Senate Bill 0990

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 990

    By the Committee on Education





    304-350C-00

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to education; amending s.

  3         230.23, F.S.; requiring certain reports;

  4         amending s. 232.24521, F.S.; encouraging

  5         certain grading practices; requiring a

  6         grade-point-average calculation for the Bright

  7         Futures Scholarship Program; prohibiting

  8         certain exemption; amending s. 232.2463, F.S.;

  9         authorizing school districts to abandon certain

10         high school grading practices; providing

11         definitions; repealing s. 240.1163(4), F.S.,

12         relating to weighting of grades in dual

13         enrollment and advanced placement courses;

14         providing an effective date.

15

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

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18         Section 1.  Paragraph (e) of subsection (16) of section

19  230.23, F.S., is amended to read:

20         230.23  Powers and duties of school board.--The school

21  board, acting as a board, shall exercise all powers and

22  perform all duties listed below:

23         (16)  IMPLEMENT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND

24  ACCOUNTABILITY.--Maintain a system of school improvement and

25  education accountability as provided by statute and State

26  Board of Education rule. This system of school improvement and

27  education accountability shall be consistent with, and

28  implemented through, the district's continuing system of

29  planning and budgeting required by this section and ss.

30  229.555 and 237.041. This system of school improvement and

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 990
    304-350C-00




  1  education accountability shall include, but is not limited to,

  2  the following:

  3         (e)  Public disclosure.--Provide information regarding

  4  performance of students and educational programs as required

  5  pursuant to ss. 229.555 and 229.57(5) and implement a system

  6  of school reports as required by statute and State Board of

  7  Education rule which shall include schools operating for the

  8  purpose of providing educational services to youth in

  9  Department of Juvenile Justice programs, and for those

10  schools, report on the elements specified in s. 230.23161(21).

11  Annual public disclosure reports must shall be a profile of

12  each school in an easy-to-read report-card report card format

13  and must shall include the school's student and school

14  performance grade category designation and performance data as

15  specified in state board rule. The school board shall report

16  academic achievement of high school students as measured by

17  all statewide assessments, by national assessments, and by

18  grades in high school courses. Grade reports on high school

19  courses must specify the number and percentage of students who

20  received each letter grade in all courses and in each type of

21  course organized by level and category.

22         Section 2.  Section 232.24521, Florida Statutes, is

23  amended to read:

24         232.24521  Report cards; end-of-the-year status.--

25         (1)  Each school district shall establish and publish

26  policies requiring the content and regular issuance of student

27  report cards for all elementary school, middle school, and

28  high school students.  These report cards must clearly depict

29  and grade:

30         (a)  The student's academic achievement performance in

31  each class or course, which in grades 1 through 12 must be

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 990
    304-350C-00




  1  based upon examinations as well as written papers, class

  2  participation, and other measures of academic achievement

  3  performance criteria.

  4         (b)  The student's conduct and behavior.

  5         (c)  The student's attendance, including absences and

  6  tardiness.

  7         (2)  A student's final report card for a school year

  8  shall contain a statement indicating end-of-the-year status

  9  regarding performance or nonperformance at grade level,

10  acceptable or unacceptable behavior and attendance, and

11  promotion or nonpromotion. Grades reported on the final report

12  card must be expressed as letter grades or grade points, and

13  grade-point averages must be calculated using the grade

14  weighting system adopted by the Department of Education for

15  the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. If a different grade

16  weighting system is used to calculate grade-point averages for

17  class ranking, it must be reported separately from the Bright

18  Futures grade-point average.

19         (3)  Academic achievement should be graded upon

20  measurement of academic performance and timely completion of

21  academic requirements. Academic achievement grades should be

22  separated from grades for other matters such as academic

23  improvement, conduct, attitude, attendance, or tardiness.

24  School districts shall not allow schools to exempt students

25  from academic performance requirements based on practices or

26  policies designed to encourage student attendance. A student's

27  attendance record may not be used in whole or in part to

28  provide an exemption from any academic performance

29  requirement.

30         Section 3.  Section 232.2463, Florida Statutes, is

31  amended to read:

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 990
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  1         (Substantial rewording of section. See s. 232.2463,

  2         F.S., for present text.)

  3         232.2463  High school grading system.--The Legislature

  4  finds that the percentage equivalents of high school letter

  5  grades depend upon the difficulty of material assigned and

  6  tested by the teacher. An equal percentage of correct answers

  7  could indicate unequal levels of mastery depending on the

  8  difficulty of the test questions. Therefore, grades expressed

  9  as a percentage are not expected to be consistently equated to

10  the same level of mastery. School districts are not required

11  to adopt a system of interpreting percentage grades, and

12  school teachers may use grading systems that vary the

13  interpretation of percentage grades according to the

14  difficulty of material tested, such as "curving" the grades.

15  For purposes of interpreting percentage grades when teachers

16  do not assign letter grades, school districts should use a

17  grading scale that is similar to those used by other states,

18  as follows:

19         (1)  Grade "A" equals 90 percent through 100 percent,

20  has a grade point average value of 4, and is defined as

21  "outstanding progress."

22         (2)  Grade "B" equals 80 percent through 89 percent,

23  has a grade point average value of 3, and is defined as "above

24  average progress."

25         (3)  Grade "C" equals 70 percent through 79 percent,

26  has a grade point average value of 2, and is defined as

27  "average progress."

28         (4)  Grade "D" equals 60 percent through 69 percent,

29  has a grade point average value of 1, and is defined as

30  "lowest acceptable progress."

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 990
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  1         (5)  Grade "F" equals zero percent through 59 percent,

  2  has a grade point average value of zero, and is defined as

  3  "failure."

  4         (6)  Grade "I" equals zero percent, has a grade point

  5  average value of zero, and is defined as "incomplete."

  6

  7  For the purposes of class ranking, school districts may

  8  exercise a weighted grading system. However, if a school

  9  district uses a weighted grading system that differs from the

10  system used by the Department of Education for the Florida

11  Bright Futures Scholarship Program, each high school principal

12  must inform students and their parents of the difference. On

13  student report cards, grade-point averages must be calculated

14  by the weighted system used by both the Department of

15  Education and the school district.

16         Section 4.  Subsection (4) of section 240.1163, Florida

17  Statutes, is repealed.

18         Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.

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20            *****************************************

21                          SENATE SUMMARY

22    Requires school boards to report on the academic
      achievement of high school students and to include in
23    such reports the number and percentage of students who
      received each letter grade. Provides clarification
24    regarding what information report cards must show.
      Requires academic achievement grades to be separated from
25    grades for other factors. Revises provisions that
      establish standards for the high school grading system.
26    Establishes guidelines for the assignment of letter
      grades to grades for percentage of correct answers.
27    Repeals a provision relating to the weighting of grades
      in certain courses. (See bill for details.)
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