A First-Quarter 2004 Report: State Democracy

Abstract

IN THE FIRST quarter of the 2004 legislative sessions, some states continued to amend existing laws to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, while others began to move beyond compliance to improve the means by which they intend to leverage greater student achievement. Still others addressed health issues, fiscal officers, and even coaches - all parts of education that affect the quality of school life and the security of the system. All the bills mentioned below were enacted. OHIO'S NEW LAW S.B. 2 in Ohio dealt with numerous issues. Some of the more interesting details follow. Instructional quality. S.B. 2 creates an Educator Standards Board and directs the state department to establish an office to support this board. School districts are required to use professional development standards developed by the board. Immunity. S.B. 2 also provides qualified immunity for teacher performance assessors, trainers, and coordinators and for teacher performance assessment entities in civil actions concerning performance assessments of candidates for the Professional Educator License. Staffing. S.B. 2 directs the Legislative Office of Education Oversight to study minimum teacher salaries in Ohio and selected other states and report its findings by 30 September 2004. It charges the department with defining a hard-to-staff school within 90 days of the bill's effective date. Low-performing schools. School districts in Ohio are limited to spending a combined total equal to 20% of their Title I funds to pay for transportation for students transferring under public school choice and for supplemental educational services. In districts with a three- year average graduation rate of 75% or less, schools must administer practice versions of the Ohio Graduation Tests to ninth-graders. Testing. S.B. 2 requires the eighth-grade social studies achievement test to be phased in beginning in the 2006-07 school year (one year earlier than under current law). NCLB-RELATED BILLS Performance measures. States continue to amend their laws to comply more fully with NCLB. For example, West Virginia H.B. 4111 requires the state board to adopt system standards, including measures of student, school, and system performance and progress. Performance measures must include graduation rate, dropout rate, attendance, student performance, percentage of graduates who enroll in college immediately and within one year, and percentage of graduates who receive certification above what was required for graduation. The bill establishes a system of performance audits that are primarily based on achievement. It requires technical assistance, establishes rewards for exemplary performance or practices, and sets sanctions for schools performing below standards; it includes restructuring for schools seriously impaired over time; it requires that students be allowed to transfer from seriously impaired schools; and it requires intervention in districts with nonapproval status. Paraprofessionals. In H.B. 304, New Mexico established a three-tiered framework for career licensing of educational assistants and has provided for minimum salaries for that group of employees. The Utah state board established standards for paraprofessionals that are consistent with NCLB, as did the Delaware state board. Assessment. In Michigan, S.B. 787 allows schools whose answer sheets were lost by the state department or by an assessment contractor to be exempt from school accreditation requirements. The exemption does not, however, preclude the department from determining if a public school or school district has achieved adequate yearly progress for the purposes of NCLB. No penalty may be assessed for the loss of records. Utah S.B. 51 allows the state board to award grants to districts and charter schools to implement a system for the online delivery of tests required under U-PASS (Utah Performance Assessment System for Students). …