Dear Affected County and District Superintendents:

Options to Apply for Federal Waiver and Assessment and Accountability Requirements

In response to the devastating fires impacting your communities, the California Department of Education (CDE) is providing guidance on the legal requirements and waiver options for the annual statewide student assessments and accountability provisions. Recognizing the extraordinary challenges faced by affected schools and districts, the CDE is providing this support to outline possible flexibility in meeting state and federal requirements.

We are sharing with you below: (1) the process to apply for a waiver from annual testing and accountability requirements, and (2) what to expect from a federal compliance perspective should the waiver not be granted by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). This correspondence also provides information related to those options for your district and stakeholders to consider when requesting a waiver in Attachment 1.

Options for Waiver of Assessment Requirements

Federal and state law requires all local educational agencies (LEAs) to annually administer the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) to all eligible students with additional restrictions for states and districts with assessment rates under 95 percent (under California law, parents are allowed to exempt their child from testing upon request). A request to waive this requirement may be made to the ED under the authority provided in Section 8401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), 20 U.S.C. 7861, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), Pub. L. No. 114-95 for the impacted school year. The waiver of sections of federal law includes:

• Section 1111(b)(1)(B). which requires that challenging academic content and achievement standards apply to all public schools and public school students in the state, and include the same knowledge, skills, and levels of achievement expected of all public school students; and
• Section 1111(b)(2)(B), which requires that high-quality academic assessments in mathematics, language arts, and science be used to measure the achievement of all public elementary and secondary school students in the state and administered to all public elementary and secondary school students in the state.

To request a waiver of the assessment provisions of the ESEA, impacted LEAs would need to submit to the CDE a justification for the waiver, all steps taken to meet the assessment requirement, and the reasons why the requirement could not be met despite the LEA’s attempts. Per the requirements of ESEA, the request must also address how waiving the statutory requirements will advance student academic achievement and maintain or improve transparency in reporting to parents and the public on student achievement. Notice of the assessment waiver request must be made to the public. The waiver request must include the notice and that a reasonable opportunity was provided to the public to comment and provide input on the request. Next, the waiver request would be submitted to the CDE, and then the request would be forwarded to ED if the state has no additional concerns.

Historically, ED has granted these types of waiver requests when an event occurred close to or at the opening of an assessment window and significantly impacted the LEA from the point of the event through the assessment window. ED has limited approval for waivers when there is sufficient time between the event and the assessment window for an LEA to relocate students or implement a plan for testing.

The following test administration options and supports are available to assist your LEA in meeting testing requirements should a waiver not be available:

• Remote test administration for students who may be accessing instruction virtually.
• Paper-based test forms for emergency situations could be made for specific grades and not necessarily for all the students depending on need. The paper form is a fixed form and uses the full blueprint, which may take more time to administer but is not dependent on technology.
• Extend the CAASPP testing window past the end date of the LEA’s testing window, and up to the end of the state’s testing window of June 30, 2025, to allow more time for the district to complete testing.
• Assessment contractor ETS can send staff to assess test administration needs and provide technical assistance.

Requesting a waiver from academic accountability provisions, and not the assessment provisions, may be another option to consider.

Options for Waiver of Accountability Requirements

Additionally, the LEA may request a waiver of the section of federal laws related to accountability, which would include:

• Section 1111(c)(4)(E)(i), which requires the annual measurement of the achievement of not less than 95 percent of all students and of all students in each subgroup of students enrolled in public schools.
• Section 1111(c)(4)(E)(ii), which requires the measurement, calculation, and reporting of the academic indicator in factoring the requirement for 95 percent student participation in the statewide assessments.

Federal Accountability Requirements and the California School Dashboard

ESEA requires states to hold all schools accountable for their academic achievement based on their progress towards proficiency in English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics. To meet this federal requirement, California automatically assigns an Orange performance level for ELA and mathematics on the Dashboard to LEAs and schools if the following conditions are met:

• At least 30 students were enrolled during the current and prior testing windows for ELA and/or mathematics, and
• Less than ten percent of the enrolled students were administered the test for ELA and/or mathematics in either the current or prior year.

