ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-fifth Legislature

First Regular Session

Senate: ED DPA 5-3-0-0 | 3rd Read: 16-14-0-0

SB 1400: schools; course equivalents

Sponsor: Senator Boyer, LD 20

Committee on Education

Overview

Allows a school district or charter school (school) to award a student in the 9th-12th grades one elective credit per school year for specified course equivalents. Outlines graduation, instructional hour and average daily membership (ADM) calculations.  

History

The State Board of Education (SBE) prescribes competency requirements for the high school graduation of students. These competency requirements must incorporate the academic standards in reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies. Additionally, SBE is required to prescribe a minimum course of study that students must complete to graduate from high school (A.R.S. § 15-701.01). Currently, SBE requires that a student successfully receive the following credits to graduate from high school: four credits of English, three credits in social studies, four credits of mathematics, three credits of science, one credit of the Arts or career and technical education and seven credits of additional courses prescribed by the school (A.A.C. R7-2-302).

ADM is defined to mean the total enrollment of part-time and full-time students, minus withdrawals, for the first 100 or 200 days of the school year. Statute outlines the number of instructional hours a student must be enrolled in a program or a course to generate an ADM. (A.R.S. § 15-901).

Provisions

1.   ☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal NotePermits schools serving students in the 9th-12th grades, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, at the request of the student and with parental permission, to allow students to receive one elective credit per school year through:

a)   Working the equivalent of at least five hours weekly over the course of any semester, including summer break, for students who are of a legal age to work;

b)   Participating in a qualified organized sport;

c)   Participating in approved learning opportunities outside of the courses offered by the school;

d)   Participating in community arts, including music lessons and community theater; and

e)   Enrolling in and passing any course offered by:

i.   An Arizona public university;

ii. A community college; or

iii.   An SBE-approved private postsecondary institution. (Sec. 1)

2.   Requires SBE to prescribe what qualifies as an organized sport, except that SBE must consider the following to be organized sports:

a)   Off-campus leagues;

b)   Sports that are not organized by the school, including:

i.   Sports leagues that are organized by a for-profit or nonprofit organization;

ii. Club sports;

iii.   Any other sports league that students generally participate in outside of school; and

c)   School sports in which the student participates for a season. (Sec. 1)

3.   Details that learning opportunities outside of courses offered by the school include tutoring, STEM clubs and other project-based learning opportunities, internships and apprenticeships as approved by SBE or the school. (Sec. 1)

4.   Stipulates that for each course equivalent completed, a student earns the equivalent of at least one currently required elective credit that counts towards high school graduation requirements. (Sec. 1)

5.   Provides that a course equivalent is considered a subject for the purposes of meeting the definition of a fractional or full-time student. (Sec. 1)

6.   States that a course equivalent is not required to meet 123 hours a year, or the equivalent, to be considered a subject. (Sec. 1)

7.   Requires the instructional hours provided to a student who completes a course equivalent to be included in ADM calculation for that student. (Sec. 1)

8.   Limits the ADM for a full-time high school student who completes a course equivalent to 1.0 (Sec. 1)

9.   Instructs SBE to:

a)   Adopt a framework regarding course equivalents for schools; and

b)   As provided by schools, post a list of local or statewide nonprofits and vendors where students' out-of-school experiences are being recognized for credit. (Sec. 1)

10.  Directs a school governing board or governing body to establish a process to consider requests for course equivalent credits at the student's school. (Sec. 1)

11.  Requires the opportunity to identify a course equivalent to be provided to families and students during the course enrollment and semester enrollment periods. (Sec. 1)

12.  Mandates schools make every effort to recognize the experiences students have outside of school-mandated courses as relevant to the student's growth and development. (Sec. 1)

13.  Requires schools to identify an elective course with or for students who work and who request a course equivalent. (Sec. 1)

14.  Permits SBE to adopt rules to allow out-of-school experiences for participation in approved organized sports, learning opportunities outside of school-offered courses and community arts to satisfy SBE-prescribed academic standards for students in kindergarten programs and the 1st-8th grades. (Sec. 1)

15.  Stipulates that any hours spent by students in kindergarten programs and the 1st-8th grades who participate in approved out-of-school experiences pursuant to SBE-adopted rules count toward instructional hour requirements and are to be included in the calculation of ADM for that student. (Sec.1)

16.  Allows any extra hours in the school day that result from a student participating in out-of-school experiences to be used for student support and acceleration on approval of the student's parents and teaching team. (Sec. 1)

 

 

 

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                        SB 1400

Initials CH       Page 0 Education

 

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