Iowa Admin. Code r. 281-31.4

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 10, November 13, 2024

Rule 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.

Iowa Admin. Code r. 281-31.4

Amended by IAB August 25, 2021/Volume XLIV, Number 4, effective 9/29/2021

Adopted by IAB June 12, 2024/Volume XLVI, Number 26, effective 7/17/2024