2021 -- H 5027

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LC000150

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

     Introduced By: Representative Joseph M. McNamara

     Date Introduced: January 15, 2021

     Referred To: House Health, Education & Welfare

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 16-97.1-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-97.1 entitled

"Education Accountability Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     16-97.1-1. Performances of local education agencies and individual public schools --

Evaluation system -- Assessment instruments -- Reports.

     (a) The board of education (the "board") shall adopt a system for evaluating, on an annual

basis, the performance of both local education agencies ("LEAs") and individual public schools.

The system shall:

     (1) Include instruments designed to assess the extent to which schools and LEAs succeed

in improving or fail to improve student performance, as defined by:

     (i) Student acquisition of the skills, competencies, and knowledge called for by the

academic standards and embodied in the curriculum frameworks established in the areas of

mathematics, English language arts, science and technology, history and social studies, world

languages, and the arts; and

     (ii) Other gauges of student learning judged by the board to be relevant and meaningful to

students, parents, teachers, administrators, and taxpayers.

     (2) Be designed both to measure outcomes and results regarding student performance, and

to improve the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction.

     (3) In its design and application, strike a balance among considerations of accuracy,

fairness, expense, and administration.

     (4) Employ a variety of assessment instruments on either a comprehensive or statistically

valid sampling basis. Such instruments shall:

     (i) Be criterion-referenced, assessing whether students are meeting the academic standards

described in this chapter;

     (ii) As much as is practicable, especially in the case of students whose performance is

difficult to assess using conventional methods, include consideration of work samples, projects,

and portfolios, and shall facilitate authentic and direct gauges of student performance;

     (iii) Provide the means to compare student performance among the various school systems

and communities in the state, and between students in other states and in other nations, especially

those nations that compete with the state for employment and economic opportunities;

     (iv) Be designed to avoid gender, cultural, ethnic, or racial stereotypes; and

     (v) Recognize sensitivity to different learning styles and impediments to learning, which

may include issues related, but not limited to, cultural, financial, emotional, health, and social

factors.

     (5) Take into account, on a nondiscriminatory basis, the cultural and language diversity of

students in the state and the particular circumstances of students with special needs.

     (6) Comply with federal requirements for accommodating children with special needs.

     (7) Allow all potential English-proficient students from language groups in which English

language learner programs are offered opportunities for assessment of their performance in the

language that best allows them to demonstrate educational achievement and mastery of academic

standards and curriculum frameworks.

     (8) Identify individual schools and LEAs that need comprehensive support and

improvement.

     (9) Incorporate the department of elementary and secondary education's SurveyWorks

school climate indicators, or any other such future system used as a replacement or substitute for

SurveyWorks to measure school climate indicators, aggregated by local education agencies

("LEAs") and individual public schools.

     (b) The board shall take all appropriate action to bring about and continue the state's

participation in the assessment activities of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and

in the development of standards and assessments by the New Standards Program.

     (c) In addition, comprehensive diagnostic assessment of individual students shall be

conducted at least in the fourth, eighth, and tenth or eleventh grades. The diagnostic assessments

shall identify academic achievement levels of all students in order to inform teachers, parents,

administrators, and the students themselves, as to individual academic performance.

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     (d) The board shall develop procedures for updating, improving, or refining the assessment

system.

     (e) The commissioner of elementary and secondary education (the "commissioner") is

authorized and directed to gather information, including the information specified herein and such

other information as the board shall require, for the purposes of evaluating individual public

schools, school districts, and the efficacy and equity of state and federallymandated programs. All

information gathered pursuant to this section shall be filed in the manner and form prescribed by

the department of education (the "department").

     (f) The board shall establish and maintain a data system to collect information from school

districts for the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of district evaluation systems in ensuring

effective teaching and administrative leadership in the public schools. The information shall be

made available in the aggregate to the public; provided, however, that the following information

shall be considered personnel information and shall not be subject to disclosure:

     (1) Any data or information that school districts, the department, or both, create, send, or

receive in connection with an educator assessment that is evaluative in nature and that may be

linked to an individual educator, including information concerning:

     (i) An educator's formative assessment or evaluation;

     (ii) An educator's summative evaluation or performance rating; or

     (iii) The student learning, growth, and achievement data that may be used as part of an

individual educator's evaluation.

     (g) Each school district shall maintain individual records on every student and employee.

Each student record shall contain a unique and confidential identification number, basic

demographic information, program and course information, and such other information as the

department shall determine necessary. The records shall conform to parameters established by the

department.

