SF 462

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; defining state expectations for 
  1.3             schools; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 
  1.4             120B.35. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.35, is 
  1.7   amended to read: 
  1.8      120B.35 [STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [STATE EXPECTATIONS FOR SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT; 
  1.10  TIME LINES; DEPARTMENT ASSISTANCE.] (a) Each school year, a 
  1.11  school district must determine if the student achievement levels 
  1.12  at each school site meet state expectations.  If student 
  1.13  achievement levels at a school site do not meet state 
  1.14  expectations for two out of three consecutive school years, 
  1.15  beginning with the 1999-2000 school year according to the time 
  1.16  line described in paragraph (b), the district must work with the 
  1.17  school site to adopt a plan to raise student achievement levels 
  1.18  to state expectations.  The legislature will determine state 
  1.19  expectations after receiving a recommendation from the 
  1.20  commissioner of children, families, and learning.  The 
  1.21  commissioner must submit its recommendations to the legislature 
  1.22  by December 15, 1998.  Beginning with the 1998-1999 school year, 
  1.23  except clause (4), state expectations require at a minimum: 
  1.24     (1) a 90 percent student attendance rate at the school; 
  1.25     (2) a school site composite index score of 60 as determined 
  2.1   under subdivision 2, and at least 90 percent of the third and 
  2.2   fifth grade students enrolled at the school site achieve a 
  2.3   performance level greater than "1" and 30 percent of those 
  2.4   students achieve a performance level greater than "2" as 
  2.5   determined under subdivision 2; 
  2.6      (3) 60 percent of the eighth grade students enrolled in the 
  2.7   school receive a passing score on the state's basic skills tests 
  2.8   in reading and math; and 
  2.9      (4) beginning with the 1999-2000 school year, a school 
  2.10  composite under score of 60 as determined under subdivision 2, 
  2.11  and at least 90 percent of eleventh grade students enrolled at 
  2.12  the school site achieve a performance level greater than "1" and 
  2.13  30 percent of those students achieve a performance level greater 
  2.14  than "2" as determined under subdivision 2. 
  2.15     (b) For purposes of paragraph (a), and unless paragraph (d) 
  2.16  applies, a school with up to 25 percent of students who are 
  2.17  eligible for a free or reduced price meal or that experiences up 
  2.18  to 20 percent of students transferring into or out of the school 
  2.19  during a single school year must meet state expectations within 
  2.20  the next three consecutive school years, a school with 21 to 35 
  2.21  percent of students who are eligible for a free or reduced price 
  2.22  meal or that experiences 21 to 30 percent of students 
  2.23  transferring into or out of the school during a single school 
  2.24  year must meet state expectations within the next four 
  2.25  consecutive school years, and a school with more than 35 percent 
  2.26  of students who are eligible for a free or reduced price meal or 
  2.27  that experiences more than 30 percent of students transferring 
  2.28  into or out of the school during a single school year must meet 
  2.29  state expectations within the next five consecutive school 
  2.30  years.  This paragraph applies beginning the 1999-2000 school 
  2.31  year and thereafter. 
  2.32     (c) The department must assist the district and the school 
  2.33  site in developing a plan to improve student achievement under 
  2.34  paragraph (a).  The plan must include parental involvement 
  2.35  components. 
  2.36     (d) The officials of a school that is failing to meet state 
  3.1   expectations under the time line in paragraph (b) or adequate 
  3.2   yearly progress under subdivision 2, may ask the commissioner to 
  3.3   review the academic progress of students enrolled in the 
  3.4   school.  Within 30 days of receiving the request, the 
  3.5   commissioner shall review students' academic progress and any 
  3.6   other information the commissioner determines is relevant and 
  3.7   may, as a result of the review, extend the deadline by which the 
  3.8   school must meet state expectations under paragraph (b) or 
  3.9   redefine adequate yearly progress under subdivision 2.  The 
  3.10  commissioner annually shall report to the education committees 
  3.11  of the legislature on the extensions and redefinitions granted 
  3.12  and the rationale for each extension and redefinition. 
  3.13     Subd. 2.  [COMPOSITE INDEX TO DEFINE STATE EXPECTATIONS; 
  3.14  ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS.] To determine whether student 
  3.15  achievement levels at each school site meet state expectations, 
  3.16  the department shall use a composite index to convert students' 
  3.17  performance on a state assessment to a single score on a 
  3.18  weighted index.  The score for each school site is determined by 
  3.19  multiplying, in turn, the proportion of students who score at 
  3.20  each particular performance level between "1" and "4" times the 
  3.21  weight assigned to that particular performance level, and then 
  3.22  adding together the products of all four levels to determine the 
  3.23  school site's index score for each grade and subject tested.  
  3.24  The index score a school site receives during the 1998-1999 
  3.25  school year for third and fifth grade students serves as the 
  3.26  baseline against which subsequent index scores are compared.  
  3.27  The school site index score includes the scores of eleventh 
  3.28  grade students beginning the 1999-2000 school year.  A target 
  3.29  index score of 60 represents the state's goal for educating 
  3.30  students.  To make adequate yearly progress, each school site 
  3.31  must meet an annual improvement rate determined by the amount of 
  3.32  time available to the school site under subdivision 1, paragraph 
  3.33  (b), divided by the difference between the baseline index score 
  3.34  for the school site and the target index.  By increasing the 
  3.35  composite index score for a school site more rapidly when the 
  3.36  lowest performing students improve their level of performance, 
  4.1   the weight assigned to particular performance levels provides 
  4.2   school sites with an incentive to accelerate and intensify 
  4.3   opportunities for students with low performance levels and to 
  4.4   develop and expand effective methods of instruction: 
  4.5      (1) a weight of "0" is assigned to a level "1" student 
  4.6   performance; 
  4.7      (2) a weight of "50" is assigned to a level "2" student 
  4.8   performance; 
  4.9      (3) a weight of "100" is assigned to a level "3" student 
  4.10  performance; and 
  4.11     (4) a weight of "125" is assigned to a level "4" student 
  4.12  performance. 
  4.13     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.14     Section 1 is effective for the 1998-1999 school year and 
  4.15  thereafter.