Can LEP/ELLs be exempt from any NYS assessments?
Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, schools are permitted to exempt from the English Language Arts Tests only those LEP students who on a specified date in January of the testing year will have attended school in the United States (excluding Puerto Rico) for less than one year. This change in Department policy was necessary so that the State’s assessment program would be in conformity with NCLB. http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/nyseslat/nclbmemo8-4-06.htm The calculation of dates for exempting first-year LEP/ELLs is contained in the School Administrator’s Manual (SAM) for the Grade 3-8 ELA Assessment that is issued each year.
NCLB requires that the reading/language arts proficiency of LEP students be measured as part of the school accountability program. USED has approved the use of the NYSESLAT in lieu of the Grades 3–8 NYSTP for some LEP students. LEP-eligible students (including those from Puerto Rico) who on April 1, 2010, will have been attending school in the United States for less than one year may use the NYSESLAT in lieu of the 3–8 NYSTP in ELA to meet the NCLB participation requirement for AYP in elementary/middle-level ELA. For this purpose, the United States is defined as schools in the 50 States and the District of Columbia and does not include Puerto Rico, the outlying areas, or the freely associated States. Students may be exempt from only one administration of the NYSTP in ELA (From the 2009-10 Student Information Repository System manual). http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/sirs/ The calculation of dates for exempting first-year LEP/ELLs is contained in the School Administrator’s Manual (SAM) for