     (h) For the purposes of improving the performance of school districts, individual public

schools, and the efficacy and equity of state and federal programs, each district shall file with the

commissioner once in each three-year (3) period a comprehensive, three-year (3) district

improvement plan. The plan shall:

     (1) Be developed and submitted in a manner and form prescribed by the department of

education.

     (2) To the extent feasible, be designed to fulfill all planning requirements of state and

federal education laws.

     (3) Include, but not be limited to:

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     (i) An analysis of student and subgroup achievement gaps in core subjects;

     (ii) Identification of specific improvement objectives;

     (iii) A description of the strategic initiatives the district will undertake to achieve its

improvement objectives; and

     (iv) Performance benchmarks and processes for evaluating the effect of district

improvement initiatives.

     (4) Describe the professional development activities that will support each district

improvement initiative and the teacher induction and mentoring activities that will be undertaken

to support successful implementation of the district's improvement efforts.

     (i) On an annual basis, not later than September 1 of each year, each district shall prepare

and have available for state review an annual action plan. The district annual action plan shall:

     (1) Enumerate the specific activities, persons responsible, and timelines for action to be

taken as part of the strategic initiatives set forth in the district's three-year (3) improvement plan;

and

     (2) Identify the staff and financial resources allocated to support these activities.

     (j) Annually, the principal of each school shall:

     (1) In consultation with the school improvement team, adopt student performance goals for

the schools consistent with the school performance goals established by the department of

education pursuant to state and federal law and regulations;

     (2) Consistent with any educational policies established for the district, assess the needs of

the school in light of those goals; and

     (3) Formulate a school plan to advance such goals and improve student performance. The

school's plan to support improved student performance shall:

     (i) Include, but not be limited to, the same components required for the district

improvement plan;

     (ii) Conform to department and district specifications to ensure that such school

improvement plans meet state and federal law requirements; and

     (iii) Be submitted to the superintendent who shall review and approve the plan, after

consultation with the school committee, not later than July 1 of the year in which the plan is to be

implemented, according to a plan development and review schedule established by the district

superintendent.

     (k) The three-year (3) comprehensive district plan, annual district action plan, and annual

school improvement plan shall replace any district and school plans previously required under the

general laws or regulation, that, in the professional opinion of the commissioner, would be most

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effectively presented as part of the coordinated district or school plan for improving student

achievement. The department shall identify any additional reports or plans called for by any general

law or regulation that can be incorporated into this single filing in order to reduce paperwork and

eliminate duplication.

     (l) Each school district in which more than twenty percent (20%) of the students do not

meet grade-level expectations of at least proficient or its equivalent on the Rhode Island

comprehensive assessment system exam ("RICAS") shall submit a RICAS success plan to the

department. The plan shall describe the school district's strategies for helping each student to master

the skills, competencies, and knowledge required for the competency determination. In recognition

of the department's mission as a district support agency, then at the request of the district or in

response to reporting data provided under this subsection, the department shall:

     (1) Determine the elements that shall be required to be included in such plan. These

elements may include, but are not limited to, the following:

     (i) A plan to assess each student's strengths, weaknesses, and needs;

     (ii) A plan to use summer school, after school, and other additional support to provide each

child with the assistance needed; and

     (iii) A plan for involving the parents of students.

     (2) Examine each district's plan and determine if it has a reasonable prospect of

significantly reducing the school district's failure rates.

     (3) Coordinate oversight of the RICAS success plans with existing education review and

oversight functions and with the RICAS grant program.

     (m) Each school district shall file a report with the department every year by a date and in

a format determined by the board. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

     (1) An outline of the curriculum and graduation requirements of the district;

     (2) Pupil/teacher ratios and class size policy and practice;

     (3) Teacher and administrator evaluation procedures;

     (4) Statistics, policies, and procedures relative to truancy and dropouts;

     (5) Statistics, policies, and procedures relative to expulsions and in-school and out-of-

school suspensions;

     (6) Percent of school-age children attending public schools:

     (7) Racial composition of teaching and administrative staff;

     (8) Enrollment and average daily attendance; and

     (9) The annual budgets and expenditures for both the district and the individual schools in

the district.

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     (n) Each school district shall file a description of the following instructional procedures

and programs with the department every year:

     (1) Art and music programs;

     (2) Technology education;

     (3) Programs for gifted and talented students;

     (4) Adult education programs;

     (5) Library and media facilities;

     (6) Condition of instructional materials, including textbooks, workbooks, audio-visual

materials, and laboratory materials;

     (7) Types and condition of computers and computer software;

     (8) Basic skills remediation programs;

     (9) Drug, tobacco, and alcohol abuse programs;

     (10) Multi-cultural education training for students and teachers;

     (11) Global education; and

     (12) Nutrition and wellness programs.

