membership parcc

8/9/2019 Membership PARCC

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PART I.G. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

An eligible applicant (a consortium of states) must meet the following requirements to be eligibleto receive funds under this program. The Department will determine eligibility under these

requirements.

Eligibility Requirement (1):

To be eligible to receive an award under this category, an eligible applicant must include aminimum of 15 States, of which at least 5 States must be governing States (as defined in the

NIA).

Directions: Complete the chart below. List the Governing States first and place an asterisk nextto each Governing State. Then, list all other state members of the consortium. Additional rows

may be added.

PARTNERSHIP FOR ASSESSMENT OF READINESS

FOR COLLEGE AND CAREERS(Place an asterisk next to each Governing State.)

1. Arizona* 2. District of Columbia*3. Florida* 4. Illinois*5. Indiana* 6. Louisiana*7. Maryland* 8. Massachusetts*9. New York* 10. Rhode Island*11. Tennessee* 12. Alabama13. Arkansas 14. California15. Colorado 16. Delaware17. Georgia 18. Kentucky19. Mississippi 20. New Hampshire21. New Jersey 22. North Dakota23. Ohio 24. Oklahoma25. Pennsylvania 26. South Carolina


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Membership in the Partnership

Differentiated State Roles. The Partnerships membership structure is designed to balance two

equally important priorities: (1) providing opportunities for broad participation, engagement and

consensus-building among all member states over the next four years; and (2) establishing a

governance structure that places the most critical final decisions in the hands of states that have

made the greatest commitment to help create and ultimately implement the proposed assessment

system.

Member states may choose between two different state roles within the Partnership

Governing State or Participating State both of which carry distinct rights and responsibilities.

The role that any particular state plays is determined by the level of its formal commitment to the

Partnership. The eligibility criteria, responsibilities and rights for state roles are as follows.

Governing States. Governing States make the strongest commitment to the Partnership and our

activities and therefore have the most decisionmaking authority. Each Governing State commits

to participate exclusively in this consortium under the Comprehensive Assessment Systems

category of the Race to the Top (RTTT) Assessment Competition and will administer the

Partnerships assessments fully in its state by the 201415 school year. Furthermore, Governing

States in the Partnership have committed to use the results from the proposed assessment system

in their state accountability systems, including for determinations of school effectiveness and for

teacher and school leader evaluations to provide strong signals about the kinds of instruction and

student performances necessary to increase readiness rates across Partnership states. Governing

States also commit to providing staff to support the Partnerships activities and coordinate the

states participation in the Partnership by serving on the committees and working groups that will

conduct the major assessment design and development activities of the Partnership and by

working within their states to regularly update key state leaders on the Partnerships work and

progress.

Because of their strong commitment to the Partnerships work, Governing States chief state

school officers will serve on the Partnerships Governing Board (described below) and have the

right to make decisions on behalf of the Partnership on major policies and operational

procedures. Through the Partnerships Governing Board, Governing States will contribute to


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and approve the assessment system design, help make decisions on major Partnership

expenditures, and provide direction to the fiscal agent and project management partner.

Additionally, Governing States must devote staff to participate in the Partnerships design

committees and working groups; participate in the piloting and field testing of the assessment

system components and tools in 201112, 201213 and 201314; and remove any legal or

statutory barriers to implementing the assessment system before full administration in 201415.

Any Partnership state that is prepared to make the commitments and take on the responsibilities

described above will automatically become a Governing State.

Participating States. States that want to participate in the design of the Partnerships assessment

system but are not prepared to make the level of commitment of Governing States will be

Participating States. These states must commit to participate in the piloting and field testing of

assessment system components in 201112, 201213 and 201314, but do not need to commit

exclusively to this consortium during that period. By 201415, however, any state that remains

in the Partnership including Participating States must commit to statewide implementation

and administration of the Partnerships assessment system.

The rights of Participating States are designed to provide them with the opportunity for

engagement in the Partnerships work without requiring them to make the same commitments asGoverning States. They are invited and encouraged to provide staff to serve on design

committees, working groups and other task forces established by the Governing Board to

conduct the work necessary to design and develop the Partnerships proposed assessment system.

They will be given regular opportunities throughout the four-year development period to provide

input and feedback regarding the assessment system design and other Partnership business.

