Revision: May 30, 2024, 3:02 p.m.
SB 378 - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
23May2024... 1898h
2024 SESSION
24-3029
02/05
SENATE BILL 378
AN ACT relative to the performance-based school accountability system task force.
SPONSORS: Sen. Ward, Dist 8; Sen. Lang, Dist 2
COMMITTEE: Education
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ANALYSIS
This bill creates a task force to develop and review the performance-based accountability system to review whether schools are providing the opportunity for an adequate education.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23May2024... 1898h 24-3029
02/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to the performance-based school accountability system task force.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Adequate Public Education; Performance-Based Accountability System. RSA 193-E:3-c is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
193-E:3-c Development, Implementation, and Review of the Performance-Based Accountability System.
I. There is hereby established a task force to develop and review the performance-based accountability system (PBAS) that will serve to demonstrate that a school is providing the opportunity for an adequate education as defined in RSA 193-E:2-a.
II. The task force shall be composed of no fewer than 10 and no more than 15 members and shall consist of:
(a) Six or more individuals who hold a current New Hampshire certification of superintendent, assistant superintendent, or curriculum administrator. There shall be at least one representative of each of the 5 New Hampshire School Administrators Association administrative regions and one statewide at large representative.
(b) Two individuals who hold a current New Hampshire certification of principal.
(c) Two individuals who hold a current New Hampshire experienced educator license as classroom teachers, one elementary and one secondary, who are familiar with performance-based accountability and work in the role of classroom teacher in a school.
(d) Other educational experts whose understanding of performance-based accountability and expertise will be of benefit to the task force's duties.
III. The department of education shall:
(a) Appoint task force members after consultation with professional education organizations and stakeholder groups with relevant assessment and accountability expertise.
(b) Advise, facilitate, and provide technical support to the task force as needed.
(c) Set the schedule and call meetings of the task force as needed to meet the deliverables of this section.
(d) Support the chairperson in posting notice and minutes of task force meetings as needed to meet the deliverables of this section.
(e) Solicit public comment and host listening sessions relative to PBAS proposals in collaboration with the task force.
IV. The task force shall have the following duties:
(a) Elect a chairperson.
(b) Define the performance-based accountability system to be used by schools that will ensure that the opportunity for an adequate education as defined in RSA 193-E:2-a is provided.
(c) Identify performance criteria and measurements.
(d) Establish performance goals and the relative weights assigned to those goals.
(e) Ensure that PBAS performance criteria are aligned with academic standards and with the scope and sequence of skill and knowledge development at various learning levels.
(f) Develop a process of continuous review and improvement to the PBAS.
(g) Review and make recommendations of the applicability and application of the PBAS for chartered public schools established pursuant to RSA 194-B and alternative schools.
(h) Advise the department on the initial and ongoing implementation of PBAS, including developing deadlines and data collection and reporting methodologies.
V. The department may provide stipends, mileage, and expense reimbursement to members of the task force established in this section, as well as make expenditures of other costs associated with administration of the task force as determined to be appropriate by the department.
VI. Any unexpended funds for the biennium ending June 30, 2025, and each biennium thereafter in accounts 06-56-560040-3043-612 and 06-56-567010-7064-612, shall not lapse and shall be made available to the department of education for the purpose of providing reimbursements of expenses related to this section.
VII. The task force shall develop a performance-based scoring system, which shall be based on data and indicators which are already provided to the department and/or performance measures that schools are already required to provide the department under other state or federal laws. In establishing the performance-based system, the task force may consider one or more of the following data and indicators:
(a) Performance on state assessments pursuant to RSA 193-C.
(b) Indicators identified in RSA 193-E:3, I.
(c) College and career readiness indicators aligned to the New Hampshire consolidated state plan, as required by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 20 U.S.C. section 6301 et seq. as amended.
(d) Other metrics as determined by the task force.
VIII. The task force shall provide a report of its findings and make recommendations for future legislation for the performance-based accountability system to the state board of education and the legislative oversight committee established in RSA 193-C:8-a no later than June 30, 2026.
2 Performance-Based School Accountability System; Verification Process. Amend RSA 193-E:3-d to read as follows:
193-E:3-d Performance-Based School Accountability System; Verification Process. Prior to the submission of the final report pursuant to [RSA 193-E:3-c, IV,] RSA 193-E:3-c, VIII, the department shall undertake a process to verify and test the integrity, accuracy, and validity of the performance-based accountability system utilizing the best available data from one school from each of the counties in the state. The commissioner shall ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that the verification process utilizes the best available data from a balance of elementary and secondary schools representing diverse socioeconomic conditions throughout the state. The commissioner shall work with school officials and faculty from the selected schools to implement the performance-based school accountability program and to develop a data collection system which will allow schools to easily report results to the department for analysis and reporting. The commissioner shall review and make recommendations regarding the performance-based accountability system to ensure that the system adequately measures the goals and indicators associated with student academic achievement and growth.