Pennsylvania granted NCLB waiver, which eliminates AYP

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania has been granted a waiver from No Child Left Behind by the U.S. Department of Education, Gov. Corbett announced today. The waiver allows for the elimination of the "adequate yearly progress" designation, used in its current measure of accountability for schools and districts, to be replaced with a "School Performance Profile."

The department’s news release says, in part:

The waiver also abolishes the adequate yearly progress designation for each school building and school district. In its place will be the School Performance Profile that will be used to measure the academic progress of all public schools. Title I schools, those with a high percentage of low-income students, will receive a federal designation of “Priority,” “Focus” or “Reward” based on four annual measurable objectives:

  • Student participation on the math and reading Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams and the algebra I, biology and literature Keystone Exams;
  • Student graduation or attendance rate;
  • Closing the achievement gap of all students – reducing the number of students who score below proficient on the PSSA, Keystone Exams and the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) by 50 percent over a six-year period; and
  • Closing the achievement gap of historically underperforming students – reducing the number of students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged and English language learners who score below proficient on the PSSA, Keystone Exams and the PASA by 50 percent over a six-year period.

Department spokesman Tim Eller said there will be a briefing on the School Performance Profile within the next few weeks.

Read the release from the Pennsylvania Department of Education here.