Florida Senate - 2010 SB 1096
By Senator Detert
23-00406C-10 20101096__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to middle school civics education
3 assessment; providing a short title; amending s.
4 1003.4156, F.S.; providing requirements for a civics
5 education course that a student must successfully
6 complete for middle grades promotion beginning with
7 students entering grade 6 in the 2012-2013 school
8 year; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.; requiring the
9 administration of an end-of-course assessment in
10 civics education as a field test at the middle school
11 level during the 2012-2013 school year; providing
12 requirements for course grade and course credit for
13 subsequent school years; amending s. 1008.34, F.S.;
14 requiring the inclusion of civics education end-of
15 course assessment data in determining school grades
16 beginning with the 2013-2014 school year; providing an
17 effective date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Justice Sandra Day
22 O’Connor Civics Education Act.”
23 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
24 1003.4156, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
25 1003.4156 General requirements for middle grades
26 promotion.—
27 (1) Beginning with students entering grade 6 in the 2006
28 2007 school year, promotion from a school composed of middle
29 grades 6, 7, and 8 requires that:
30 (a) The student must successfully complete academic courses
31 as follows:
32 1. Three middle school or higher courses in English. These
33 courses shall emphasize literature, composition, and technical
34 text.
35 2. Three middle school or higher courses in mathematics.
36 Each middle school must offer at least one high school level
37 mathematics course for which students may earn high school
38 credit.
39 3. Three middle school or higher courses in social studies,
40 one semester of which must include the study of state and
41 federal government and civics education. Beginning with students
42 entering grade 6 in the 2012-2013 school year, one of these
43 courses must be at least a one-semester civics education course
44 that a student successfully completes in accordance with s.
45 1008.22(3)(c) and that includes the roles and responsibilities
46 of federal, state, and local governments; the structures and
47 functions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches
48 of government; and the meaning and significance of historic
49 documents, such as the Articles of Confederation, the
50 Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United
51 States.
52 4. Three middle school or higher courses in science.
53 5. One course in career and education planning to be
54 completed in 7th or 8th grade. The course may be taught by any
55 member of the instructional staff; must include career
56 exploration using CHOICES for the 21st Century or a comparable
57 cost-effective program; must include educational planning using
58 the online student advising system known as Florida Academic
59 Counseling and Tracking for Students at the Internet website
60 FACTS.org; and shall result in the completion of a personalized
61 academic and career plan.
62
63 Each school must hold a parent meeting either in the evening or
64 on a weekend to inform parents about the course curriculum and
65 activities. Each student shall complete an electronic personal
66 education plan that must be signed by the student; the student’s
67 instructor, guidance counselor, or academic advisor; and the
68 student’s parent. By January 1, 2007, the Department of
69 Education shall develop course frameworks and professional
70 development materials for the career exploration and education
71 planning course. The course may be implemented as a stand-alone
72 course or integrated into another course or courses. The
73 Commissioner of Education shall collect longitudinal high school
74 course enrollment data by student ethnicity in order to analyze
75 course-taking patterns.
76 Section 3. Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section
77 1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
78 1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools.—
79 (3) STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.—The commissioner shall
80 design and implement a statewide program of educational
81 assessment that provides information for the improvement of the
82 operation and management of the public schools, including
83 schools operating for the purpose of providing educational
84 services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice programs.
85 The commissioner may enter into contracts for the continued
86 administration of the assessment, testing, and evaluation
87 programs authorized and funded by the Legislature. Contracts may
88 be initiated in 1 fiscal year and continue into the next and may
89 be paid from the appropriations of either or both fiscal years.
