Florida Senate - 2017 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 360
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
04/17/2017 .
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Appropriations Subcommittee on Pre-K - 12 Education (Stargel)
recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Comprehensive study on middle school
6 performance.—
7 (1) The Department of Education shall issue a competitive
8 solicitation for a contract with private vendors to conduct a
9 comprehensive study of states with high-performing students in
10 grades 6 through 8 in reading and mathematics, based on the
11 states’ performance on the National Assessment of Educational
12 Progress.
13 (2) The study must include a review of at least all of the
14 following:
15 (a) Academic expectations and instructional strategies,
16 including:
17 1. Alignment of elementary and middle grades expectations
18 with high school graduation requirements;
19 2. Research-based instructional practices in reading and
20 mathematics, including those targeting low-performing and high
21 performing students;
22 3. The rigor of the curriculum and courses and the
23 availability of accelerated courses;
24 4. The availability of student support services;
25 5. The sequence of courses and the prerequisites required
26 for advanced courses;
27 6. The availability of before- and after-school programs,
28 and efforts to address the summer gap between school years,
29 including related funding; and
30 7. The availability of other academic and noncore classes,
31 and electives.
32 (b) Attendance policies and student mobility issues.
33 (c) Teacher quality, including:
34 1. Teacher certification and recertification requirements;
35 2. Teacher preparedness to teach rigorous courses;
36 3. Teacher preparation specific to teaching middle school
37 students;
38 4. Teacher recruitment and vacancy issues;
39 5. Staff development requirements and the availability of
40 effective training;
41 6. Teacher collaboration and planning at the school and
42 district levels; and
43 7. Student performance data collection and dissemination.
44 (d) Middle school administrator leadership and performance.
45 (e) Parental and community involvement.
46 (3) The department shall submit a report on the findings of
47 the comprehensive study and make recommendations to improve
48 middle school student performance to the Governor, the State
49 Board of Education, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker
50 of the House of Representatives by December 2017.
51 (4) This section expires upon submission of the final
52 report.
53 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.
54
55 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
56 And the title is amended as follows:
57 Delete everything before the enacting clause
58 and insert:
59 A bill to be entitled
60 An act relating to a middle school study; requiring
61 the Department of Education to solicit for a contract
62 to conduct a comprehensive study of states with
63 nationally recognized high-performing middle schools
64 in reading and mathematics; specifying areas that must
65 be reviewed in conducting the study; requiring a
66 report to the Governor, the State Board of Education,
67 and the Legislature by a specified time; providing for
68 expiration; providing an effective date.
69
70 WHEREAS, since 1998, Florida has seen a continuing trend of
71 reading improvement in the elementary school grades, which has
72 led to an increase of 17 percentage points in reading at or
73 above proficiency for 4th grade students on the National
74 Assessment of Educational Progress, while Florida’s 8th grade
75 students achieved only an increase of 7 percentage points, and
76 WHEREAS, since 2003, Florida’s 4th grade students have
77 demonstrated an increase of 11 percentage points in mathematics
78 at or above proficiency on the national assessment, while
79 Florida’s 8th grade students have shown an increase of only 3
80 percentage points, and
81 WHEREAS, since 2013, Florida’s middle school students’
82 proficiencies on the national assessment in both reading and
83 mathematics have remained flat or decreased, and
84 WHEREAS, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont,
85 Connecticut, and New Jersey are the top performing states in the
86 percentage of 4th and 8th grade students scoring at or above
87 proficiency in reading on the national assessment, and
88 WHEREAS, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New
89 Jersey, and Washington are the top performing states in the
90 percentage of 4th and 8th grade students scoring at or above
91 proficiency in mathematics on the national assessment, and
92 WHEREAS, Florida’s academic expectations for students in
93 both reading and mathematics were raised in 2010 and 2014, and
94 WHEREAS, the performance of Florida’s middle school
95 students on the state assessments in reading has remained flat
96 since the state’s standards were raised, while their performance
97 in mathematics increased slightly between 2015 and 2016, and
98 WHEREAS, success in the middle school grades is a predictor
99 of academic success in high school and college and career
100 readiness, NOW, THEREFORE,