Sec. 1111 (b)(F) - Each state shall establish a timeline for adequate yearly progress. The timeline shall ensure that not later than 12 years after the 2001-2002 school year, all students in each group described in subparagraph (C)(v) will meet or exceed the State's proficient level of academic achievement on the State's assessments.

No Child Left Behind, 2001.

2. What is AYP?

A. AYP stands for adequate yearly progress. It represents the annual academic performance targets in reading and math that the State, school districts, and schools must reach to be considered on track for 100% proficiency by school year 2013-14.

3. Who has to make AYP?

The State
School districts
Schools, and
Subgroups of 30 or more students for two consecutive years within schools, school districts, and the State

The subgroups required by NCLB are:

Racial/Ethnic: Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander
Economically Disadvantaged: Students on free or reduced lunch for participation rate only. (They will not be held to proficiency or other indicator targets for 2002-2003 as there was no data collected in 2001-2002. In 2003-2004, this subgroup will be held to proficiency targets, if there were 30 or more students receiving free or reduced lunch for two consecutive years).
Students with Disabilities: Students with IEPs
English Language Learners: Students who are classified as Non English Proficient (NEP), Limited English Proficient (LEP), or Fluent English Proficient (FEP) who may or may not have exited a Bilingual Education or ESL program and/or have not yet been reclassified

4. Can a given student be included in more than one subgroup?

A. Yes. For example, a white student who also receives free lunch would be counted in both categories.

5. Do private schools or institutions have to make AYP?

A. No. However, if an LEA has Title I-funded private schools or institutions within its boundaries, the LEA must establish with them the criteria that will be used to annually evaluate the impact of the services that are delivered.

6. What happens if a Title I school or a school district doesn’t make AYP?

A. Nothing after one year. However, LEAs must place Title I schools that fail to make AYP for two consecutive years, in the same content area, on School Improvement. In year one of School Improvement, the school must develop an improvement plan and offer school choice. In year two, the school must offer supplemental services in addition to school choice. In year three, the school district must implement one or more of a list of corrective actions.

The State must place school districts that fail to make AYP for two consecutive years, in the same content area, on Program Improvement. The State must work with the school district to develop an improvement plan that delineates the responsibilities of each. In addition, limits must be placed on how the school district may spend its NCLB funding. If the school district continues to fail to make AYP, the State must take at least one corrective action. In Colorado, the options may be limited to withholding NCLB funds.

7. How can schools and school districts be removed from Improvement status?

A. By reaching AYP targets for two consecutive years, in the content area(s) which placed the school or district on Improvement.

8. What do schools and school districts have to do in order to make AYP?

Schools and school districts need to:

Achieve a 95% participation rate in state assessments.
Reach targets for either proficiency or reduce non-proficiency.
Reach targets for one other indicator - advanced level of performance for elementary and middle schools and graduation rate for high schools.

95% Participation Rate

9. What groups must achieve a 95% participation rate?

A. The State, each school district, and each school as a whole must achieve a 95% participation rate. In addition, all subgroups of 30 or more students must have 95% participation, including economically disadvantaged students.

10. If a school or district does not achieve a 95% participation rate, can it still make AYP?

A. No.

11. Which assessments may be considered in calculating participation rates of students?

CSAP
CSAP-A
CSAP-A online
Lectura

12. What if a student is eligible to take the CSAP-A and there is no CSAP-A available for that grade or content area?

A. Students who are eligible to take the CSAP-A and who are enrolled in grades at which there is no CSAP-A available in reading or math must participate in the CSAP-A online assessment.

Currently, the only CSAPA assessments missing are the third and fourth grade math. For the 2005-2006 school year, CSAPA will exist for every CSAP used in AYP calculations.

Proficiency Targets

13. How is proficiency defined for the purpose of determining AYP?

A. Students scoring at the partially proficient, proficient, or advanced performance levels are considered proficient when calculating proficiency rates to make AYP determinations.

