§ 612.4 - What are the regulatory reporting requirements for the State report card?

§ 612.4 What are the regulatory reporting requirements for the State report card?

(a) General. Beginning not later than October 31, 2018, and annually thereafter, each State that receives funds under the HEA must -

(1) Report to the Secretary, using a State report card that is prescribed by the Secretary, on -

(i) The quality of all teacher preparation programs in the State consistent with paragraph (b)(3) of this section, whether or not they enroll students receiving Federal assistance under the HEA; and

(ii) All other information consistent with section 205(b) of the HEA; and

(2) Make the State report card information widely available to the general public by posting the State report card information on the State's Web site.

(b) Reporting of information on teacher preparation program performance. In the State report card, beginning not later than October 31, 2019, and annually thereafter, the State -

(1) Must make meaningful differentiations in teacher preparation program performance using at least three performance levels - low-performing teacher preparation program, at-risk teacher preparation program, and effective teacher preparation program - based on the indicators in § 612.5.

(2) Must provide -

(i) For each teacher preparation program, data for each of the indicators identified in § 612.5 for the most recent title II reporting year;

(ii) The State's weighting of the different indicators in § 612.5 for purposes of describing the State's assessment of program performance; and

(iii) Any State-level rewards or consequences associated with the designated performance levels;

(3) In implementing paragraph (b)(1) through (2) of this section, except as provided in paragraphs (b)(3)(ii)(D) and (b)(5) of this section, must ensure the performance of all of the State's teacher preparation programs are represented in the State report card by -

(i)

(A) Annually reporting on the performance of each teacher preparation program that, in a given reporting year, produces a total of 25 or more recent graduates who have received initial certification or licensure from the State that allows them to serve in the State as teachers of record for K-12 students and, at a State's discretion, preschool students (i.e., the program size threshold); or

(B) If a State chooses a program size threshold of less than 25 (e.g., 15 or 20), annually reporting on the performance of each teacher preparation program that, in a given reporting year, produces an amount of recent graduates, as described in this paragraph (b)(3)(i), that meets or exceeds this threshold; and

(ii) For any teacher preparation program that does not meet the program size threshold in paragraph (b)(3)(i)(A) or (B) of this section, annually reporting on the program's performance by aggregating data under paragraph (b)(3)(ii)(A), (B), or (C) of this section in order to meet the program size threshold except as provided in paragraph (b)(3)(ii)(D) of this section.

(A) The State may report on the program's performance by aggregating data that determine the program's performance with data for other teacher preparation programs that are operated by the same teacher preparation entity and are similar to or broader than the program in content.

(B) The State may report on the program's performance by aggregating data that determine the program's performance over multiple years for up to four years until the program size threshold is met.

(C) If the State cannot meet the program size threshold by aggregating data under paragraph (b)(3)(ii)(A) or (B) of this section, it may aggregate data using a combination of the methods under both of these paragraphs.

(D) The State is not required under this paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section to report data on a particular teacher preparation program for a given reporting year if aggregation under paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section would not yield the program size threshold for that program; and

(4) Must report on the procedures established by the State in consultation with a group of stakeholders, as described in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, and on the State's examination of its data collection and reporting, as described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, in the State report card submitted -

(i) No later than October 31, 2019, and every four years thereafter; and

(ii) At any other time that the State makes a substantive change to the weighting of the indicators or the procedures for assessing and reporting the performance of each teacher preparation program in the State described in paragraph (c) of this section.

(5) The State is not required under this paragraph (b) to report data on a particular teacher preparation program if reporting these data would be inconsistent with Federal or State privacy and confidentiality laws and regulations.

(c) Fair and equitable methods -

(1) Consultation. Each State must establish, in consultation with a representative group of stakeholders, the procedures for assessing and reporting the performance of each teacher preparation program in the State under this section.

(i) The representative group of stakeholders must include, at a minimum, representatives of -

(A) Leaders and faculty of traditional teacher preparation programs and alternative routes to State certification or licensure programs;

(B) Students of teacher preparation programs;

(C) LEA superintendents;

(D) Small teacher preparation programs (i.e., programs that produce fewer than a program size threshold of 25 recent graduates in a given year or any lower threshold set by a State, as described in paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section);

(E) Local school boards;

(F) Elementary through secondary school leaders and instructional staff;

(G) Elementary through secondary school students and their parents;

(H) IHEs that serve high proportions of low-income students, students of color, or English learners;

(I) English learners, students with disabilities, and other underserved students;

(J) Officials of the State's standards board or other appropriate standards body; and

(K) At least one teacher preparation program provided through distance education.

(ii) The procedures for assessing and reporting the performance of each teacher preparation program in the State under this section must, at minimum, include -

(A) The weighting of the indicators identified in § 612.5 for establishing performance levels of teacher preparation programs as required by this section;

(B) The method for aggregation of data pursuant to paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section;

(C) Any State-level rewards or consequences associated with the designated performance levels; and

(D) Appropriate opportunities for programs to challenge the accuracy of their performance data and classification of the program.

(2) State examination of data collection and reporting. Each State must periodically examine the quality of the data collection and reporting activities it conducts pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section and § 612.5, and, as appropriate, modify its procedures for assessing and reporting the performance of each teacher preparation program in the State using the procedures in paragraph (c)(1) of this section.

(d) Inapplicability to certain insular areas. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section do not apply to American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the freely associated States of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands.