MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2015 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Senator(s) Longwitz
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-16-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO REPLACE SUBJECT AREA TESTING REQUIREMENTS (SATP2) AND PARCC STUDENT ASSESSMENTS WITH THE AMERICAN COLLEGE TESTING (ACT) ASSESSMENT ON A PHASED-IN BASIS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-1-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO REQUIRE THE ACT COLLEGE READINESS TEST AND PRECURSOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTS TO BE ADMINISTERED BEGINNING IN THE 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR WITH RESULTS TO BE INCLUDED IN EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT'S ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT; TO DIRECT THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO WITHDRAW FROM THE PARTNERSHIP FOR ASSESSMENT OF READINESS FOR COLLEGE AND CAREERS (PARCC); TO AMEND SECTION 37-16-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 37-16-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-16-7. (1) Each district school board shall establish standards for graduation from its schools which shall include as a minimum:
(a) Mastery of minimum
academic skills * * * developed * * * by the State Board of
Education. Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, the State Department
of Education shall not require school districts to administer the Subject Area
Testing Program (SATP2) test or the multistate Partnership for Assessment of
Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test for student promotion to grade
levels or high-school student graduation purposes. Beginning with the 2015-2016
school year, the State Board of Education shall require school districts to
phase in the administration of the American College Testing (ACT) assessment to
students starting in the third grade in order to measure (a) whether the
student is performing at grade level, and (b) where the student falls on the
trajectory toward college and career readiness (ACT Aspire) as provided in
Section 37-1-3(1). Only students who entered Grade 9 for the first time in the
2014-2015 school year or prior year will be required to pass the former SATP2
state subject area test for high-school student graduation purposes.
(b) Completion of a minimum number of academic credits, and all other applicable requirements prescribed by the district school board.
(c) By school, information on high-school graduation rates. High schools with graduation rates lower than eighty percent (80%) must submit a detailed plan to the Mississippi Department of Education to restructure the high-school experience to improve graduation rates.
(2) A student who meets all requirements prescribed in subsection (1) of this section shall be awarded a standard diploma in a form prescribed by the State Board of Education.
(3) The State Board of Education may establish student proficiency standards for promotion to grade levels leading to graduation.
(4) Upon the effective date of this act, the State Superintendent of Education shall immediately initiate the procedure outlined in the Bylaws of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) to withdraw the state from the consortium.
SECTION 2. Section 37-1-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-1-3. (1) (a) Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, to the extent funds are made available for this purpose, the State Board of Education shall plan for and require the administration of the ACT college admissions test for all students in the eleventh grade unless the student has already taken a comparable test and scored at or above a level set by the state board. The goals of these assessments are to hold schools accountable for increasing the college and career readiness of students and also to provide students with important information to help them prepare for education and career decisions after high school.
(b) Beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, to the extent funds are made available for this purpose, the State Board of Education shall plan for and require the administration of precursor tests in Grades K-8 and diagnostic tests in the eighth and tenth grades that align to the ACT test in order to help diagnose student learning and provide for students an indication of whether they are on track to be remediation-free at a community college or university.
(c) The State Board of Education shall require the administration of an alternate to the ACT or an alternate to the precursor test to the ACT to a student who (i) exhibits severe and pervasive delays in all areas of conceptual, linguistic, and academic development and in adaptive behaviors, including communication, daily living skills, and self-care, (ii) is following a course of study that, upon completing high school, may not lead to admission into a college-level course of study resulting in a college degree, and (iii) has a written parental request for an alternate assessment.
(d) The State Board of Education shall ensure that parents of students enrolled in all public schools, including charter schools, have the necessary information to make informed decisions regarding participation in the ACT and the precursor test to the ACT.
(e) Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, ACT assessment and alternative assessed results will be included in the school accountability reports at the high school level. The scores from March 2017, when all eleventh graders take the ACT, will be included in the Class of 2018 report.
(2) Upon the effective date of this act, the State Superintendent of Education shall immediately initiate the procedure, outlined in the Bylaws of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (adopted April 12, 2012), to withdraw the state from such consortium. All statewide K-12 tests and assessments shall be solely owned and solely controlled by the state.
(3) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations and set standards and policies for the organization, operation, management, planning, budgeting and programs of the State Department of Education.
(a) The board is directed to identify all functions of the department that contribute to or comprise a part of the state system of educational accountability and to establish and maintain within the department the necessary organizational structure, policies and procedures for effectively coordinating such functions. Such policies and procedures shall clearly fix and delineate responsibilities for various aspects of the system and for overall coordination of the total system and its effective management.
(b) The board shall establish and maintain a system-wide plan of performance, policy and directions of public education not otherwise provided for.
(c) The board shall effectively use the personnel and resources of the department to enhance technical assistance to school districts in instruction and management therein.
(d) The board shall establish and maintain a central budget policy.