90 The commissioner is authorized to negotiate for the sale or
91 lease of tests, scoring protocols, test scoring services, and
92 related materials developed pursuant to law. Pursuant to the
93 statewide assessment program, the commissioner shall:
94 (c) Develop and implement a student achievement testing
95 program known as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
96 (FCAT) as part of the statewide assessment program to measure a
97 student’s content knowledge and skills in reading, writing,
98 science, and mathematics. Other content areas may be included as
99 directed by the commissioner. Comprehensive assessments of
100 reading and mathematics shall be administered annually in grades
101 3 through 10. Comprehensive assessments of writing and science
102 shall be administered at least once at the elementary, middle,
103 and high school levels. End-of-course assessments for a subject
104 may be administered in addition to the comprehensive assessments
105 required for that subject under this paragraph. An end-of-course
106 assessment must be rigorous, statewide, standardized, and
107 developed or approved by the department. The content knowledge
108 and skills assessed by comprehensive and end-of-course
109 assessments must be aligned to the core curricular content
110 established in the Sunshine State Standards. During the 2012
111 2013 school year, an end-of-course assessment in civics
112 education shall be administered as a field test at the middle
113 school level. During the 2013-2014 school year, each student’s
114 performance on the statewide, standardized end-of-course
115 assessment in civics education shall constitute 30 percent of
116 the student’s final course grade. Beginning with the 2014-2015
117 school year, a student must earn a passing score on the end-of
118 course assessment in civics education in order to pass the
119 course and receive course credit. The commissioner may select
120 one or more nationally developed comprehensive examinations,
121 which may include, but need not be limited to, examinations for
122 a College Board Advanced Placement course, International
123 Baccalaureate course, or Advanced International Certificate of
124 Education course or industry-approved examinations to earn
125 national industry certifications as defined in s. 1003.492, for
126 use as end-of-course assessments under this paragraph, if the
127 commissioner determines that the content knowledge and skills
128 assessed by the examinations meet or exceed the grade level
129 expectations for the core curricular content established for the
130 course in the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards. The
131 commissioner may collaborate with the American Diploma Project
132 in the adoption or development of rigorous end-of-course
133 assessments that are aligned to the Next Generation Sunshine
134 State Standards. The testing program must be designed as
135 follows:
136 1. The tests shall measure student skills and competencies
137 adopted by the State Board of Education as specified in
138 paragraph (a). The tests must measure and report student
139 proficiency levels of all students assessed in reading, writing,
140 mathematics, and science. The commissioner shall provide for the
141 tests to be developed or obtained, as appropriate, through
142 contracts and project agreements with private vendors, public
143 vendors, public agencies, postsecondary educational
144 institutions, or school districts. The commissioner shall obtain
145 input with respect to the design and implementation of the
146 testing program from state educators, assistive technology
147 experts, and the public.
148 2. The testing program shall be composed of criterion
149 referenced tests that shall, to the extent determined by the
150 commissioner, include test items that require the student to
151 produce information or perform tasks in such a way that the core
152 content knowledge and skills he or she uses can be measured.
153 3. Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, the
154 commissioner shall discontinue administration of the selected
155 response test items on the comprehensive assessments of writing.
156 Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, the comprehensive
157 assessments of writing shall be composed of a combination of
158 selected-response test items, short-response performance tasks,
159 and extended-response performance tasks, which shall measure a
160 student’s content knowledge of writing, including, but not
161 limited to, paragraph and sentence structure, sentence
162 construction, grammar and usage, punctuation, capitalization,
163 spelling, parts of speech, verb tense, irregular verbs, subject
164 verb agreement, and noun-pronoun agreement.
165 4. A score shall be designated for each subject area
166 tested, below which score a student’s performance is deemed
167 inadequate. The school districts shall provide appropriate
168 remedial instruction to students who score below these levels.
169 5. Except as provided in s. 1003.428(8)(b) or s.
170 1003.43(11)(b), students must earn a passing score on the grade
171 10 assessment test described in this paragraph or attain
172 concordant scores as described in subsection (10) in reading,
173 writing, and mathematics to qualify for a standard high school
174 diploma. The State Board of Education shall designate a passing
175 score for each part of the grade 10 assessment test. In
176 establishing passing scores, the state board shall consider any
177 possible negative impact of the test on minority students. The
178 State Board of Education shall adopt rules which specify the
179 passing scores for the grade 10 FCAT. Any such rules, which have
180 the effect of raising the required passing scores, shall apply
181 only to students taking the grade 10 FCAT for the first time
182 after such rules are adopted by the State Board of Education.
183 6. Participation in the testing program is mandatory for
184 all students attending public school, including students served
185 in Department of Juvenile Justice programs, except as otherwise
186 prescribed by the commissioner. If a student does not
187 participate in the statewide assessment, the district must
188 notify the student’s parent and provide the parent with
189 information regarding the implications of such nonparticipation.
