Senate Bill sb2184c2

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    Florida Senate - 2004                    CS for CS for SB 2184

    By the Committees on Appropriations; Education; and Senators
    Miller, Bullard, Garcia, Webster and Wilson




    309-2688-04

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to student achievement;

  3         creating s. 1007.35, F.S.; providing a popular

  4         name; providing legislative intent; creating

  5         the Florida Partnership for Minority and

  6         Underrepresented Student Achievement; providing

  7         purposes and duties of the partnership;

  8         providing duties of the Department of Education

  9         and the participating partner; requiring the

10         partnership to submit an annual evaluation

11         report to the department; providing for funding

12         the partnership; authorizing the State Board of

13         Education to adopt rules; providing an

14         effective date.

15  

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

17  

18         Section 1.  Section 1007.35, Florida Statutes, is

19  created to read:

20         1007.35  Florida Partnership for Minority and

21  Underrepresented Student Achievement.--

22         (1)  This section may be referred to by the popular

23  name the "Florida Partnership for Minority and

24  Underrepresented Student Achievement Act."

25         (2)(a)  The Legislature recognizes the importance of

26  not only access to college but also success in college for all

27  students. It is the intent of the Legislature that every

28  student enrolled in a public secondary school has access to

29  high-quality, rigorous academics, with a particular focus on

30  access to advanced courses.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2004                    CS for CS for SB 2184
    309-2688-04




 1         (b)  It is the intent of the Legislature to provide

 2  assistance to all public secondary schools, with a primary

 3  focus on low-performing middle and high schools.

 4         (c)  It is the intent of the Legislature that the

 5  partnership created in this section accomplish its mission

 6  primarily through strengthening the content knowledge of

 7  teachers and providing instructional resources, including

 8  materials and strategies, which enable teachers to provide

 9  instruction to students who have diverse learning styles.

10         (3)  There is created the Florida Partnership for

11  Minority and Underrepresented Student Achievement. The

12  Department of Education may contract for operation of the

13  partnership.

14         (4)  The mission of the partnership is to prepare,

15  inspire, and connect students to postsecondary success and

16  opportunity, with a particular focus on minority students and

17  students who are underrepresented in postsecondary education.

18         (5)  Each public high school, including, but not

19  limited to, schools and alternative sites and centers of the

20  Department of Juvenile Justice, shall provide for the

21  administration of the Preliminary SAT/National Merit

22  Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), or Preliminary ACT

23  (PLAN) to all enrolled 10th-grade students. However, a written

24  notice shall be provided to each parent that shall include the

25  opportunity to exempt his or her child from taking the

26  PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN.

27         (a)  Test results will provide each high school with a

28  database of student assessment data which guidance counselors

29  will use to identify students who are prepared or who need

30  additional work to be prepared to enroll and be successful in

31  AP courses or other advanced high school courses.

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    Florida Senate - 2004                    CS for CS for SB 2184
    309-2688-04




 1         (b)  Funding for the PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN for all

 2  10th-grade students shall be contingent upon annual funding in

 3  the General Appropriations Act.

 4         (c)  Public school districts must choose either the

 5  PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN for district-wide administration.

 6         (6)  The partnership shall:

 7         (a)  Provide teacher training and professional

 8  development to enable teachers of AP or other advanced courses

 9  to have the necessary content knowledge and instructional

10  skills to prepare students for success on AP or other advanced

11  course examinations and mastery of postsecondary course

12  content.

13         (b)  Provide to middle school teachers and

14  administrators professional development that will enable them

15  to educate middle school students at the level necessary to

16  prepare the students to enter high school ready to participate

17  in advanced courses.

18         (c)  Provide teacher training and materials that are

19  aligned with the Sunshine State Standards and are consistent

20  with best theory and practice regarding multiple learning

21  styles and research on learning, instructional strategies,

22  instructional design, and classroom assessment. Curriculum

23  materials must be based on current, accepted, and essential

24  academic knowledge. Materials for prerequisite courses should,

25  at a minimum, address the skills assessed on the Florida

26  Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).

27         (d)  Provide assessment of individual strengths and

28  weaknesses as related to potential success in AP or other

29  advanced courses and readiness for college.

30         (e)  Provide college entrance exam preparation through

31  a variety of means that may include, but are not limited to,

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    Florida Senate - 2004                    CS for CS for SB 2184
    309-2688-04




 1  training teachers to provide courses at schools; training

 2  community organizations to provide courses at community

 3  centers, faith-based organizations, and businesses; and

 4  providing on-line courses.

