MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2015 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Arnold
AN ACT TO CREATE A PILOT PROGRAM TO REVIEW THE REQUIREMENT FOR PASSAGE OF SUBJECT AREA TESTS AS A MANDATORY REQUIREMENT FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION; TO AMEND SECTION 37-16-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT FOR PASSAGE OF SUBJECT AREA TESTS AS A MANDATORY REQUIREMENT FOR GRADUATION; TO AUTHORIZE THE COMPARISON AND ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM ADMINISTRATION OF SUBJECT AREA TEST AND THE ACT IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH THE MINIMUM COMPOSITE SCORE TO BE ATTAINED ON THE ACT ASSESSMENT TO QUALIFY A STUDENT FOR GRADUATION AND FOR COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS; TO PROVIDE FOR FUNDING FOR THE COST OF ADMINISTERING THE ACT TO STUDENTS IN GRADE 11 AS REQUIRED BY THE STATE ACCOUNTABILITY MODEL; TO PROVIDE THAT SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY USE SUCCESSFUL PASSAGE OF AN EQUIVALENT ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT IN LIEU OF THE REQUIRED MINIMUM COMPOSITE SCORE ON THE ACT AS A CONDITION OF GRADUATION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-16-17, 37-3-49 AND 37-1-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) There is established a pilot program to review the requirement that students obtain passing scores on end-of-course subject area tests, in order to graduate from public high school in the state and determining proficiency on annual statewide assessments for Grades 3, 6 and 9. The pilot program shall also consider the establishment of a minimum composite score on the American College Testing (ACT) assessment as an alternative to end-of-course subject area test and ACT Aspire for determining proficiency on annual statewide assessments for Grades 3, 6 and 9.
(a) Beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, a pilot study will be conducted in ten (10) school districts selected by the outside researcher, the University of Mississippi Maxine Harper Center for Educational Research and Evaluation. Six (6) districts must have seventy-five percent (75%) or more students on free and reduced lunch, and four (4) districts must have at least sixty percent (60%) of students enrolled on free and reduced lunch. Measures of effective instruction, instrumentation, student learning growth and performance evaluation results will be collected based on the end-of-course and benchmark assessments designed to align with the content objectives of the tested subject areas as provided in the standard established by National Governors Association's ACT Pilot Project to increase course rigor completed in 2007. Reporting data from the pilot study will be disseminated to all school districts and legislators.
(b) Effective with the 2016-2017 school year, the school districts participating in the pilot pursuant to this section may award additional standard diplomas to those students successfully achieving the minimum composite score on the ACT as established by the Legislature based on the recommendation derived from the data reported to the State Department of Education.
(c) Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, the State Department of Education will develop proposed legislation based on pilot results for statewide implementation of a single standard assessment for graduation. The proposal from the department shall also include a provision authorizing the use of an assessment equivalent to the standard assessment by which student failing to attain the minimum established score on the standard assessment may remain eligible for graduation by successfully passing the components of the equivalent alternative assessment.
(d) Recommended legislation will be reported to the Chairs of the House and Senate Education Committees and to the Governor by November 30, 2016, for consideration during the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature.
(2) The statewide standard assessment for graduation must:
(a) Ensure that outcomes of core academic courses are aligned with college- and career-readiness standards.
(b) Define a minimum cumulative score to be attained on the ACT to qualify a student for graduation and minimum composite scores to determine levels of proficiency on the ACT Aspire.
(c) Establish a comparable proficiency score to be attained on the end-of-course subject area tests or other equivalent alternative assessment used to determine levels of proficiency or eligibility for graduation in lieu of the ACT or ACT Aspire.
(d) Be designed to support effective instruction and student learning growth and use performance evaluation results when developing district and school level improvement plans.
(e) Include a mechanism to examine performance data collected on mastery of content and skill objectives on benchmark assessments to determine areas in which individual students lack proficiency.
(f) Provide comparative analysis on pre- and post-test data for both ACT, ACT Aspire and subject area test assessments to gather baseline measures of college readiness.
(3) The analysis of data collected and reported to the department shall also include a cost-benefit analysis of the associated costs of administering the assessments over four (4) separate end-of-course administrations or a singular administration of all core academic courses on the ACT and over two (2) administrations of course curriculum on the ACT Aspire.
(4) Funding for the ACT shall be provided through the State Department of Education upon appropriation.
SECTION 2. Section 37-16-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-16-7. (1) Each district school board shall establish standards for graduation from its schools which shall include as a minimum:
(a) Mastery of minimum
academic skills * * * developed * * * by the State Board of Education * * *;
(b) Completion of a
minimum number of academic credits, and all other applicable requirements
prescribed by the district school board * * *;
(c) By school,
information on high school graduation rates. High schools with graduation
rates lower than eighty percent (80%) must submit a detailed plan to the
Mississippi Department of Education to restructure the high school experience
to improve graduation rates * * *; and
(d) Attaining a minimum composite score on the administration of the American College Testing (ACT) assessment at the conclusion of Grade 11 as established by the Legislature based on the recommendation derived from the data required to be reported to the State Department of Education under Section 1 of this act beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. Alternatively, local school districts may authorize the administration of an equivalent alternative assessment for those students who do not successfully attain a passing score on the ACT as a condition of graduation.
