Legislative Updates

FAMIS 2012

2012 Legislative Update

• Acceleration Options in Public Education - HB 7059

• Digital Learning - HB 7063

• School Improvement and Education Accountability - HB 7127

• Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program -HB 859

• Budget and Conforming Bill - HB 5001 and HB 5101

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Acceleration Options inPublic Education

HB 7059

• Establishes Academically Challenging Curriculum to Enhance Learning (ACCEL) Options

• Each school must offer, at a minimum,– Whole-grade and mid-year promotion– Subject-matter acceleration– Virtual instruction in higher grade level

subjects

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Additional ACCEL Options

• Each school may offer– Enriched science, technology, engineering and

mathematics (STEM) coursework– Enrichment programs– Flexible grouping– Advanced academic courses– Combined classes– Self-paced instruction– Curriculum compacting– Advanced-content instruction– Telescoping curriculum

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HB 7059

Career and Education Planning Course

• Career and education planning course offered in grades 6-8 must:– Result in a completed personalized academic and career plan– Emphasize technology or the application of technology in career

fields– Beginning with the 2014-15 academic year, include information

from the Department of Economic Opportunity’s economic security report as described in s. 445.07, F.S.

• Removes statutory references to Florida CHOICES and FACTS.org

• Adds “career-themed courses” to the information requirement in the personalized academic and career plan– Course(s) that may lead to industry certification– Incentive funding

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HB 7059

Provides for Early High School Graduation

Section 1003.4281, F.S., is created to specify:• “early graduation” means graduation in less than

8 semesters • Applies only to the 24 minimum requirements

option• School board must adopt a policy • School district may not prohibit a student • Eligible students who graduate mid-term receive

Bright Futures Scholarship award during spring term

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HB 7059

Additional FTE for Early Graduates

• Student may earn up to 6 paid high school credits equivalent to 1 FTE per school year (9-12)

• Credits earned above 6 per year for an FTE are unpaid

• Each unpaid credit is 1/6 FTE

• Report up to ½ FTE for unpaid credits for a student who graduates one semester early

• Report up to 1 FTE for a student who graduates one year early

• Transfer funds to other districts if the student was not full time in the district for two years. 7

HB 7059

End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments

• Algebra 1 End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment shall be administered at least four times annually

• Establishes performance based funding for courses with EOC assessments

• Performance based funding begins in the 4th year of the assessment– Algebra 1, Biology, Geometry and etc. courses– Student who passes a statewide, standardized end-

of-course assessment without being enrolled in the corresponding course (Credit Acceleration Program)

– First 3 years of administering EOCs – funding based on instructional hours

– 4th year funding is credit-based (passing the EOC) and each course = 1/6 FTE

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HB 7059

Dual Enrollment

• “Interinstitutional articulation agreement” was replaced with “dual enrollment agreement”

• A student must have an unweighted 3.0 high school grade point average (GPA) and minimum GPA required by the postsecondary institution

• Student may lose opportunity to participate if disruptive

• Sets criteria for faculty members, curriculum standards, etc. for dual enrollment

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HB 7059

Digital Learning HB 7063

Expands Digital Learning Options:

•Part-time virtual education options at the state and district levels

•Student eligibility to participate in full-time virtual programs

•Opportunities for ESE and ELL students to participate in virtual programs/schools

Digital Learning HB 7063

• Provides for eligibility of FLVS Full-Time students to participate in extracurricular activities in district of residence

• Requires state testing of virtual students to be at zoned school

• Provides ESE and ESOL funding for full-time virtual programs/schools

Digital Learning HB 7063

Online Course Graduation Requirement

•School districts may not require the student to fulfill the online course requirement outside of the school day or in addition to the student’s courses for a given semester.•The online course requirement would not apply to a student who has an IEP which indicates that an online course would be inappropriate or to a student who is enrolled in a Florida high school and has less than 1 academic year remaining.