190 A parent must provide signed consent for a student to receive
191 classroom instructional accommodations that would not be
192 available or permitted on the statewide assessments and must
193 acknowledge in writing that he or she understands the
194 implications of such instructional accommodations. The State
195 Board of Education shall adopt rules, based upon recommendations
196 of the commissioner, for the provision of test accommodations
197 for students in exceptional education programs and for students
198 who have limited English proficiency. Accommodations that negate
199 the validity of a statewide assessment are not allowable in the
200 administration of the FCAT. However, instructional
201 accommodations are allowable in the classroom if included in a
202 student’s individual education plan. Students using
203 instructional accommodations in the classroom that are not
204 allowable as accommodations on the FCAT may have the FCAT
205 requirement waived pursuant to the requirements of s.
206 1003.428(8)(b) or s. 1003.43(11)(b).
207 7. A student seeking an adult high school diploma must meet
208 the same testing requirements that a regular high school student
209 must meet.
210 8. District school boards must provide instruction to
211 prepare students to demonstrate proficiency in the core
212 curricular content established in the Next Generation Sunshine
213 State Standards adopted under s. 1003.41, including the core
214 content knowledge and skills necessary for successful grade-to
215 grade progression and high school graduation. If a student is
216 provided with instructional accommodations in the classroom that
217 are not allowable as accommodations in the statewide assessment
218 program, as described in the test manuals, the district must
219 inform the parent in writing and must provide the parent with
220 information regarding the impact on the student’s ability to
221 meet expected proficiency levels in reading, writing, and
222 mathematics. The commissioner shall conduct studies as necessary
223 to verify that the required core curricular content is part of
224 the district instructional programs.
225 9. District school boards must provide opportunities for
226 students to demonstrate an acceptable level of performance on an
227 alternative standardized assessment approved by the State Board
228 of Education following enrollment in summer academies.
229 10. The Department of Education must develop, or select,
230 and implement a common battery of assessment tools that will be
231 used in all juvenile justice programs in the state. These tools
232 must accurately measure the core curricular content established
233 in the Sunshine State Standards.
234 11. For students seeking a special diploma pursuant to s.
235 1003.438, the Department of Education must develop or select and
236 implement an alternate assessment tool that accurately measures
237 the core curricular content established in the Sunshine State
238 Standards for students with disabilities under s. 1003.438.
239 12. The Commissioner of Education shall establish schedules
240 for the administration of statewide assessments and the
241 reporting of student test results. The commissioner shall, by
242 August 1 of each year, notify each school district in writing
243 and publish on the department’s Internet website the testing and
244 reporting schedules for, at a minimum, the school year following
245 the upcoming school year. The testing and reporting schedules
246 shall require that:
247 a. There is the latest possible administration of statewide
248 assessments and the earliest possible reporting to the school
249 districts of student test results which is feasible within
250 available technology and specific appropriations; however, test
251 results must be made available no later than the final day of
252 the regular school year for students.
253 b. Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, a
254 comprehensive statewide assessment of writing is not
255 administered earlier than the week of March 1 and a
256 comprehensive statewide assessment of any other subject is not
257 administered earlier than the week of April 15.
258 c. A statewide standardized end-of-course assessment is
259 administered within the last 2 weeks of the course.
260
261 The commissioner may, based on collaboration and input from
262 school districts, design and implement student testing programs,
263 for any grade level and subject area, necessary to effectively
264 monitor educational achievement in the state, including the
265 measurement of educational achievement of the Sunshine State
266 Standards for students with disabilities. Development and
267 refinement of assessments shall include universal design
268 principles and accessibility standards that will prevent any
269 unintended obstacles for students with disabilities while
270 ensuring the validity and reliability of the test. These
271 principles should be applicable to all technology platforms and
272 assistive devices available for the assessments. The field
273 testing process and psychometric analyses for the statewide
274 assessment program must include an appropriate percentage of
275 students with disabilities and an evaluation or determination of
276 the effect of test items on such students.
277 Section 4. Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section
278 1008.34, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
279 1008.34 School grading system; school report cards;
280 district grade.—
281 (3) DESIGNATION OF SCHOOL GRADES.—
282 (c) Student assessment data used in determining school
283 grades shall include:
284 1. The aggregate scores of all eligible students enrolled
285 in the school who have been assessed on the FCAT and, beginning
286 with the 2013-2014 school year, the statewide, standardized end
287 of-course assessment in civics education at the middle school
288 level.
