Notice of Waivers Granted Under Section 8401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)
| Citation | 85 FR 29935 |
| Published date | 19 May 2020 |
| Record Number | 2020-10740 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Education Department |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 97 (Tuesday, May 19, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 97 (Tuesday, May 19, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29935-29936]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10740]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Notice of Waivers Granted Under Section 8401 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)
AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In this notice, we announce waivers related to assessments,
accountability and school identification, and related reporting
requirements that the U.S. Department of Education (Department) granted
under section 8401 of the ESEA because of widespread school closures
due to the novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Rooney, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 3W202, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202) 453-5514. Email: Pa[email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 8401(g) of the ESEA requires the
Secretary to publish, in the Federal Register, and disseminate to
interested parties, a notice of the Secretary's decision to grant a
waiver under section 8401(a) of the ESEA. Moreover, we recognize the
significant public interest in waivers related to the widespread school
closures due to COVID-19. This notice fulfills the Department's
obligation to provide notice to the public under section 8401(g) of the
ESEA.
Waiver Data
The Department waived, for State educational agencies (SEAs) from
each of the 50 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the
District of Columbia, and for the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), the
following requirements related to State assessments, accountability and
school identification, and related reporting requirements:
Assessment requirements in ESEA section 1111(b)(2): The
requirements to administer all required assessments in school year
2019-2020.
Accountability and school identification requirements in
ESEA section 1111(c)(4) and (d)(2)(C)-(D): The requirements that a
State annually meaningfully differentiate all public schools and the
requirements to identify schools for comprehensive and targeted support
and improvement and additional targeted support and improvement based
on data from the 2019-2020 school year.
Report card provisions related to assessments and
accountability in ESEA section 1111(h) based on data from the 2019-2020
school year, namely:
[cir] Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(i): Accountability system description.
[cir] Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii): Assessment results.
[cir] Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(iii)(I): Other academic indicator
results.
[cir] Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(iv): English language proficiency
assessment results.
[cir] Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(v): School quality or student success
indicator results.
[cir] Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(vi): Progress toward meeting long-terms
goals and measurements of interim progress.
[cir] Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(vii): Percentage of students assessed
and not assessed.
[cir] Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(xi): Number and percentage of students
with the most significant cognitive disabilities taking an alternate
assessment.
[cir] Section 1111(h)(2)(C): With respect to all waived
requirements in section 1111(h)(1)(C) as well as 1111(h)(2)(C)(i)-(ii)
information showing how students in a local educational agency (LEA)
and each school, respectively, achieved on the academic assessments
compared to students in the State and LEA.
Reasons: Due to the extraordinary circumstances created by the
COVID-19 pandemic and resulting school closures, the Department
provided flexibility to all SEAs and the BIE regarding the assessment
and accountability requirements and related reporting
[[Page 29936]]
requirements under the ESEA. Given the widespread, extended school
closures, many States have been unable to administer their statewide
assessments to all students in the spring of 2020. As statewide
accountability systems rely on fair, reliable, and valid assessment
results, States that do not administer their assessments will also not
be able to annually meaningfully differentiate among public schools or
identify schools for support and improvement, as required under section
1111(c)(4) and (d)(2)(C)-(D) of the ESEA or report results on State and
local report cards related to student performance on the assessments or
accountability determinations, as required under ESEA section 1111(h).
Waiver Applicants: SEAs from all 50 States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and BIE requested and
received these waivers.
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print,
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program contact person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at
the site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at:
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Frank T. Brogan,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2020-10740 Filed 5-18-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
