njsba policy services	file code: 5131

*Sample Discretionary Regulation

Refusal to participate in statewide proficiency assessments 

GENERAL STATEMENT

Federal Requirements

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, recently reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires each State educational agency (SEA) that receives funds under Title I, Part A of the Act to implement in each local educational agency (LEA) high quality academic assessments. At a minimum, assessments in mathematics and reading/language arts must be administered every year in each of grades 3 through 8 and at least once during grades 10 through 12. An assessment in science must be administered not less than once in the following grade spans: 3-5; 6-9, and 10-12. Furthermore State assessments are required to "be the same academic assessments used to measure the achievement of all children" and "provide for the participation in such assessments of all students." (Emphasis added.]

These requirements do not allow students to be excluded from statewide assessments. Rather, they set out the rule that all students in the tested grades must be assessed. To the extent that a State may have received waiver flexibility under the ESSA, a State educational agency, a school district or a school can still be sanctioned for not assessing at least 95 percent of their students. 

If a State with a participation rate below 95 percent in the 2014-2015 school year fails to assess at least 95 percent of its students on the statewide assessment in 2015-2016, the U.S. Department of Education has a range of enforcement actions at its disposal. These include the following:

1.	Withholding Title I, Part A State administrative funds;
2.	Placing the State’s Title I, Part A grant on high-risk status and directing the State to use a portion of its Title I State administrative funds to address low participation rates; or
3.	Withholding or redirecting Title VI State assessment funds.

The USDOE will consider the appropriate action to take for any State that does not assess at least 95 percent of its students in 2015-2016, both overall and for each student subgroup among its LEAs. To determine what action is most appropriate, the USDOE will consider state and local participation rates for 2015-2016, as well as action the state has taken with respect to any local school district noncompliance with the assessment requirements under ESSA.

State Requirements

State law (N.J.S.A. 18A:7C-1) reflects the federal requirement to administer a statewide assessment program. It requires the Commissioner of Education, with approval of the State Board of Education, to establish a program of standards for graduation from secondary school. Such a program shall include, “[t]he development of a Statewide assessment test in reading, writing, and computational skills to be administered to all secondary school pupils…”

In addition, State regulation (N.J.A.C. 6A:8-4.1) provides the following:

1.	“[T]he Commissioner…may implement assessment of student achievement in the State’s public schools in any grade(s) and by such assessments as he or she deems appropriate.”

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2.	The Commissioner “…shall define the scope and level of student performance on Statewide assessments that demonstrate thorough understanding of the knowledge and skills delineated by the [state standards] at grade levels three through 12.”
3.	District boards of education “shall, according to a schedule prescribed by the Commissioner, administer the applicable Statewide assessments.”
4.	“All students at grade levels three through 12, and at any other grade(s) designated by the Commissioner…shall take appropriate Statewide assessments as scheduled.”

BOARD STATEMENT

In compliance with Federal and State law, the ____________________ Board of Education requires all students to participate in statewide proficiency assessments. 

In instances in which students and/or their parents/guardians refuse to participate in the state assessment program, the board authorizes procedures consistent with the Commissioner of Education’s memorandum of September 9, 2015. That memorandum directs boards to adopt policies and procedures for the appropriate engagement and supervision of students refusing to participate in the assessment program and for compliance with state attendance requirements. Therefore,

1.	The board authorizes the chief school administrator to provide adequate supervision and appropriate alternate educational accommodations to students who refuse to participate in the state assessment program. 
2.	In planning appropriate accommodations, the chief school administrator shall consider information and data derived from the previous year’s test administration and shall ensure that the supervision and alternative educational arrangements are within the capacity of the district budget and its school facility resources.
3.	As per Commissioner Hespe’s memo, a sit-and-stare process shall be avoided. Students may be allowed to read in the testing environment, so long as the testing environment is not disrupted, the student is not logged into the test platform and the reading material is not germane to the assessment.

PROCEDURES 

The following procedures shall apply to students and their parents/guardians when not following the district policy regarding required participation in the state proficiency assessment:

1.	Parents/guardians shall be notified in writing and by website posting not less than 60 days before the administration of the statewide proficiency assessment. The notification may include the following:

a.	Information regarding the test and the importance of the statewide proficiency assessment program;
b.	The locations, times and dates of any scheduled community information sessions pertaining to the state-wide proficiency assessment program;
c.	The Federal and State requirements for participation in the state-wide proficiency assessment program;
d.	The board requirement that all students participate in the state-wide proficiency assessment program;
e.	The requirement that parents/guardians notify the school in writing if they authorize their child to refuse to participate in the state-wide proficiency assessment program; and
f.	The district procedures for students who refuse to participate in the state-wide proficiency assessment program.

2.	Parents/guardians or adult students shall notify the school in writing that the student has the parent’s/guardian’s permission to refuse to participate in the assessment. Written forms of notification may include ________________ (the district may state here if electronic communication, such as text messages and email, are included in the definition of the term “in writing”). Written notification must be received by the school no later than 5 school days prior to the date of the scheduled assessment (the district may select an alternative time frame).

For paragraph 3, select Option 1 or Option 2

Option 1 (for districts that have space available to accommodate students who refuse to participate in the assessment)

3.	Students who provide appropriate written notification as described in paragraph 2 above shall be placed in an appropriately supervised alternative education setting and may read a book or do other teacher-assigned school work while the test is being administered. The alternative education setting provided shall be: 

a.	Located in ________________________(select an option or describe the location, e.g., the school library, the school office, a classroom designated by the principal, or other location determined by the chief school administrator);
b.	Supervised by a teaching staff member or qualified substitute teacher.

- or -

Option 2 (for districts that do not have vacant space during the testing cycle to accommodate students refusing to take the test)

3.	Students who provide appropriate written notification as described in paragraph 2 above shall be assigned school work during the test. They shall be seated together in one area of the room in which the test is being administered. All testing protocols related to silence during the test administration and breaks, as well as other rules as detailed PARCC Test Coordinator and Test Administrator Manuals, shall apply to all students in the room. All efforts shall be made to ensure an undisrupted testing environment. Students violating the rules of conduct shall be subject to discipline.

4.	The parent/guardian shall be contacted when a student refuses to participate without appropriate written notification from the parent/guardian. The student shall be given a book to read, assigned work or given the opportunity to do homework during test administration according to the same procedures as when a parent/guardian has provided appropriate written notification. A student who refuses to participate without parent/guardian notification shall be subject to discipline.

5.	Any student who presents the written notification as described in paragraph 2 above but not within the 5 school days prior to the date of the scheduled assessment (the district may select an alternative time frame) shall be given a book to read, assigned school work or given the opportunity to do homework during test administration according to the same procedures as students who provide appropriate parent/guardian notification within the authorized timeframe. Any student failing to provide appropriate written notification within the authorized timeframe shall be subject to disciplinary consequences.

For paragraph 6, select Option 1 or Option 2

Option 1

6.	Students whose parents provided appropriate written authorization as described in paragraph 2 above, but who, on test day, express the desire to participate shall be permitted to take the assessment.

- or -

Option 2

6.	If a student who has provided appropriate written notification as described in paragraph 2 above expresses the desire to participate on test day, the principal shall notify the parent/guardian. The student shall be allowed to take the test with the verbal permission of the parent or guardian.

7.	Students who do not attend school on assessment day or on assessment makeup days shall be marked absent. The absence shall be designated as unexcused according to board policy (5113 Attendance, Absences and Excuses).
	
REGULATION HISTORY

Effective Date:
Date of Review/Revision:

CROSS REFERENCES

6146	Graduation Requirements
6147	Standards of Proficiency