Alaska Administrative Code
Title 4 - Education and Early Development
Chapter 06 - Government of Schools
Article 7 - School and District Accountability
4 AAC 06.820 - Participation

(a) The participation rate on the state standards-based assessments described in 4 AAC 06.737 is computed by dividing the number of students that took an assessment in each subject by the number of students enrolled in tested grades on the first day of testing. Each school and district in the state shall ensure that all students enrolled in tested grades are given the opportunity to and arc expected to participate in the state assessments, and shall have a target of 95 percent participation in assessments. For purposes of this section, a student participates in a state assessment if the student receives a valid test score on the assessment.

(b) A school or district may not systematically exclude students from assessment.

(c) Students who are eligible to take the alternate assessment under 4 AAC 06.775(b) will be included in calculating the participation rate under (a) of this section, even if more than one percent of the students in a district take the alternate assessment, if the students are

(d) For purposes of measures of school and district accountability under 4 AAC 06.800-4 AAC 06.899, including measurements of participation and graduation rates, attainment of a long-term goal or measure of interim progress, and inclusion in the Alaska school performance system, the score of a student who participates in a state assessment and is enrolled at more than one school at a time will be included in the performance of the school at which the student is counted under 4 AAC 09.040 as more than 0.5 full-time equivalent. If the student cannot be counted under 4 AAC 09.040 as more than 0.5 full-time equivalent at any of those schools, the student's state assessment score and participation will be included in the performance of the school at which the student receives instruction in English language arts.

(e) A district shall report to the state the enrollment of all students as of the first day of the administration of the state standards-based assessments under 4 AAC 06.737. The report must be on a form prepared by the department, and must include the student's student identification number, school, grade, and subgroup membership. The report shall be filed not later than 21 days following the first day of administration of the assessments. If, after reviewing the report, the department determines that a school or district has underreported the number of economically disadvantaged students in a school or district, the department will use data from other sources, including confidential public assistance data, to estimate the actual number of students in that subgroup.

(f) Notwithstanding any provision in this chapter, if a district enrolls a student who is identified as an English learner under 4 AAC 34.090(2) who has been enrolled in a school in one of the 50 states in the United States or the District of Columbia for less than 12 months, the district shall exclude

(g) Notwithstanding any provision in this chapter, a district may, on a case-by-case basis, exempt an individual student from a state standards-based assessment described in 4 AAC 06.737 if an unexpected severe medical condition prevents the student from participating in the administration of the assessment. The student will not be included as part of measures of school and district accountability under 4 AAC 06.800 - 4 AAC 06.899, including measurements of participation, attainment of a long-term goal or measure of interim progress, and inclusion in the Alaska school performance system. The district shall retain documentation regarding the exemption, including medical records of the condition, with the student's permanent record and provide it to the department upon request.

(h) Repealed 10/9/2015.

(i) Except as provided in (f) and (g) of this section, a student who is counted as more than one-quarter full-time equivalent under 4 AAC 09.040 must be included in the standards-based test described in 4 AAC 06.737 or 4 AAC 06.775(b). A student who is counted as one-quarter full-time equivalent under 4 AAC 09.040 must only be included in the English language arts, mathematics, or science content-area assessment of the standards-based test under 4 AAC 06.737 if the student receives instruction in a corresponding subject and grade level.

(j) A school that that misses the 95 percent participation rate target for the all-students group or any subgroup defined in 4 AAC 06.830 in English language arts, mathematics, or both for two consecutive years must create and submit an improvement plan to the district. The district must review and approve the plan for each school. The plan must be created with stakeholders and must include documentation of the communication and other efforts the school made to inform parents of the importance of participating in the statewide assessments, while recognizing parents' rights under state law regarding their child's participation in those assessments. The plan must document training that teachers have received in the importance of the assessments and how teachers may communicate with parents and students regarding the assessments. The plan must document the efforts made to encourage participation by all students in all subgroups and that no students have been systematically excluded from testing. The plan must include steps the school will take to increase the participation rate in future years. The plan must include the strategies and samples of the materials that will be used by the school and district to educate parents about the importance of assessments and their role in student learning.