45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2002

RELATING TO EDUCATION; MODIFYING HOW SCHOOL-BASED PERFORMANCE IS TO BE ASSESSED; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 22-1-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 308, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-1-6. ANNUAL SCHOOL DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT REQUIRED.--

A. School districts are required to publish an annual school district accountability report to provide district-wide data for the previous school year. The state board shall establish the format for the accountability reports and ensure that the relevant data is provided annually to parents, students, educators, policymakers, legislators, the governor and business and economic development organizations. The department of education shall establish the following five indices through which public school performance shall be measured and reported to school districts:

(1) student achievement as measured by a [nationally norm-referenced test] standards-based assessment approved by the department of education or through a performance-based instrument to measure proficiency. A nationally norm-referenced test may be administered to measure the effectiveness of the state's system of public schools, but shall not be included in the measure of student achievement required by this section;

(2) school safety;

(3) the dropout rate;

(4) attendance; and

(5) parent and community involvement.

The department of education shall establish the methodology for measuring each of the five indices.

B. Effective July 1, 1999, school districts [shall] may annually administer a nationally norm-referenced test or a standards-based assessment to all students enrolled in a public school in grades three through nine. Only students with disabilities deemed incapable of taking the test as determined on their individual educational programs shall be exempted from this requirement. Students who have been assessed as non-English or limited English proficient using state approved language assessments and meeting required thresholds shall be exempted from this test and provided an alternative norm-referenced or standards-based assessment in their primary language. School districts shall report the following to the department of education:

(1) the results of the [norm-referenced test or] standards-based assessment and the norm-referenced test, if administered;

(2) the number of enrolled students who did not take the test, the school in which they are enrolled and the reason for the exemption from the test; and

(3) separately and as part of the aggregate report, the results of assessments of students enrolled in special education class A, B, C and D programs who took the test and the school in which they are enrolled, except in cases where the number of students being reported is less than ten.

C. School districts shall set two-, four- and six-year benchmarks in each of the five indices for each public school. Local school boards may establish additional indices, if reviewed by the department of education, through which to measure [the] a school district's performance in other areas.

D. The annual accountability report shall also include the results of a survey of parents' views of the quality of their children's school. The survey shall be conducted each year in time to include the results in the annual accountability report. The survey shall compile the results of a written questionnaire that shall be sent home with the students to be given to their parents. The survey may be completed anonymously. The survey shall be no more than one page, shall be clearly and concisely written and shall include not more than twenty questions that shall be answered with options of a simple sliding scale ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" and shall include the optional response "don't know". The survey shall also include a request for optional written comments, which may be written on the back of the questionnaire form. The questionnaire shall include questions in the following areas:

(1) parent-teacher-school relationship and communication;

(2) quality of educational and extracurricular programs;

(3) instructional practices and techniques;

(4) resources;

(5) school personnel, including the school principal; and

(6) parents' view of teaching staff expectations for the students.

The state board shall develop no more than ten of the questions, which shall be reviewed by the legislative education study committee prior to implementation. No more than five questions shall be developed by the local school board and no more than five questions shall be developed by the staffs of each individual school site; provided that at least half of those questions shall be developed by teachers rather than administrators, in order to gather information that is specific to the particular community surveyed. The questionnaires shall indicate the public school site and shall be tabulated by the department of education within thirty days of receipt and shall be returned to the respective schools to be disseminated to all parents.

E. The annual accountability report shall also include a report of all federal funds distributed directly to the school district or received by the district from the department of education. For each distribution, the purpose for which the money was received shall be stated with a detailed accounting of the purposes for which the funds were expended.

F. The annual accountability report for each school district shall be adopted by the local school board, may be published no later than November 15 of each year and may be published at least once each school year in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the school district is located. In publication, the report shall be titled "The School District Report Card" and disseminated in accordance with guidelines established by the state board to ensure effective communication with parents, students, educators, local policymakers and business and community organizations.

G. The department of education shall create an accountability data system through which data from each public school and each school district may be compiled and reviewed. The department of education shall provide the resources to train school district personnel in the use of the accountability data system.

H. The department of education shall verify data submitted by the school districts.

I. The state board shall measure the performance of every public school in New Mexico. Public schools achieving the highest level of performance shall be eligible for supplemental incentive funding.

