House Bill text for HB0766

HOUSE BILL 766

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2006

INTRODUCED BY

Richard D. Vigil

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; DISTINGUISHING A STUDENT'S ACADEMIC PROFICIENCY FROM THE ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS; CONFORMING RANKINGS OF SCHOOLS IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT WITH FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS; RECONCILING MULTIPLE AMENDMENTS TO THE SAME SECTION OF LAW IN LAWS 2005.

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

Section 1. Section 22-1-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 153, Section 3, as amended by Laws 2005, Chapter 313, Section 3 and by Laws 2005, Chapter 315, Section 1) is amended to read:

"22-1-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public School Code:

A. "adequate yearly progress" means the measure adopted by the department based on federal requirements to assess the progress that [a student] a public school or school district or the state makes toward improving student achievement;

B. "commission" means the public education commission;

C. "department" means the public education department;

D. "forty-day report" means the report of qualified student membership of each school district and of those eligible to be qualified students but enrolled in a private school or a home school for the first forty days of school;

E. "home school" means the operation by the parent of a school-age person of a home study program of instruction that provides a basic academic educational program, including reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies and science;

F. "instructional support provider" means a person who is employed to support the instructional program of a school district, including educational assistant, school counselor, social worker, school nurse, speech-language pathologist, psychologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, recreational therapist, interpreter for the deaf and diagnostician;

G. "licensed school employee" means teachers, school administrators and instructional support providers;

H. "local school board" means the policy-setting body of a school district;

I. "local superintendent" means the chief executive officer of a school district;

J. "parent" includes a guardian or other person having custody and control of a school-age person;

K. "private school" means a school, other than a home school, that offers on-site programs of instruction and that is not under the control, supervision or management of a local school board;

L. "public school" means that part of a school district that is a single attendance center in which instruction is offered by one or more teachers and is discernible as a building or group of buildings generally recognized as either an elementary, middle, junior high or high school or any combination of those and includes a charter school;

M. "school" means a supervised program of instruction designed to educate a student in a particular place, manner and subject area;

N. "school administrator" means a person licensed to administer in a school district and includes school principals and central district administrators;

O. "school-age person" means a person who is at least five years of age prior to 12:01 a.m. on September 1 of the school year and who has not received a high school diploma or its equivalent. A maximum age of twenty-one shall be used for a person who is classified as special education membership as defined in Section 22-8-21 NMSA 1978 or as a resident of a state institution;

P. "school building" means a public school, an administration building and related school structures or facilities, including teacher housing, that is owned, acquired or constructed by the school district as necessary to carry out the functions of the school district;

Q. "school bus private owner" means a person, other than a school district, the department, the state or any other political subdivision of the state, that owns a school bus;

R. "school district" means an area of land established as a political subdivision of the state for the administration of public schools and segregated geographically for taxation and bonding purposes;

S. "school employee" includes licensed and nonlicensed employees of a school district;

T. "school principal" means the chief instructional leader and administrative head of a public school;

U. "school year" means the total number of contract days offered by public schools in a school district during a period of twelve consecutive months;

V. "secretary" means the secretary of public education;

W. "state agency" or "state institution" means the New Mexico military institute, New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired, New Mexico school for the deaf, New Mexico boys' school, New Mexico girls' school, New Mexico youth diagnostic and development center, Sequoyah adolescent treatment center, Carrie Tingley crippled children's hospital, New Mexico behavioral health institute at Las Vegas and any other state agency responsible for educating resident children;

X. "state educational institution" means an institution enumerated in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico;

Y. "substitute teacher" means a person who holds a certificate to substitute for a teacher in the classroom;

Z. "teacher" means a person who holds a level one, two or three-A license and whose primary duty is classroom instruction or the supervision, below the school principal level, of an instructional program or whose duties include curriculum development, peer intervention, peer coaching or mentoring or serving as a resource teacher for other teachers;

AA. "certified school instructor" means a teacher or instructional support provider; and

BB. "certified school employee" or "certified school personnel" means a licensed school employee."

Section 2. Section 22-2C-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 153, Section 13, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-2C-4. STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM--INDICATORS--REQUIRED TESTS--ALTERNATIVE TESTS--LIMITS ON ALTERNATIVES TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING TEST.--

A. The department shall establish a statewide assessment and accountability system that is aligned with the state academic content and performance standards and that measures adequate yearly progress for each [student] public school and school district. Adequate yearly progress shall be determined primarily by student academic achievement, as demonstrated by statewide standards-based academic performance tests; however, the department may include other indicators of adequate yearly progress, including graduation rates for high schools and attendance for elementary and middle schools.

B. The academic assessment program for adequate yearly progress shall test student achievement as follows by the school year indicated:

(1) for grades three through nine and for grade eleven, standards-based academic performance tests in mathematics, reading and language arts and social studies by the 2005-2006 school year; provided that testing in ninth grade and testing in social studies shall not occur until the legislature has provided funding for test development and implementation;

(2) for grades three through nine, standards-based academic performance writing assessment with the writing assessment scoring criteria applied to the extended response writing portions of the language arts criterion-referenced tests by the 2005-2006 school year; and

(3) for one of grades three through five and six through nine and for grade eleven, standards-based academic performance tests in science by the 2007-2008 school year.

