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S.B. 56 Enrolled

             1     

SCHOOL REPORTING AMENDMENTS
             2      2010 GENERAL SESSION
             3      STATE OF UTAH
             4      Chief Sponsor: Karen W. Morgan
             5      House Sponsor: Marie H. Poulson
             6     
             7      LONG TITLE
             8      General Description:
             9          This bill modifies the information to be reported in the state superintendent's annual
             10      report of the public school system and a school performance report.
             11      Highlighted Provisions:
             12          This bill:
             13          .    modifies the state superintendent's annual report of the public school system by:
             14              .    requiring reporting of data on average class sizes calculated in accordance with
             15      State Board of Education rule;
             16              .    modifying the reporting of pupil-teacher ratios; and
             17              .    deleting the reporting of pupil-adult ratios;
             18          .    directs the State Board of Education to adopt rules for the calculation of average
             19      class size and specifies certain requirements for the rules;
             20          .    requires the State Board of Education, a school district, and a charter school to
             21      calculate and report average class size in a school performance report in accordance
             22      with rules adopted by the State Board of Education; and
             23          .    makes technical amendments.
             24      Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
             25          None
             26      Other Special Clauses:
             27          None
             28      Utah Code Sections Affected:
             29      AMENDS:

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             30          53A-1-301, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2007, Chapter 112
             31          53A-3-602.5, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2009, Chapters 299 and 300
             32     
             33      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             34          Section 1. Section 53A-1-301 is amended to read:
             35           53A-1-301. Appointment -- Qualifications -- Duties.
             36          (1) (a) The State Board of Education shall appoint a superintendent of public
             37      instruction, hereinafter called the state superintendent, who is the executive officer of the
             38      board and serves at the pleasure of the board.
             39          (b) The board shall appoint the state superintendent on the basis of outstanding
             40      professional qualifications.
             41          (c) The state superintendent shall administer all programs assigned to the State Board
             42      of Education in accordance with the policies and the standards established by the board.
             43          (2) The superintendent shall develop a statewide education strategy focusing on core
             44      academics, including the development of:
             45          (a) core curriculum and graduation requirements;
             46          (b) a process to select instructional materials that best correlate to the core curriculum
             47      and graduation requirements that are supported by generally accepted scientific standards of
             48      evidence;
             49          (c) professional development programs for teachers, superintendents, and principals;
             50          (d) remediation programs;
             51          (e) a method for creating individual student learning targets, and a method of
             52      measuring an individual student's performance toward those targets;
             53          (f) progress-based assessments for ongoing performance evaluations of districts and
             54      schools;
             55          (g) incentives to achieve the desired outcome of individual student progress in core
             56      academics, and which do not create disincentives for setting high goals for the students;
             57          (h) an annual report card for school and district performance, measuring learning and

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             58      reporting progress-based assessments;
             59          (i) a systematic method to encourage innovation in schools and school districts as they
             60      strive to achieve improvement in their performance; and
             61          (j) a method for identifying and sharing best demonstrated practices across districts
             62      and schools.
             63          (3) The superintendent shall perform duties assigned by the board, including the
             64      following:
             65          (a) investigating all matters pertaining to the public schools;
             66          (b) adopting and keeping an official seal to authenticate the superintendent's official
             67      acts;
             68          (c) holding and conducting meetings, seminars, and conferences on educational
             69      topics;
             70          (d) presenting to the governor and the Legislature each December a report of the
             71      public school system for the preceding year to include:
             72          (i) data on the general condition of the schools with recommendations considered
             73      desirable for specific programs;
             74          (ii) a complete statement of fund balances;
             75          (iii) a complete statement of revenues by fund and source;
             76          (iv) a complete statement of adjusted expenditures by fund, the status of bonded
             77      indebtedness, the cost of new school plants, and school levies;
             78          (v) a complete statement of state funds allocated to each [of the state's 40 school
             79      districts] school district and charter school by source, including supplemental appropriations,
             80      and a complete statement of expenditures by each school district and charter school, including
             81      supplemental appropriations, by function and object as outlined in the U.S. Department of
             82      Education publication "Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems";
             83          (vi) a complete statement, by school district and charter school, of the amount of and
             84      percentage increase or decrease in expenditures from the previous year attributed to:
             85          (A) wage increases, with expenditure data for base salary adjustments identified

