SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL 50

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; PROVIDING FOR IMPROVED INTERVENTION AND RETENTION PRACTICES FOR KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE EIGHT AND TOP TO BOTTOM ACCOUNTABILITY.

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

     SECTION 1. Section 22-2C-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1986, Chapter 33, Section 7, as amended) is repealed and a new Section 22-2C-6 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "22-2C-6. [NEW MATERIAL] GRADE PROMOTIONS--INTERVENTION AND REMEDIATION PROGRAMS--RETENTION POLICIES--ACCOUNTABILITY.--

          A. As used in 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 intervention or remediation programs that have demonstrated effectiveness;

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

                (3) "formative assessments" means assessments that provide information to be used as feedback to adapt teaching to the student's learning needs;

                (4) "grade-level proficiency" means a score on a school-district-approved standards-based assessment that is comparable among school districts statewide;

                (5) "intensive targeted instruction" means extra instruction in either small groups or as individuals that shall be no less than thirty minutes per day and three days per week and taught by a teacher or tutor who is not the student's classroom teacher;

                (6) "intervention" means targeted instructional practice for individual students or small groups of students aligned with the results of a valid and reliable assessment and, if applicable, response to intervention as defined in Section 22-13-6 NMSA 1978 and department rule;

                (7) "mathematics screening assessment" means a school-district-adopted, department-approved formative assessment that measures content, operations, applications, problem-solving and consumer skills, as appropriate for the grade level;

                (8) "parent" includes a guardian or other person having custody or control of a school-age person;

                (9) "parent involvement" means a parent helping to implement an academic improvement plan by:

                     (a) attending and participating in student assistance team meetings;

                     (b) using specific strategies explained by the student assistance team to help the parent's student reach grade-level proficiency;

                     (c) attending a school presentation that delivers details about or training on the specific strategies or observing an intensive targeted instruction of the parent's student; and

                     (d) contributing to the student's progress toward grade-level proficiency in a manner in which the parent is capable and as determined by the school or school district;

                (10) "reading screening assessment" means a school-district-adopted, department-approved formative assessment that measures the acquisition of reading skills, including phonological awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and oral language, as appropriate for the grade level;

                (11) "remediation programs" includes summer school, extended day or week programs, tutoring, progress-based monitoring and other research-based methods for improvement of student proficiency, as provided by trained personnel;

                (12) "school" includes a charter school;

                (13) "school district" includes both a public school district and a charter school;

                (14) "small group" consists of no fewer than five students and no more than ten students;

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

                     (a) teacher;

                     (b) school counselor;

                     (c) school administrator;

                     (d) parent; and

                     (e) if the student or parent wishes, a student representative chosen by the student or parent; and

                (16) "valid and reliable assessments" means assessments that:

                     (a) are appropriate to targeted populations;

                     (b) provide predictive values; and

                     (c) are thoroughly tested, peer-reviewed and accepted by authorities and practitioners in the field.

          B. School districts shall approve intervention and remediation programs that have demonstrated effectiveness to provide special instructional assistance to students in kindergarten through eighth grade who do not demonstrate grade-level proficiency in reading and math.

          C. Beginning in the 2012-2013 school year:                      (1) kindergarten through eighth grade intervention and remediation programs, as defined in the educational plan for student success, and retention and promotion policies shall be aligned with valid and reliable assessment results and shall be aligned with state standards;

                (2) within the first three weeks of the school year, each student in kindergarten through eighth grade shall be evaluated with a reading screening assessment and a mathematics screening assessment;

                (3) if the reading screening assessment or mathematics screening assessment results indicate that a student is not proficient in reading or mathematics, the school immediately shall implement intervention and remediation programs to help the student progress toward grade-level proficiency; and

                (4) if the student does not progress toward grade-level proficiency following intervention and remediation programs, as measured by continuous formative assessments, by the end of the first grading period of the school year, a parent shall be notified in writing that the parent's student has not achieved grade-level proficiency in reading or mathematics, and a student assistance team shall meet to discuss and adopt an academic improvement plan, which shall be implemented immediately following the student assistance team meeting. At the student assistance team meeting, the parent shall be presented with and receive an explanation of:

                     (a) the student's specific reading or mathematics deficiencies;

                     (b) academic expectations for the student;

                     (c) academic measurements to be taken;

                     (d) an academic improvement plan;

                     (e) time lines for implementing the academic improvement plan;

                     (f) whether intensive targeted instruction or any other interventions may be used; and

                     (g) parent involvement expectations and opportunities.

          D. The cost of summer school and extended day intervention and remediation programs offered in grades nine through twelve shall be borne by the parent; however, in cases in which parents are determined to be indigent according to guidelines established by the department, the school district shall bear those costs. 

          E. At the end of kindergarten and each grade through eighth grade, promotion and retention decisions for each student shall be based upon a determination that the student:

                (1) has achieved grade-level proficiency and shall enter the next higher grade;

                (2) has not achieved grade-level proficiency and shall participate in the required level of remediation. Upon certification by the school district that the student has achieved grade-level proficiency, the student shall enter the next higher grade; or

                (3) has not achieved grade-level proficiency after completion of the prescribed intervention and remediation program and, after consultation with the parent 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 to achieve grade-level proficiency; or

                     (b) promoted to the next grade if the parent refuses to allow the child to be retained pursuant to Subparagraph (a) of this paragraph and signs a waiver indicating the parent's desire that the student be promoted to the next higher grade with an academic improvement plan designed to address specific reading and mathematics deficiencies. The academic improvement plan shall be developed by the student assistance team outlining time lines and monitoring activities to ensure progress toward overcoming the student's reading and mathematics deficiencies. Students who have been evaluated to determine the nature of their reading and mathematics deficiencies and who have received an intervention and remediation program that is different from the previous year's program but fail to achieve grade-level proficiency at the end of that year as measured by grades, performance on school-district-approved assessments and other measures identified by the school district shall be retained in the same grade for no more than one year in order to have additional time to achieve grade-level proficiency unless exempt from retention as prescribed in Subsection H of this section. The academic improvement plan shall include an alternate program and shall be implemented immediately.

          F. A student who does not demonstrate grade-level 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.

          G. 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.

          H. A student shall be exempt from the provisions of Subsection E of this section if the student:

                (1) scores at least at the fiftieth percentile on a school-district-approved norm-referenced assessment or at the proficient level on an alternative school-district-approved criterion-referenced assessment;

                (2) demonstrates mastery on a teacher-developed portfolio that is equal to at least a proficient performance on the statewide standards-based assessments;

                (3) shows sufficient academic growth by meeting acceptable levels of academic performance specified by the school district;

                (4) is an English language learner who is proficient in a language other than English on a valid and reliable reading assessment in that language or who has had less than two years of instruction in English for speakers of other languages; or

                (5) is a student with a disability who shall be assessed, promoted or retained in accordance with the provisions of the student's individualized education program.

          I. By the end of each school year, each school shall report to the school district, by June 15 of each year, each school district or state-chartered charter school shall report to the department and by July 31 of each year, the department shall report to the legislative education study committee:

                (1) the number of students who received interventions and remediation programs following a reading screening assessment;

                (2) the number of students who received interventions and remediation programs following a mathematics screening assessment;

                (3) the number of students who received an academic improvement plan for reading only;

                (4) the number of students who received an academic improvement plan for mathematics only;

                (5) the number of students who received an academic improvement plan for reading and mathematics;

                (6) the number of students recommended for retention in each grade;

                (7) the number of students retained in each grade; and

                (8) any other information requested by the legislative education study committee."

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