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 to include test results achieved by an international foreign 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 foreign international exchange student enrolled in the public school as a group. 

If your district chooses to exclude all international foreign exchange students, please alert the Office of Public School Accountability via this google form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdliiVHG6_mqYHlOvqbyeC7KBp-fpXC-TNjILAckigZF0tcKA/viewform?usp=header by March 31, 2025, 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 international foreign exchange students are expected to test if enrolled in an eligible course or grade. 

In eSchool, international foreign exchange students should be identified in the Citizen Status field. 

Note: Regardless of a district’s decision to exclude or include international foreign exchange students’ test results in accountability, federal law requires districts to provide English language services for students eligible to receive ESOL instruction (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Supreme Court of the United States holding in Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 (1974)).