In accordance with the final regulations posted in the Federal Register on April 9, 2007, Texas implemented the US Department of Education (USDE) required limits on the number of scores from alternate assessments that can be counted as proficient in the 2008 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) calculations. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 requires the proficient results from the TAKS-Alternate (TAKS-Alt) assessment to be limited to a 1% cap and proficient results from the TAKS-Modified (TAKS-M) limited to a 2% cap.

The federal cap development process began in September, 2007. After review of educator comments and suggestions, a final version of research-based options for Development of the Federal Cap on Proficient Results from TAKS-M and TAKS-Alt was presented to the Title I COP meeting. The cap process was completed on April 15, 2008 and the Final Decision on the 2008 Federal Cap provides a summary of the final decisions on the 2008 federal cap process. The 2008 Texas AYP Workbook was approved by the US Department of Education (USDE) on May 19, 2008. Additional training sessions on the 2008 federal cap process were provided in May, 2008.

The 2008 timeline for the federal cap development and amendment to the AYP Workbook are shown in this summary table.

Frequently Asked Questions (updated June 6, 2008) provides answers to some of the most common questions about 2008 AYP.