Text of AZ SB 1346 (2019)

REFERENCE TITLE: common school districts; realignment; exemption State of Arizona Senate Fifty-fourth Legislature First Regular Session 2019 SB 1346 Introduced by Senator Allen S: Representative Thorpe AN ACT amending section 15‑241, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the department of EDUCATION. (TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE) Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. Section 15-241, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read: START_STATUTE15-241. School, charter school and school district accountability; annual achievement profiles; classification; letter grade system; profiles; appeals process; failing schools tutoring fund; exemption; definition A. On or before November 1 of each year, the department of education shall compile for each public school and local education agency, and shall recommend to the state board of education, an annual achievement profile that consists of an educational dashboard that reflects the achievement for each public school and local education agency on the academic and educational performance indicators prescribed in subsection D of this section. The department shall provide any technical assistance needed by the state board of education to make final adoption of the annual achievement profile. B. Each school, charter holder and school district shall submit to the department of education any data that is required and requested and that is necessary to compile the achievement profile. A school or local education agency that fails to submit the information that is necessary is not eligible to receive monies from the classroom site fund established by section 15‑977. C. The annual achievement profile compiled by the department of education and recommended to the state board of education shall be used to determine a standard measurement of acceptable academic progress for each school and local education agency and a school and local education agency classification pursuant to subsection G of this section. Any disclosure of educational records compiled by the department of education pursuant to this section shall comply with the family educational rights and privacy act of 1974 (20 United States Code section 1232g). D. The annual achievement profile for schools and local education agencies shall include, at a minimum, the following academic and educational performance indicators: 1. Multiple measures of academic performance or other academically relevant indicators of school quality that are appropriate to assess the educational impact of a school during the academic year as determined by the state board of education. 2. Academic progress on assessments adopted pursuant to sections 15‑741 and 15‑741.02 in English language arts and mathematics. 3. Academic progress on the English language learner assessments administered pursuant to section 15‑756, subsection B and sections 15‑756.05 and 15‑756.06. 4. Progress toward college and career readiness for all schools and local education agencies that offer instruction in any of grades nine through twelve. 5. Academic progress on assessments administered pursuant to section 15‑741.02. 6. Multiple measures of educational performance or other relevant indicators of school quality that assess a school's educational impact, such as graduation rates and attendance rates. E. If neither the school nor the school district meets the minimum student count as recommended by the department of education and approved by the state board of education for any of the performance indicators prescribed in subsection D of this section, then the performance indicator shall not be factored into the letter grade assigned pursuant to this section. F. Subject to final adoption by the state board of education, the department of education shall determine the criteria for each school and local education agency classification on each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile prescribed in subsection D of this section using a researched‑based methodology and shall recommend to the state board of education for final adoption the criteria for each school and local education agency classification. The department of education shall develop the methodology developed in collaboration with a coalition of qualified technical and policy stakeholders appointed by the board. The department shall provide technical assistance and, upon on request, student or statewide performance indicator data needed to determine and calculate the methodology and final letter grades. At a minimum, the methodology shall include the performance of pupils at all achievement levels, account for pupil mobility, account for the distribution of pupil achievement at each school and local education agency and include longitudinal indicators of academic performance. For the purposes of this subsection, "researched‑based methodology" means the systematic and objective application of statistical and quantitative research principles to calculate the indicators used to determine A through F letter grades. G. The annual achievement profile shall use classifications based on an A through F letter grade system adopted by the state board of education in which a letter grade of A reflects an excellent level of performance and a letter grade of F reflects a failing level of performance. The A through F letter grade system shall be applied to each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile prescribed in subsection D of this section, and the state board shall assign an overall letter grade for the public school or local education agency. The A through F letter grade system shall indicate expected standards of performance for all schools on each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile prescribed in subsection D of this section and the manner in which schools may rise above or fall below those expected standards of performance. The state board of education may also assign a school a letter grade of F on each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile prescribed in subsection D of this section if the state board determines that the school is among the persistently lowest‑achieving schools in the state on the majority of the performance indicators of the annual achievement profile under the federal school accountability requirements pursuant to section 1003(g) of the elementary and secondary education act (20 United States Code section 6303). H. The classification on each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile for each school and the criteria used to determine classification pursuant to subsections F and G of this section shall be included on the school report card prescribed in section 15‑746. I. Subject to final adoption by the state board of education, the department of education shall use achievement profiles appropriately to assess the educational impact of accommodation schools, alternative schools and extremely small schools, may develop profiles for schools that participate in the board examination system prescribed in chapter 7, article 6 of this title and schools that participate in Arizona online instruction pursuant to section 15‑808 and may develop other exceptions as prescribed by the state board of education for the purposes of this section. J. The department of education shall establish a process, including a deadline for when requests must be submitted, for a school or local education