HB2301 - 551R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-241, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-241. School, charter school and school district accountability; annual achievement profiles; classification; letter grade system; profiles; appeals process; failing schools tutoring fund; definition

A. On or before November 1 of each year, the department of education shall compile for each public school and local education agency, and shall recommend to the state board of education, an annual achievement profile that consists of an educational dashboard that reflects the achievement for each public school and local education agency on the academic and educational performance indicators prescribed in subsection D of this section, except that a career technical education district may not be assigned a letter grade pursuant to this section. The department shall provide any technical assistance needed by the state board to make final adoption of the annual achievement profile.

B. Each school, charter holder and school district shall submit to the department of education any data that is required and requested and that is necessary to compile the achievement profile. A school or local education agency that fails to submit the information that is necessary is not eligible to receive monies from the classroom site fund established by section 15-977.

C. The annual achievement profile compiled by the department of education and recommended to the state board of education shall be used to determine a standard measurement of acceptable academic progress for each school and local education agency and a school and local education agency classification pursuant to subsection G of this section. Any disclosure of educational records compiled by the department pursuant to this section shall comply with the family educational rights and privacy act of 1974 (20 United States Code section 1232g).

D. The annual achievement profile for schools and local education agencies shall include, at a minimum, the following academic and educational performance indicators:

1. Multiple measures of academic performance or other academically relevant indicators of school quality that are appropriate to assess the educational impact of a school during the academic year as determined by the state board of education.

2. Academic progress on assessments adopted pursuant to sections 15-741 and 15-741.02 in English language arts and mathematics.

3. Academic progress on the English language learner assessments administered pursuant to section 15-756, subsection B and section 15-756.05.

4. Progress toward college and career readiness for all schools and local education agencies that offer instruction in any of grades nine through twelve.

5. Academic progress on assessments administered pursuant to section 15-741.02.

6. Multiple measures of educational performance or other relevant indicators of school quality that assess a school's educational impact, such as graduation rates and attendance rates.

E. If neither the school nor the school district meets the minimum student count as recommended by the department of education and approved by the state board of education for any of the performance indicators prescribed in subsection D of this section, the performance indicator shall not be factored into the letter grade assigned pursuant to this section.

F. Subject to final adoption by the state board of education, the department of education shall determine the criteria for each school and local education agency classification on each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile prescribed in subsection D of this section using a researched-based methodology and shall recommend to the state board for final adoption the criteria for each school and local education agency classification. The department shall develop the methodology in collaboration with a coalition of qualified technical and policy stakeholders appointed by the state board. The department shall provide technical assistance and, on request, student or statewide performance indicator data needed to determine and calculate the methodology and final letter grades. At a minimum, the methodology shall include the performance of pupils at all achievement levels, account for pupil mobility, account for the distribution of pupil achievement at each school and local education agency and include longitudinal indicators of academic performance. For the purposes of this subsection, "researched-based methodology" means the systematic and objective application of statistical and quantitative research principles to calculate the indicators used to determine A through F letter grades.

G. The annual achievement profile shall use classifications based on an A through F letter grade system adopted by the state board of education in which a letter grade of A reflects an excellent level of performance and a letter grade of F reflects a failing level of performance. The A through F letter grade system shall be applied to each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile prescribed in subsection D of this section, and the state board shall assign an overall letter grade for the public school or local education agency. The A through F letter grade system shall indicate expected standards of performance for all schools on each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile prescribed in subsection D of this section and the manner in which schools may rise above or fall below those expected standards of performance. The state board may also assign a school a letter grade of F on each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile prescribed in subsection D of this section if the state board determines that the school is among the persistently lowest-achieving schools in the state on the majority of the performance indicators of the annual achievement profile under the federal school accountability requirements pursuant to section 1003(g) of the elementary and secondary education act (20 United States Code section 6303).

H. The classification on each performance indicator of the annual achievement profile for each school and the criteria used to determine classification pursuant to subsections F and G of this section shall be included on the school report card prescribed in section 15-746.

I. Subject to final adoption by the state board of education, the department of education shall use achievement profiles appropriately to assess the educational impact of accommodation schools, alternative schools and extremely small schools, may develop profiles for schools that participate in the board examination system prescribed in chapter 7, article 6 of this title and schools that participate in Arizona online instruction pursuant to section 15-808 and may develop other exceptions as prescribed by the state board for the purposes of this section.

