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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, First Regular Session
schools; course equivalents
Purpose
Outlines course equivalents for activities outside of courses offered by a district or charter school beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. Determines course credit and average daily membership (ADM) calculations.
Background
A school district or charter school may include concurrent coursework for ADM calculations after receiving approval from the State Board of Education (SBE) or a charter sponsor. Concurrent coursework must allow a student to earn at least three semester hours of credit for a community college or university course that is at a higher level than the course being taught in grades 9 through 12. The student must also attend at least one course offered at the school district or charter school each semester. The coursework must be applicable to an established community college academic degree or certificate program and transferrable to an Arizona public university. The school district or charter school pays the community college or university for the tuition cost of the concurrent coursework or reimburses the student for tuition cost (A.R.S. § 15-901.07).
The SBE establishes 22 credits as the minimum number of credits necessary for high school graduation. This includes: 1) four credits of English or ESL; 2) three credits of social studies; 3) four credits of mathematics; 4) three credits of science; 5) one credit in the arts or career and technical education and vocational education; 6) seven credits of additional courses prescribed by the local district board (A.A.C. § R7-2-302).
ADM is defined as the total enrollment of fractional and full-time students, minus withdrawals. Withdrawals include students who withdraw from schools and students who are absent for ten consecutive school days, except for excused absences defined by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) (A.R.S. § 15-901).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires school districts and charter schools, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, to allow students in grades 9 through 12 to receive course credits as follows:
a) working the equivalent of at least five hours per week over the course of a semester, including summer break;
b) participating in an organized sport;
c) participating in learning opportunities outside of the courses offered by the school district or charter school, including tutoring, STEM clubs and the SBE or school-approved internships and apprenticeships;
d) participating in community arts, including music lessons and community theater; and
e) passing any courses offered by an Arizona public university, community college or any private postsecondary institution approved by the SBE.
2. Requires the SBE to prescribe qualifying sports while considering the following as organized sports:
a) off-campus leagues
b) sports not organized by the school district or charter school, including the following:
i. sports leagues organized by for-profit or nonprofit organizations;
ii. club sports; and
iii. any other sports league that students participate in outside of school.
3. Requires that a student earn the equivalent of at least one required core or elective credit for each course equivalent towards graduation requirements.
4. Deems a course equivalent is:
a) considered to be a subject for the purposes of calculating a fractional or full-time student; and
b) not required to meet 123 hours a year, or the equivalent to be considered as a subject.
5. Specifies the instructional hours provided to a student completing a course equivalent are included in ADM calculations.
6. Limits ADM to 1.0 for a full-time high school student who completes a course equivalent.
7. Requires the SBE to:
a) adopt rules for course equivalency; and
b) designate approved providers of course equivalents.
8. Allows a school district governing board or charter governing body to approve additional providers of course equivalents that are not approved by the SBE.
9. Requires an approved list of all course providers to be provided to families and students during the course and semester enrollment periods.
10. Allows the SBE to adopt rules for out-of-school experiences as listed to meet academic standards for students in kindergarten through grade 8.
11. Specifies that any hours spent by students in kindergarten through grade 8 participating in out-of-school experiences as listed, according to SBE-adopted rules:
a) count toward the ADM instructional hour requirements; and
b) are included in the calculation of ADM
12. States that any excess hours in the school day for students in kindergarten through grade 8 participating in out-of-school experiences be used for student support and acceleration on approval by the student's parents and teaching team.
13. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
January 29, 2021
JO/JS/gs