February 27, 2012
The Honorable Arne Duncan
U.S. Secretary of Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
Dear Secretary Duncan:
Under the leadership of the West Virginia Board of Education, and after consultation
with teacher organizations, principals, superintendents, legislators and the governor, the West
Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) intends to submit on behalf of our students,
parents, leaders, schools and district staff and citizens of the state, a Flexibility Request to the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by September 6, 2012.
This request will allow West Virginia to take significant steps to support the State Board
goals and strategic priorities. This includes the crafting of a thoughtful, fair and constructive
state accountability system. The new accountability system will focus on assessing both student
learning and growth, as well as the learning strategies employed in our schools. It will build
capacity in our schools and districts to provide evidence of improvement and engage parents
and communities as key stakeholders in the improvement process. It will provide differentiated
identification and support systems, and implement data-driven changes in order to improve the
learning of all students.
The West Virginia Board of Education has made a deep commitment to support the
learning of each child in our state. This commitment ensures that we create a high quality public
education system that develops students who are healthy, responsible, self-directed and who
have the knowledge and Global21 skills necessary for living satisfying and productive lives. In
order to attain these goals, the Board is committed to several core actions that we will include in
our Flexibility Request.
 First, we must continue to implement the Next Generation curriculum (Common Core
State Standards) and assessment system that prepares students for college and careers,
sets new targets for improving achievement among all students and focuses on helping
students who need the most support.
The Honorable Arne Duncan
Page two
February 27, 2012
 Second, the WVDE has worked with the Teacher Evaluation Task Force to design a
revised educator evaluation system that is being piloted in 25 schools across the state.
The revised system is based on multiple measures including classroom observation and
student learning. It not only evaluates the performance of teachers but also provides
meaningful results to inform data-driven professional development. Governor Earl Ray
Tomblin recently introduced legislation which would expand the pilot in 2012-2013 and
be fully implemented by 2013-2014. The Teacher Evaluation legislation is currently
progressing through the legislative process. If enacted, it will strengthen West Virginia’s
efforts to secure the NCLB waiver.
 Finally, West Virginia is now approaching a critical juncture and must work to move
beyond narrow criteria that define student and school success as it revamps its
accountability system. Student academic growth is at the center of the updated
accountability structure. In other words, how much has an individual student improved
from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year along with multiple
measures will provide a more comprehensive look at what school success really means.
We are already beginning the work to convene educators and other stakeholders to
develop the components of the Flexibility Request. We will work aggressively to encourage full
participation and meaningful communication as we develop a new accountability and
improvement system. We look forward to future engagement with you and your staff in this
important work.
Sincerely,
Jorea M. Marple, Ed.D.
State Superintendent of Schools