Senate Bill 0990e1

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    SB 990                 Corrected Copy    First Engrossed (ntc)



  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.

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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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    SB 990                 Corrected Copy    First Engrossed (ntc)



  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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    SB 990                 Corrected Copy    First Engrossed (ntc)



  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  effective July 1, 2001, grade-point averages must be

14  calculated using the grade weighting system adopted by the

15  Department of Education for the Academic and Merit Scholarship

16  components of the Bright Futures Scholarship Program in

17  courses designated for Bright Futures eligibility. If a

18  different grade weighting system is used to calculate

19  grade-point averages for class ranking, it must be reported

20  separately from the Bright Futures grade-point average.

21         (3)  Academic achievement should be graded upon

22  measurement of academic performance and timely completion of

23  academic requirements. Academic achievement grades should be

24  separated from grades for other matters such as academic

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

26  School districts shall not allow schools to exempt students

27  from academic performance requirements based on practices or

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

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

30  provide an exemption from any academic performance

31  requirement.


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    SB 990                 Corrected Copy    First Engrossed (ntc)



  1         Section 3.  Section 232.2463, Florida Statutes, is

  2  amended to read:

  3         (Substantial rewording of section. See s. 232.2463,

  4         F.S., for present text.)

  5         232.2463  High school grading system.--The Legislature

  6  finds that the percentage equivalents of high school letter

  7  grades depend upon the difficulty of material assigned and

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

  9  could indicate unequal levels of mastery depending on the

10  difficulty of the test questions. Therefore, grades expressed

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

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

13  to adopt a system of interpreting percentage grades, and

14  school teachers may use grading systems that vary the

15  interpretation of percentage grades according to the

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

17  For purposes of interpreting percentage grades when teachers

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

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

20  as follows:

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

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

23  "outstanding progress."

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

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

26  average progress."

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

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

29  "average progress."

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    SB 990                 Corrected Copy    First Engrossed (ntc)



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

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

  3  "lowest acceptable progress."

  4         (5)  Grade "F" equals zero percent through 59 percent,

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

  6  "failure."

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

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

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10  For the purposes of class ranking, school districts may

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

12  district uses a weighted grading system that differs from the

13  system used by the Department of Education for the Florida

14  Bright Futures Scholarship Program, each high school principal

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

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

17  by the weighted system used by both the Department of

18  Education and the school district.

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

20  Statutes, is repealed.

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

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