House Bill 4397

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4397

        By the Committee on Education Innovation and
    Representative Melvin





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to general requirements for

  3         high school graduation; amending s. 232.246,

  4         F.S.; providing for the award of credit toward

  5         graduation for students who act as tutors;

  6         specifying requirements for student tutors and

  7         evaluation procedures; correcting cross

  8         references; providing an effective date.

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10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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12         Section 1.  Subsections (4) through (8) of section

13  232.246, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (5)

14  through (9), respectively, subsections (9) and (10) are

15  renumbered and amended, and a new subsection (4) is added to

16  said section, to read:

17         232.246  General requirements for high school

18  graduation.--

19         (4)  High school juniors and seniors who are designated

20  by their principals as qualified to act as tutors for other

21  students in a specific academic area, and who engage in

22  tutoring under the supervision of qualified instructional

23  personnel and pursuant to a written agreement between

24  themselves, the school, and each student tutored, shall be

25  awarded one-half credit toward graduation for each semester

26  served. Each written agreement entered into under this

27  subsection shall specify the time, place, and manner of

28  tutoring. At the end of each semester, each tutor's

29  effectiveness shall be evaluated by his or her supervising

30  instructor. One-fourth additional credit per semester toward

31  graduation may be awarded to any student tutor who is deemed

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4397

    603-128-98






  1  worthy. Any student tutor whose performance is deemed

  2  unsatisfactory may be precluded from participating in the

  3  tutoring program until such time as, in the judgment of his or

  4  her supervising instructor, any deficiencies have been

  5  corrected. A supervising instructor need not preclude a

  6  student's participation if, in his or her professional

  7  judgment, any deficiencies can be corrected while the student

  8  tutor continues his or her participation. Any measure of

  9  effectiveness used to evaluate student tutors shall include,

10  but not be limited to, measurable academic progress or

11  improvement on behalf of the students tutored.

12         (10)(9)  A student who meets all requirements

13  prescribed in subsections (1), (5) (4), and (6) (5) shall be

14  awarded a standard diploma in a form prescribed by the state

15  board.  A school board may attach the Florida gold seal

16  vocational endorsement to a standard diploma or, instead of

17  the standard diploma, award differentiated diplomas to those

18  exceeding the prescribed minimums. A student who completes the

19  minimum number of credits and other requirements prescribed by

20  subsections (1) and (5) (4), but who is unable to meet the

21  standards of paragraph (6)(a) (5)(a), paragraph (6)(b) (5)(b),

22  or paragraph (6)(c) (5)(c), shall be awarded a certificate of

23  completion in a form prescribed by the state board. However,

24  any student who is otherwise entitled to a certificate of

25  completion may elect to remain in the secondary school either

26  as a full-time student or a part-time student for up to 1

27  additional year and receive special instruction designed to

28  remedy his or her identified deficiencies.  This special

29  instruction shall be funded from the state compensatory

30  education funds of the district.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4397

    603-128-98






  1         (11)(10)  The public hearing and consideration required

  2  in subsection (9) (8) shall not be construed to amend or

  3  nullify the requirements of security relating to the contents

  4  of examinations or assessment instruments and related

  5  materials or data as prescribed in s. 232.248.

  6         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1 of the

  7  year in which enacted.

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10                          HOUSE SUMMARY

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      Provides for the awarding of credit toward high school
12    graduation for students who act as tutors. Specifies
      requirements for student tutors and evaluation of
13    effectiveness.

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