Revision: Nov. 6, 2017, 1:20 p.m.
HB 1497 - AS INTRODUCED
2018 SESSION
18-2536
06/04
HOUSE BILL 1497
AN ACT relative to accountability for school performance.
SPONSORS: Rep. Ladd, Graf. 4; Rep. Myler, Merr. 10
COMMITTEE: Education
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS
This bill:
I. Modifies certain definitions relating to school performance and accountability.
II. Requires schools to meet performance based indicators.
III. Changes the designations "priority school" and "focus school" to "comprehensive support and improvement school" and "targeted support and improvement school", respectively.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
18-2536
06/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eighteen
AN ACT relative to accountability for school performance.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 School Performance and Accountability. Amend RSA 193-H:1 to read as follows:
193-H:1 Definitions. In this chapter:
I. "Commissioner'' means the commissioner of the department of education.
I-a. "Competencies'' means student learning targets that represent a level of mastery of key content-specific concepts, skills, and knowledge applied within or across content domains. Specific and required types of competencies include district competencies at grade level and course or program competencies required for graduation.
II. "Department'' means the department of education.
III. "Effective teacher'' means a person who is [certified by the local school board and holds a valid teaching credential, and who has demonstrated, through a process approved by the department of education, teaching skills in the core subjects of instruction] approved by the local school board as possessing the teaching skills and knowledge in the core subjects or grade levels of instruction and who holds a valid teaching credential issued by the state board pursuant to RSA 189:39.
IV. "[Focus] Targeted support and improvement school'' means a low performing school [that accepts federal funds from Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and] that has the largest within-school gaps between the highest achieving subgroup or subgroups of students and the lowest-achieving subgroup or subgroups of students or, for a high school, has the largest within-school gaps in graduation rates, or has the largest within school career and college readiness indicator gaps for 2 consecutive years. A chronically low performing school in this category that does not satisfy the exit criteria by the end of the second year shall be identified as a comprehensive support and improvement school. The department shall use data from the 2017-2018 school year to identify the initial set of targeted support and improvement schools beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.
V. "[Priority] Comprehensive support and improvement school'' means:
(a) A school that [accepts federal funds from Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and that] is among the lowest performing 5 percent of schools in the [state] statewide assessment pursuant to RSA 193-C based on [the] academic achievement and growth, with achievement weighted at 40 percent and growth weighted at 60 percent, [of all students] on the statewide assessment pursuant to RSA 193-C and which, when measuring the achievement and growth of all students, has demonstrated a lack of progress on the statewide assessment over 2 years; or
(b) A high school with a graduation rate of less than [60] 80 percent over 2 consecutive years, or any high school in the lowest 5 percent of high schools as described in subparagraph (a).
(c) The department shall use data from the 2017-2018 school year to identify the initial set of comprehensive support and improvement schools beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.
VI. "Statewide assessment'' means the New Hampshire education improvement and assessment program as established under RSA 193-C.
VII. "Work-study practices'' means those behaviors that enhance learning achievement and promote a positive work ethic such as, but not limited to, listening and following directions, accepting responsibility, staying on task, completing work accurately, managing time wisely, showing initiative, and being cooperative, learning how to problem-solve, and knowing how to structure learning time and to be disciplined to learn new things. These practices should also develop the student's ability to evaluate, assess, and create, not just recall.
2 School Performance and Accountability; Statewide Performance Targets. Amend RSA 193-H:2 to read as follows:
193-H:2 Statewide Performance Targets.
I. On or before the 2013-2014 school year, schools shall ensure that all pupils are performing at the basic level or above on the statewide assessment as established in RSA 193-C.
II. In addition to the requirements of paragraph I, schools shall meet performance based indicators under RSA 193-E, and statewide performance targets as approved by the legislative oversight committee established in RSA 193-C and thereafter, as established in rules adopted by the state board of education pursuant to RSA 541-A which shall include rules for:
(a) The statewide improvement and assessment program pursuant to RSA 193-C.
