Akey concept embodied in the accountability provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, P.L. 107-110 ) is that of adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward proficiency on state assessments. In order to maintain eligibility for grants under ESEA Title I, Part A—Grants to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) for the Education of Disadvantaged Pupils, the largest federal K-12 education program—states must establish and implement standards of AYP that are applicable to all public schools and LEAs in the state, as well as the state overall. Schools or LEAs that fail to meet AYP standards for two or more consecutive years face a variety of consequences and, ultimately, corrective actions. The authorization for ESEA programs expired at the end of FY2008, and the 111 th Congress is expected to consider whether to amend and extend the ESEA. This report will be updated regularly to reflect major legislative developments and available information. Substantial interest has been expressed in the use of growth models to meet the AYP requirements of the NCLB. Such AYP models are not consistent with certain statutory provisions of the NCLB, as they were originally interpreted by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The AYP Models Explicitly Authorized by the NCLB

The primary model of AYP under the NCLB currently is a group status model. A school where aggregate achievement is below the level required under the group status model described above would still be deemed to have made AYP, through the "safe harbor" provision, if, among relevant pupil groups who did not meet the primary AYP standard, the percentage of pupils who are not at the proficient or higher level in the school declines by at least 10% (not 10 percentage points) , and those pupil groups make progress on at least one other academic indicator included in the state's AYP standards. The models proposed by the states must meet at least the following criteria (in addition to a variety of criteria applicable to all state AYP policies—that is, measure achievement separately in reading/language arts and mathematics):
they must incorporate an ultimate goal of all pupils reaching a proficient or higher level of achievement by the end of the 2013-2014 school year; achievement gaps among pupil groups must decline in order for schools or LEAs to meet AYP standards; annual achievement goals for pupils must not be set on the basis of pupil background or school characteristics; annual achievement goals must be based on performance standards, not past or "typical" performance growth rates; the assessment system must produce comparable results from grade-to-grade and year-to-year; and the progress of individual students must be tracked within a state data system. Are Growth Models of AYP More Fair and Accurate than Status or Improvement Models? At the same time, growth models of AYP have the significant disadvantage of implicitly setting lower thresholds or expectations for some pupil groups and/or schools. Although any growth model deemed consistent with NCLB would likely need to incorporate that act's ultimate goal of all pupils at a proficient or higher level of achievement by 2013-2014 (see below), the majority of such models used currently or in the past do not include such goals, and tend to allow disadvantaged schools and pupils to remain at relatively low levels of achievement for considerable periods of time. Growth models of AYP may be quite complicated, and may address the accountability purposes of NCLB less directly and clearly than status or (to a lesser extent) improvement models.
A key concept embodied in the accountability provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, P.L. 107-110), is that of adequate yearly progress (AYP). In order to be eligible for grants under ESEA Title I, Part A—Education for Disadvantaged Pupils—states must implement AYP policies applicable to all public schools and local educational agencies (LEAs), based primarily on the scores of pupils on state assessments. Schools or LEAs that fail to meet AYP standards for two or more consecutive years face a variety of consequences.
The primary model of AYP under the NCLB is a group status model. Such models set threshold levels of performance, expressed as a percentage of pupils scoring at a proficient or higher level on state assessments of reading and mathematics, that must be met by all pupils as a group, as well as pupils in designated demographic subgroups, in order for a public school or LEA to make AYP. Current law also includes a secondary model of AYP, a "safe harbor" provision, under which a school or LEA may make AYP if, among pupil groups who did not meet the primary AYP standard, the percentage of pupils who are not at the proficient or higher level declines by at least 10%.
Substantial interest has been expressed in the use of individual/cohort growth models to meet the AYP requirements of the NCLB. Such AYP models are not consistent with certain statutory provisions of the NCLB, as those were originally interpreted by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). However, under a pilot program, ED has approved applications from 15 states for waivers to use growth models to make AYP determinations, and regulations adopted in late 2008 allow an unlimited number of states to apply for this option. Many proponents of growth models of AYP see them as being more fair and accurate than the models generally employed to meet NCLB requirements, primarily because they recognize the fact that different schools and pupils have different starting points in their achievement levels, and recognize progress being made at all levels.
Growth models of AYP have the disadvantage of implicitly setting lower initial thresholds or expectations for some pupils. Although any growth model consistent with the NCLB would need to incorporate the act's ultimate goal of all pupils at a proficient or higher level of achievement by 2013-2014, such models used currently in state (non-NCLB) accountability plans do not include such goals and might allow disadvantaged schools and pupils to remain at relatively low levels of achievement for significant periods of time. Growth models of AYP may be quite complicated and may address the accountability purposes of the NCLB less directly and clearly than the currently statutory AYP models.
The authorization for ESEA programs expired at the end of FY2008, and the 111th Congress is expected to consider whether to amend and extend the ESEA. This report will be updated regularly to reflect major legislative developments and available information.