November 28, 2007
The Honorable Deborah Gist
State Superintendent for Education
Office of the State Superintendent of Education
Government of the District of Columbia, One Judiciary Square
441 4th Street, NW, Suite 350 North
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Superintendent Gist:
Thank you for submitting additional assessment materials for peer review under the standards and assessment requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). We appreciate the efforts required to prepare for the latest peer review, which occurred in September 2007.
Based on the recommendations of the peer reviewers and the evidence you have provided to date, the status of the District of Columbia's standards and assessment system is Approval Expected. This status indicates that, in 2006-07, the District of Columbia administered an assessment system in grades 3-8 and high school that appears to be fully compliant with the statutory and regulatory requirements, based on the evidence to date. Due to the nature of assessment development, however, certain elements of the assessment system are not yet complete. Please note that full approval of the District of Columbia's standards and assessment system is dependent upon whether the additional evidence submitted for peer review meets the ESEA requirements.
The District of Columbia must provide the Department with a timeline for providing to the Department the evidence needed to satisfy the remaining requirements, as indicated in the enclosure to this letter. Because certain elements of the District of Columbia's system are not yet complete, the condition on the District of Columbia's fiscal year 2007 Title I, Part A grant award will continue until the District of Columbia submits the required evidence and receives full approval of its standards and assessment system.
The Department remains committed to working with the District of Columbia to meet the requirements of the ESEA and to raising the academic performance of all children. Toward that end, let me reiterate my earlier offer of technical assistance to you. If you have any additional questions or would like to request technical assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Sue Rigney (Sue.Rigney@ed.gov) or Abigail Potts (Abigail.Potts@ed.gov) of my staff.
Sincerely,
Kerri L. Briggs, Ph.D.
Enclosure
cc: Mayor Adrian Fenty
Chancellor Michelle Rhee
Bill Caritj
SUMMARY OF ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE THAT THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MUST SUBMIT TO MEET ESEA REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
2.0 - ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT STANDARDS
- Documentation of Board approval of the DC CAS-Alternate (DC-CAS Alt) academic achievement standards.
4.0 - TECHNICAL QUALITY
- Final technical manual for the DC CAS-Alt assessments.
6.0 - INCLUSION
- Revised test coordinators manual for the 2007-08 administration of the DC CAS assessments.
7.0 - REPORTING
- Individual student report for the DC CAS that includes the performance level descriptors or other information explaining the meaning of the achievement level that corresponds to the student's score.
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