(1) ESEA means the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. section 6301 et seq.

(2) Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) waiver shall mean waivers from specified provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, that have been granted for a specified time period to New York State on May 29, 2012 by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to section 9401 of the ESEA for purposes of ESEA flexibility, and any revisions to and/or extensions of such waivers.

(3) Title I means title I, part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA), 20 U.S.C. sections 6301-6327.

(4) Accountability groups shall mean, for each public school, school district and charter school, those groups of students for each grade level or annual high school cohort, as described in paragraph (j)(2) of this section comprised of: all students; students from major racial and ethnic groups, as set forth in subparagraph (bb)(2)(v) of this section; students with disabilities, as defined in section 200.1 of this Title, including, beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, students no longer identified as students with disabilities but who had been so identified during the preceding one or two school years; students with limited English proficiency, as defined in Part 154 of this Title, including, beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, a student previously identified as a limited English proficient student during the preceding one or two school years; and economically disadvantaged students, as identified pursuant to section 1113(a)(5) of the NCLB, 20 U.S.C. section 6316(a)(5) (Public Law, section 107-110, section 1113, 115 STAT. 1469; Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9328; 2002; available at the Office of Counsel, State Education Building, Room 148, Albany, NY 12234). The school district accountability groups for each grade level will include all students enrolled in a public school in the district or placed out of the district for educational services by the district committee on special education or a district official.

(5) School district shall mean a common, union free, central, central high school or city school district, provided that, in the case of the city school district of the City of New York, such term shall mean a community school district or New York City superintendency to the extent that such entity is the local educational agency for purposes of title I.

(6) Special act school district shall mean a school district as defined in subdivision 8 of section 4001 of the Education Law.

(7) Board of education shall mean the trustees or board of education of a school district; provided that in the case of the city school district of the City of New York, such term shall mean the chancellor of the city school district acting in lieu of the board of education of such city school district to the extent authorized by article 52-A of the Education Law and, with respect community school districts and New York City superintendencies, such term shall mean the community superintendent or other superintendent of schools acting in lieu of the board of education to the extent authorized by article 52-A of the Education Law.

(8) Alternate assessment means a State alternate assessment recommended by the committee on special education, for use by students with disabilities as defined in section 100.1(t)(2)(iv) of this Part in lieu of a required State assessment.

(9) Continuously enrolled means, for grades 3-8, students whose latest date of enrollment occurred after the date prescribed by the commissioner on which BEDS forms are required to be completed and, for grades 9-12, students in the high school cohort, as defined in paragraph (j)(2) of this section.

(10) Significant medical emergency means an excused absence from school during both the regular and makeup examination period for which a district has documentation from a medical practitioner that a student is so incapacitated as to be unable to participate in the State assessment given during that examination period.

(11) For elementary and middle-level students, participation rate means the percentage of students enrolled on all days of test administration who did not have a significant medical emergency who received valid scores on the State assessments for elementary and middle-level grades, as set forth in paragraph (14) of this subdivision. Beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, a limited English proficient student enrolled in school in the United States (excluding Puerto Rico) for less than one year as of a date determined by the commissioner and who received a valid score on the NYSESLAT may be counted as participating in an elementary or middle level English language arts assessment.

(12) For high school students, participation rate means the percentage of designated students in at least their fourth year of high school, as designated by the commissioner, who received a valid score on the required assessments for high schools, as set forth in paragraph (14) of this subdivision.

(13) Performance criteria shall mean the performance criteria set forth in subdivision (j) of this section.

(14) Performance levels shall mean:

(15) Performance index shall be calculated based on the student performance levels as follows:

(16) Student growth means the change in student achievement for an individual student between two or more points in time.

(17) Student growth percentile means the result of a statistical model that calculates each student's change in achievement between two or more points in time on a State assessment and compares each student's performance to that of similarly achieving students.

(18) Median student growth percentile means the result of rank-ordering the student growth percentile results for an accountability group at the school, district, or State level.

(19) The student growth percentile target means the rate of annual growth necessary in English language arts and mathematics for a student to meet proficiency standards in three years, or by 8th grade, whichever is earlier.

(20) A transfer high school means a high school in which the majority of students upon their first enrollment in the high school had previously attended grade nine or higher in another high school or a school in which more than 50 percent of currently enrolled students are English language learners who were born outside of the United States and have attended school in the United States for less than three years.

(21) School improvement grant means a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to the New York State Education Department, as a State Education Agency (SEA), pursuant to section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, and awarded by the department to a local education agency (LEA) as a subgrant.

