Bill Text: MS HB1164 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi House Bill 1164 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: School accountability system; revise to include ranking by Grades of "A" through "F".

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2012-03-06 - Died In Committee [HB1164 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2012-HB1164-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2012 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Representative Moore

House Bill 1164

AN ACT TO CREATE THE "A-PLUS ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY PROGRAM ACT"; TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ANNUALLY DEVELOP, IN COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS, SCHOOL AND DISTRICT REPORT CARDS TO BE DELIVERED TO PARENTS THROUGHOUT EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PRESCRIBE THE DESIGN AND CONTENT OF SCHOOL AND DISTRICT REPORT CARDS; TO PROVIDE INCENTIVES FOR THOSE SCHOOLS OR DISTRICTS WITH "A" OR "B" GRADE DESIGNATIONS; TO PRESCRIBE THE MANNER FOR WHICH GRADES SHOULD BE CALCULATED AND ASSIGNED; TO PROVIDE THAT THE PROVISIONS SHALL BE SEVERABLE; TO PROVIDE FOR THE REPEAL OF THIS ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 37-3-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PROVISIONS HEREIN; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known as and may be cited as the "A-Plus Accountability and Transparency Program Act."

SECTION 2. For purposes of this act, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings herein ascribed unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(a) "Department" means the State Department of Education.

(b) "School and District Report Cards" means the annual reports of the results of the statewide assessment program to describe student achievement in the state, each district, and each charter school.

(c) "School grades" means the identification assigned to schools by the department under the adopted standards of accountability as having one (1) of the following grades:

(i) "A," assigned to schools making excellent yearly progress;

(ii) "B," assigned to schools making above average yearly progress;

(iii) "C," assigned to schools making satisfactory yearly progress;

(iv) "D," assigned to schools making less than satisfactory yearly progress; or

(v) "F," assigned to schools failing to make adequate yearly progress.

SECTION 3. (1) The State Department of Education shall annually develop, in collaboration with local school districts, a school report card to be delivered to parents throughout each school district. The report card shall include: the school's grade; information regarding school improvement; an explanation of school performance as evaluated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, or any subsequent waivers to the No Child Left Behind Act; and indicators of return on investment. The department also shall publish each school's report card annually on its website in printable format, and the school district shall provide the school report card to each parent in the manner prescribed by Section 37-3-53.

(2) The department shall prescribe the design and content of school and district report cards, which must include, without limitation, descriptions of the performance of all schools participating in the assessment program and all of their major student populations as determined by the department. The report cards must also include the median scores of all eligible students who scored at or in the lowest twenty-five percent (25%) of the state in the previous school year. However, the provisions of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 USCS Section 1232g, pertaining to student records and any similar state legislation shall also apply to this section.

(3) The annual report shall include a district grade, which follow the same method used for calculating a school grade as prescribed in Section 5 of this act.

SECTION 4. Each school designated with a grade of "A," making excellent yearly progress, or having improved at least two (2) grade levels, shall have greater authority over the allocation of the school's total budget, state categorical funds, grants, and local funds, as may be specified by rule adopted by the State Board of Education or the department. The rule must provide that the increased budget authority shall remain in effect until the school's grade declines.

SECTION 5. (1) Each school that has students who are tested and included in the school grading system shall earn a school grade, except that a school shall not earn a school grade if the number of its students tested and included in the school grading system is less than the minimum sample size necessary, based on accepted professional practice, for statistical reliability and prevention of the unlawful release of personally identifiable student data under 20 USCS Section 1232g and similar state privacy laws.

(2) A school's grade shall be based on a combination of:

(a) Student achievement scores on the state annual accountability assessment for all students;

(b) Student learning gains for all students as measured by the state annual accountability assessments;

(3) Student learning gains of the lowest twenty-five percent (25%) of students in the school in reading and mathematics on the state annual accountability assessment; and

(4) The department assignment of grades shall be based on one-half (1/2) of overall student achievement, one-fourth (1/4) of the learning gains of all students, and one-forth (1/4) of the learning gains of the lowest twenty-five percent (25%) of students in the school.

(3) Student assessment data used in determining school grades shall include:

(a) The aggregate scores of all eligible students enrolled in the school who have been assessed on the state annual accountability assessment;

(b) The learning gain scores of all eligible students enrolled in the school who have been assessed on the state annual accountability assessment and who have scored at or in the lowest twenty-five percent (25%) of students in the school in reading and mathematics; and

(4) The department shall develop school awards for schools that improve at least one (1) grade level or maintain an "A" school grade.

(5) In any year in which eighty percent (80%) or more of the statewide aggregate of elementary, middle and/or high schools earn a grade of "A" or "B," the department shall raise the number of points required to earn a school grade for that level of school by five percent (5%) statewide.

(6) The Legislature may factor in the performance of schools in calculating any performance-based funding policy that is provided for annually in the general appropriations legislation.

SECTION 6. If any provision of this law or its application is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this law which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this law are severable.

SECTION 7. Sections 1 through 7 of this act shall stand repealed on July 1, 2022.

SECTION 8. Section 37-3-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-3-53. Each school year, the State Board of Education, acting through the Office of Educational Accountability, shall develop a public school reporting system, or "Mississippi Report Card," on the performance of students and schools at the local, district and state level in the manner prescribed by Sections 1 through 6 of this act. In developing the report card, the Office of Educational Accountability, in addition to the information required under the aforementioned sections, shall collect school, district and state level student achievement data in the appropriate grades as designated by the State Board of Education in all core subjects, and compare the data with national standards to identify students' strengths and weaknesses. The Mississippi Report Card shall provide more than reports to parents on the level at which their children are performing; the report shall provide clear and comparable public information on the level at which schools, school districts and the state public education system are performing. The Office of Educational Accountability shall encourage local school districts and the general public to use Mississippi Report Card information along with local individual student data to assess the quality of instructional programs and the performance of schools and to plan and implement programs of instructional improvement.

Beginning with the 1998-1999 school year, the Mississippi Report Card shall include information, as compiled by the Office of Compulsory School Attendance Enforcement, which demonstrates clearly the absenteeism and dropout rates in each school district and the state and whether those rates reflect a positive or negative change from the same information as reported in the previous year's Mississippi Report Card.

Each local school district shall be required to develop and publish an annual report as prescribed by the State Board of Education. By November 1 of each year, as prescribed by the State Board of Education, the report shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county and posted on the school district's website in a printable format. The public notice shall include information on the report's availability on the district's website, with the website address, and the location(s) in the school district where a copy of the report can be obtained.

SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.