School Improvement andEducation Accountability

HB 7127

Aligns statutory requirements with Florida’s ESEA Flexibility Waiver

• Differentiated Accountability (DA) changes• Supplemental Educational Services changes• Assessment and School Grades changes

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Benefits Resulting from Changes

• Eliminates AYP as a penalty while maintaining a focus on subgroup performance through federal reporting

• Eliminates the existing DA matrix• Bases DA classification on the complete

school grade– Schools that receive an F receive the most

focused interventions and supports

• Provides two years for the implementation of each turnaround option

• Establishes a fifth “Hybrid” turnaround option14

HB 7127

New DA Classifications• Eliminates the existing matrix of six (6) categories

driven by school grade and AYP count• Establishes new classifications in accordance to

our ESEA waiver of:– C schools - Prevent– D Schools - Focus– F schools - Priority

• Classifies schools based upon their annual school grade

• Includes reporting and analysis of subgroup performance in Reading and Mathematics

The ESEA waiver requires that subgroup performance be monitored and reported annually 15

HB 7127

Supplemental Educational Services

• Requires that each school district use an amount equal to 15 percent of its Title I, Part A funds allocated to Title I schools to provide SES.

• Requires SES for students who are performing at Level 1 or Level 2 on FCAT in Title I schools.

• Requires that each school district contract with SES providers that have been approved by the Department. 16

HB 7127

Assessment and School Grades

• Eliminates required duplicative testing of middle school students.– middle school students enrolled in a high school

Algebra I, Geometry, or Biology I course with a statewide, standardized EOC assessment are not required to take the corresponding grade-level FCAT mathematics or science examination.

• Provides authority to the State Board of Education to increase the percentage of a high school’s grade based upon statewide assessments above 50 percent.

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HB 7127

Assessment and School Grades• Postsecondary readiness of a high school’s

students in the school grades calculation is based upon “on time” graduates, rather than all graduates.

• Delays use of student achievement data from the Algebra I, Geometry, Biology I, and middle school Civics EOC assessments to calculate school grades by one year. – This change aligns use of these assessments for

school grades with the year in which standards are set.

• Revises the district grade calculation to include each student’s performance and learning gains on statewide assessments, rather than averaging the grades of individual district schools. – This conforms the statutory description of the district

grade calculation to current practice.18

HB 7127

Florida Tax Credit Scholarship ProgramHB 859

• Allows private schools to participate in statewide assessments for students in grades 3-10 participating in the tax credit scholarship program.

• If a private school chooses to administer the statewide assessments, the school must submit a request in writing to the DOE by March 1 of each year.

• Upon request by a private school, the DOE must provide the statewide assessments and any related materials to the schools at no cost.

• Schools must follow all of the requirements that public schools would follow.

• The district must provide the private school with the support necessary for the private school to administer the assessment including training, etc.

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Budget and Conforming BillHB 5001 and HB 5101

• There is a $1 billion increase in Education funding• The Reading allocation was increased by an

additional $32 million• The Virtual Education contribution was increased

by an additional $15 million to provide $5,200 per student, up from $4,800 in the current year

• There is an additional $15 million in lottery funds to provide for a $100 per student school recognition award

• In the VPK program, enrollment growth was funded with an increase of approximately additional $29 million

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Digital Instructional Materials Work Group

HB 5101, Section 21• The Work Group is created to plan and monitor the

implementation of the transition to digital instructional materials.

• The chair shall schedule and conduct the first meeting of the work group by October 1, 2012. The work group shall conduct a majority of its meetings virtually.

• March 1, 2013: Submit reporting including an implementation plan for meeting the deadline of transition to digital instructional materials.

• The plan must specify options for the provision of access devices for students, options for providing content by subject area, provisions for training and professional development for preservice and inservice teachers, and a detailed review of options for funding, including the reprioritization of existing resources and recommendations for new funding. 21

Extended Day HB 5001, Line Item 84 and HB 5101,

Section 16

• The 100 lowest-performing elementary schools based on FCAT Reading must offer an additional hour of instruction per day for intensive reading.

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Voluntary Prekindergarten HB 5001,Line Item 68HB 5101, Sections 7&8

• VPK providers must implement pre- and post-assessments.

• The State Board shall determine learning gains using a value-added measure.

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