Florida Senate - 2021                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 1108
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì886910(Î886910                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/20/2021           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Diaz) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Between lines 70 and 71
    4  insert:
    5         Section 2. Section 1002.334, Florida Statutes, is created
    6  to read:
    7         1002.334Innovative Blended Learning and Real-Time Student
    8  Assessment Pilot Program.—
    9         (1)There is created within the Department of Education the
   10  Innovative Blended Learning and Real-Time Student Assessment
   11  Pilot Program. The purpose of the program is to develop and
   12  measure innovative blended learning and real-time weekly student
   13  assessment educational models that improve the educational
   14  progress of this state’s students and help close achievement
   15  gaps for this state’s traditionally underserved students.
   16         (2)As used in this section, the term “innovative blended
   17  learning” means:
   18         (a)A mode of learning where in-person and remote students
   19  are combined in one classroom environment where the education,
   20  instruction, and engagement occurs at the same time with the
   21  teacher and other students physically present in the classroom;
   22  and
   23         (b)For a given course, students learn in part through
   24  online delivery of content and instruction with some element of
   25  student control over time, place, path, or pace and in part at a
   26  traditional supervised classroom location away from home.
   27         (3)To be eligible to work with the program, an applicant
   28  must be:
   29         (a)A high-performing charter school under s. 1002.331;
   30         (b)A high-performing charter school system under s.
   31  1002.332; or
   32         (c)An academically high-performing school district
   33  pursuant to s. 1003.621.
   34         (4)A program applicant must submit an application to the
   35  department in a format prescribed by the department. The
   36  application must include all of the following:
   37         (a)A plan for the synchronous technological and resource
   38  design, curriculum, classroom operation, school or district
   39  management, privacy protection and teacher professional
   40  development, and at least weekly progress monitoring of real
   41  time student performance in innovative blended learning
   42  programs.
   43         (b)A plan to reduce achievement gaps through innovative
   44  blended learning.
   45         (c)A requirement that distance learning will always be at
   46  the choosing of the student or the student’s parent or guardian
   47  and that a family will never be coerced to choose distance
   48  learning.
   49         (d)A requirement that a participating classroom may not be
   50  fully virtual such that at least two-thirds of the students in a
   51  class must be present for in-person learning on any regularly
   52  scheduled school day.
   53         (e)A requirement that any struggling student who is
   54  participating in this program and who, according to progress
   55  monitoring data, is on pace to learn less than a year’s content
   56  in a year’s time must return to learning in person.
   57         (f)A requirement that any student can choose to switch
   58  learning modalities, in person or distance, on any given day,
   59  without notice and therefore a seat must always be available for
   60  every student registered to take any participating course.
   61         (g)A requirement that the applicant provide all requested
   62  student-level data from participating schools, including, as
   63  necessary, benchmark historical data for up to the prior 3
   64  school years, to the department upon request.
   65         (5)Applications may be considered only for synchronous
   66  innovative blended learning programs.
   67         (6)The Commissioner of Education shall select applicants
   68  to participate in the program.
   69         (7)Districts and schools may not begin approved
   70  synchronous innovative blended learning programs until October
   71  1, 2021.
   72         (8)(a)Applicants approved by the commissioner shall
   73  receive funding based upon the number of full-time equivalent
   74  students being educated under the pilot program, as if each
   75  student were being educated full-time in person at his or her
   76  respective school.
   77         (b)The commissioner may remove an approved applicant from
   78  program participation if the applicant fails to maintain the
   79  designations listed in subsection (3) or the applicant fails to
   80  meet any of the requirements listed in subsection (4).
   81         (9)This section expires July 1, 2024.
   82  
   83  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   84  And the title is amended as follows:
   85         Between lines 13 and 14
   86  insert:
   87         creating s. 1002.334, F.S.; establishing the
   88         Innovative Blended Learning and Real-Time Student
   89         Assessment Pilot Program within the department;
   90         providing the purpose of the program; defining the
   91         term “innovative blended learning”; specifying program
   92         eligibility; requiring program applicants to submit
   93         applications to the department in a format prescribed
   94         by the department; requiring program applications to
   95         include specified information; requiring applications
   96         to be considered only for synchronous innovative
   97         blended learning programs; requiring the Commissioner
   98         of Education to select applicants to participate in
   99         the program; providing a start date for the program;
  100         providing for funding; authorizing the commissioner to
  101         remove an approved applicant from the program under
  102         certain circumstances; providing for future
  103         expiration;