Iowa Admin. Code r. 281-31.4 - Annual achievement evaluations
(1)
General. Each child receiving competent private instruction
will be evaluated annually by May 31 through the use of:
a. A nationally recognized standardized
achievement evaluation; or
b.
Another assessment tool selected by the child's parent, guardian, or legal
custodian from an approved list provided by the department of education, which
will include:
(1) The costs and
administration time of listed evaluations, and
(2) A process to approve new or alternate
assessments that meet the provisions of Iowa Code chapter 299A.
(2)
Duties of
educational agencies. The director of the department of education, or
the director's designee, which may include a school district or an area
education agency (AEA), will:
a. Conduct
annual evaluations at a time and place determined by the person responsible for
conducting the evaluation, which includes but is not limited to purchasing of
evaluation materials, giving the evaluations, scoring and interpreting the
evaluations, and reporting the evaluation results; and
b. Provide for the parent, guardian, or legal
custodian of the child to be present when the child is evaluated.
(3)
Additional
testing. If requested, the school district or AEA will conduct annual
evaluations at no cost to the parent, guardian, or legal custodian. Further:
a. The parent, guardian, or legal custodian
under competent private instruction is not required to reimburse any of the
evaluation costs; and
b. The annual
achievement evaluation does not meet dual enrollment purposes under Iowa Code
section 299A.8.
(4)
Additional evidence of
progress. A parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child may
submit, as evidence of adequate academic progress, completed assessment
evaluations, other than the annual achievement evaluation, if assessment
evaluations are administered as part of the competent private instruction.
a. A parent, guardian, or legal or actual
custodian of a child subject to the annual assessment requirement may arrange
to have an appropriately licensed Iowa practitioner review a portfolio of
evidence of the child's progress annually by May 31.
(1) A single evaluator will be designated by
the parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian who has selected the
portfolio evaluation option for annual assessment. The evaluator so identified
will be approved by the superintendent of the local school district or the
superintendent's designee and will hold a valid Iowa practitioner license or
teacher certificate appropriate to the ages and grade levels of the children
whose portfolios are being assessed.
(2) The child's portfolio will contain
evidence of academic progress in the minimum curriculum areas of reading,
language arts, and mathematics if the child is in grades 1 through 5. For
children in grades 6 through 12, the portfolio will contain evidence in the
minimum curriculum areas of reading, language arts, mathematics, science, and
social studies.
b. For a
child subject to annual assessment under this rule who is enrolled as a student
of a correspondence school that is a member of an accrediting association
recognized by the federal Department of Education and accredited for elementary
and secondary education, the district of residence and the department will
accept the annual report of progress (report card) sent by the correspondence
school to the child's parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian if the
annual report of progress includes a listing of subjects taken and grades
received. A passing grade in all content areas for which annual assessment is
required is deemed evidence of adequate progress for the purpose of annual
assessment.
(5)
Reporting of evaluation results. Evaluation results will be
handled pursuant to Iowa Code section
22.7(1) and
reported by the evaluation administrator to the child's parent, guardian, or
legal custodian; the school district of residence of the child; and the
department of education.
(6)
Failure to make adequate progress-notice to parents. If annual
evaluation results indicate the child has not made adequate progress:
a. The director of the department of
education, or the director's designee, will notify the parent, guardian, or
custodian of the child that the child is required to attend an accredited
public or nonpublic school.
b. The
child will attend an accredited public or nonpublic school at the start of the
next school year until evaluation results indicate the child has made adequate
progress, unless, before the beginning of the next school year, the director or
director's designee grants approval for competent private instruction to
continue under a plan for remediation.
(7)
Rules of construction.
a. Nothing in this section requires or
prohibits testing in any way other than what is set forth in Iowa Code section
256.7(21)
"b"(2).
b. The parent, guardian, or custodian of
students who are receiving independent private instruction are responsible for
the cost of annual assessment if requested, through the local school district
or AEA.
c. The parent, guardian, or
legal or actual custodian of a child subject to this rule and who has a
physical or mental disability so significant that the results of a standardized
test would not yield relevant results for assessment purposes may request the
department's approval of an alternative evaluation.
Notes
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