Senate Bill sb2274

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2274

    By Senator Bullard





    39-1483A-05                                         See HB 907

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public school

  3         accountability; providing a popular name;

  4         amending s. 1008.34, F.S.; revising school

  5         performance grade categories; revising

  6         requirements for obtaining increased budget

  7         authority by schools; revising the method for

  8         determining school performance grades;

  9         providing for public hearings relating to the

10         adoption of school performance grade

11         requirements; amending s. 1008.36, F.S.;

12         renaming the Florida School Recognition Program

13         as the Students First Program and revising

14         provisions thereof; providing program

15         components; providing for the use of Students

16         First Program funds; providing duties of the

17         Department of Education; providing an effective

18         date.

19  

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

21  

22         Section 1.  This act may be cited as the "Students

23  First Act."

24         Section 2.  Subsections (2), (3), and (4) of section

25  1008.34, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

26         1008.34  School grading system; district performance

27  grade.--

28         (2)  SCHOOL PERFORMANCE GRADE CATEGORIES.--The annual

29  report shall identify schools as being in one of the following

30  grade categories defined according to rules of the State Board

31  of Education:

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2274
    39-1483A-05                                         See HB 907




 1         (a)  "Passing with Distinction." " A," schools making

 2  excellent progress.

 3         (b)  "Passing." "B," schools making above average

 4  progress.

 5         (c)  "Failing." "C," schools making satisfactory

 6  progress.

 7         (d)  "D," schools making less than satisfactory

 8  progress.

 9         (e)  "F," schools failing to make adequate progress.

10  

11  Each school designated in performance grade category "Passing

12  with Distinction," "A," making excellent progress, or having

13  improved at least one two performance grade category

14  categories, shall have greater authority over the allocation

15  of the school's total budget generated from the FEFP, state

16  categoricals, lottery funds, grants, and local funds, as

17  specified in state board rule. The rule must provide that the

18  increased budget authority shall remain in effect until the

19  school's performance grade declines. Beginning in the

20  2005-2006 school year, a school that has been designated as

21  performance grade category "F" in a prior school year shall

22  not be designated as performance grade category "Failing"

23  using the current year's data if that school has shown at

24  least a 50-percent increase toward the baseline score in each

25  subject area.

26         (3)  DESIGNATION OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE GRADE

27  CATEGORIES.--For purposes of determining school performance,

28  student performance should be based on a student's annual

29  learning gains when the gain can be measured with an accurate

30  and consistent assessment system. School performance grade

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2274
    39-1483A-05                                         See HB 907




 1  category designations itemized in subsection (2) shall be

 2  based on the following:

 3         (a)  Timeframes.--

 4         1.  School performance grade category designations

 5  shall be based on the school's current year performance and

 6  the school's annual learning gains.

 7         2.  Beginning in school year 2005-2006, a school's

 8  performance grade category designation shall be determined

 9  based upon the following weighted factors for the following

10  grade levels, according to rules adopted by the State Board of

11  Education:

12         a.  For kindergarten through grade 2, 60 percent of the

13  performance grade shall be based on the percentage of classes

14  for which there is a ratio of 1 teacher to 20 students, 20

15  percent shall be based on attendance, 10 percent shall be

16  based on parental involvement, and 10 percent shall be based

17  on school safety.

18         b.  For grades 3 through 5, 60 percent of the

19  performance grade shall be based on FCAT scores, 20 percent

20  shall be based on attendance, 10 percent shall be based on

21  parental involvement, and 10 percent shall be based on school

22  safety.

23         c.  For grades 6 through 10, 60 percent of the

24  performance grade shall be based on FCAT scores, 10 percent

25  shall be based on attendance, 10 percent shall be based on the

26  dropout rate, 10 percent shall be based on parental

27  involvement, and 10 percent shall be based on school safety.

28         d.  For grades 11 and 12, 35 percent of the performance

29  grade shall be based on the dropout rate; 35 percent shall be

30  based on the number of acceleration mechanisms available to

31  students, including, but not limited to, Advanced Placement

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2274
    39-1483A-05                                         See HB 907




 1  courses and dual enrollment courses; 10 percent shall be based

 2  on attendance; 10 percent shall be based on parental

 3  involvement; and 10 percent shall be based on school safety.

 4  

 5  During the 2007-2008 school year, the Legislature shall

 6  conduct public hearings on the school performance grade

 7  requirements of this paragraph to receive recommendations for

 8  revisions to improve such requirements. The recommendations

 9  shall be considered prior to adopting school performance grade

10  requirements for the 2008-2009 school year and thereafter.

11         2.  A school's performance grade category designation

12  shall be based on a combination of student achievement scores,

13  student learning gains as measured by annual FCAT assessments

14  in grades 3 through 10, and improvement of the lowest 25th

15  percentile of students in the school in reading, math, or

16  writing on the FCAT, unless these students are performing

17  above satisfactory performance.