C. The department shall involve appropriate licensed school employees in the development of the standards-based academic performance tests.

D. All students shall participate in the academic assessment program. The department shall adopt standards for reasonable accommodations in academic testing for students with disabilities and limited English proficiency, including when and how accommodations may be applied. The legislative education study committee shall review the standards prior to adoption by the department.

E. Students who have been determined to be limited English proficient may be allowed to take the standards-based academic performance test in their primary language. A student who has attended school for three consecutive years in the United States shall participate in the English language reading test unless granted a waiver by the department based on criteria established by the department. An English language reading test waiver may be granted only for a maximum of two additional years and only on a case-by-case basis."

Section 3. Section 22-2C-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1986, Chapter 33, Section 7, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-2C-6. REMEDIATION PROGRAMS--PROMOTION POLICIES--RESTRICTIONS.--

A. Remediation programs, academic improvement programs and promotion policies shall be aligned with alternative school-district-determined assessment results and

requirements of the assessment and accountability program.

B. Local school boards shall approve school- district-developed remediation programs and academic improvement programs to provide special instructional assistance to students in grades one through eight who [fail to attain adequate yearly progress] are not academically proficient for their grade level as determined by alternative school-district-determined assessment results. The cost of remediation programs and academic improvement programs shall be borne by the school district. Remediation programs and academic improvement programs shall be incorporated into the school district's educational plan for student success and filed with the department.

C. The cost of summer and extended day remediation programs and academic improvement programs offered in grades nine through twelve shall be borne by the parent; however, where parents are determined to be indigent according to guidelines established by the [state board] department, the school district shall bear those costs.

D. Diagnosis of weaknesses identified by a student's academic achievement may serve as criteria in assessing the need for remedial programs or retention.

E. A parent shall be notified no later than the end of the second grading period that [his] the parent's child is [failing to make adequate yearly progress] not academically proficient, and a conference consisting of the parent and the teacher shall be held to discuss possible remediation programs available to assist the student in [attaining adequate yearly progress] becoming academically proficient. Specific academic deficiencies and remediation strategies shall be explained to the student's parent and a written plan developed containing timelines, academic expectations and the measurements to be used to verify that a student has overcome [his] academic deficiencies. Remediation programs and academic improvement programs include tutoring, extended day or week programs, summer programs and other research-based models for student improvement.

F. At the end of grades one through seven, three options are available, dependent on a student's [adequate yearly progress] academic proficiency:

(1) the student [has made adequate yearly progress] is academically proficient and shall enter the next higher grade;

(2) the student [has not made adequate yearly progress] is not academically proficient and shall participate in the required level of remediation. Upon certification by the school district that the student [has made adequate yearly progress, he] is academically proficient, the student shall enter the next higher grade; or

(3) the student [has not made adequate yearly progress upon] is not academically proficient after completion of the prescribed remediation program and upon the recommendation of the teacher and school principal shall either be:

(a) retained in the same grade for no more than one school year with an academic improvement plan developed by the student assistance team in order to meet [adequate yearly progress] academic proficiency, at which time the student shall enter the next higher grade; or

(b) promoted to the next grade if the parent refuses to allow [his] the child to be retained pursuant to Subparagraph (a) of this paragraph. In this case, the parent shall sign a waiver indicating [his] the parent's desire that the student be promoted to the next higher grade with an academic improvement plan designed to address specific academic deficiencies. The academic improvement plan shall be developed by the student assistance team outlining timelines and monitoring activities to ensure progress toward overcoming those academic deficiencies. Students failing to [make adequate yearly progress] become academically proficient at the end of that year shall then be retained in the same grade for no more than one year in order to have additional time to master the required content standards.

G. At the end of the eighth grade, a student who [fails to make adequate yearly progress] is not academically proficient shall be retained in the eighth grade for no more than one school year to [make adequate yearly progress] become academically proficient or if the student assistance team determines that retention of the student in the eighth grade will not assist the student [make adequate yearly progress] to become academically proficient, the team shall design a high school graduation plan to meet the student's needs for entry into the work force or a post-secondary educational institution. If a student is retained in the eighth grade, the student assistance team shall develop a specific academic improvement plan that clearly delineates the student's academic deficiencies and prescribes a specific remediation plan to address those academic deficiencies.

H. A student who fails to [make adequate yearly progress] show academic proficiency for two successive school years shall be referred to the student assistance team for placement in an alternative program designed by the school district. Alternative program plans shall be filed with the department.

I. Promotion and retention decisions affecting a student enrolled in special education shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the individual educational plan established for that student.

J. For the purposes of this section:

(1) "academic improvement plan" means a written document developed by the student assistance team that describes the specific content standards required for a certain grade level that a student has not achieved and that prescribes specific remediation programs such as summer school, extended day or week school and tutoring;

(2) "alternative school-district-determined assessment results" means the results obtained from student assessments developed by a local school board and conducted at an elementary grade level or middle school level;

(3) "educational plan for student success" means a student-centered tool developed to define the role of the academic improvement plan within the school district that addresses methods to improve a student's learning and success in school and that identifies specific measures of a student's progress; and

(4) "student assistance team" means a group consisting of a student's:

(a) teacher;

(b) school counselor;

(d) parent."

