Delaware's Growth Model Approved By USDOEd
--One of only three states to have model approved--

(Dover, DE.) The U.S. Department of Education announced today that Delaware is one of only three states to have their "Growth Model" approved under the guidelines of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).  

Just one year ago, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced a pilot program where states who were closing achievement gaps and increasing student achievement could submit proposals to help strengthen their accountability standards. Secretary Spellings stated that no more than ten high-quality growth models would be approved in 2006.

"I am very pleased that our growth model proposal had been approved by Washington,” said Secretary of Education Valerie A. Woodruff. “In the spring of 2006, we submitted what we thought was a viable model that was disapproved. However, we went back to the table and made adjustments based on the feedback we were getting from USDOE, and obviously that has paid off."

Delaware’s growth model is based on individual student achievement over time and will allow Delaware to look at individual student growth from year to year rather than comparing one class to another.

“The growth model selected by Delaware for the pilot program is similar to one that had been developed prior to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002,” said Robin Taylor, Associate Secretary for Assessment and Accountability.  “For years, Delaware has had the necessary data systems and infrastructure, assessments for multiple years in the areas of reading and math in contiguous grades, and a model designed to hold schools accountable for all students being proficient by 2013 – 2014.  Today’s announcement just further enforces our work to ensure all students succeed.”

The approved growth model was developed by a statewide NCLB stakeholder group including teachers, building level administrators, administrators’ association, special education coordinators, Title I coordinators, curriculum directors, local chief school officers, State Board of Education, parents, business community, advocacy groups, and local boards of education.

In order for the growth model to be approved by Washington, Delaware’s accountability system must meet seven core principles as outlined by USDOE.  Those principles are:

• The proposed accountability system must ensure that all students are proficient by 2013-2014 and set annual goals to ensure that the achievement gap is closing for all groups of students.
• The accountability system must establish high expectations for low-achieving students that are not based on student demographic or school characteristics.
• The accountability system must produce separate accountability decisions about student achievement in reading/language arts and in mathematics. 
• All students in the tested grades must be included in the assessment and accountability system; schools and districts must be held accountable for the performance of student subgroups; and the accountability system must include all public schools and districts in the state.
• Annual assessments in reading/ language arts and math in each of grades 3-8 and high school must have been administered for more than one year, must produce comparable results from year to year and grade to grade, and must be approved through the peer review process for the 2005-06 school year.
• The accountability model and state data system must track student progress.
• The accountability system must include student participation rates in the state's assessment system and student achievement on an additional academic indicator.

Delaware will now report the traditional school accountability information as well as the growth model information side by side in school report cards when that information is released.