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House Engrossed Senate Bill |
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State of Arizona Senate Fiftieth Legislature Second Regular Session 2012
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SENATE BILL 1259 |
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AN ACT
amending Title 15, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-808.01; relating to online instruction.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 15, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-808.01, to read:
15-808.01. Online courses; standards; requirements; funding
A. Beginning July 1, 2013, school districts shall allow each pupil in grades seven through twelve, as part of the pupil's regular course load, to enroll in up to two online courses each academic year pursuant to this section. On or before December 15, 2012, the state board of education shall adopt and maintain a master rubric that will be used by the department of education for the approval of online courses. The rubric shall provide for alignment with academic standards and include basic criteria designed to ensure quality and effectiveness. The state board of education may periodically update the master rubric. In school years 2013‑2014 and 2014‑2015, the department of education shall limit the approved category of online courses to courses that award potential college credits and core academic courses. Beginning in school year 2014‑2015, the department of education may expand the approved category of online courses to include specified elective courses. Each approved online course shall be a semester course that does not require a specified amount of time for daily instruction or a specified total amount of time for completion of the course.
B. The department of education or an organization selected by the department shall maintain a master list of approved online courses. The master list shall be prominently displayed on the website maintained by the department of education. The state board of education may charge a fee to online course providers that submit applications for inclusion on the master list of approved online courses. School districts, charter schools, nonprofit organizations, for‑profit organizations and open education resource providers may submit applications for courses to the department of education for inclusion on the master list of approved online courses. The state board of education shall adopt criteria to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the approved online courses. The department of education may enter into reciprocity agreements with other states or with public or private organizations to provide assistance to the department in the review of online courses. For school years 2013‑2014 through 2018‑2019, The department of education shall automatically approve courses offered by online course providers that have previously provided instruction pursuant to section 15‑808 prior to july 1, 2013. Beginning in school year 2019‑2020, courses offered by online course providers that have previously provided instruction pursuant to section 15‑808 shall submit an application to the department of education for approval of their courses to remain on the master list.
C. A pupil who wishes to enroll in an online course pursuant to this section shall select an online course from the master list of approved online courses maintained by the department of education. On or before March 15, the pupil shall notify the school district where the pupil is enrolled of the online courses in which the pupil will enroll during the following school year and shall provide the name of the approved online course provider. A school district may waive the notification prescribed in this subsection if it is in the best interest of the pupil. The online course provider shall notify the school district where the pupil is enrolled within thirty days after the enrollment of that pupil in an online course.
D. At the time an online course provider submits an application to the department of education for inclusion on the master list of approved online courses, the online course provider shall also provide to the department of education the price that will be charged to enroll a pupil in the online course in this state. The price of the online course shall be paid by the department of education to the online course provider, shall be listed on the master list provided to pupils and parents and shall be available to school districts in this state. The maximum price for an online course that is included on the master list shall be equivalent to one‑twelfth of the statewide average per pupil funding amount for high school students for all school districts in this state during the prior fiscal year as determined by the department of education based on criteria established by the state board of education.
E. The funding for each online course shall be distributed to the school district where the pupil is enrolled and shall be equivalent to the total state and local funding that would otherwise have been allocated to the school district if that pupil had taken a course in the same subject matter at a physical location in the school district. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the credits offered for an online course would cause a pupil to exceed the full‑time credit load as determined by that school district, this state shall not provide any funding for that online course and the cost of that online course shall be the responsibility of the pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian. A school district shall distribute thirty‑five per cent of the funding for the online course to the online course provider on the thirtieth day of the pupil's enrollment in the online course. The school district shall distribute fifty per cent of the funding for the online course to the online course provider when the pupil completes the online course with a grade of C minus or better, or the equivalent. The school district shall distribute the remaining fifteen per cent of the funding for the online course to the online course provider when the pupil has demonstrated mastery of the subject matter of the online course through an assessment approved by the department of education. The department of education or an organization selected by the department shall establish a list of approved end‑of‑course assessments. Notwithstanding the two-course limitation prescribed in subsection A of this section, If the pupil has demonstrated mastery of the subject matter on the assessment associated with that course, the pupil may enroll in a different online course during the same academic year even if the pupil has already enrolled in two online courses during that academic year. For the purposes of this subsection, "demonstrated mastery" means that the pupil obtains one of the following:
1. A grade of A or B, or the equivalent, on an end-of-course assessment. The department of education may require that a specific end‑of‑course assessment be used to demonstrate mastery pursuant to this paragraph. For the purposes of this paragraph:
(a) "A" means a score of at least ninety-two per cent on a one hundred point scale.