Students scoring at the “emerging” or above level on CSAP-A are considered proficient for the purpose of making AYP determinations.

14. Do schools and school districts have to reach performance targets in both reading and math to make AYP?

A. Yes, all subgroups with 30 or more students in both 2002 and 2003 must meet the targets (except for the Economically Disadvantaged subgroup as no data was collected in 2001-2002 at the state level). Separate AYP determinations must be made in reading and math. If a school district or school does not reach performance targets in both reading and math, it has not made AYP. However, if the school or district can meet Safe Harbor requirements, discussed below, they can make AYP.

15. Do all subgroups of 30 or more students have to reach the performance targets in reading and math in order to make AYP?

A. Yes. However, the law contains a "safe harbor" provision that allows those groups that do not reach proficiency performance targets to make AYP by reducing non-proficiency. "Safe Harbor" is discussed in more detail below. All groups must either reach proficiency targets or non-proficiency targets for school districts and schools to make AYP.

16. How were the "starting points" and performance targets established?

A. The NCLB Act is very prescriptive with regard to how this is to be done – very little flexibility is afforded to states. The same process was used to establish starting points for reading and math.

The following steps were taken to establish starting points:

Schools were broken up into three grade spans: K-5, 6-8, and 9-12.
Schools were ranked from high to low based on CSAP performance. Test scores were aggregated to calculate and average performance. The results of all students were included.
Starting from the lowest performing school, we added enrollment to enrollment until 20% of the enrollment for that grade span had been captured. The percentage of proficient students for that school was noted and compared with the proficiency percentage of the lowest performing subgroup of students for that grade span. The higher of the two percentages was used as the starting point as required by law. In every case it was the percentage of the school at the 20th percentile of enrollment.

The following steps were taken to set performance targets:

At minimum, the performance target for all groups in 2003 had to be equal to the starting point. The performance target had to be raised by 2005. We held the performance targets steady for the 2003 and 2004 years.
The performance targets must be raised by 2005 and at least every three years thereafter in equal increments. That means that the performance targets must be raised at least four times over the twelve-year period. We subtracted the starting point from 100% and divided by four to establish the incremental gains and increased the performance targets every three years (2008, 2011, 2014) by that amount. Performance targets for interim years (e.g., 2009 and 2010) are held steady.

17. What will happen when the new 3rd and 4th grade math assessments are in place?

A. New elementary baselines and performance targets will be established for math in the fall of 2005.

18. What are the proficiency targets for reading and math over the next twelve years?

A. A proficiency target chart has been sent to all school districts and can be found on CDE's website.

19. Will the performance targets necessitate large amounts of academic growth in some schools and subgroups and virtually no growth in other schools and subgroups?

A. Yes. While proficiency percentages vary from district to district and school to school, State results from 2002 indicate that some subgroups of students, on average, will not have to increase in performance for several years, while others will have to dramatically increase proficiency levels immediately. However, this is consistent with the dual purposes of NCLB. One goal is to increase performance among all students over time. The other goal is to begin to close achievement gaps among student groups as soon as is possible. Although, NCLB allows for setting different performance targets by grade span, the proficiency targets must be the same for the State, all school districts, all schools, and all subgroups within each grade span.

20. What assessment results will be considered in making AYP determinations?

A. The results of CSAP, CSAPA, and Lectura reading assessment administrations and CSAP and CSAPA math assessment administrations will be used for AYP proficiency calculations.

21. What students are counted for the purpose of making AYP proficiency determinations?

To receive a document which outlines the calculation steps, email Alyssa Pearson at pearson_a@cde.state.co.us.

A. For schools: Students continuously enrolled in the school for a full academic year for whom there is a CSAP, CSAPA, or Lectura assessment available at that grade. For example, in a K-5 school, only students in grades 3, 4, and 5 would be counted and only grade 5 students would be counted in math. These students have also been referred to as the 12+ month students. Full academic year is defined as "continuously enrolled from one CSAP administration to the next CSAP administration.”