(2) A student who meets all requirements prescribed in subsection (1) of this section shall be awarded a standard diploma in a form prescribed by the State Board of Education.
(3) The State Board of Education may establish student proficiency standards for promotion to grade levels leading to graduation.
SECTION 3. Section 37-16-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-16-17. (1) Purpose. (a) The purpose of this section is to create a quality option in Mississippi's high schools for students not wishing to pursue a baccalaureate degree, which shall consist of challenging academic courses and modern career-technical studies. The goal for students pursuing the career track is to graduate from high school with a standard diploma and credit toward a community college certification in a career-technical field. These students also shall be encouraged to take the national assessment in the career-technical field in which they become certified.
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop and adopt course and curriculum requirements for career track programs offered by local public school boards in accordance with this section. The Mississippi Community College Board and the State Board of Education jointly shall determine course and curriculum requirements for the career track program.
(2) Alternative career track; description; curriculum. (a) A career track shall provide a student with greater technical skill and a strong academic core and shall be offered to each high school student enrolled in a public school district. The career track program shall be linked to postsecondary options and shall prepare students to pursue either a degree or certification from a postsecondary institution, an industry-based training or certification, an apprenticeship, the military, or immediate entrance into a career field. The career track shall be designed primarily for those students who are not college bound and shall provide them with alternatives to entrance into a four-year university or college after high school graduation.
(b) Students pursuing a career track shall be afforded the opportunity to dually enroll in a community or technical college or to participate in a business internship or work-study program, when such opportunities are available and appropriate.
(c) Each public school district shall offer a career track program approved by the State Board of Education.
(d) Students in a career track program shall complete an academic core of courses and a career and technical sequence of courses.
(e) The twenty-one (21) course unit requirements for the career track shall consist of the following:
(i) At least four (4) English credits, including English I and English II.
(ii) At least three (3) mathematics credits, including Algebra I.
(iii) At least three (3) science credits, including one (1) unit of biology.
(iv) At least three (3) social studies credits, including one (1) unit of U.S. History and one (1) unit of Mississippi Studies/U.S. Government.
(v) At least one-half (1/2) credit in health or physical education.
(vi) At least four (4) credits in career and technical education courses in the dual enrollment-dual credit programs authorized under Section 37-15-38.
(vii) At least one (1) credit in integrated technology with optional end of course testing.
(viii) At least
two and one-half (2-1/2) credits in additional electives or career and
technical education courses required by the local school board, as approved by
the State Board of Education. Academic courses within the career track of the
standard diploma shall provide the knowledge and skill necessary for
proficiency on the * * * American College Testing assessment or an
equivalent alternative assessment adopted by the district and approved by the
State Board of Education.
(3) Nothing in this section shall disallow the development of a dual enrollment program with a technical college so long as an individual school district, with approval from the State Department of Education, agrees to implement such a program in connection with a technical college and the agreement is also approved by the proprietary school's commission.
SECTION 4. Section 37-3-49, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-3-49. (1) The State Department of Education shall provide an instructional program and establish guidelines and procedures for managing such program in the public schools within the school districts throughout the state as part of the State Program of Educational Accountability and Assessment of Performance as prescribed in Section 37-3-46. Public school districts may (a) elect to adopt the instructional program and management system provided by the State Department of Education, or (b) elect to adopt an instructional program and management system which meets or exceeds criteria established by the State Department of Education for such. This provision shall begin with the courses taught in Grades K-8 which contain skills tested through the Mississippi Basic Skills Assessment Program and shall proceed through all secondary school courses mandated for graduation and all secondary school courses in the Mississippi end-of-course testing program. Other state core objectives must be included in the district's instructional program as they are provided by the State Department of Education along with instructional practices, resources, evaluation items and management procedures. Districts are encouraged to adapt this program and accompanying procedures to all other instructional areas. The department shall provide that such program and guidelines, or a program and guidelines developed by a local school district which incorporates the core objectives from the curriculum structure are enforced through the performance-based accreditation system. It is the intent of the Legislature that every effort be made to protect the instructional time in the classroom and reduce the amount of paperwork which must be completed by teachers. The State Department of Education shall take steps to insure that school districts properly use staff development time to work on the districts' instructional management plans.
(2) The State Department of Education shall provide such instructional program and management guidelines which shall require for every public school district that:
(a) All courses taught in Grades K-8 which contain skills which are tested through the Mississippi Basic Skills Assessment Program, as assessed using ACT Aspire all secondary school courses mandated for graduation, and all courses in the end-of-course testing program shall include the State Department of Education's written list of learning objectives. A student's ability to establish and demonstrate a level of proficiency in the end-of-course subject area testing program may serve as an alternative means of determining graduation eligibility for any student having met all other requirements established by the local school board who would otherwise be precluded from receiving a diploma for failure to achieve the minimum composite score established for passage of the ACT.