18         (b)  Student assessment data.--Student assessment data

19  used in determining school performance grade categories shall

20  include:

21         1.  The aggregate scores of all eligible students

22  enrolled in the school who have been assessed on the FCAT.

23         2.  The aggregate scores of all eligible students

24  enrolled in the school who have been assessed on the FCAT,

25  including Florida Writes, and who have scored at or in the

26  lowest 25th percentile of students in the school in reading,

27  math, or writing, unless these students are performing above

28  satisfactory performance.

29  

30  The Department of Education shall study the effects of

31  mobility on the performance of highly mobile students and

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2274
    39-1483A-05                                         See HB 907




 1  recommend programs to improve the performance of such

 2  students. The State Board of Education shall adopt appropriate

 3  criteria for each school performance grade category. The

 4  criteria must also give added weight to student achievement in

 5  reading. Schools designated as performance grade category

 6  "Passing" "C," making satisfactory progress, shall be required

 7  to demonstrate that adequate progress has been made by

 8  students in the school who are in the lowest 25th percentile

 9  in reading, math, or writing on the FCAT, including Florida

10  Writes, unless these students are performing above

11  satisfactory performance.

12         (4)  SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT RATINGS.--The annual report

13  shall identify each school's performance as having improved,

14  remained the same, or declined. This school improvement rating

15  shall be based on a comparison of the current year's and

16  previous year's student and school performance data. Schools

17  that improve at least one performance grade category are

18  eligible for school recognition awards pursuant to s. 1008.36.

19         Section 3.  Section 1008.36, Florida Statutes, is

20  amended to read:

21         1008.36  Students First Florida School Recognition

22  Program.--

23         (1)  The Legislature finds that in order to provide

24  every student enrolled in K-12 public schools with the

25  opportunity to achieve a successful public education, academic

26  problems must be identified early and remediation and

27  intervention services must be provided. It is the intent of

28  this section that no child shall be left behind there is a

29  need for a performance incentive program for outstanding

30  faculty and staff in highly productive schools. The

31  Legislature further finds that performance-based incentives

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2274
    39-1483A-05                                         See HB 907




 1  are commonplace in the private sector and should be infused

 2  into the public sector as a reward for productivity.

 3         (2)  The Students First Florida School Recognition

 4  Program is created to provide financial awards to public

 5  schools that:

 6         (a)  A curriculum-based, year-round measurement of

 7  learning gains for all kindergarten students enrolled in

 8  public schools. Sustain high performance by receiving a school

 9  grade of "A," making excellent progress; or

10         (b)  Remediation and intervention services to all

11  kindergarten through grade 12 students enrolled in public

12  schools who are not meeting grade-appropriate performance

13  expectations, including FCAT scores Demonstrate exemplary

14  improvement due to innovation and effort by improving a letter

15  grade.

16         (3)  All public schools, including charter schools,

17  that receive a school grade pursuant to s. 1008.34 are

18  eligible to participate in the program.

19         (4)  All selected schools shall receive financial

20  assistance awards depending on the availability of funds

21  appropriated and the number and size of schools selected to

22  receive an award. Funds must be distributed to the school's

23  fiscal agent and placed in the school's account and must be

24  used for purposes listed in subsection (5) as determined

25  jointly by the school's staff and school advisory council. If

26  school staff and the school advisory council cannot reach

27  agreement by November 1, the awards must be equally

28  distributed to all classroom teachers currently teaching in

29  the school.

30         (5)  Students First Program funds School recognition

31  awards must be used for the following:

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2274
    39-1483A-05                                         See HB 907




 1         (a)  Administration of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic

 2  Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) to all kindergarten students

 3  enrolled in public schools Nonrecurring bonuses to the faculty

 4  and staff;

 5         (b)  Nonrecurring expenditures for remediation of

 6  low-performing students, including remediation programs and

 7  intervention services adopted and administered by the

 8  Department of Education;

 9         (c)(b)  Nonrecurring expenditures for educational

10  equipment or materials to assist in the remediation of

11  low-performing students maintaining and improving student

12  performance; or

13         (d)(c)  Temporary personnel for the school to assist in

14  the remediation of low-performing students; or maintaining and

15  improving student performance.

16         (e)  Contracts with private sector participants to

17  provide remediation services, provided that 90 percent of the

18  personnel providing services reside in Florida.

19  

20  Notwithstanding statutory provisions to the contrary,

21  incentive awards are not subject to collective bargaining.

22         Section 4.  (1)  The Department of Education shall

23  provide training and informational resources for educators to

24  administer the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy

25  Skills (DIBELS) and shall be responsible for creating and

26  implementing provisions for the collection and analysis of the

27  testing data.

28         (2)  The Department of Education shall establish

29  policies and procedures for the development of individual

30  education plans for low-performing students who need

31  remediation and intervention services.

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2274
    39-1483A-05                                         See HB 907




 1         Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

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