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             86      separately from step and lane expenditures;
             87          (B) medical and dental premium cost adjustments; and
             88          (C) adjustments in the number of teachers and other staff;
             89          (vii) a statement that includes data on fall enrollments, average membership, high
             90      school graduates, licensed and classified employees, pupil-teacher ratios [by grade, pupil-adult
             91      ratios by grade, class sizes by grade], average class sizes calculated in accordance with State
             92      Board of Education rules adopted under Subsection 53A-3-602.5 (4), average salaries,
             93      applicable private school data, and data from standardized norm-referenced tests in grades 5,
             94      8, and 11 on each school and district;
             95          (viii) statistical information regarding incidents of delinquent activity in the schools or
             96      at school-related activities with separate categories for:
             97          (A) alcohol and drug abuse;
             98          (B) weapon possession;
             99          (C) assaults; and
             100          (D) arson;
             101          (ix) information about:
             102          (A) the development and implementation of the strategy of focusing on core
             103      academics;
             104          (B) the development and implementation of competency-based education and
             105      progress-based assessments; and
             106          (C) the results being achieved under Subsections (3)(d)(ix)(A) and (B), as measured
             107      by individual progress-based assessments and [the] a comparison of Utah [Students'] students'
             108      progress with the progress of students in other states using standardized norm-referenced tests
             109      as benchmarks; and
             110          (x) other statistical and financial information about the school system which the state
             111      superintendent considers pertinent;
             112          (e) collecting and organizing education data into an automated decision support
             113      system to facilitate school district and school improvement planning, accountability reporting

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             114      [and], performance recognition, and the evaluation of educational policy and program
             115      effectiveness to include:
             116          (i) data that are:
             117          (A) comparable across schools and school districts;
             118          (B) appropriate for use in longitudinal studies; and
             119          (C) comprehensive with regard to the data elements required under applicable state or
             120      federal law or state board rule;
             121          (ii) features that enable users, most particularly school administrators, teachers, and
             122      parents, to:
             123          (A) retrieve school and school district level data electronically;
             124          (B) interpret the data visually; and
             125          (C) draw conclusions that are statistically valid; and
             126          (iii) procedures for the collection and management of education data that:
             127          (A) require the state superintendent of public instruction to:
             128          (I) collaborate with school districts in designing and implementing uniform data
             129      standards and definitions;
             130          (II) undertake or sponsor research to implement improved methods for analyzing
             131      education data;
             132          (III) provide for data security to prevent unauthorized access to or contamination of
             133      the data; and
             134          (IV) protect the confidentiality of data under state and federal privacy laws; and
             135          (B) require all school districts and schools to comply with the data collection and
             136      management procedures established under Subsection (3)(e);
             137          (f) administering and implementing federal educational programs in accordance with
             138      Title 53A, Chapter 1, Part 9, Implementing Federal Programs Act; and
             139          (g) with the approval of the board, preparing and submitting to the governor a budget
             140      for the board to be included in the budget that the governor submits to the Legislature.
             141          (4) Upon leaving office, the state superintendent shall deliver to [his] the state