(22) A whole school reform model means the turnaround model, restart model, transformation model or closure model as set forth in section 100.2(p)(10)(iv) of this Part; an innovation framework model as set forth in paragraph (26) of this subdivision; an evidence based model as set forth in paragraph (27) of this subdivision or an early learning intervention model as set forth in paragraph (28) of this subdivision or a plan that provides for the redesign of a school by implementation of all of the following turnaround elements:

(23) Integrated intervention team means a school quality review team or joint intervention team appointed by the commissioner, that may include a distinguished educator appointed by the commissioner, to conduct a diagnostic review of a priority or focus school or focus district or a school under registration review.

(24) Re-identified focus school shall mean a school that had been identified as a focus school or a priority school for the 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015 school years and was identified as a focus school on the list of such schools promulgated by the commissioner during the 2015-2016 school year.

(25) Re-identified priority school shall mean a school that had been identified as a priority school for the 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 school years and was identified as a priority school on the list of such schools promulgated by the commissioner during the 2015-2016 school year.

(26) An innovation framework model shall mean a model in which the district replaces the principal at the identified school and selects one of three New York State Education Department design frameworks - college pathways school design, community-oriented school design, or career and technical education school design - and partners specifically with an Educational Partnership Organization (EPO), in accordance with Education Law section 211-e, to jointly launch a whole-school redesign.

(27) An evidence-based model shall mean a model in which the district replaces the principal at the identified school and implements an evidence-based whole-school reform strategy selected from a United States Department of Education (USDE) list of approved strategies.

(28) An early learning intervention model shall mean a model in which the district replaces the principal at the identified school and offers full-day kindergarten, establishes or expands a high-quality preschool program, and implements an approved annual professional performance review plan that serves as a rigorous evaluation and support system.

(29) Struggling school, persistently struggling school, school district receiver, school intervention plan, school receiver, and consultation and collaboration shall be as defined in section 100.19(a) of this Part.

(1) A school district that seeks to register a public elementary, intermediate, middle, junior high school or high school shall submit a petition for registration to the Board of Regents, in a form prescribed by the commissioner and containing such information as the commissioner may require, no later than March 1st for schools opening in September of the next successive school year or, for those schools opening during a current school year, at least 90 days prior to the opening of such school, except that the commissioner may waive this timeline for good cause.

(2) The commissioner shall review the petition and shall recommend its approval to the Board of Regents if it is satisfactorily demonstrated that the school district has provided an assurance that the school will be operated in an educationally sound manner; is in compliance with applicable statutes, rules and regulations relating to public schools; and will operate in accordance with applicable building codes and pursuant to a certificate of occupancy. No new public school will be recommended for registration by the commissioner if, in the commissioner's judgment, the establishment of such school would conflict with an approved plan for school district reorganization, except where it can be established to the satisfaction of the commissioner that such school is essential to the educational welfare of the students.

(3) Where a school registered pursuant to this paragraph is in a focus district, the commissioner shall determine the accountability status of the newly registered school based upon his review of the proposed educational program, including but not limited to such factors as: school mission, school administration and staff, grade configurations and groupings of students, zoning patterns, curricula and instruction and facilities.

(4) In the event that a school district merges two or more schools or transfers organizational responsibility for one or more grades from one school to another, the school district shall inform the commissioner, in a form prescribed by the commissioner and containing such information as the commissioner may require, no later than March 1st for schools opening in September of the next successive school year or, for those schools opening during a current school year, at least 90 days prior to the opening of such school, except that the commissioner may waive this timeline for good cause. As a result of such changes, the commissioner may adjust the accountability status of the affected schools to reflect such organizational changes.

(1) An accountability group within a public school, charter school or school district shall be deemed to have made adequate yearly progress if the accountability group achieved the performance criterion set forth in subdivision (j) of this section.

(2) For an accountability group within public schools, charter schools or school districts with fewer than 30 students subject to a performance criterion set forth in subdivision (j) of this section, the commissioner shall use the weighted average of the current and prior school year's performance data for that criterion in order to make a determination of adequate yearly progress. Commencing with 2014-15 school year results, notwithstanding the provision of this paragraph, a public school, charter school or school district will not be held accountable for an accountability group that consists of fewer than 30 students on performance criterion set forth in subdivision (j) of this section if the "all students" accountability group for that performance criterion includes at least 30 students for that school year and the accountability group with fewer than 30 students did not fail to meet participation rate requirements pursuant to subparagraph (4)(ii) of this subdivision.

(3) For purposes of determining adequate yearly progress, only the performance of continuously enrolled students in grades 3-8 shall be included for consideration.