(e) The board shall establish and maintain within the State Department of Education a central management capacity under the direction of the State Superintendent of Public Education.
(f) The board, with recommendations from the superintendent, shall design and maintain a five-year plan and program for educational improvement that shall set forth objectives for system performance and development and be the basis for budget requests and legislative initiatives.
( * * *4) (a) The State Board of Education
shall adopt and maintain a curriculum and a course of study to be used in the
public school districts that is designed to prepare the state's children and
youth to be productive, informed, creative citizens, workers and leaders, and
it shall regulate all matters arising in the practical administration of the
school system not otherwise provided for.
(b) Before the 1999-2000 school year, the State Board of Education shall develop personal living and finances objectives that focus on money management skills for individuals and families for appropriate, existing courses at the secondary level. The objectives must require the teaching of those skills necessary to handle personal business and finances and must include instruction in the following:
(i) Opening a bank account and assessing the quality of a bank's services;
(ii) Balancing a checkbook;
(iii) Managing debt, including retail and credit card debt;
(iv) Completing a loan application;
(v) The implications of an inheritance;
(vi) The basics of personal insurance policies;
(vii) Consumer rights and responsibilities;
(viii) Dealing with salesmen and merchants;
(ix) Computing state and federal income taxes;
(x) Local tax assessments;
(xi) Computing interest rates by various mechanisms;
(xii) Understanding simple contracts; and
(xiii) Contesting an incorrect billing statement.
( * * *5) The State Board of Education shall
have authority to expend any available federal funds, or any other funds
expressly designated, to pay training, educational expenses, salary incentives
and salary supplements to licensed teachers employed in local school districts
or schools administered by the State Board of Education. Such incentive
payments shall not be considered part of a school district's local supplement
as defined in Section 37-151-5(o), nor shall the incentives be considered part
of the local supplement paid to an individual teacher for the purposes of
Section 37-19-7(1). MAEP funds or any other state funds shall not be used to
provide such incentives unless specifically authorized by law.
( * * *6) The State Board of Education shall
through its actions seek to implement the policies set forth in Section 37-1-2.
(7) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to implement this section.
SECTION 3. Section 37-16-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-16-17. (1) Purpose. (a) The purpose of this section is to create a quality option in Mississippi's high schools for students not wishing to pursue a baccalaureate degree, which shall consist of challenging academic courses and modern career-technical studies. The goal for students pursuing the career track is to graduate from high school with a standard diploma and credit toward a community college certification in a career-technical field. These students also shall be encouraged to take the national assessment in the career-technical field in which they become certified.
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop and adopt course and curriculum requirements for career track programs offered by local public school boards in accordance with this section. The Mississippi Community College Board and the State Board of Education jointly shall determine course and curriculum requirements for the career track program.
(2) Alternative career track; description; curriculum. (a) A career track shall provide a student with greater technical skill and a strong academic core and shall be offered to each high school student enrolled in a public school district. The career track program shall be linked to postsecondary options and shall prepare students to pursue either a degree or certification from a postsecondary institution, an industry-based training or certification, an apprenticeship, the military, or immediate entrance into a career field. The career track shall be designed primarily for those students who are not college bound and shall provide them with alternatives to entrance into a four-year university or college after high school graduation.
(b) Students pursuing a career track shall be afforded the opportunity to dually enroll in a community or technical college or to participate in a business internship or work-study program, when such opportunities are available and appropriate.
(c) Each public school district shall offer a career track program approved by the State Board of Education.
(d) Students in a career track program shall complete an academic core of courses and a career and technical sequence of courses.
(e) The twenty-one (21) course unit requirements for the career track shall consist of the following:
(i) At least four (4) English credits, including English I and English II.
(ii) At least three (3) mathematics credits, including Algebra I.
(iii) At least three (3) science credits, including one (1) unit of biology.
(iv) At least three (3) social studies credits, including one (1) unit of U.S. History and one (1) unit of Mississippi Studies/U.S. Government.
(v) At least one-half (1/2) credit in health or physical education.
(vi) At least four (4) credits in career and technical education courses in the dual enrollment-dual credit programs authorized under Section 37-15-38.
(vii) At least one (1) credit in integrated technology with optional end of course testing.
(viii) At least
two and one-half (2-1/2) credits in additional electives or career and
technical education courses required by the local school board, as approved by
the State Board of Education. Academic courses within the career track of the
standard diploma shall provide the knowledge and skill necessary for
proficiency on the * * * American College Testing (ACT)
assessment or an equivalent alternative assessment adopted by the district and
approved by the State Board of Education.
(3) Nothing in this section shall disallow the development of a dual enrollment program with a technical college so long as an individual school district, with approval from the State Department of Education, agrees to implement such a program in connection with a technical college and the agreement is also approved by the proprietary school's commission.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.