To account for students enrolled at the transitional grade in a school (e.g., 6th grade or 9th grade) who have not been continuously enrolled in the school since the last CSAP administration, enrolled before October 1 will be the criterion.

For districts, a full academic year is defined as "continuously enrolled in the district from one CSAP administration to the next CSAP administration.”

Students who have not been continuously enrolled in a school for a full academic year are not included in the equation when determining AYP for that school except, as noted above, when that student is enrolled in the transitional grade of the school.

Students who have not been continuously enrolled in a district for a full academic year are not included in the denominator when determining AYP for that district.

22. What about students whose parents refuse to let their child participate in CSAP?

A. Those students are included in the equation when determining AYP for a school or district.

23. How do I calculate the proficiency rate for a school?

To receive a document which outlines the calculation steps, email Alyssa Pearson at pearson_a@cde.state.co.us.

"Safe Harbor" - Non-Proficiency Targets

25. What is the safe harbor provision?

A. The State, school districts, schools, and each subgroup of 30 or more students for two consecutive years must reach the performance targets for increasing proficiency in reading and math to make AYP. However, there is an exception to that requirement. The State, school districts and schools may still make AYP if each group that fails to reach its proficiency performance targets reduces its percentage of non-proficient students by 10% of the previous year's percentage.

26. Must all groups that do not reach targets for increasing proficiency reduce non-proficiency by 10% in order to make AYP?

A. Yes.

27. Can some groups make AYP by increasing proficiency while others make AYP by reducing non-proficiency?

A. Yes.

28. How do I perform the calculation for safe harbor target?

A. You can use the AYP Calculator to do the following calculations.

Identify the percentage of non-proficient students for the group in question for year one.
Multiply that percentage by (.10).
Subtract the result from the percentage in year one. That is the target for year two.
The same inclusions and exclusions that apply in calculating AYP proficiency rates apply here.
Compare the results with the target for non-proficiency.

See Safe Harbor chart. This chart was sent to all school districts and is also posted on CDE’s website.

Targets for "Other Indicators"

29. Must the State, and all school districts, schools, and subgroups of 30 or more students for two consecutive years reach the performance targets set for the other indicator in order to make AYP?

A. Yes. NCLB does not provide for exceptions with regard to other indicators.

30. What is the other indicator for elementary and middle schools?

A. The percentage of students performing at the advanced level.

31. How were the starting points and performance targets for this indicator established?

A. The starting point was established using the State average of the lowest performing subgroup. Performance targets are increased in small increments every three years.

See Other Indicator for Elementary and Middle schools chart.

32. What is the other indicator for high school?

A. NCLB requires that graduation rate be used as the other indicator in determining AYP for high schools.

33. How were the starting points and performance targets for this indicator established?

A. The starting point was established using the State average of the lowest performing subgroup in 2001. Performance targets are increased in small increments every three years.

See Other Indicator for High Schools chart.

34. How are graduation rates calculated for the purpose of determining AYP?

A. Under Colorado law, local school boards are responsible for establishing high school graduation requirements. Requirements vary from district to district. However, the State calculates graduation rates in a uniform manner for all school districts. The graduation rate does not include students who obtain a GED or certificate of completion without completing the locally-defined requirements for graduation. The graduation rate is a cumulative or longitudinal rate that considers the number of students who meet the graduation requirements as a percent of those who were in membership and could have graduated over a four year period from grade 9 through grade 12.

35. Will districts be given additional guidance with regard to graduations rates and AYP determinations?

Yes. Additional information will be sent to districts soon.

