W. Va. Code R. § 126-13-2

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 126-13-2 - Overview

2.1. The West Virginia Constitution charges the WVBE with the general supervision of public schools. This duty of general supervision is subject to many factors, including, but not limited to:

2.1.a. The resolution of the landmark case of Pauley vs. Bailey¹, wherein the WVBE, the West Virginia Legislature, the Governor, and the State Superintendent of Schools adopted "A Process for Improving Education," the blueprint for a standards-based accountability system for West Virginia, hereinafter System.

2.1.b. The adoption by the Legislature of W. Va. Code § 18-2E-5, intended to implement the provisions of the System; and

2.1.c. The adoption by the WVBE and approval by the United States Department of Education of a waiver to the terms of the "No Child Left Behind" Act of Congress, hereinafter Act. The Act and the waiver relate to many areas of the state education system, but for the purposes of this policy, the principal impact of the Act is on school accountability. The Act becomes void August 1, 2016 due to the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) defined as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 2016-2017 will be a transition year and ESSA will becomefully effective in the 2017-2018 school year.

2.2. The WVBE is charged with implementing the details of the entire standards-based accountability system, and in 2013, the Legislature amended W. Va. Code § 18-2E-5 in part to provide the WVBE the flexibility it needs to administer the System within the mandates of both the State and Federal governments. Among the many things the WVBE must do to administer the standards-based accountability system are the following:

2.2.a. Establish high academic standards and high-quality process standards;

2.2.b. Adopt and administer assessments to measure achievement of the academic standards and compliance with the high-quality process standards;

2.2.c. Administer a program of accountability that recognizes the level of achievement of the academic standards and compliance with the high-quality process standards, through recognitions, sanctions, and rewards. The WVBE has determined to administer this program of accountability by assigning schools a grade of A, B, C, D, or F, hereinafter A-F, and granting county school systems an approval status of Full Approval, Temporary Approval, Conditional Approval, or Non-Approval; and

2.2.d. Use the standards-based accountability system to help determine capacity needs of schools and school systems and take steps to address those capacity needs.

2.3. In order to administer those parts of the standards-based accountability system related to school accreditation, school system approval, and capacity building, the WVBE promulgates this rule.

2.4 School Accountability and Accreditation².

2.4.a. Annual and Cyclical Review of High-Quality Process Standards.

2.4.a.1. Annually, each school will complete a School Monitoring Report calculated to assist the school in determining compliance with high-quality process standards principally found in those WVBE policies that affect student performance and school quality, especially W. Va. 126CSR12, WVBE Policy 2322: Standards for High Quality Schools, hereinafter Policy 2322. The Office of Education Performance Audits, hereinafter OEPA, will review the School Monitoring Report.

2.4.a.2. Over the period of school year 2014-2015 and school year 2015-2016, each school in the State will receive one on-site review by the OEPA to determine compliance with high-quality process standards.

2.4.a.3. Beginning with school year 2016-2017, the OEPA will conduct on-site reviews of each school in the State once every four years to determine the accuracy of the School Monitoring Report and compliance with the high-quality process standards.

2.4.a.4. Throughout the annual and cyclical review process, in addition to determining compliance with high-quality standards, the OEPA will seek examples of best practices that should be commended and replicated.

2.4.b. Annual Accreditation of Schools (A-F Accreditation).

2.4.b.1. Each year, the West Virginia Department of Education, hereinafter WVDE, will administer a program of accountability wherein it will calculate a grade for each school based on multiple measures of academic achievement and student success standards and will assign each school a grade of A-F.

2.4.b.2. The measures the WVDE will utilize in calculating, the OEPA will utilize in verifying, and the WVBE will utilize in determining and communicating grades will be developed jointly by the WVDE and OEPA in the form of a guidance document.

2.4.b.3. The OEPA will verify the grade calculated by the WVDE, and may recommend to the WVBE lowering the grade if school conditions, as determined in the annual and cyclical reviews, are found to be so adverse and so serious that the grade calculated by the WVDE would be a misrepresentation of the school's overall quality.

2.4.b.4. The WVBE will make final determination of the grade to be assigned each school and that grade will be the annual accreditation for that school. The WVBE will communicate the grades as appropriate.

2.5. County School System Approval Status.

2.5.a. Each year the OEPA will assign each county school system an approval status of Full Approval, Temporary Approval, Conditional Approval, or Non-Approval.

2.5.b. The status awarded each school system will be based primarily on the A-F grade assigned to each of its schools and the measure of improvement by its lowest-performing schools.

2.5.c. Regardless of the accreditation status indicated by the grades awarded the schools within the county school system, the school system may be granted non-approval status if certain serious negative circumstances exist which merit non-approval.

2.6. Capacity Building.

2.6.a. Using the results of the standards-based accountability system, the WVBE will determine capacity needs of schools and school systems and will take steps necessary to address those capacity needs.

2.7. The WVBE finds that the nature and complexity of this administrative rule should make this overview helpful to the reader. This section is intended to serve as an informal overview of this administrative rule for the benefit of the reader and should not be considered the policy of the WVBE. The policy of the WVBE is found in the balance of this administrative rule.

¹pauley vs. Bailey, 324 S.E.2d 128 (W. Va. 1984).

² Because of the various State and Federal mandates this policy must address, the term "accountability" is used in more than one context. Additionally, the terms "accountability" and "accreditation" often are confused, so in the context of this policy, some explanation is necessary. The entire process of establishing high standards, assessing performance, holding schools accountable by assigning grades (A-F), administering sanctions and rewards, and determining capacity needs is referred to as a "standards-based accountability system." As a part of that System, the State is required to administer a "program of accountability" that assigns a grade (A-F) for each school based on multiple measures of academic achievement and student success standards. After the assignment of this grade to each school, compliance with high quality standards is considered before the school ultimately is accredited. The accreditation for the school will be the same letter grade unless lowered because of a failure to comply with the high quality standards creates conditions so serious that the WVBE determines the performance grade would be a misrepresentation of the school's overall quality. So, "accountability" is the term used to name the entire system and also to assign a grade based on academic performance and graduation rates. "Accreditation" is the process whereby each school is assigned a final grade under the standards-based accountability system.

W. Va. Code R. § 126-13-2