Memo Text
Arkansas Code Sec. 6-18-235(d)(1), established by ACT 426 of 2023, states that a public school
district shall have the option of whether or not to include test results
achieved by an international exchange student enrolled in the public school
district in state-mandated assessments. The public school district shall include
or exclude the test results achieved by each international exchange student
enrolled in the public school as a group.
If your district chooses to exclude all foreign
exchange students, please alert the Office of Public School Accountability via
email at ade.schmail@ade.arkansas.gov, by April 5, 2024, otherwise all students will remain in your calculations for A-F.
Arkansas Code Sec. 6-18-235 has no effect on federal
accountability calculations (i.e. ESSA School Index or the students'
expectation to test). According to Standard 1-C.1.1 of the DESE Standards for Accreditation, public schools
shall assess at least 95% of its students on the annual statewide student assessment (S/C). All foreign exchange students are expected to
test if enrolled in an eligible course or grade.
In eSchool, foreign exchange students
should be identified in the Citizen Status field under Registration > Entry
& Reports > Student Demographic > Personal. This field will pull into
state reporting in cycles 2-7 and a count of students will display on the
student status reports (Reports 334 and 434).