Differently Configured Schools

36. What are the targets for schools with grade spans other than K-5, 6-8, and 9-12?

A. Colorado law defines school levels as either elementary, middle, or high school. Schools that cover grades one though five or one through six are considered elementary schools. Schools that cover grades six through eight or grades seven through nine are considered middle schools. Schools that cover grades nine through twelve or grades ten through twelve are considered high schools. If a school covers two or three complete school levels, it shall be considered as two or three separate schools for the purposes of determining AYP. Districts with school configurations other than those identified shall use the performance targets that match the designation used by the SARs.

School Grade Spans Performance Target Level

K-3, K-4, K-5, or K-6	Elementary Performance Targets
5-8, 6-8, 7-8, 7-9	Middle School Performance Targets
9-12, 10-12	High School Performance Targets

37. If, for example, an elementary school has a K-6 configuration – would grade six data be used in calculating proficiency rates for that school? Or, would only grades three, four, and five data be used?

A. AYP would be calculated using all of the CSAP, CSAPA, and Lectura data available for grades included in that school, including grade six.

38. How will AYP be determined in K-1 and K-2 schools?

A. As these schools do not participate in CSAP, a separate set of assessments, starting points and performance targets are required to make AYP determinations for these schools. These are not yet final.

Currently, CDE, in collaboration with an AYP committee comprised of school district and related agency personnel, is considering a model that is consistent with the requirements under Colorado's Basic Literacy Act. This would include a defined set of allowable, locally-administered reading and math assessments. Progress would be assessed by identifying the percentage of students performing at grade level from one year to the next. Reasonable targets will be established.

CDE will communicate the details of AYP in K-1 and K-2 schools to school districts and BOCES as soon as they have been determined. Currently, this applies to a very limited number of schools. It is expected that 2003-2004 will be the year for establishing baselines and setting performance targets for subsequent years.

Use of Confidence Intervals

39. In its accountability plan submitted to the USDOE in December of 2002, CDE stated that it would incorporate the use of "confidence intervals" and "confidence limits" into the formula used in making AYP determinations. What does this mean?

A. This has important, and positive, implications for a school’s or district’s opportunity to make AYP. CDE plans to use a specific formula (developed by Ghosh) to calculate confidence intervals around a proportion or percentage (see Glass & Hopkins, 3rd Edition, 1996, p. 326). When using confidence intervals, upper and lower limits around a school’s or district’s percentage of proficient students are calculated, creating a range of values within which there is “confidence” the true percentage lies. CDE will use a 95% confidence level, meaning that we are 95% confident that a school’s or district’s percentage proficiency falls within the range calculated using the confidence interval formula.

For example, if the percentage of proficient students in reading at an elementary school is 72%, then depending on the number of students tested, the lower proficiency limit might be 66% and the upper might be 78%. Since the state’s performance target for elementary reading is 76.92%, the school would be considered to have reached the target because it falls within the upper limit of the school’s proficiency range.

40. What formula is used to generate the upper and lower confidence limits?

A. The formula is included in the AYP Proficiency Target page.

41. Does this mean that one school with a given proficiency rate could make AYP while another school with the same proficiency rate would not?

A. Yes. Sample size will have an impact on the range of values generated by the confidence intervals - the larger the sample size, the smaller the range of values. So, a district with larger numbers of students may have a relatively small proficiency range while a subgroup with a small number of students will have a larger range.

AYP Determination Process

42. Who will determine whether a school district has made AYP? Who will determine whether a school has made AYP?

A. NCLB is clear that responsibility for defining AYP and making AYP determinations for school districts lies with the State.

NCLB is also clear that school districts are responsible for making AYP determinations for schools. However, the State has the responsibility to monitor the process to ensure that the determinations are made uniformly and accurately.

44. Will schools and districts be able to appeal AYP determinations?

A. Yes. Schools and districts may appeal AYP determinations on the grounds of statistical or data error. A school may appeal an AYP determination to its district. A district may appeal an AYP determination to the State. Districts and the State have 30 days to resolve the appeal and make a final determination.

For Additional Information Contact:

Alyssa Pearson
Title I - Principal Consultant
303-866-6855
send an e-mail