SF 1635

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to education; directing the commissioner of
education to seek a waiver from ineffective provisions
of the federal No Child Left Behind Act; directing the
commissioner of education to report on policies and
programs to supplement the positive effects of the act
related to improving student achievement, closing the
student achievement gap, and establishing school
accountability; appropriating money for supplemental
educational services.

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

Section 1. new text begin WAIVER FROM INEFFECTIVE FEDERAL NO CHILD LEFT
BEHIND ACT PROVISIONS; SUPPLEMENTAL STATE PROVISIONS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Waiver from ineffective federal
provisions. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of education must seek to
obtain from the federal Department of Education, by April 1,
2006, a waiver from the ineffective provisions of the federal No
Child Left Behind Act, Public Law 107-110 (act). The waiver
request must be consistent with paragraphs (b) through (l) of
this subdivision.
new text end

new text begin (b) Schools offering any grade 4 through 8 must use the
standards-based, grade-to-grade gains of individual students as
a primary indicator of achievement beginning in the 2006-2007
school year and later or when statewide reading or mathematics
tests are vertically equated, whichever comes first.
new text end

new text begin (c) The adequate yearly progress proficiency target for the
eighth grade reading and mathematics assessments must be set so
that students who meet the target are able to comprehend a high
school textbook and study high school mathematics standards.
new text end

new text begin (d) When computing a school's eighth grade proficiency
index, declare a student who achieves a reading or mathematics
score in level III as proficient and declare a student who
achieves a reading or mathematics score in level II as partially
proficient.
new text end

new text begin (e) Declare as proficient a student in any grade 4 through
7 who achieves a reading or mathematics score in level III or
whose achievement gain in reading or mathematics from the prior
school year places the student on track to be proficient by the
eighth grade. Declare as partially proficient a student in any
grade 4 through 7 who achieves a reading or mathematics score in
level II or whose achievement gain in reading or mathematics
from the prior school year places the student on track to be
partially proficient by the eighth grade. Education officials
must compute the gains scores of all students enrolled in a
school as of October 1 of the current school year and for whom a
test score is available for the current and immediately past
school years.
new text end

new text begin (f) Declare any third grade student who achieves a reading
or mathematics score in level III as proficient and any third
grade student who achieves a reading or mathematics score in
level II as partially proficient.
new text end

new text begin (g) A school does not fail to make adequate yearly progress
based on the participation rate of a student subgroup if the
student subgroup makes adequate yearly progress when
nonparticipating students are not counted as proficient or
partially proficient.
new text end

new text begin (h) A school fails to make adequate yearly progress for two
consecutive school years only if the same student subgroup fails
to make adequate yearly progress for two or more consecutive
school years in the same subject.
new text end

new text begin (i) A school's categorization as making or not making
adequate yearly progress is based on the performance of all
students and on the performance of student subgroups composed of
African American, Asian, American Indian, Hispanic, and White
students. Schools must continue to define, count, test, and
report limited English proficiency and special education
students as separate student subgroups but the test results of
these subgroups must not be used to determine a school's
adequate yearly progress.
new text end

new text begin (j) The commissioner must establish a more realistic
student proficiency goal for the 2013-2014 school year.
new text end

new text begin (k) Districts must review the curriculum, instructional
methods, assessment instruments, professional development
opportunities, parent and community involvement efforts, quality
of leadership, governance structure, and resource use of those
schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress for at least
four consecutive school years. For schools offering any grade 4
through 8, the review also must analyze the standards-based,
grade-to-grade gains of individual students beginning in the
2007-2008 school year and later or when statewide reading or
mathematics tests are vertically equated, whichever comes
first. The analysis must include the gains scores of all
students enrolled in the school as of October 1 of the current
school year and for whom a test score is available for the
current and immediately past school years. A school is not
subject to restructuring after failing to make adequate yearly
progress for four or more consecutive school years if:
new text end

new text begin (1) the school review shows major improvements in school
instruction and curriculum; and
new text end

new text begin (2) at least 70 percent of the students enrolled in the
school on October 1 are making gains sufficient to meet
proficiency standards by the end of eighth grade.
new text end

new text begin The school must continue to provide school choice and
supplemental services.
new text end

new text begin (l) A school that fails to make adequate yearly progress
for two consecutive school years must provide supplemental
services that are consistent with the supplemental services
described under the act, but the school need not provide school
choice required under the act. If the school fails to make
adequate yearly progress for three consecutive school years, the
school must provide the supplemental services and school choice
described under the act.
new text end