     (o) Each school district and charter school shall file an annual report for the current school

year regarding implementation with the department on or before every November 1 in a format

determined by the board. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

     (1) The number of children receiving services within each disability category;

     (2) The number of children, by grade level, within each disability category and the costs of

services provided by each such category for such children receiving their education in a publicly

operated day school program;

     (3) The number of children, by grade level, within each disability category and the costs of

services provided by each category for these children receiving their education in a private day

setting;

     (4) The number of children, by grade level, within each such disability category and the

costs of services provided by each such category for such children receiving their education in a

private residential setting;

     (5) The number of children who remain in the regular education program full-time; the

number of children who are removed from the regular classroom for up to twenty-five percent

(25%) of the day; the number of children who are removed from the regular classroom between

twenty-five percent (25%) and sixty percent (60%) of the day;

     (6) The number of children who are placed in substantially separate classrooms on a regular

education school site;

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     (7) The number of children, ages three (3) and four (4) who are educated in integrated and

separate classrooms; and the assignment, by sex, national origin, economic status, and race, of

children by age level, to special education classes and the distribution of children residing in the

district, by sex, national origin, economic status, and race of children by age level; and

     (8) The number of children, by grade level, receiving special education services who have

limited English proficiency.

     (p) Each school district and charter school shall furnish in a timely manner such additional

information as the department shall request.

     (q) Each school district required to provide an English language learners program shall file

the following information with the department annually:

     (1) The type of English language learners programs provided;

     (2) With regard to limited English proficient students:

     (i) The number enrolled in each type of English language learners program;

     (ii) The number enrolled in English as a second language who are not enrolled in another

English language learners program;

     (iii) The results of basic skills, curriculum assessment, achievement, and language

proficiency testing, whether administered in English or in the native language;

     (iv) The absentee, suspension, expulsion, dropout, and promotion rates; and

     (v) The number of years each limited English proficient student has been enrolled in an

English language learners program;

     (3) The number of students each year who have enrolled in institutions of higher education

and were formerly enrolled in an English language learners program;

     (4) The academic progress in regular education of students who have completed an English

language learners program;

     (5) For each limited English proficient student receiving special education, the number of

years in the school district prior to special education evaluation and the movement in special

education programs by program placement;

     (6) The number of limited English proficient students enrolled in programs of occupational

or vocational education;

     (7) The name, national origin, native language, certificates held, language proficiency,

grade levels, and subjects taught by each teacher of an English language learners program, bilingual

aides or paraprofessionals, bilingual guidance or adjustment counselors, and bilingual school

psychologists;

     (8) The per-pupil expenditures for each full-time equivalent student enrolled in an English

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language learners program;

     (9) The sources and amounts of all funds expended on students enrolled in English

language learners programs, broken down by local, state, and federal sources, and whether any such

funds expended supplanted, rather than supplemented, the local school district obligation;

     (10) The participation of parents through parent advisory councils;

     (11) Whether there were any complaints filed with any federal or state court or

administrative agency, since the program's inception, concerning the compliance with federal or

state minimum legal requirements, the disposition of the complaint, and the monitoring and

evaluation of any such agreement or court order relative to the complaint; and

     (12) This information shall be filed in the form of the total for the school district as well as

categorized by school, grade, and language.

     (r) The commissioner annually shall analyze and publish data reported by school districts

under this section regarding English language learners programs and limited English proficient

students. Publication shall include, but need not be limited to, availability on the department's

website. The commissioner shall submit annually a report to the committees of jurisdiction for

education in the house of representatives and senate on this data on a statewide and school district

basis including, but not limited to, by language group and type of English language learners

programs.

     (s) For the purposes of this chapter, "local education agencies" shall include all of the

following within the state of Rhode Island:

     (1) Public school districts;

     (2) Regional school districts;

     (3) State-operated schools;

     (4) Regional collaborative schools; and

     (5) Charter schools and mayoral academies.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

***

     This act would incorporate the department of elementary and secondary education’s

SurveyWorks school climate indicators aggregately for local education agencies ("LEAs") and

individual public schools, or any other such future system used as a replacement or substitute for

SurveyWorks to measure school climate indicators for evaluating the performance of local

education agencies ("LEAs") and individual public schools.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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