(4) An accountability group shall be deemed to have made adequate yearly progress on a performance criterion specified in paragraph (j)(1) of this section if:

(5) An accountability group within a public school, charter school or school district shall be deemed to have made adequate yearly progress on a performance criterion specified in paragraphs (j)(2) and (3) of this section if:

(6) For each school year, public schools, school districts, and charter schools in which no students or, pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subdivision fewer than 30 students, participate in the State assessments for English language arts or mathematics, or in which the majority of students are not continuously enrolled, shall conduct a self-assessment of their academic program and the school learning environment, in such format and using such criteria as may be prescribed by the commissioner. Such self-assessment shall not be required of those schools and school districts for which the commissioner shall conduct a review of the performance of the school or school district in accordance with paragraph (7) of this subdivision. The superintendent of the school district or principal of the charter school shall review the self-assessment(s) and make a recommendation to the commissioner, in such format and according to such timeframe as the commissioner may prescribe, as to whether the accountability group within the school or school district has made adequate yearly progress. The commissioner shall consider the self-assessment, board recommendation and any other relevant information in determining whether the accountability group within the school or school district made adequate yearly progress.

(7) The accountability status of public schools, school districts, and charter schools serving grades 1 and/or 2, but not grade 3 or higher, (hereafter referred to as "feeder schools") will be determined using backmapping. In school districts with such feeder schools and in school districts that accept grade 3 students from feeder schools by contract, the grade 3 State assessment results for each feeder school student will be attributed to the feeder school as well as to the school or charter school in which the student took the assessment. The student's results will be attributed to a feeder school only if the student was continuously enrolled in the feeder school from the date prescribed by the commissioner on which the BEDS forms are required to be completed until the end of the school year in the highest grade served by the feeder school. In a district, if all schools serving grade 3 make adequate yearly progress for the accountability groups, in a given year, all feeder schools served by the school district will be deemed to have made adequate yearly progress. If one or more schools enrolling students from a feeder school fail to make adequate yearly progress for one or more accountability groups on a performance criterion set forth in subdivision (j) of this section, the commissioner will aggregate the school district's grade 3 results on that criterion by feeder school and determine whether each feeder school made adequate yearly progress on that criterion.

(8) A registered school that has no continuously enrolled students because all students are students with disabilities who attend the school and who have been placed outside of their district of residence (in New York City, outside of their community school district of residence) for educational services by the district committee on special education or a school district official shall participate in a self-assessment based on the students who are enrolled in the school.

(9) Effective with 2013-2014 school year results and continuing with the results for each school year thereafter, the “all students” accountability group for a public school, charter school or school district shall be deemed to have made adequate yearly progress on a performance criterion specified in paragraphs (j)(1) and (2) of this section if all the accountability groups, except the “all students” group, for which a public school, charter school or school district is accountable on that performance criterion made adequate yearly progress. Effective with 2014-2015 school year results and continuing with the results for each school year thereafter, the “all students” accountability group for a public school, charter school or school district shall be deemed to have made adequate yearly progress on a performance criterion specified in paragraph (j)(3) of this section if all the accountability groups, except the “all students” group, for which a public school, charter school or school district is accountable on that performance criterion made adequate yearly progress.

(1) Preliminary identification of priority schools prior to the commencement of the 2015-2016 school year.

(2) Preliminary identification of priority schools based upon 2014-2015 school year results:

(3) Preliminary identification of focus districts and schools prior to the commencement of the 2015-2016 school year.

(4) Preliminary identification of focus districts and schools, based upon 2014-2015 school year results:

(5) Notification of preliminary identification of a priority school, focus district or focus charter school.

(6) Determination of priority school, focus district or focus charter school status. The commissioner shall review the additional information provided by the school district or charter school and make a determination regarding the designation of the school as a priority school or the school district as a focus district or the charter school as a focus charter school and provide notice to the school district or charter school of the determination.

(7) Identification of focus schools prior to the commencement of the 2015-2016 school year.

(8) Identification of focus schools with the 2014-2015 school year results:

(9) School requiring a local assistance plan.

(10) Public notification of identification as a priority or focus school.

(1) District diagnostic review for focus districts. Commencing in the 2012-2013 school year, each focus district shall participate annually in a diagnostic review using a diagnostic tool of quality indicators as prescribed by the commissioner that shall focus on the accountability group(s) for each accountability performance criterion for which the school district and its schools have been identified as priority and/or Focus.

(2) School and district diagnostic review.

