The Education Accountability Act of 2009 (SB 09-163) was signed into law to align conflicting accountability systems and create a common understanding of school, district, and state performance using the Colorado Growth Model. Combining the state (SB 09-163) and federal (NCLB) statutes, individual public schools are being held accountable for performance on the same set of indicators and related measures as outlined in the following chart. 

Indicator	Measure
Student Academic Growth	Colorado Growth Model
Student Academic Achievement	CSAP
Achievement Gaps	CSAP
Growth Gaps	Colorado Growth Model
Post-Secondary/Workforce Readiness	Graduation Rate / Drop Out Rate / ACT
English Language Development and Attainment	CELA / CSAP
Educator Qualification	"Highly Qualified Designation"

All CSAP and ACT scores are factors in measuring performance for Colorado schools and districts. Students who do not take the tests are assigned an equivalent to unsatisfactory performance, which has a negative value, and are averaged in with students who do take the test. 

• CSAP or ACT participation is a condition for re-enrollment in the Branson School Online.
• Colorado and U.S. Department of Education may impose extensive reporting requirements and changes to school programming. The way the NCLB law is written, unless we have 95% participation, we will be labeled as “not making progress,” regardless of how well our students perform.
• CSAP and ACT are standardized measures that give us a “snapshot” view of our educational program.

On one hand, we believe that parents should have the right to determine whether their children are tested. On the other hand, if we do not successfully apply pressure to have students tested, we risk loss of funding by the State of Colorado. We deeply regret being forced to choose between two principles.

Branson RE-82 Board of Education policy is summarized as follows:

1. Students currently in grades 3-10 must take the CSAP in the spring, or we will not consider them for continuation in the program for the next school year.
2. Students currently in the 11th grade must take the ACT in April, or we will not consider them for continuation in the program for the next school year.
3. Students applying for re-enrollment or new enrollment must agree to take the CSAP in grades 3-10 or ACT as an 11th grader, or we will not admit them.

For additional information on Colorado law pertaining to state assessments, please visit The Colorado Department of Education.