agency to correct student data used to determine the school's or local education agency's annual achievement profile. If a correction to student data is required, the department shall notify the school or local education agency of the data correction process and shall annually process student data correction requests. The state board of education shall establish an appeals process to allow a school or local education agency to appeal the school's or local education agency's final letter grade, or a letter grade applied to a performance indicator prescribed in subsection D of this section, based on mitigating factors, including achievement profile designations based on incorrect data, identified by the department. K. The failing schools tutoring fund is established consisting of monies collected pursuant to section 42‑5029, subsection E and section 42‑5029.02, subsection A, paragraph 8 as designated for this purpose. The department of education shall administer the fund. The department of education may use monies from the fund to purchase materials designed to assist students to meet the Arizona academic standards and to achieve a passing score on assessments adopted by the state board of education. L. A common school district that realigns schools or grades within those schools and the schools within that common school district are exempt from this section For one year after the realignment. L. M. For the purposes of this section, "academic progress" means measures of both proficiency and academic gain. END_STATUTE

House Engrossed Senate Bill State of Arizona Senate Fifty-fourth Legislature First Regular Session 2019 CHAPTER 86 SENATE BILL 1346 AN ACT amending sections 15‑716, 15‑741.02 and 15-1821.01, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to education. (TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE) Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. Section 15-716, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read: START_STATUTE15-716. Instruction on acquired immune deficiency syndrome; department assistance A. Each common, high and unified school district may provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one through the twelfth grade twelve on acquired immune deficiency syndrome and the human immunodeficiency virus. B. Each school district is free to may develop its own course of study for each grade. At a minimum, instruction shall: 1. Be appropriate to the grade level in which it is offered. 2. Be medically accurate. 3. Promote abstinence. 4. Discourage drug abuse. 5. Dispel myths regarding transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus. C. No district shall include in its course of study instruction which: 1. Promotes a homosexual life‑style. 2. Portrays homosexuality as a positive alternative life‑style. 3. Suggests that some methods of sex are safe methods of homosexual sex. D. C. At the request of a school district, the department of health services or the department of education shall review instruction materials to determine their medical accuracy. E. D. At the request of a school district, the department of education shall provide the following assistance: 1. A suggested course of study. 2. Teacher training. 3. A list of available films and other teaching aids. F. E. At the request of a parent, a pupil shall be excused from instruction on the acquired immune deficiency syndrome and the human immunodeficiency virus as provided in subsection A of this section. The school district shall provide a description of the course curriculum to all parents and notify all parents of their ability to withdraw their child from the instruction. END_STATUTE Sec. 2. Section 15-741.02, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read: START_STATUTE15-741.02. Menu of achievement assessments; requirements; rules; definition A. The state board of education shall adopt a menu of achievement assessments to measure pupil achievement of the state academic standards. Beginning in the 2018‑2019 school year, each local education agency that offers instruction in grades nine through twelve may select from that menu an achievement assessment to administer to the pupils in one or more schools in that local education agency in grades designated by the state board instead of the test statewide assessment to measure pupil achievement adopted by the state board of education pursuant to section 15‑741. Beginning in no later than the 2019‑2020 2023-2024 school year, each local education agency that offers instruction in grades three through eight may select from that menu an achievement assessment to administer to the pupils in that local education agency instead of the test statewide assessment to measure pupil achievement adopted by the state board pursuant to section 15‑741. The department of education shall provide adequate staff support for the state board to comply with this section. B. An achievement assessment in use by a local education agency that is not on the menu of assessments by March 1, 2018 may be added to the menu at the request of the local education agency and shall be approved by the state board of education if the assessment is nationally recognized, a qualifying college credit examination pursuant to section 15‑249.06 or an assessment adopted pursuant to section 15‑792.03. The state board may approve any other assessment if the assessment meets the requirements of subsection E of this section. The state board shall evaluate assessments that are not on the menu pursuant to this section annually and shall notify local education agencies of the results on or before May 1 of each year. C. A local education agency that selects an achievement assessment pursuant to this section meets the requirements prescribed in section 15‑741. The local education agency shall include the name of the assessment it administers in the school report card required in section 15‑746 and administer the assessment for a minimum period of time prescribed by the state board of education. D. The state board of education shall adopt policies, rules and procedures for the approval of assessments to be administered by the superintendent of public instruction pursuant to this section to carry out this section. Any policy, rule or procedure adopted pursuant to this subsection may not require a local education agency to receive additional approval from the state board or the department of education to select an assessment from the menu of assessments and may not require any additional requirements other than those required by subsection E of this section. A local education agency that adopts an achievement assessment pursuant to this section shall provide the necessary reasonable accommodations for a student who is an English language learner and the necessary accommodations and modifications for a student as required by the student's individualized education program team. E. The state board of education shall require that the provider of an achievement assessment that is proposed for the menu of achievement assessments do all of the following: 1. Provide evidence that the assessment is a high quality assessment. 2. Demonstrate that the assessment meets or exceeds the level of rigor of the state board's adopted academic standards. 3. Demonstrate that the assessment scores can be scaled for state accountability programs including establishing comparable student performance levels for achievement profiles and letter grade classifications issued pursuant to section 15‑241. 