Notice of Waivers Granted Under Section 8401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), 29935-29936 [2020-10740]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[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]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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