2003-04 school year. Please provide this
information as soon as it is available.

 Georgia is working on better integrating its definition of AYP into its overall
accountability system. As you complete this work, please note that the final system of
rewards and sanctions must include AYP and apply uniformly across public schools
and LEAs, with the exception that Section 1116 only need apply to schools receiving
Title I funds. Please provide information about this system when finalized.
 Georgia indicated in its plan that, as a transition step for students exiting special
education, it would monitor student progress through a student support team. With
respect to this approach, please confirm that these students are still considered
students with disabilities under Section 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA).

 Georgia indicated in its accountability plan the intent to compare the current year
assessment results with an average of the most recent three years’ results (including
the current year) and use the most favorable results to make school AYP
determinations. While Georgia may use this application of uniform averaging, it must
provide the Department information on the impact and implications of this approach.
The Department will contact Georgia to discuss the data to be submitted and a
timeline for the submission of those data.

 Georgia indicated in its accountability plan that a small percentage of students with
disabilities, who receive Special Education Diplomas, do not take either the Georgia
High School Graduation Tests or the Georgia Alternate Assessment during the 2002-
03 school year. Please confirm that if there were any such students in 2002-03, they
were included in the accountability system as non-participants.

Georgia’s use of the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) in spring 2003 to
determine adequate yearly progress (AYP) of schools and districts was not acceptable and
is the subject of separate correspondence with the State. Final approval of Georgia’s
accountability plan depends on the use of assessments in 2003-2004 for AYP
determinations that comply with Section 1111(b)(3) of Title I. Prior to making AYP
determinations based on data from the school year 2003-04, Georgia must submit to the
Department, for peer review through the standards and assessment process, the
assessments in mathematics and reading/language arts it will use to hold high schools
accountable.

Georgia must meet the above listed conditions before its accountability plan can be
considered for full approval. As soon as possible, please submit the information and
confirmations requested above to:

Ms. Darla Marburger

Deputy Assistant Secretary
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202

With regard to several issues in Georgia’s accountability plan, the Secretary has exercised
his authority to permit the orderly transition from requirements under the Improving
America’s Schools Act (IASA) to NCLB.
 Georgia proposed in its plan to include students with the most significant cognitive
disabilities in its accountability system based on their performance on an alternate
assessment that would hold those students to different achievement standards from
those all other students are expected to meet. All students with disabilities must be
included in a State’s accountability system. Moreover, §200.1 of the final Title I
regulations requires that all students be held to the same grade level achievement
standards. In addition, §200.6(a)(2)(ii) of those regulations states that “[a]lternate
assessments must yield results for the grade in which the student is enrolled.”

We have issued new proposed regulations that would permit a State to use alternate
achievement standards to measure the achievement of students with the most
significant cognitive disabilities (refer to the Federal Register notice of March 20,
2003). For this transition year only, while the proposed regulation is being finalized,
Georgia may use alternate achievement standards for students with the most
significant cognitive disabilities who take an alternate assessment to calculate AYP
for schools and districts. Those alternate achievement standards must be aligned with
Georgia’s academic content standards and reflect professional judgment of the highest
learning standards possible for those students. Moreover, the percentage of students
held to alternate achievement standards at the district and State levels may not exceed
1.0 percent of all students in the grades assessed.

We note that this transition policy is not intended to preempt the rulemaking process
or the standards and assessment review process, and that the final regulations may
reflect a different policy and/or a different percent.

As required by section 1111(b)(2) of Title I, Georgia must implement its accountability

plan during this school year to identify schools and school districts in need of
improvement and to implement section 1116 of Title I for the 2003-04 school year,
including arranging for public school choice and supplemental educational services. If,
over time, Georgia makes changes to the accountability plan that you have presented for
approval, you must submit information about those changes to the Department for
approval, as required by section 1111(f)(2) of Title I. For example, Georgia indicated in
its plan that for limited English proficient (LEP) students, it would develop a monitoring
system for the 2003-04 school year. Please provide to the Department your policy on this
issue once it has been established.

As delineated in Georgia’s timeline waiver, Georgia also must submit evidence that its
assessment system meets the requirements of section 1111(b)(3) of Title I to the
Department for peer review through the standards and assessment process. Further, as
Georgia makes changes in its standards and assessments to meet NCLB requirements,
Georgia must submit information about those changes to the Department for peer review
through the standards and assessment process.

Please be aware that this letter does not address whether Georgia’s accountability plan for
Title I complies with Federal civil rights requirements, including Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and
requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

I am confident that Georgia will continue to advance its efforts to hold schools and school
districts accountable for the achievement of all students. I wish you well in your efforts
to leave no child behind.

Sincerely,

/s/

Eugene W. Hickok

cc: Governor Sonny Perdue