4. Submit an evaluation from a third party approved by the state board that shows the assessment meets the requirements prescribed in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this subsection. 5. Provide a copy of assessment scores to the department of education when scores are provided to the partnering local education agency. F. For the purposes of this section, "nationally recognized" means accepted by universities for the purposes of awarding college credit or admissions. END_STATUTE Sec. 3. Section 15-1821.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read: START_STATUTE15-1821.01. Dual enrollment information On a determination by a community college district governing board that it is in the best interest of the citizens of a district, the district governing board may authorize district community colleges to offer college courses that may be counted toward both high school and college graduation requirements at the high school during the school day, subject to the following: 1. The community college district governing board and the governing board of the school district or organization of which the high school is a part shall enter into an agreement or contract. These intergovernmental agreements or contracts shall be based on a uniform format that has been cooperatively developed by the community college districts in this state. Each of these agreements or contracts shall clearly specify the following: (a) The financial provisions of the agreement or contract and the format for the billing of all services under the agreement or contract, including the amount that the community college received in full‑time student equivalent funding pursuant to section 15‑1466.01, the portion of the funding that is distributed to the school district governing board or charter school and any amount that is subsequently returned to the community college district by the school district governing board or charter school. (b) Student tuition and financial aid policies, including whether scholarships or grants are awarded to students in dual enrollment courses from the community college. (c) The accountability provisions for each party to the agreement or contract. (d) The responsibilities and services required of each party to the agreement or contract. (e) The type of instruction that will be provided under the agreement or contract, including the titles of the courses to be offered. (f) The quality of the instruction that will be provided under the agreement or contract. 2. Students shall be admitted to the community college under the policies adopted by each district, subject to the following: (a) All students who are enrolled for college credit shall be high school juniors or seniors. All students who are in the course, including those not electing to enroll for college credit, shall satisfy the prerequisites for the course as published in the college catalog and shall comply with college policies regarding student placement in courses. (b) A community college may waive the class status requirements specified in subdivision (a) of this paragraph for up to twenty‑five percent of the students enrolled by a college in courses, provided that if the community college has established written criteria for waiving the requirements for each course. These criteria shall include a demonstration, by an examination of the specific purposes and requirements of the course, that freshman and sophomore students who meet course prerequisites are prepared to benefit from the college‑level course. All exceptions and the justification for the exceptions shall be reported annually to the joint legislative budget committee on or before October December 1. 3. The courses shall be previously evaluated and approved through the curriculum approval process of the district, shall be at a higher level than taught by the high school and shall be transferable to a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents or be applicable to an established community college occupational degree or certificate program. Physical education courses are not available for dual enrollment purposes. 4. College‑approved textbooks, syllabuses, course outlines and grading standards that are applicable to the courses if taught at the community college shall apply to these courses and to all students in the courses offered pursuant to this section. The chief executive officer of each community college shall establish an advisory committee of full‑time faculty who teach in the disciplines offered at the community college to assist in course selection and implementation in the high schools and to review and report at least annually to the chief executive officer whether the course goals and standards are understood, the course guidelines are followed and the same standards of expectation and assessment are applied to these courses as though they were being offered at the community college. The advisory committee of full-time faculty shall meet at least three times each academic year. 5. Each faculty member shall meet the requirements established by the governing board pursuant to section 15‑1444. The chief executive officer of each community college district shall establish an advisory committee of full‑time faculty who teach in the disciplines offered at the community college district to assist in the selection, orientation, ongoing professional development and evaluation of faculty who are teaching college courses in conjunction with the high schools. The advisory committee of full‑time faculty shall meet at least two times each academic year. 6. A school district shall ensure that a pupil is a full‑time student as defined in section 15‑901 and is enrolled in and attending a full‑time instructional program at a school in the school district before that pupil is allowed to enroll in a college course pursuant to this section, except that high school seniors who satisfy high school graduation requirements with less than a full‑time instructional program are exempt from this paragraph. 7. Notwithstanding paragraph 6 of this section, homeschooled students may fully participate in dual enrollment, including receipt of college credit pursuant to this section. END_STATUTE Sec. 4. Statewide assessment; menu of assessments; report A. On or before July 1, 2019, the state board of education shall adopt a plan regarding the development, implementation and adoption of a new statewide assessment and the menu of assessments in grades three through eight and in grades nine through twelve. The plan shall include timelines for implementation, including the possibility of implementing the menu of assessments in grades three through eight in the 2021-2022 school year. The board shall post the plan on its website and provide a copy to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chair of the senate education committee and the chair of the house of representatives education committee. B. The Arizona department of education shall collaborate with a diverse group of educators and school administrators in this state to revise and replace test items for the statewide assessment required pursuant to section 15-741, Arizona Revised Statutes. Sec. 5. Retroactivity Section 4 of this act applies retroactively to from and after June 30, 2019. APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR APRIL 11, 2019. FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 11, 2019.