[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 34, Volume 1]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 34CFR200.3]



[Page 444-445]

 

                           TITLE 34--EDUCATION

 

                  CHAPTER II--OFFICE OF ELEMENTARY AND

              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.  200.3  Designing State Academic Assessment Systems.



    (a)(1) For each grade and subject assessed, a State's academic 

assessment system must--

    (i) Address the depth and breadth of the State's academic content 

standards under Sec.  200.1(b);

    (ii) Be valid, reliable, and of high technical quality;

    (iii) Express student results in terms of the State's student 

academic achievement standards; and

    (iv) Be designed to provide a coherent system across grades and 

subjects.

    (2) A State may include in its academic assessment system under 

Sec.  200.2 either or both--

    (i) Criterion-referenced assessments; and



[[Page 445]]



    (ii) Assessments that yield national norms, provided that, if the 

State uses only assessments referenced against national norms at a 

particular grade, those assessments--

    (A) Are augmented with additional items as necessary to measure 

accurately the depth and breadth of the State's academic content 

standards; and

    (B) Express student results in terms of the State's student academic 

achievement standards.

    (b) A State that includes a combination of assessments as described 

in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, or a combination of State and local 

assessments, in its State assessment system must demonstrate in its 

State plan that the system has a rational and coherent design that--

    (1) Identifies the assessments to be used;

    (2) Indicates the relative contribution of each assessment towards--

    (i) Ensuring alignment with the State's academic content standards; 

and

    (ii) Determining the adequate yearly progress of each school and 

LEA; and

    (3) Provides information regarding the progress of students relative 

to the State's academic standards in order to inform instruction.

    (c) A State that includes local assessments in the system described 

in Sec.  200.2(b) must--

    (1) Establish technical criteria to ensure that each local 

assessment meets the requirements of paragraphs (a)(1) and (c)(2) of 

this section;

    (2) Demonstrate in its State plan that all local assessments used 

for this purpose--

    (i) Are equivalent to one another and to State assessments, where 

they exist, in their content coverage, difficulty, and quality;

    (ii) Have comparable validity and reliability with respect to groups 

of students described in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) of the Act; and

    (iii) Provide unbiased, rational, and consistent determinations of 

the annual progress of schools and LEAs within the State;

    (3) Review and approve each local assessment to ensure that it meets 

or exceeds the State's technical criteria in paragraph (c)(1) of this 

section and the requirements in paragraph (c)(2) of this section; and

    (4) Be able to aggregate, with confidence, data from local 

assessments to determine whether the State has made adequate yearly 

progress.

    (d) A State's academic assessment system may rely exclusively on 

local assessments only if it meets the requirements of Sec.  200.4.



(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3))



[67 FR 45040, July 5, 2002]