Based on these conditions, if less than ten percent of enrolled students in an LEA and/or its schools participate in the 2025 ELA and mathematics CAASPP assessments, then the district, schools, and student groups will automatically be assigned an Orange performance level on both ELA and mathematics for the 2025 and 2026 Dashboards.

The CDE remains committed to ensuring that impacted LEAs continue to be supported through these difficult times. If you have any questions regarding the testing requirements, please contact Mao Vang, Director, Assessment Development and Administration Division, at 916-324-9566 or mvang@cde.ca.gov. For questions regarding accountability, please contact Cindy Kazanis, Director, Analysis, Measurement, and Reporting Division, at 916-323-5007 or ckazanis@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Mao Vang, Director
Assessment Development and Administration Division

Cindy Kazanis, Director
Analysis, Measurement, and Reporting Division

Attachment 1

Federal and State Assessment Requirements

Federal and state law requires all local educational agencies (LEAs) to annually administer the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) assessments in English language arts/literacy (ELA), mathematics, and science to all students in the relevant grades. A request to waive these legal requirements for the impacted school year may be made to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) under the waiver authority provided in Section 8401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA). The request would seek a waiver of the following federal requirements:

• Section 1111(b)(1)(B) of ESEA, as amended by ESSA, which requires that challenging academic content and achievement standards apply to all public schools and public school students in the state and include the same knowledge, skills, and levels of achievement expected of all public school students; and
• Section 1111(b)(2)(B) of ESEA, as amended by ESSA, which requires that high-quality academic assessments in mathematics, language arts, and science be used to measure the achievement of all public elementary and secondary school students in the state and administered to all public elementary and secondary school students in the state.

To request a waiver of the federal assessment provisions under Section 8401, an LEA must submit a justification for the waiver, describe all steps taken to meet the assessment requirement, and identify the reasons the requirement could not be met despite the LEA’s attempts. The request must address how waiving the statutory requirements will advance student academic achievement and maintain or improve transparency in reporting to parents and the public on student achievement. Notice of the assessment waiver request must be made to the public. The waiver request must include the notice and that a reasonable opportunity was provided to the public to comment and provide input on the request.

Federal Accountability Requirements and the California School Dashboard

Section 1111(c)(4) and Section 1111(d)(C)-(D) of the ESSA relate to federal accountability and school identification requirements and require all states to test at least 95 percent of all students and student groups in ELA, mathematics, and science. They also require states to factor the participation rate into their accountability systems, which, for California, is the Academic Indicator. The Academic Indicator is based on the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments and the California Alternate Assessments for ELA and mathematics. It currently does not include the science assessments.

For any LEA, school, or student group with less than 95 percent of students tested, the ESSA requires a penalty to be applied to the Academic Indicator. To meet this federal requirement, the state must assign the Lowest Obtainable Scale Score (LOSS). Note that the assignment of a LOSS to not tested students occurs only when the California Department of Education calculates the Dashboard Academic Indicator. Students who did not test will not receive a LOSS on their individual CAASPP student score reports or in the CAASPP Student Score Data File.

Identification of Local Educational Agencies and Schools for Support

Under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), LEAs are eligible for differentiated assistance based on their performance on the California School Dashboard (Dashboard). LEAs with at least one student group meeting the criteria in at least two LCFF Priority Areas (Pupil Achievement, Pupil Engagement, or School Climate) are eligible for differentiated assistance.

Given the above criteria, the application of the LOSS penalty for not meeting the 95 percent participation rate within the calculation of the Academic Indicator may continue to cause some LEAs to be identified for support, but only if their remaining state indicators (e.g., suspension rate, chronic absenteeism, graduation rate, English learner progress, and college/career) also meet the criteria.