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             142      superintendent's successor all books, records, documents, maps, reports, papers, and other
             143      articles pertaining to [his] the state superintendent's office.
             144          [(5) For the purpose of Subsection (3)(d)(vii):]
             145          [(a) a pupil-teacher ratio shall be calculated by dividing the total number of students in
             146      a grade at a school by the total number of licensed classroom teachers in that grade at the
             147      school; and]
             148          [(b) an adult-student ratio shall be calculated by dividing the total number of students
             149      in a grade at a school by the total number of adults who work with students in an instructional
             150      setting in that grade at the school.]
             151          (5) (a) For the purpose of Subsection (3)(d)(vii):
             152          (i) the pupil-teacher ratio for a school shall be calculated by dividing the number of
             153      students enrolled in a school by the number of full-time equivalent teachers assigned to the
             154      school, including regular classroom teachers, school-based specialists, and special education
             155      teachers;
             156          (ii) the pupil-teacher ratio for a school district shall be the median pupil-teacher ratio
             157      of the schools within a school district;
             158          (iii) the pupil-teacher ratio for charter schools aggregated shall be the median
             159      pupil-teacher ratio of charter schools in the state; and
             160          (iv) the pupil-teacher ratio for the state's public schools aggregated shall be the median
             161      pupil-teacher ratio of public schools in the state.
             162          (b) The printed copy of the report required by Subsection (3)(d) shall:
             163          (i) include the pupil-teacher ratio for:
             164          (A) each school district;
             165          (B) the charter schools aggregated; and
             166          (C) the state's public schools aggregated; and
             167          (ii) indicate the Internet website where pupil-teacher ratios for each school in the state
             168      may be accessed.
             169          Section 2. Section 53A-3-602.5 is amended to read:

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             170           53A-3-602.5. School performance report -- Components -- Annual filing.
             171          (1) The State Board of Education in collaboration with the state's school districts and
             172      charter schools shall develop a school performance report to inform the state's residents of the
             173      quality of schools and the educational achievement of students in the state's public education
             174      system.
             175          (2) The report shall be written and include the following statistical data for each
             176      school in each school district and each charter school, as applicable, and shall also aggregate
             177      the data at the district and state level:
             178          (a) except as provided in Subsection (2)(a)(ii), test scores over the previous year on:
             179          (i) norm-referenced achievement tests;
             180          (ii) criterion-referenced tests to include the scores aggregated for all students:
             181          (A) by grade level or course for the previous two years and an indication of whether
             182      there was a sufficient magnitude of gain in the scores between the two years; and
             183          (B) by class;
             184          (iii) online writing assessments required under Section 53A-1-603 ; and
             185          (iv) tenth grade basic skills competency tests required under Section 53A-1-603 ;
             186          (b) college entrance examinations data, including the number and percentage of each
             187      graduating class taking the examinations for the previous four years;
             188          (c) advanced placement and concurrent enrollment data, including:
             189          (i) the number of students taking advanced placement and concurrent enrollment
             190      courses;
             191          (ii) the number and percent of students taking a specific advanced placement course
             192      who take advanced placement tests to receive college credit for the course;
             193          (iii) of those students taking the test referred to in Subsection (2)(c)(ii), the number
             194      and percent who pass the test; and
             195          (iv) of those students taking a concurrent enrollment course, the number and percent
             196      of those who receive college credit for the course;
             197          (d) the number and percent of students in grade 3 reading at or above grade level;

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             198          (e) the number and percent of students who were absent from school 10 days or more
             199      during the school year;
             200          (f) achievement gaps that reflect the differences in achievement of various student
             201      groups as defined by State Board of Education rule;
             202          (g) the number and percent of "student dropouts" within the district as defined by
             203      State Board of Education rule;
             204          (h) course-taking patterns and trends in secondary schools;
             205          (i) student mobility;
             206          (j) staff qualifications, to include years of professional service and the number and
             207      percent of staff who have a degree or endorsement in their assigned teaching area and the
             208      number and percent of staff who have a graduate degree;
             209          (k) the number and percent of parents who participate in SEP, SEOP, and
             210      parent-teacher conferences;
             211          (l) average class size [by grade level and subject] calculated in accordance with State
             212      Board of Education rule adopted under Subsection (4);
             213          (m) average daily attendance as defined by State Board of Education rule, including
             214      every period in secondary schools; and
             215          (n) enrollment totals disaggregated with respect to race, ethnicity, gender, limited
             216      English proficiency, and those students who qualify for free or reduced price school lunch.
             217          (3) The State Board of Education, in collaboration with the state's school districts and
             218      charter schools, shall provide for the collection and electronic reporting of the following data
             219      for each school in each school district and each charter school:
             220          (a) test scores and trends over the previous four years on the tests referred to in
             221      Subsection (2)(a);
             222          (b) the average grade given in each math, science, and English course in grades 9
             223      through 12 for which criteria-referenced tests are required under Section 53A-1-603 ;
             224          (c) incidents of student discipline as defined by State Board of Education rule,
             225      including suspensions, expulsions, and court referrals; and