new text begin (m) The commissioner must notify the education policy and
finance committees of the legislature by May 1, 2006, of the
extent to which the commissioner succeeded in obtaining the
waiver under this subdivision. The commissioner must modify
Minnesota's consolidated state plan and also simultaneously
modify all other agreements for implementing the act that are
affected by the waiver, consistent with the terms for modifying
such other agreements.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Provisions to supplement the federal act. new text end

new text begin (a)
The commissioner of education by April 1, 2006, must submit a
written report to the education policy and education finance
committees of the legislature on developing the following
measures to more effectively implement the act:
new text end

new text begin (1) an accountability plan to monitor and evaluate the
quality and effectiveness of all supplemental education service
providers and to withdraw approval from providers that fail to
increase student proficiency for two consecutive school years;
new text end

new text begin (2) a process to ensure that a school or district is not
subject to a present or future sanction due to an error in a
school's adequate yearly progress determination and to correct
the error in the reports in which the error appears;
new text end

new text begin (3) a plan to make grade-to-grade gains of individual
students a primary indicator of achievement in schools enrolling
students in any grade 4 through 8;
new text end

new text begin (4) estimates of the costs that school districts, charter
schools, and the state annually incur to implement the act that
exceed the costs that school districts, charter schools, and the
state annually incurred to implement the Improving America's
Schools Act of 1994, Public Law 103-382, and a list of the
available sources and amounts of new federal funds sufficient to
cover these added costs; and
new text end

new text begin (5) other recommendations, developed in consultation with
the Office of Educational Accountability, about still unresolved
issues affecting the validity and reliability of the state's
educational accountability system.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin State initiatives to advance state and federal
education goals. new text end

new text begin (a) To further pursue state and federal
education goals for improving student achievement, closing the
student achievement gap between white students and students of
color, and establishing school accountability, the commissioner
also must submit to the legislature by April 1, 2007, proposals
for:
new text end

new text begin (1) school districts and charter schools to report the
costs of implementing the act, including the costs of sanctions;
new text end

new text begin (2) a parent and student evaluation of teachers'
performance, the results of which can be used as a measure of
school performance;
new text end

new text begin (3) a value-added assessment system to measure teacher
performance and staff development opportunities that correspond
to the value-added assessment system;
new text end

new text begin (4) developing, assisting with, and funding school
improvement plans in schools that continuously fail to make
adequate yearly progress;
new text end

new text begin (5) a seamless pre-K through 16 statewide education system;
new text end

new text begin (6) programs that improve students' opportunities for
educational success, such as early childhood programs that meet
children's individual needs including the needs of children with
limited English proficiency; all-day kindergarten; limited
English proficiency programs for school-age children;
after-school, tutoring, and community service activities;
precollege and career awareness and counseling; and teachers of
color initiatives; and
new text end

new text begin (7) a comprehensive statewide 11th grade test to evaluate
both students' academic proficiency and their eligibility for
postsecondary education.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner also must recommend to the legislature
by April 1, 2007, how to integrate early childhood initiatives
into the proposals under this subdivision so as to:
new text end

new text begin (1) support and expand universal and targeted access to
successful programs, enabling all young children to participate
in programs targeted to their needs and family circumstances;
new text end

new text begin (2) offer more specialized and intensive programs to
children at greatest risk of falling behind their age peers in
learning and development;
new text end

new text begin (3) accommodate the changing demographics and corresponding
needs of families with young children;
new text end

new text begin (4) expand family literacy programs that recognize the
impact of parent education on children's school success;
new text end

new text begin (5) appropriately assess and document the progress of young
children's learning and development;
new text end

new text begin (6) screen the health and social and emotional development
of all children by age three in order to identify those children
in need of intervention services; and
new text end

new text begin (7) train and retain highly skilled early childhood care
and education staff.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Commissioner of finance report. new text end

new text begin The
commissioner of finance must report to the legislature by April
1, 2006, the amount and purpose of the revenue and services the
federal government may withhold from the state, the state
Department of Education, each school district, each charter
school, and each nonpublic school if Minnesota nullifies and
revokes the consolidated state plan that Minnesota submitted to
the federal Department of Education to implement the No Child
Left Behind Act.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin APPROPRIATION; SUPPLEMENTAL STUDENT SERVICES.
new text end

new text begin $....... is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal
year 2006 to the commissioner of education for supplemental
student services to improve student achievement, close the
student achievement gap between white students and students of
color, and provide students with meaningful opportunities for
educational success, consistent with section 1, subdivision 3,
paragraph (a), clause (6).
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2005.
new text end