| States have some flexibility in how they define a "Full Academic Year." Some states—Hawaii, Iowa and Colorado—are defining a full academic year as from one test administration to the next. [July 2003 - Statewide Educational Accountability Under NCLB, Chief State School Officers, page 28]
Minnesota has chosen to define a "Full Academic Year" as from October 1 to the date of test administration. [November 2004 - Minnesota Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook, U.S. Department of Education]
This is important because whether or not a school makes "Annual Yearly Progress" is determine by the scores of those students who take the test.
In Minnesota, scores count even when the student has been at that school less than the 12 month calendar year allowed by NCLB. Minnesota is more prescriptive than the federal law allows.
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