J. The state board shall establish the corrective actions and interventions necessary for public schools whose performance level is low. These public schools shall be labeled as high-priority schools and shall be eligible for supplemental funding. The state board shall ensure that local school districts prioritize resources to meet the unique needs of the students of high-priority schools. The state board shall also develop strategies to recruit and retain faculty and staff with the expertise to meet the unique needs of students at high-priority schools. The state board shall not adopt regulations for corrective actions and interventions that remove high-priority schools from accountability to public bodies and shall not adopt regulations that allow for private management of high-priority schools. Regulations for corrective actions and interventions shall give a preference to the least costly and least burdensome regulatory requirements. The state board shall base all corrective actions and interventions upon the best scientific, technical and economic information that can reasonably and affordably be obtained. The state board shall prescribe requirements that allow high-priority schools flexibility and that encourage innovation for meeting legislative or regulatory requirements and objectives. The state board shall also make assessments of the costs and benefits of proposed corrective actions and interventions for high-priority schools and school districts.

[J. The] K. A school district shall submit a copy of its annual accountability report to the legislative finance committee, the legislative education study committee and the library of the legislative council service."

Section 2. Section 22-13A-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 137, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-13A-2. PURPOSE.--The purpose of the Incentives for School Improvement Act is to provide financial incentives to individual schools that exceed expected academic performance and to provide resources to schools in need of improvement."

Section 3. Section 22-13A-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 137, Section 3) is amended to read:

"22-13A-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Incentives for School Improvement Act:

A. "department" means the state department of public education;

B. "fund" means the incentives for school improvement fund;

C. "high-priority schools" means schools determined to have low performance levels as determined by the state board's measure of performance;

[C.] D. "program" means the incentives for school improvement program; and

[D.] E. "state board" means the state board of education."

Section 4. Section 22-13A-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 137, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-13A-5. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION--MEASUREMENT CRITERIA.--

A. The department shall develop a formula by which to measure school achievement in the areas of academic performance with consideration of socioeconomic variables. The product of this formula shall take the form of a composite rating assigned to each school in every school district.

B. Academic performance shall be measured by:

(1) [nationally standardized test scores] standards-based assessment;

(2) graduation competency scores; and

(3) other factors deemed relevant by the department.

C. The socioeconomic variables shall be measured by:

(1) the percentage of student mobility rates;

(2) the percentage of limited English-proficient students, using criteria established by the federal office of civil rights;

(3) the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-fee lunches; and

(4) other factors deemed relevant by the department.

D. Annually, the department shall assign a new composite rating to each school. The department shall compare the new rating to the previous annual rating. Schools increasing their composite rating shall be ranked in order. The schools evidencing the greatest increase in rating shall receive monetary disbursements from the fund. High-priority schools also shall receive monetary disbursements from the fund."

Section 5. Section 22-13A-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 137, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-13A-6. FUND CREATED.--

A. There is created in the state treasury the "incentives for school improvement fund". The fund shall consist of any state money appropriated to the fund, [any] federal money allocated to the state for the purposes of the Incentives for School Improvement Act, undistributed annual balances and earnings of the fund and [any] gifts or bequests made to the fund. The state treasurer shall invest the fund as other state funds are invested. The balance remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.

B. The fund is appropriated to the department for the purpose of implementing and administering the Incentives for School Improvement Act. No more than three percent of the fund may be retained by the department for administrative purposes.

C. Money in the fund other than that used for administrative purposes shall be distributed directly to schools evidencing the greatest improvement as determined by the department, as well as to high-priority schools. Disbursements to schools evidencing the greatest improvement shall be made only to that number of schools constituting not more than ten percent of the student membership in the state. Distributions to schools evidencing the greatest improvement shall be made proportionately to schools that qualify. Money from the fund received by [a school from the fund] schools evidencing the greatest improvement shall not be used for salaries, salary increases or bonuses. Distributions to high-priority schools shall be made proportionately to all such schools, using criteria to be developed by the department to implement the requirements provided in Section 22-1-6 NMSA 1978. Money shall be used as determined by the school principal and teachers in cooperation with other school employees and the community."

Section 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2002.