Time in School Definition
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires states to annually review the performance of schools to determine if adequate yearly progress (AYP) is being made. AYP measures the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the state’s academic achievement standards to determine if schools are narrowing the achievement gap. Under New Jersey’s Single Accountability System, which was developed to address critical accountability elements of NCLB, schools must identify students who have not been enrolled for a full academic year, so the assessment results of these students can be excluded from the school’s accountability profile. New Jersey’s Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook, submitted to and approved by the United States Department of Education (USDE), defines a full academic year as the "term that begins on July 1 and ends on or about June 30." The workbook states, "Any student enrolling in a school or district for the first time after July 1, up to the test administration date, will not have been considered to be enrolled for a full academic year."