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             226          (d) the number and percent of students receiving fee waivers and the total dollar
             227      amount of fees waived.
             228          (4) (a) [(i)] The State Board of Education shall adopt common definitions and data
             229      collection procedures for local school boards and charter schools to use in collecting and
             230      forwarding the data required under Subsections (2) and (3) to the state superintendent of
             231      public instruction.
             232          [(ii) Average class size by grade and subject shall be calculated for the purposes of
             233      Subsection (2)(l) in accordance with the following:]
             234          [(A) for kindergarten through grade six, average class size by grade shall be calculated
             235      by dividing grade membership on October 1 by the number of classes in the corresponding
             236      grade; and]
             237          [(B) for grades seven through 12, average class size shall be calculated for core
             238      language arts, mathematics, and science courses by dividing membership on October 1 in core
             239      language arts, mathematics, or science course classes by the number of classes for the
             240      corresponding course.]
             241          (b) (i) In accordance with Subsections (4)(b)(ii) through (4)(b)(iv), the State Board of
             242      Education shall adopt rules specifying how average class size shall be calculated.
             243          (ii) (A) Except as provided by Subsections (4)(b)(ii)(B) through (4)(b)(ii)(D) or for
             244      nontraditional classes identified by rule, average class size at the elementary school level shall:
             245          (I) be calculated by grade level; and
             246          (II) indicate the average number of students who are assigned to a teacher for
             247      instruction together during a designated time period.
             248          (B) If students at the elementary school level receive instruction in core classes from
             249      different teachers, average class size may be calculated as provided by Subsection (4)(b)(iii)
             250      for secondary school students.
             251          (C) An elementary school class that includes students from multiple grade levels shall
             252      be counted as a single class.
             253          (D) An extended day class in which a portion of the class arrives early and the other

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             254      portion stays late shall be counted as a single class.
             255          (iii) (A) Except as provided by Subsection (4)(b)(iii)(B) or for nontraditional classes
             256      identified by rule, average class size at the secondary school level shall:
             257          (I) be calculated for core language arts, mathematics, and science courses; and
             258          (II) indicate the average number of students who are assigned to a teacher for
             259      instruction together during a designated time period.
             260          (B) A secondary school class in which a teacher provides instruction in multiple
             261      courses shall be counted as a single class.
             262          (iv) Special education classes and online classes shall be excluded when determining
             263      average class size by grade at the elementary school level or the average class size of core
             264      language arts, mathematics, and science courses at the secondary level.
             265          [(b)] (c) The state board, through the state superintendent of public instruction, shall
             266      adopt standard reporting forms and provide a common template for collecting and reporting
             267      the data, which shall be used by all school districts and charter schools.
             268          [(c)] (d) The state superintendent shall use the automated decision support system
             269      referred to in Section 53A-1-301 to collect and report the data required under Subsections (2)
             270      and (3).
             271          (5) The state board, through the state superintendent of public instruction, shall issue
             272      its report annually by October 1 to include the required data from the previous school year or
             273      years as indicated in Subsections (2) and (3).
             274          (6) (a) Each local school board and each charter school shall receive a written or an
             275      electronic copy of the report from the state superintendent of public instruction containing the
             276      data for that school district or charter school in a clear summary format and have it distributed,
             277      on a one per household basis, to the residence of students enrolled in the school district before
             278      November 30th of each year.
             279          (b) Each local school board, each charter school, and the state board shall have a
             280      complete report of the statewide data available for copying or in an electronic format at their
             281      respective offices.

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             282     

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