(1) Removal of priority school designation. Based upon 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school year results, and each two consecutive school year period thereafter, a school district or charter school may petition for a school to be removed from priority status if the school meets performance targets established by the commissioner, and the school has a combined performance index in ELA and mathematics for the all students group that exceeds the thresholds for identification as a priority school in the second year of the two year period. For high schools, the four year or five year cohort graduation rate must equal at least 60 percent for two consecutive years, the four year graduation rate cohort must equal or exceed 60 percent in the second year of the two year period and the school must meet the performance targets established by the commissioner, except for transfer high schools, for which the commissioner will establish a graduation rate goal and progress targets based on the specific conditions and circumstances present at each transfer high school. The school must also meet the participation rate requirement in ELA and mathematics for all groups for which it is accountable in the most current school year results that are being used as the basis for the petition.

(2) Removal of focus district and focus school designation.

(1) Elementary/middle-level English language arts and mathematics, and high school English language arts and mathematics requirements. An annual measurable objective is a performance index set by the commissioner for 2010-11 school year results for each accountability group and that increases annually in equal increments so as to reduce by half the gap between the performance index for each accountability group in the 2010-11 school year and reach a goal of a performance index of 200 by the 2016-17 school year, except that, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year and thereafter, for each accountability group in elementary/middle-level English language arts and mathematics, an annual measurable objective is a performance index set by the commissioner for the 2012-13 school year that increases annually in equal increments so as to reduce by half the gap by the 2016-17 school year between the performance index of each accountability group in the 2012-13 school year and a performance index of 147.

(2) Annual high school or high school alternative cohort.

(3) Elementary/middle-level science requirements. An annual measurable objective is a performance index set by the commissioner for 2010-11 school year results for each accountability group that increases annually in equal increments so as to reduce by half the gap between the performance index for each accountability group in the 2010-11 school year and reach a goal of a performance index of 200 by the 2016-17 school year.

(4) A high school cohort graduation rate goal established annually by the commissioner, or progress in relation to the previous school year's graduation rate as measured by the four year graduation rate cohort and the five year graduation rate cohort.

(1) Beginning with 2014-2015 school year results and thereafter, the commissioner shall place under preliminary registration review those schools identified as priority for at least three consecutive years that are determined to have made insufficient progress towards the implementation of their comprehensive improvement plan or have failed to demonstrate progress since identification as a priority school in improving student results on the performance criteria specified in paragraphs (j)(1) and (4) of this section, except that the commissioner may upon a finding of extenuating circumstances extend the period during which the school must demonstrate progress.

(2) Beginning with 2012-13 school year, the commissioner may also place under preliminary registration review any school that has conditions that threaten the health, safety and/or educational welfare of students or has been the subject of persistent complaints to the department by parents or persons in parental relation to the student, and has been identified by the commissioner as a poor learning environment based upon a combination of factors affecting student learning, including but not limited to: high rates of student absenteeism, high levels of school violence, excessive rates of student suspensions, violation of applicable building health and safety standards, high rates of teacher and administrator turnover, excessive rates of referral of students to or participation in special education or excessive rates of participation of students with disabilities in the alternate assessment, evidence that the school does not maintain required programs and services; evidence of failure to appropriately refer for identification and/or provide required programs and services to students with disabilities pursuant to Part 200 of this Title; evidence of failure to appropriately identify and/or provide required programs and services to English language learners pursuant to Part 154 of this Title, excessive transfers of students to alternative high school and high school equivalency programs and excessive use of uncertified teachers or teachers in subject areas other than those for which they possess certification. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (g) of this section, any school that is identified as a school under registration review pursuant to this paragraph shall also be identified as priority school and shall be subject to all of the requirements of this section.

(3) The commissioner may also place under registration review any school for which a school district fails to provide in a timely manner the student performance data required by the commissioner to conduct the annual assessment of the school's performance or any school in which excessive percentages of students fail to fully participate in the State assessment program.

(4) For each school identified for preliminary registration review pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subdivision, the school district shall be given the opportunity to present to the commissioner additional data and relevant information concerning extenuating or extraordinary circumstances faced by the school that should be cause for the commissioner to not identify the school for registration review.

(5) For each school identified as a poor learning environment and placed under preliminary registration review pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subdivision, the school district shall be given the opportunity to present evidence to the commissioner that the conditions in the school do not threaten the health or safety or educational welfare of students and do not adversely affect student performance.

(6) The commissioner shall review the additional information provided by the school district and determine which of the schools identified for preliminary registration review pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subdivision, or identified as poor learning environments pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subdivision, shall be placed under registration review.

