The Department of Education is seeking public comment on an addendum to its 2021-22 State Plan required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as revised by the Every Student Succeeds Act. Recognizing COVID-19’s continued impact on schools in school year 2021-22, and particularly the challenges around securing valid and reliable data, the department plans to submit changes to its State Plan relating to accountability and school improvement.

If approved by the U.S. Department of Education, the changes would impact accountability for the current school year (Report Card issued fall 2022). View the addendum with proposed changes. Public comments can be emailed to DOE.Accountability@state.sd.us or mail them to: Department of Education, Attn: Matt Gill, 800 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD 57501. Public comment will be accepted until March 4, 2022.

Summary of proposed changes:

• Shift long-term goals forward by two years (goals for Academic Achievement, Graduation Rate, and English Learner Progress)
• Use only one year (SY 2021-22) of assessment data, rather than the typical three years, to calculate the Academic Achievement indicator
• Not report School Performance Index Scores publicly; however, the state would report those scores privately to school districts and identify schools for improvement based on those scores (list of Schools in Improvement would be public, just not scores)