§ 211-a. Enhanced state accountability system. To more fully implement the requirements of section one thousand one hundred eleven of the elementary and secondary education act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, and the federal regulations implementing such statute, the regents shall develop and implement an enhanced state accountability system that uses growth measures to the extent required by this section.

1. By the start of the two thousand eight--two thousand nine school year, the regents shall establish, using existing state assessments, an interim, modified accountability system for schools and districts that is based on a growth model, subject to approval of the United States department of education where required under federal law.

2. The regents shall proceed with the development of an enhanced accountability system, with revised or new state assessments, based on an enhanced growth model that, to the extent feasible and consistent with federal law, includes a value-added assessment model that employs a scale-score approach to measure growth of students at all levels. (a) If the regents establish that the assessment scaling and accountability methodology employed have been determined by external experts in educational testing and measurement to be valid and reliable and in accordance with established standards for educational and psychological testing, and (b) the approval of the United States department of education has been obtained where required by federal law, the enhanced growth model shall be implemented no later than the start of the two thousand ten--two thousand eleven school year.

3. In implementing the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this section, the regents shall by July first, two thousand eight, establish targets for improvement of schools and school districts based upon performance on state assessments, graduation rates, and other indicators of progress, such as student retention rates and college attendance and completion rates.

4. As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:

a. "Growth model" shall mean the assessment of a cohort of students, or individual students, over time that measures the academic progress made by those students.

b. "Value added assessment model" shall mean a form of growth model that includes an evaluation of the specific effects of programs, and other relevant factors, on the academic progress of individual students over time.