 5         (f)  Consider ways to incorporate community colleges in

 6  the mission of preparing all students for postsecondary

 7  success.

 8         (g)  Provide a plan for communication and coordination

 9  of efforts with the Florida Virtual School's provision of

10  on-line AP or other advanced courses.

11         (h)  Provide a plan of communication which includes,

12  but need not be limited to, disseminating to parents materials

13  that emphasize the importance of AP or other advanced courses

14  to a student's ability to gain access to and to succeed in

15  postsecondary education and materials that emphasize the

16  importance of the PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN, which provide diagnostic

17  feedback on skills and relate student scores to the

18  probability of success on AP or other advanced course

19  examinations, and also the dissemination of such information

20  to students, teachers, counselors, administrators, districts,

21  community colleges, and state universities. The department

22  shall assist the partnership in communicating opportunities

23  and priorities to administrators, teachers, and counselors

24  whenever possible.

25         (7)  By May 31 of each year, the Department of

26  Education shall approve a plan of delivery of services for the

27  subsequent academic year.

28         (8)(a)  By September 30 of each year, the partnership

29  shall submit to the department a report that contains an

30  evaluation of the effectiveness of the delivered services and

31  activities. Activities and services must be evaluated on their

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    Florida Senate - 2004                    CS for CS for SB 2184
    309-2688-04




 1  effectiveness at raising student achievement and increasing

 2  the number of AP or other advanced course examinations in

 3  low-performing middle and high schools. Other indicators that

 4  must be addressed in the evaluation report include the number

 5  of middle and high school teachers trained, the effectiveness

 6  of the training, measures of postsecondary readiness of the

 7  students affected by the program, levels of participation in

 8  10th-grade PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN testing, and measures of

 9  student, parent, and teacher awareness of and satisfaction

10  with the services of the partnership.

11         (b)  The department shall contribute to the evaluation

12  process by providing access, consistent with s. 119.0721, to

13  student and teacher information necessary to match against

14  databases containing teacher professional development data and

15  databases containing assessment data for the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT,

16  AP, and other appropriate measures. The department shall also

17  provide student-level data on student progress from middle

18  school through high school and into college and the workforce,

19  if available, in order to support longitudinal studies.  The

20  partnership shall analyze and report student performance data

21  in a manner that protects the rights of students and parents

22  as required in 20 U.S.C. s. 1232g and s. 1002.22.

23         (9)(a)  Funding for the partnership shall be contingent

24  upon annual funding in the General Appropriations Act.

25         (b)  The participating partner, if one is chosen, is

26  required to match at least one-third of the allocation

27  provided to the partnership in the General Appropriations Act

28  in materials and services to the program.

29         (10)  The State Board of Education may adopt rules to

30  administer this section.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2004                    CS for CS for SB 2184
    309-2688-04




 1         (11)  Nothing in this section shall prohibit any

 2  organization from partnering with the state to improve the

 3  college readiness of students.

 4         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

 5  

 6          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
 7                     Senate Bill CS for 2184

 8                                 

 9  
      -  Allows the Department of Education to contract for the
10       operation of the Florida Partnership for Minority and
         Underrepresented Student Achievement.
11  
      -  Removes the requirement for a contract with the College
12       Board and the requirement that the Board endorse
         professional development.
13  
      -  Removes the requirement for the Board to endorse course
14       materials.

15    -  Includes the American College Testing Program's ACT
         (PLAN) as an option for the mandatory 10th grade testing.
16  
      -  Requires school districts to select either the PSAT/NMSQT
17       or the ACT (PLAN) for district wide administration.

18    -  Includes information related to levels of participation
         in 10th grade ACT (PLAN) testing in the required
19       evaluation.

20    -  Removes the specific date for administering the mandatory
         testing.
21  
      -  Provides for written notice to parents related to the
22       opportunity for an exemption from the mandatory testing.

23    -  Provides for the option of taking other advanced courses,
         in addition to AP courses.
24  
      -  Provides that funding for testing and the Partnership is
25       contingent upon funding in the General Appropriations
         Act.
26  
      -  Clarifies the requirements to protect the confidentiality
27       of student and teacher information.

28    -  Provides that the legislation does not prohibit any
         organization from partnering with the state to improve
29       college readiness of students.

30    -  Changes the references to college courses to
         postsecondary courses.
31  

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