Fiscal Agent and Partnership Funds Management

The state of Florida will serve as the fiscal agent for the Partnership and will have responsibility

for managing funds received from the RTTT Assessment Program under the Comprehensive

Assessment Systems grant category. The fiscal agent will:

Issue RFPs to procure goods and services on behalf of the Partnership or designate otherstates to issue RFPs;


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Assume fiduciary responsibility for the Partnership to manage grant funds received underthe RTTT Comprehensive Assessment Systems grant program, including responsibilities

related to administration of the grant;

Contract with Achieve, Inc., which has been selected as the project management partnerthrough a competitive process; and

Receive from Partnership states the identification of any current assessment requirementsin Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that would need to be

waived in order for Partnership states to fully implement the assessment system described

in section (A)(3) of this application, which the fiscal agent will, in turn, report to the U.S.

Department of Education.

While Florida will assume fiduciary responsibility for the grant funds, decisionmaking authorityregarding significant expenditures and disbursements of grant funds will be made by the

Governing Board. The Project Budget included as an attachment to section (A)(8) of this

application includes funds to cover the costs that Florida will incur to carry out its

responsibilities as fiscal agent, a portion of which Florida may use to contract with other

organizations to obtain assistance in managing and accounting for grant funds, such as hiring an

accounting firm.

Please refer to Summary Table (A)(1)(b)(ii) for the list of Partnership states and the role each has

elected to play.

RECOMMITMENT REQUIREMENT

States in this Partnership recognize that they might experience changes in political leadership

over the four-year project period. Therefore, in the event that the governor or chief state school

officer is replaced in a Partnership state, his or her successor must affirm in writing to the

Governing Board Chair within five months of taking office the states continued commitment to

participate in the Partnership and to the binding commitments made by that officials

predecessor.


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JOINING AND LEAVING THE PARTNERSHIP

Non-Partnership states may apply to join the Partnership at any time, and member states may

leave the Partnership at any time.

Application Process for New Members. Non-Partnership states may apply for a role in the

Partnership at any time. Any state that wishes to join the Partnership after submission of this

application for RTTT Comprehensive Assessment Systems grant funds may apply for

membership as either a Governing State or a Participating State, provided that the state meets the

eligibility requirements for the role it wishes to assume. To apply, the states Governor, Chief

State School Officer, and President of the State Board of Education (if applicable) must sign a

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with all of the same commitments as existing

Partnership members. Furthermore, applicant states must provide letters of intent from the

leaders of one or more of the states public systems or institutions of higher education (IHEs) to

participate in the Partnership, consistent with the letters of intent provided by IHEs in current

member states.

States that join the Partnership after this application is submitted will not be permitted to re-open

settled decisions pertaining to governance, design, development and implementation of the

proposed assessment system (such as the policies listed in Summary Table (A)(1)(b)(v) below),nor will these states be permitted to participate in the review of proposals received in response to

any RFPs that the Partnership already has issued.

Membership Opt-Out Process. Partnership states are permitted to withdraw from the Partnership

at any time. To do so, the states Governor, Chief State School Officer, and State Board of

Education President (if applicable) must submit written notice to the Chair of the Governing

Board at least 10 days prior to the effective date of the states withdrawal from the Partnership.

Any state that wishes to withdraw from the Partnership must provide an explanation of its

reasons for leaving.


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PARTNERSHIP GOVERNANCE AND DECISIONMAKING PROTOCOLS

Governing Board

Composition. The Governing Board is comprised of the chief state school officer (or his or her

designee) from each Governing State and is chaired by a chief state school officer from one of

the Governing States. The Governing Board Chair will carry a one-year term, which may be

renewed; Governing States will nominate candidates, who will be selected by a majority vote of

the members of the Governing Board. The first Governing Board Chair will be Mitchell Chester,

the Commissioner of Education in Massachusetts.

Responsibilities. The Governing Board meets quarterly to consider input from all Partnership

states and to make major policy and operational decisions on behalf of the Partnership, including

decisions related to the overall design of the assessment system, common achievement levels for

the assessments, the Partnerships procurement strategy and modifications to the Partnerships

governance structure and decisionmaking process. The timeline for making major decisions,

which will be updated and distributed quarterly to all Partnership states, is determined by the

Partnerships work plan described in section (A)(8) of this application. Please refer to Summary

Table (A)(1)(b)(v) for the approximate dates on which the Partnership intends to adopt a number

of important common policies.