(b) "B" means a score of at least eighty-two per cent on a one hundred point scale.
2. If the online course awards potential college credits, a score that grants college credit on the final examination. The final examination must be based on the official final examination for that type of course and shall not be based on an alternative course assessment.
F. The department of education shall select and enter into an agreement with an independent organization, which shall:
1. Collect and analyze feedback from pupils, parents and school districts about the online course. The feedback collected shall be shared with the online course provider, and the aggregated feedback data shall be incorporated into the master list to enable pupils and parents to evaluate the potential effectiveness of specific online courses.
2. Review passing rates, completion rates, state test scores and dropout rates for individual online courses and individual online course providers.
3. Develop a ranking system to identify and award higher rankings to the online courses that are Most effective at producing positive academic outcomes. The online courses that meet the requirements of this subdivision shall be awarded the highest rankings.
4. Develop a methodology to allow online course providers to provide feedback to the private organization.
5. Develop a process to allow online course providers to challenge or explain the feedback submitted pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subsection.
G. The department of education shall adopt policies and procedures to ensure that the collection, analysis and sharing of data with the independent organization selected pursuant to subsection F of this section comply with state and federal requirements under the family educational rights and privacy act.
H. In addition to the funding provided pursuant to subsection E of this section, the state board of education may charge the online course provider an administrative fee for each course taken by a pupil. Any administrative fee charged by the state board of education to online course providers shall be distributed as follows:
1. One-fourth to the school district where the pupil is enrolled. If a school district receives monies pursuant to this paragraph, the school district shall establish a local level fund within the maintenance and operations section of the budget designated as the online course fund and shall deposit the monies received pursuant to this paragraph in the fund. Monies in the fund shall be expended in the same manner and for the same purposes allowed by law for other monies in the maintenance and operations section of the budget. The school district shall account for monies in the fund according to the uniform system of financial records as prescribed by the auditor general.
2. One‑fourth to the department of education to approve, maintain and operate the master list of online course providers. The master list of online course providers fund is established consisting of monies deposited pursuant to this paragraph. The department of education shall administer the fund. The department may expend the monies in the fund for the purposes specified in this paragraph. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated.
3. One‑fourth to the independent organization selected by the department of education pursuant to subsection F of this section for the costs associated with the duties prescribed in subsection F of this section.
4. One‑fourth shall be retained by the state board of education to approve, maintain and update the master rubric for online course approval. The online course master rubric fund is established consisting of monies deposited pursuant to this paragraph. The state board of education shall administer the fund. The state board of education may expend the monies in the fund for the purposes specified in this paragraph. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated.
I. The department of education shall establish a process to remove from the master list:
1. Online courses that consistently rank near the bottom of the ranking system prescribed in subsection F, paragraph 3 of this section.
2. All online courses provided by online course providers that consistently rank near the bottom of the ranking system prescribed in subsection F, paragraph 3 of this section.
J. The midterm and final examinations for each online course shall be monitored by a nonfamily member who shall be physically in the same room with the pupil during the entire examination.
K. This section shall not be construed to require pupils to take all or a portion of an online course at a school site, at the site of the online course provider or at any other specified physical location.
L. Notwithstanding any other law, online course providers that provide instruction to pupils who are enrolled full‑time in Arizona online instruction pursuant to section 15‑808 are not subject to this section and are exempt from this section.