289 2. The aggregate scores of all eligible students enrolled
290 in the school who have been assessed on the FCAT and who have
291 scored at or in the lowest 25th percentile of students in the
292 school in reading, mathematics, or writing, unless these
293 students are exhibiting satisfactory performance.
294 3. Effective with the 2005-2006 school year, the
295 achievement scores and learning gains of eligible students
296 attending alternative schools that provide dropout prevention
297 and academic intervention services pursuant to s. 1003.53. The
298 term “eligible students” in this subparagraph does not include
299 students attending an alternative school who are subject to
300 district school board policies for expulsion for repeated or
301 serious offenses, who are in dropout retrieval programs serving
302 students who have officially been designated as dropouts, or who
303 are in programs operated or contracted by the Department of
304 Juvenile Justice. The student performance data for eligible
305 students identified in this subparagraph shall be included in
306 the calculation of the home school’s grade. As used in this
307 section and s. 1008.341, the term “home school” means the school
308 to which the student would be assigned if the student were not
309 assigned to an alternative school. If an alternative school
310 chooses to be graded under this section, student performance
311 data for eligible students identified in this subparagraph shall
312 not be included in the home school’s grade but shall be included
313 only in the calculation of the alternative school’s grade. A
314 school district that fails to assign the FCAT scores of each of
315 its students to his or her home school or to the alternative
316 school that receives a grade shall forfeit Florida School
317 Recognition Program funds for 1 fiscal year. School districts
318 must require collaboration between the home school and the
319 alternative school in order to promote student success. This
320 collaboration must include an annual discussion between the
321 principal of the alternative school and the principal of each
322 student’s home school concerning the most appropriate school
323 assignment of the student.
324 4. Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year for schools
325 comprised of high school grades 9, 10, 11, and 12, or grades 10,
326 11, and 12, the data listed in subparagraphs 1.-3. and the
327 following data as the Department of Education determines such
328 data are valid and available:
329 a. The high school graduation rate of the school as
330 calculated by the Department of Education;
331 b. The participation rate of all eligible students enrolled
332 in the school and enrolled in College Board Advanced Placement
333 courses; International Baccalaureate courses; dual enrollment
334 courses; Advanced International Certificate of Education
335 courses; and courses or sequence of courses leading to industry
336 certification, as determined by the Agency for Workforce
337 Innovation under s. 1003.492(2) in a career and professional
338 academy, as described in s. 1003.493;
339 c. The aggregate scores of all eligible students enrolled
340 in the school in College Board Advanced Placement courses,
341 International Baccalaureate courses, and Advanced International
342 Certificate of Education courses;
343 d. Earning of college credit by all eligible students
344 enrolled in the school in dual enrollment programs under s.
345 1007.271;
346 e. Earning of an industry certification, as determined by
347 the Agency for Workforce Innovation under s. 1003.492(2) in a
348 career and professional academy, as described in s. 1003.493;
349 f. The aggregate scores of all eligible students enrolled
350 in the school in reading, mathematics, and other subjects as
351 measured by the SAT, the ACT, and the common placement test for
352 postsecondary readiness;
353 g. The high school graduation rate of all eligible at-risk
354 students enrolled in the school who scored at Level 2 or lower
355 on the grade 8 FCAT Reading and Mathematics examinations;
356 h. The performance of the school’s students on statewide
357 standardized end-of-course assessments administered under s.
358 1008.22; and
359 i. The growth or decline in the data components listed in
360 sub-subparagraphs a.-h. from year to year.
361
362 The State Board of Education shall adopt appropriate criteria
363 for each school grade. The criteria must also give added weight
364 to student achievement in reading. Schools designated with a
365 grade of “C,” making satisfactory progress, shall be required to
366 demonstrate that adequate progress has been made by students in
367 the school who are in the lowest 25th percentile in reading,
368 mathematics, or writing on the FCAT, unless these students are
369 exhibiting satisfactory performance. Beginning with the 2009
370 2010 school year for schools comprised of high school grades 9,
371 10, 11, and 12, or grades 10, 11, and 12, the criteria for
372 school grades must also give added weight to the graduation rate
373 of all eligible at-risk students, as defined in this paragraph.
374 Beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, in order for a high
375 school to be designated as having a grade of “A,” making
376 excellent progress, the school must demonstrate that at-risk
377 students, as defined in this paragraph, in the school are making
378 adequate progress.
379 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.