(b) Attendance rates.
(c) The percentage of pupils who graduate with a diploma from an approved high school.
III. Notwithstanding RSA 541-A, the state board of education shall receive approval from the legislative oversight committee established in RSA 193-C prior to the submission of any rules to the joint legislative committee on administrative rules relative to statewide performance targets and performance based indicators required under this section.
3 School Performance and Accountability; Targeted Support and Improvement Schools and Comprehensive Support and Improvement Schools. Amend RSA 193-H:3 to read as follows:
193-H:3 Identification and Public Disclosure of Priority Schools and Focus Schools.
I. The commissioner shall annually compile and disseminate to the governor and council, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, local school boards, superintendents of schools, and the public, and shall make available on the department website, a list of [priority] targeted support and improvement schools and [focus] comprehensive support and improvement schools based on the statewide performance targets established in RSA 193-H:2.
II. A school or school district designated by the commissioner as a [priority] targeted support and improvement school or a [focus] comprehensive support and improvement school shall have 30 days from the date of the report to appeal
such designation to the state board of education.
4 School Performance and Accountability; Local Education Improvement Plan. Amend RSA 193-H:4, I and II to read as follows:
I.(a) A school or school district shall have one year from the date that a school or school district has been designated as a [priority] targeted support and improvement school or a [focus] comprehensive support and improvement school pursuant to RSA 193-H:3 to take action to remedy identified problems at the local level. The school or school district shall create a plan that identifies actions that it intends to correct the areas of concern. This plan shall be submitted to the state board within 90 days of the date that the school or school district was designated as a [priority] targeted support and improvement school or a [focus] comprehensive support and improvement school. If the plan does not sufficiently address the areas of concern, the state board shall disapprove the plan within 30 days. If the state board disapproves the plan, the state board's designee shall work with the school or school district to amend the plan so that it meets state board approval. One year following the designation, if the school or school district is not making satisfactory progress in implementing its plan, the commissioner of education shall issue a notice to the school or school district and shall initiate a process for providing assistance pursuant to paragraph II; or
(b) If a school or school district has been designated as a [priority] targeted support and improvement school or a [focus] comprehensive support and improvement school, then the school or school district may request assistance from the department of education. The department shall provide technical assistance to those schools that request assistance under this section.
(c) On or before the one year anniversary of being designated as a [priority] targeted support and improvement school or a [focus] comprehensive support and improvement school, the commissioner shall designate a progress review team to evaluate the implementation of the improvement plans and the progress toward state performance targets. The progress review team shall deliver a report to the state board. This report shall include evidence of satisfactory implementation and progress towards state performance targets or lack thereof and recommendations regarding future actions pursuant to subparagraph II(b).
II. The department of education and the state board of education shall work cooperatively with the school or school district to provide assistance as follows:
(a) Within 30 days of a school district's request for assistance pursuant to subparagraph I(b), the commissioner of education may appoint a peer review team to review the educational programming and effectiveness of the school or school district. In cooperation with local officials, the team shall prepare and present a report at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the local school board and to the state board. This report shall be issued within 30 days of the team's appointment. Based on this report, the school or school district and superintendent shall, within 90 days of the issuance of the report, prepare a corrective action plan and submit it to the state board for approval. If the plan is not approved, the school or school district may revise the plan and resubmit it to the state board. The school or school district may decide to implement the corrective action plan on its own, through the use of a technical assistance advisor, or through the use of a peer review team. Any such decision shall be included in the corrective action plan.
(b) If the state board does not approve a corrective action plan in accordance with subparagraphs I(a) [or] and II(a), or upon the state board's adoption of a progress review team recommendations, the commissioner of education shall work with the school or school district to revise the corrective action plan. If the school or school district does not revise the corrective action plan within 60 days or the state board does not approve the revised corrective action plan, then the commissioner of education shall submit in a timely manner a corrective action plan, including methods for implementing it, to the state board for approval. The state board shall direct the school board to implement the plan pursuant to RSA 186:5.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.