(b) The local school board must adopt the objectives that will form the core curriculum which will be systematically delivered throughout the district.
(c) The set of objectives provided by the State Department of Education must be accompanied by suggested instructional practices and resources that would help teachers organize instruction so as to promote student learning of the objectives. Objectives added by the school district must also be accompanied by suggested instructional practices and resources that would help teachers organize instruction. The instructional practices and resources that are identified are to be used as suggestions and not as requirements that teachers must follow. The goal of the program is to have students to achieve the desired objective and not to limit teachers in the way they teach.
(d) Standards for student performance must be established for each core objective in the local program and those standards establish the district's definition of mastery for each objective.
(e) There shall be an annual review of student performance in the instructional program against locally established standards. When weaknesses exist in the local instructional program, the district shall take action to improve student performance.
(3) The State Board of Education and the board of trustees of each school district shall adopt policies to limit and reduce the number and length of written reports that classroom teachers are required to prepare.
(4) This section shall not be construed to limit teachers from using their own professional skills to help students master instructional objectives, nor shall it be construed as a call for more detailed or complex lesson plans or any increase in testing at the local school district level.
(5) Districts meeting the highest levels of accreditation standards, as defined by the State Board of Education, shall be exempted from the provisions of subsection (2) of this section.
SECTION 5. Section 37-1-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-1-3. (1) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations and set standards and policies for the organization, operation, management, planning, budgeting and programs of the State Department of Education.
(a) The board is directed to identify all functions of the department that contribute to or comprise a part of the state system of educational accountability and to establish and maintain within the department the necessary organizational structure, policies and procedures for effectively coordinating such functions. Such policies and procedures shall clearly fix and delineate responsibilities for various aspects of the system and for overall coordination of the total system and its effective management.
(b) The board shall establish and maintain a system-wide plan of performance, policy and directions of public education not otherwise provided for.
(c) The board shall effectively use the personnel and resources of the department to enhance technical assistance to school districts in instruction and management therein.
(d) The board shall establish and maintain a central budget policy.
(e) The board shall establish and maintain within the State Department of Education a central management capacity under the direction of the State Superintendent of Public Education.
(f) The board, with recommendations from the superintendent, shall design and maintain a five-year plan and program for educational improvement that shall set forth objectives for system performance and development and be the basis for budget requests and legislative initiatives.
(2) (a) The State Board of Education shall adopt and maintain a curriculum and a course of study to be used in the public school districts that is designed to prepare the state's children and youth to be productive, informed, creative citizens, workers and leaders, and it shall regulate all matters arising in the practical administration of the school system not otherwise provided for.
(b) Before the 1999-2000 school year, the State Board of Education shall develop personal living and finances objectives that focus on money management skills for individuals and families for appropriate, existing courses at the secondary level. The objectives must require the teaching of those skills necessary to handle personal business and finances and must include instruction in the following:
(i) Opening a bank account and assessing the quality of a bank's services;
(ii) Balancing a checkbook;
(iii) Managing debt, including retail and credit card debt;
(iv) Completing a loan application;
(v) The implications of an inheritance;
(vi) The basics of personal insurance policies;
(vii) Consumer rights and responsibilities;
(viii) Dealing with salesmen and merchants;
(ix) Computing state and federal income taxes;
(x) Local tax assessments;
(xi) Computing interest rates by various mechanisms;
(xii) Understanding simple contracts; and
(xiii) Contesting an incorrect billing statement.
(3) The State Board of Education shall have authority to expend any available federal funds, or any other funds expressly designated, to pay training, educational expenses, salary incentives and salary supplements to licensed teachers employed in local school districts or schools administered by the State Board of Education. Such incentive payments shall not be considered part of a school district's local supplement as defined in Section 37-151-5(o), nor shall the incentives be considered part of the local supplement paid to an individual teacher for the purposes of Section 37-19-7(1). MAEP funds or any other state funds shall not be used to provide such incentives unless specifically authorized by law.
(4) The State Board of Education shall through its actions seek to implement the policies set forth in Section 37-1-2.
(5) Upon the conclusion of the pilot program established in Section 1 of this act, the State Board of Education shall adopt a policy establishing the minimum graduation requirements for public secondary school students, the minimum composites score requirements for determining the highest levels of proficiency on annual assessments, which shall include an administration of the ACT or ACT Aspire in which the student must attain the minimum composite score established by law. This section shall not be construed to require a student to evidence proficiency on end-of-course subject area tests as a graduation requirement. However, students who exercise the option to take the state subject area tests assessment in lieu of attaining the minimum established score on the ACT must demonstrate proficiency on each of the tested subjects.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.