The Governing Board makes decisions by consensus. When consensus is not achieved, decisions

are made by a vote that requires a supermajority, defined as a majority of Governing States plus

one Governing State. The processes for Governing States to consider major policy and

procedural decisions, described in the Partnerships MOU (see Appendix (A)(1)-A-i), are

designed to build consensus across the Partnership and significantly reduce the need for the

Governing Board to vote on decisions.

Design, Advisory and Working Committees

The Partnerships Governing Board will form anAssessment Design Committee, design and

development committees, advisory committees, working groups and teams as necessary to carry

out the Partnerships work, including those specified throughout the rest of this application.


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When forming a committee, the Governing Board will seek nominations for members from

among all Governing States and Participating States, with the goal of maximizing involvement

across the Partnership while keeping groups to the optimal size for completing their charges.

Depending upon the committee, the team may include state assessment directors, higher

education faculty and leaders, and any other representatives from Partnership states who can

conduct relevant research and draft appropriate proposals. These committees will do the heavy

lifting necessary to design and develop a sophisticated common assessment system. They will

strive to reach consensus on major proposals; however, if the members cannot reach consensus, a

committee will recommend several options to the Governing Board, describing the strengths and

weaknesses of each, and the Governing Board will make the decision on behalf of the

Partnership.

Design committees also may make decisions on behalf of the Partnership regarding certain kinds

of policies that do not require decisions by the Governing Board, such as test specifications or

assessment policies regarding the use of calculators during testing. Design committees work

toward reaching consensus on such decisions; however, when consensus cannot be reached, the

decision can be made by a vote of the Governing State members of the design committee where

a majority plus one decides the issue. The Partnerships Governing Board will further enumerate

the cases in which the design committees can make decisions on behalf of the Partnership in the

Partnerships By-Laws, which will be adopted at the first Governing Board meeting. Design

committees will conduct their work as openly possible to keep all Partnership states informed,

obtain input and feedback, and build consensus before they decide on a policy or recommend a

policy to the Governing Board.

Biannual General Assembly Meetings

The Partnership will hold two meetings each year for all Partnership states to review the progress

of the Partnerships work, obtain input relevant to upcoming decisions that will be made by the

Governing Board or design committees and address other issues of concern to member states.

For one meeting, the Partnership will invite leadership teams comprised of officials from the

state education agency, the state board of education, the governors office and IHEs. The other

annual meeting will be for chief state school officers or their designees.


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As a mechanism to promote sustained engagement among member states, the Partnership will

leverage the biannual meetings to inform and engage new chief state school officers or other

state leaders who have been appointed or elected since the last convening, ensuring that those

new leaders receive detailed information about the Partnerships activities and major milestones

on the horizon and have an opportunity to ask questions or express concerns.

See Appendix (A)(1)-B for a graphic depicting PARCCs organizational structure.

PLAN FOR ADOPTING KEY POLICIES AND DEFINITIONS

The Governing Board will form design committees and other working groups necessary to carry

out the Partnerships work, and through the charters of these committees and the By-Laws of the

Partnership, the Board will agree to processes for adopting key policies and definitions related to

governing the Partnership and designing, developing and implementing the proposed assessment

system. Such policies include:

1. Procedures for the administration of the Governing Boards duties;2. A common set of performance level descriptors;3. A common set of CCR content standards;4. A common set of achievement standards;5. Common assessment administration procedures;6. A common set of item release policies;7. A common test security policy;8. A common definition of English learner;9. A common set of policies and procedures for providing assessment accommodations for

English learners;

10.A common set of policies and procedures for providing assessment accommodations forstudents with disabilities;

11.A common set of policies and procedures for participation of English learners in theassessment system; and

12.A common set of policies and procedures for participation of students with disabilities in


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the assessment system.

Please refer to Table (A)(1)(b)(v) for the approximate dates on which the Partnership intends to

initiate and complete each of these tasks.

PROCUREMENT PROCESS

The Partnerships procurement process is described in Addendum 3 to the Partnerships MOU.

Please see Appendices (A)(1) A ii through (A)(1) A xxvii for evidence of each

Partnership states commitment to that process.

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