Overview PASA requirement

- The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires all students
to be assessed academically in mathematics and reading. 

 

- This federal law requires states to have at least one
alternate assessment for students who are unable to
participate in general state assessments even with
appropriate accommodations.

 

- The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) provides
flexibility that specifically addresses alternate assessments
under the 1 percent rule for students with special needs,
while still ensuring the goals of NCLB.

 

- PASA is administered to the most severely cognitively
disabled students.

- Though many believe that the PASA cannot be
administered to more than 1 percent of its total population,
this belief is incorrect.

- PASA may be administered to as many students who meet
the six criteria; however, no more than 1 percent of a Local
Education Agency’s (LEA) Advanced/Proficient scores can
come from PASA results when calculating accountability.

 

- The 1.0 percent cap (calculated at the state and LEA
levels) is a limit on the number of proficient or advanced
scores based on alternate achievement standards that may
count as proficient or advanced for accountability purposes.

 

Implications for an LEA that exceeds 1 Percent

- If 150 students in an LEA score proficient or advanced on
an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement
standards, the LEA must:
                                    - Determine which 50 proficient or advanced scores will
                                      be considered not proficient, and

                                   - Count these excess 50 scores as not proficient in each
                                     subgroup that each student is in. For example, all
                                     students, a racial/ethnic group, and students with
                                     disabilities.

 

2020-2021 - Bentworth School District has 2.4% of their assessed students anticipated to participate in the PASA.