[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 34, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 34CFR200.1]

[Page 422-423]
 
                           TITLE 34--EDUCATION
 
              SECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 
PART 200--TITLE I--IMPROVING THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF THE DISADVANTAGED--
Table of Contents
 
   Subpart A--Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational 
                                Agencies
 
Sec. 200.1  State responsibilities for developing challenging academic standards.

                        Standards and Assessments


    (a) Academic standards in general. A State must develop challenging 
academic content and student academic achievement standards that will be 
used by the State, its local educational agencies (LEAs), and its 
schools to carry out subpart A of this part. These academic standards 
must--
    (1) Be the same academic standards that the State applies to all 
public schools and public school students in the State, including the 
public schools and public school students served under subpart A of this 
part;
    (2) Include the same knowledge, skills, and levels of achievement 
expected of all students; and
    (3) Include at least mathematics, reading/language arts, and, 
beginning in the 2005-2006 school year, science, and may include other 
subjects determined by the State.
    (b) Academic content standards. (1) The challenging academic content 
standards required under paragraph (a) of this section must--
    (i) Specify what all students are expected to know and be able to 
do;
    (ii) Contain coherent and rigorous content; and
    (iii) Encourage the teaching of advanced skills.
    (2) A State's academic content standards may--
    (i) Be grade specific; or,
    (ii) Cover more than one grade if grade-level content expectations 
are provided for each of grades 3 through 8.
    (3) At the high school level, the academic content standards must 
define the knowledge and skills that all high school students are 
expected to know and be able to do in at least reading/language arts, 
mathematics, and, beginning in the 2005-06 school year,

[[Page 423]]

science, irrespective of course titles or years completed.
    (c) Academic achievement standards. (1) The challenging student 
academic achievement standards required under paragraph (a) of this 
section must--
    (i) Be aligned with the State's academic content standards; and
    (ii) Include the following components for each content area:
    (A) Achievement levels that describe at least--
    (1) Two levels of high achievement--proficient and advanced--that 
determine how well students are mastering the material in the State's 
academic content standards; and
    (2) A third level of achievement--basic--to provide complete 
information about the progress of lower-achieving students toward 
mastering the proficient and advanced levels of achievement.
    (B) Descriptions of the competencies associated with each 
achievement level.
    (C) Assessment scores (``cut scores'') that differentiate among the 
achievement levels as specified in paragraph (c)(1)(ii)(A) of this 
section, and a description of the rationale and procedures used to 
determine each achievement level.
    (2) A State must develop academic achievement standards for every 
grade and subject assessed, even if the State's academic content 
standards cover more than one grade.
    (3) With respect to academic achievement standards in science, a 
State must develop--
    (i) Achievement levels and descriptions no later than the 2005-06 
school year; and
    (ii) Assessment scores (``cut scores'') after the State has 
developed its science assessments but no later than the 2007-08 school 
year.
    (d) Subjects without standards. If an LEA serves students under 
subpart A of this part in subjects for which a State has not developed 
academic standards, the State must describe in its State plan a strategy 
for ensuring that those students are taught the same knowledge and 
skills and held to the same expectations in those subjects as are all 
other students.
    (e) Other subjects with standards. If a State has developed 
standards in other subjects for all students, the State must apply those 
standards to students participating under subpart A of this part.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(1))

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 
1810-0576)

[67 FR 45039, July 5, 2002]