(1) Upon placing the registration of a school under review, the commissioner shall warn the board of education (in New York City, the chancellor) that the school has been placed under registration review, and that the school is at risk of having its registration revoked. The commissioner shall include in any warning issued pursuant to this paragraph the actions that must be taken and/or the progress that must be demonstrated in order for a school to be removed from consideration for revocation of registration.

(2) Following the placement of a school under registration review that has not been identified as a struggling school or persistently struggling school pursuant to section 100.19 of this Part, an integrated intervention team, which may include a distinguished educator, as appointed by the commissioner, pursuant to section 100.17(c)(3)(i) of this Part, shall conduct a diagnostic review of the school and recommend to the commissioner whether the school should:

(3) The commissioner shall review the recommendations of the integrated intervention team and may approve, or modify and approve as so modified, such recommendations. Upon such approval, the commissioner shall direct that the school district submit in a format and according to a timeline prescribed by the commissioner a revised improvement plan, a new comprehensive improvement plan, or a plan for phase out or closure that implements the recommendations of the integrated intervention team. Upon approval of the plan by the commissioner, the school shall be required to implement such plan. If the school district fails to submit an approvable plan, the commissioner may recommend to the Board of Regents that the registration be revoked and the school be declared an unsound educational environment pursuant to paragraph (6) of this subdivision.

(4) Struggling and persistently struggling schools identified for registration review.

(5) The commissioner may require a school district to submit such reports and data as the commissioner deems necessary to monitor the implementation of the improvement plan, comprehensive education plan, or closure or phase out plan and to determine the degree to which the school has achieved the progress required by the commissioner. Such reports shall be in a format and in accordance with such timeframe as are prescribed by the commissioner. The commissioner may upon a finding of good cause extend the deadline for submission of a required plan.

(6) If the school has not taken the required actions and/or demonstrated progress as delineated by the commissioner pursuant to paragraph (3) or paragraph (4) of this subdivision, the commissioner shall recommend to the Board of Regents that the registration be revoked and the school be declared an unsound educational environment, except that the commissioner may upon a finding of extenuating circumstances extend the period during which the school must demonstrate progress. The board of education of the school district which operates the school (in New York City, the chancellor) shall be afforded notice of such recommendation and an opportunity to be heard in accordance with paragraph (8) of this subdivision.

(7) Upon approval of revocation of registration by the Board of Regents, the commissioner will develop a plan to ensure that the educational welfare of the pupils of the school is protected. Such plan shall specify the instructional program into which pupils who had attended the school will be placed, how their participation in the specified programs will be funded, and the measures that will be taken to ensure that the selected placements appropriately meet the educational needs of the pupils. The commissioner shall require the board of education to implement such plan.

(8) Decisions to revoke the registration of a public school shall be made in accordance with the following procedures:

(1) In the event that a school has demonstrated the progress necessary to be removed from registration review, the superintendent may petition the commissioner to remove the school from registration review.

(2) A school shall not be removed from registration review if, in the commissioner's judgment, conditions that may contribute to a poor learning environment, as identified in paragraph (k)(3) of this section, remain present in the school.

(3) In the event that a school placed under registration review prior to the 2012-2013 school year demonstrates that it has met its previously established progress targets pursuant to section 100.2(p) of this Part, but is identified in the 2012-2013 school year as priority pursuant to subdivision (g) of this section, the school shall remain under registration review and shall follow the intervention requirements pursuant to subdivision (h) of this section and meet the targets for removal as a priority school pursuant to subdivision (i) of this section, pursuant to a timeline prescribed by the commissioner.

(4) In the event that a school placed under registration review prior to the 2012-2013 school year demonstrates that it has met its previously established progress targets pursuant to section 100.2(p) of this Part, and is not identified in the 2012-2013 school year as priority pursuant to subdivision (g) of this section, the school shall be removed from registration review.

(5) In the event that a board of education either seeks to phase out or close a school under registration review or is required to to close or phase out a school pursuant to paragraph (l)(3) of this section, the board of education (in New York City, the chancellor or chancellor's designee) shall submit for commissioner's approval, a plan identifying the intervention that will be implemented and will result in phase out or closure, in the form and content prescribed by the commissioner. The commissioner will consider the academic impact of such phase out or closure on other schools within the school district and may grant approval of such plan provided that:

(6) In the event that a board of education seeks to redesign a school under registration review or a priority school, the board of education (in New York City, the chancellor or chancellor's designee) shall submit to the commissioner a petition and a redesign plan, in such form or format as prescribed by the commissioner, requesting that the redesigned school be approved.