Microsoft Word - School Grades and AYP Appeals memo 2006 _letterhead

The process for submitting appeal requests is as follows:
The department process for reviewing appeal requests will be as follows:

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

John L. Winn

Commissioner of Education

F. PHILIP HANDY,

Chairman

T. WILLARD FAIR,

Vice Chairman

Members

DONNA G. CALLAWAY

ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ

PHOEBE RAULERSON

KATHLEEN SHANAHAN

LINDA K. TAYLOR

June 14, 2006

TO:

District School Superintendents

FROM:

Hanna Skandera, Deputy Commissioner

Accountability, Research, and Measurement

SUBJECT:

School Grade and Adequate Yearly Progress Appeals Process

State Board Rule 6A-1.09981 and the No Child Left Behind Act permit a thirty-day period for districts to review the

school grade and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status assigned to each school. This memorandum provides

information on the appeals process for both school grades and AYP status. The thirty-day appeals process begins

today, June 14, 2006, and ends Thursday, July 13, 2006.

The school grade and AYP accountability calculations rely on the accuracy of the data the districts submit to the

Florida Department of Education. During the regular student survey periods, the student data submitted to the

department is certified as correct by the district superintendent. Even after the certification, districts are given

several months to amend any district-reported student survey data. In addition, districts have several opportunities

to ensure data used for school grades and AYP are accurate. These opportunities include the following:

•

The department provided reports on Survey 2 and Survey 3 matching to district personnel and allowed five

weeks to correct and update the data in these surveys. This included correcting student ID numbers in both

Survey 2 and Survey 3, school of enrollment, free and reduced lunch status, SWD status, LEP status, race,

gender, and grade level.

•

The department provided each district a copy of all district-reported data used for the school grade and AYP

calculations. Districts had five weeks to update student membership data which may have changed between

February 7 and the time of testing and any grade level changes which occurred after Survey 2 and before

testing.

•

The department provided districts all assessment records that did not match a student. Districts had over two

weeks to update and correct the data.

•

The department provided districts a school type report for school grade and AYP calculations. Districts were

given an opportunity to review and appeal school type assignments.

•

The department provided each district a copy of all Survey 2 students who could not be matched to a 2005

FCAT record for purposes of calculating learning gains. Districts had three months to locate FCAT records for

these students and report this data to the department separate from the corrections process which also gathers

this data.

Because of the many opportunities for districts to review, update, and correct all the data used for the school grade

and AYP calculations, the following district-reported data cannot be appealed:

HANNA SKANDERA

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

ACCOUNTABILITY, RESEARCH, AND MEASUREMENT

325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 814 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0437 • www.fldoe.org

District School Superintendents

Page 2

June 14, 2006

•

Incorrect student identification numbers, district numbers, or school numbers on any student or assessment

records.

•

Changes in student demographic information – race, gender, limited English proficiency, exceptionality, lunch

status, grade level.

•

Student withdrawals from a school or district.

•

2005 Reading and Math FCAT (prior year) assessment information.

•

School type assignment.

•

Any request for a change in a school grade or AYP status that requires a change in statute or rule.

The process for submitting appeal requests is as follows:

Any request for a recalculation of data that will not result in a change in letter grade or AYP status should not be

submitted. If the district determines that a different performance grade should be assigned because of the

department's omission of student data, a data miscalculation, or special circumstances that might have affected the

grade assigned, an appeal request for a department review of the data can be submitted in the following manner:

On or before July 13, 2006, submit a written request for review, including all backup documentation, to the

address below. Each request must be submitted by the district accountability coordinator and must be signed by

the superintendent; individual schools may not submit appeals. All schools must work through the district

accountability coordinator. A separate letter of explanation and separate documentation must be submitted for

each school. The information should be submitted to:

Christy Hovanetz Lassila, Ph.D., Director

Evaluation and Reporting Office

Florida Department of Education

325 West Gaines Street, Suite 316

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400

The request for review must be in the form of a letter, explaining the reasons for the appeal, specific

information on the situations being appealed, and descriptions of the circumstances that caused the need for the

appeal. The documentation must identify the individual student records in question. The department will not

review an appeal that does not identify the individual student records in question. All letters must be signed by

the district superintendent.

The documentation should accompany the appeal letter and be labeled, highlighted, or marked for the individual

school being appealed.

A text data file with all of the relevant appeal information must be uploaded to the following secure website:

https://www.fldoe.org/arm_applications/arm_login. The text file format is located at the site.

The department process for reviewing appeal requests will be as follows:

After July 13, 2006, department staff will conduct a review of the appeals and documentation and make initial

recommendations.

Dep

artment staff recommendations will be presented to an appeals committee for review and recommendations.

Committee recommendations will be presented to the Commissioner of Education for his determination of the

final school grade and/or AYP designation.

The department will notify each district superintendent and district accountability coordinator of the final school

grade and AYP status after the Commissioner's final determination. Local district officials, as designated by the

district superintendent, are responsible for notifying individual schools.

Thank you for your cooperation and help in ensuring that all school grades and AYP calculations are accurate.