J. The department of education shall establish a process, including a deadline for when requests must be submitted, for a school or local education agency to correct student data used to determine the school's or local education agency's annual achievement profile. If a correction to student data is required, the department shall notify the school or local education agency of the data correction process and shall annually process student data correction requests. The state board of education shall establish an appeals process to allow a school or local education agency to appeal the school's or local education agency's final letter grade, or a letter grade applied to a performance indicator prescribed in subsection D of this section, based on mitigating factors, including achievement profile designations based on incorrect data, identified by the department.

K. The failing schools tutoring fund is established consisting of monies collected pursuant to section 42-5029, subsection E and section 42-5029.02, subsection A, paragraph 8 as designated for this purpose. The department of education shall administer the fund. The department may use monies from the fund to purchase materials designed to assist students to meet the Arizona academic standards and to achieve a passing score on assessments adopted by the state board of education.

L. For the purposes of this section, "academic progress" means measures of both proficiency and academic gain. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 15-393.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-393.01. Career technical education districts; annual report; performance and accountability

A. The department of education shall include each career technical education district in the department's annual achievement profiles required by section 15-241, except that a career technical education district may not be assigned a letter grade pursuant to section 15-241. Subject to approval by the state board of education, the department of education shall develop specific criteria applicable to career technical education districts that may not be based solely on the criteria prescribed in the Carl D. Perkins vocational education act, as amended by the Carl D. Perkins vocational and applied technology education act amendments of 1990, as amended by the Carl D. Perkins vocational and technical education act of 1998, and shall include career technical education districts in the letter grade classification system prescribed in section 15-241. The department shall include all of the following performance indicators in the annual achievement profiles and letter grade classification and provide a copy of the information to each career technical education district governing board:

1. The graduation rate of all students enrolled in a career and technical education program or course.

2. The completion rate for each program offered by the career technical education district.

3. Performance on assessments required pursuant to section 15-391, paragraph 4, subdivision (b).

4. Postgraduation employment rates, postsecondary enrollment rates and military service rates for students who complete a career and technical education program.

B. A career technical education district is subject to the performance audits pursuant to section 41-1279.03, subsection A, paragraph 9. The auditor general shall consider the differences and applicable laws for a career technical education district when conducting a performance audit for a career technical education district.

C. On or before December 31 of each year, the career and technical education division of the department of education shall submit a career technical education district annual report to the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives and shall submit a copy of this report to the secretary of state. The career and technical education division of the department of education shall submit a copy of this report to the joint legislative budget committee for review. The annual report shall include the following:

1. The average daily membership of each career technical education district, including the average daily membership of each centralized campus, satellite campus and leased centralized campus as defined in section 15-393.

2. The actual student count of each career technical education district, including the student count of each centralized campus, satellite campus and leased centralized campus as defined in section 15-393.

3. The programs and corresponding courses offered by each career technical education district, including the location of each program and course.

4. For each career technical education district based on program or course location:

(a) The student enrollment of each program and corresponding course.

(b) The percentage of students who enrolled in the second year of each program and corresponding course relative to the number of students in the same cohort who enrolled in the first year of each program and corresponding course.

(c) The percentage of students who completed each program relative to the number of students in the same cohort who began the program.

5. The costs associated with each program offered by the career technical education district.

6. A listing of any programs or courses that were discontinued by review of the career and technical education division pursuant to section 15-393, subsection V.

7. A listing of any programs or courses that were continued by review of the career and technical education division pursuant to section 15-393, subsection V.

8. A listing of any programs or courses that were added by the career and technical education division.

9. For applicable school districts, the required maintenance of effort and how monies were used to supplement and not supplant base year career and technical education courses, including expenditures related to personnel, equipment and facilities.

10. Any other data or information deemed necessary by the department of education.

D. The office of the auditor general, in consultation with the department of education, shall develop and establish uniform cost reporting guidelines, policies and procedures for career technical education district programs. Any guideline, policy or procedure shall allow for the effective comparison of cost between career technical education district programs. END_STATUTE