Section 4. Section 22-2C-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 153, Section 16) is amended to read:

"22-2C-7. ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS--SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANS--CORRECTIVE ACTION--RESTRUCTURING.--

A. A public school that fails to make adequate yearly progress for two consecutive school years shall be [ranked] identified as a school that needs improvement. A school that needs improvement shall be ranked as:

(1) school improvement 1;

(2) school improvement 2;

(3) corrective action;

(4) restructuring 1; or

(5) restructuring 2.

B. Within ninety days of being notified that a public school within the school district has been [ranked] identified as a [public] school that needs improvement, the school district shall submit an improvement plan for that public school to the department. In developing the improvement plan, the local superintendent, the president of the local school board and the school principal of the public school that needs improvement shall hold a public meeting to inform parents and the public of the public school's rank. The meeting shall be used to elicit suggestions from parents and the public on how to improve the public school. After the public meeting, the school district shall develop the public school's improvement plan, and the local school board shall approve the improvement plan before it is submitted to the department. The improvement plan shall be approved by the department within thirty days of its submission.

C. The improvement plan shall include:

(1) documentation of performance measures in which the public school failed to make adequate yearly progress;

(2) measurable objectives to indicate the action that will be taken to address failed measures;

(3) benchmarks to be used to indicate progress in meeting academic content and performance standards;

(4) an estimate of the time and the resources needed to achieve each objective in the improvement plan;

(5) the support services that shall be provided to students; [and]

(6) applications for federal and state funds; and

[(6)] (7) any other information that the public school that needs improvement, the local superintendent, the local school board or the department deems necessary.

D. A public school that needs improvement may apply to the department for financial or other assistance in accordance with the improvement plan. The public school shall make application for assistance substantially in the form required by the department. The department shall evaluate applications for assistance and may recommend changes to an application or to an improvement plan if warranted by the final application. The department shall consider innovative methods to assist the public school in meeting its improvement plan, including department or other school employees [to serve] serving as a mobile assistance team to provide administrative, classroom, human resource and other assistance to the public school that needs improvement as needed and as provided in applications approved by the department.

E. [If a] "School improvement 1" means the public school [fails] has failed to make adequate yearly progress for two [or more] consecutive school years [it]. A school improvement 1 public school shall provide transportation or pay the cost of transportation, within available funds, for students who choose to enroll in a higher ranked public school.

F. [If a] "School improvement 2" means the public school [fails] has failed to make adequate yearly progress for three [or more] consecutive school years [it] unless delayed in school improvement 1. A school improvement 2 public school shall provide supplemental services, including after-school programs, tutoring and summer services, within available funds. [G.] The [state board] department shall adopt rules that govern the priority for students for whom supplemental services shall be provided and for students for whom transportation costs are paid.

[H. If a] G. "Corrective action" means the public school [fails] has failed to make adequate yearly progress for four consecutive school years [it shall be ranked as a public school subject to corrective action and] unless delayed in school improvement 2. The school district, in conjunction with the department, shall take one or more of the following actions at a corrective action school in addition to earlier improvements:

(1) replace staff as allowed by law;

(2) implement a new curriculum;

(3) decrease management authority of the public school;

(4) appoint an outside expert to advise the public school;

(5) extend the school day or year; or

(6) change the public school's internal organizational structure.

[I. If a] H. "Restructuring 1" means the public school [fails] has failed to make adequate yearly progress for five consecutive school years unless delayed in corrective action. A school ranked as restructuring 1 shall continue the improvement measures implemented in corrective action and begin planning for restructuring of the public school if it fails to make adequate yearly progress in the sixth year.

I. "Restructuring 2" means the public school has failed to make adequate yearly progress for six consecutive years. The school district, in conjunction with the department, shall take one or more of the following actions in addition to other improvements at the restructuring 2 school:

(1) reopen the public school as a charter school;

(2) replace all or most of the staff as allowed by law;

(3) turn over the management of the public school to the department; or

(4) make other governance changes.

J. A school district that [fails] has failed to make adequate yearly progress for two consecutive school years may be subject to the same requirements as a [public school that needs improvement or the same requirements as a] public school subject to corrective action, as determined by the [state board] department. Supplemental services to school district students shall be provided by another school district or by one or more state-approved private organizations as determined by the department. A school district that fails to make adequate yearly progress for four consecutive school years shall be subject to corrective action.

K. The state or a school district shall not enter into management contracts with private entities for the management of a public school or a school district subject to corrective action.

L. If a public school that is identified as a school that needs improvement makes adequate yearly progress in the second year that it is ranked as school improvement 1, school improvement 2, corrective action or restructuring 1, movement to the next level of school improvement shall be delayed. If the public school again makes adequate yearly progress in the third year that it is ranked as school improvement 1, school improvement 2, corrective action or restructuring 1, it shall be removed from the list of schools in need of improvement."

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