The Florida Senate

1007.35  Florida Partnership for Minority and Underrepresented Student Achievement.--

(1)  This section may be referred to by the popular name the "Florida Partnership for Minority and Underrepresented Student Achievement Act."

(2)(a)  The Legislature recognizes the importance of not only access to college but also success in college for all students. It is the intent of the Legislature that every student enrolled in a public secondary school has access to high-quality, rigorous academics, with a particular focus on access to advanced courses.

(b)  It is the intent of the Legislature to provide assistance to all public secondary schools, with a primary focus on low-performing middle and high schools.

(c)  It is the intent of the Legislature that the partnership created in this section accomplish its mission primarily through strengthening the content knowledge of teachers and providing instructional resources, including materials and strategies, which enable teachers to provide instruction to students who have diverse learning styles.

(3)  There is created the Florida Partnership for Minority and Underrepresented Student Achievement. The Department of Education may contract for operation of the partnership.

(4)  The mission of the partnership is to prepare, inspire, and connect students to postsecondary success and opportunity, with a particular focus on minority students and students who are underrepresented in postsecondary education.

(5)  Each public high school, including, but not limited to, schools and alternative sites and centers of the Department of Juvenile Justice, shall provide for the administration of the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), or Preliminary ACT (PLAN) to all enrolled 10th grade students. However, a written notice shall be provided to each parent that shall include the opportunity to exempt his or her child from taking the PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN.

(a)  Test results will provide each high school with a database of student assessment data which guidance counselors will use to identify students who are prepared or who need additional work to be prepared to enroll and be successful in AP courses or other advanced high school courses.

(b)  Funding for the PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN for all 10th grade students shall be contingent upon annual funding in the General Appropriations Act.

(c)  Public school districts must choose either the PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN for districtwide administration.

(6)  The partnership shall:

(a)  Provide teacher training and professional development to enable teachers of AP or other advanced courses to have the necessary content knowledge and instructional skills to prepare students for success on AP or other advanced course examinations and mastery of postsecondary course content.

(b)  Provide to middle school teachers and administrators professional development that will enable them to educate middle school students at the level necessary to prepare the students to enter high school ready to participate in advanced courses.

(c)  Provide teacher training and materials that are aligned with the Sunshine State Standards and are consistent with best theory and practice regarding multiple learning styles and research on learning, instructional strategies, instructional design, and classroom assessment. Curriculum materials must be based on current, accepted, and essential academic knowledge. Materials for prerequisite courses should, at a minimum, address the skills assessed on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).

(d)  Provide assessment of individual strengths and weaknesses as related to potential success in AP or other advanced courses and readiness for college.

(e)  Provide college entrance exam preparation through a variety of means that may include, but are not limited to, training teachers to provide courses at schools; training community organizations to provide courses at community centers, faith-based organizations, and businesses; and providing on-line courses.

(f)  Consider ways to incorporate community colleges in the mission of preparing all students for postsecondary success.

(g)  Provide a plan for communication and coordination of efforts with the Florida Virtual School's provision of on-line AP or other advanced courses.

(h)  Provide a plan of communication which includes, but need not be limited to, disseminating to parents materials that emphasize the importance of AP or other advanced courses to a student's ability to gain access to and to succeed in postsecondary education and materials that emphasize the importance of the PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN, which provide diagnostic feedback on skills and relate student scores to the probability of success on AP or other advanced course examinations, and also the dissemination of such information to students, teachers, counselors, administrators, districts, community colleges, and state universities. The department shall assist the partnership in communicating opportunities and priorities to administrators, teachers, and counselors whenever possible.

(7)  By May 31 of each year, the Department of Education shall approve a plan of delivery of services for the subsequent academic year.

(8)(a)  By September 30 of each year, the partnership shall submit to the department a report that contains an evaluation of the effectiveness of the delivered services and activities. Activities and services must be evaluated on their effectiveness at raising student achievement and increasing the number of AP or other advanced course examinations in low-performing middle and high schools. Other indicators that must be addressed in the evaluation report include the number of middle and high school teachers trained; the effectiveness of the training; measures of postsecondary readiness of the students affected by the program; levels of participation in 10th grade PSAT/NMSQT or PLAN testing; and measures of student, parent, and teacher awareness of and satisfaction with the services of the partnership.

(b)  The department shall contribute to the evaluation process by providing access, consistent with s. 119.0721, to student and teacher information necessary to match against databases containing teacher professional development data and databases containing assessment data for the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, AP, and other appropriate measures. The department shall also provide student-level data on student progress from middle school through high school and into college and the workforce, if available, in order to support longitudinal studies. The partnership shall analyze and report student performance data in a manner that protects the rights of students and parents as required in 20 U.S.C. s. 1232g and s. 1002.22

(9)(a)  Funding for the partnership shall be contingent upon annual funding in the General Appropriations Act.

(b)  The participating partner, if one is chosen, is required to match at least one-third of the allocation provided to the partnership in the General Appropriations Act in materials and services to the program.

(10)  The State Board of Education may adopt rules to administer this section.

(11)  Nothing in this section shall prohibit any organization from partnering with the state to improve the college readiness of students.

History.--s. 1, ch. 2004-63.