House Bill hb1259c1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1259
By the Committee on Education Innovation and
Representative Arza
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public school student
3 progression; amending s. 232.245, F.S.;
4 prioritizing remedial and supplemental
5 instruction provided to students; revising
6 criteria included in an academic improvement
7 plan; revising provisions relating to reading
8 deficiencies; revising criteria for student
9 retention based on reading deficiency;
10 requiring a parent of a student with a reading
11 deficiency to be provided with a notice that
12 includes certain information; defining good
13 cause exemptions from mandatory retention;
14 requiring district school boards to publish
15 certain information in a local newspaper and
16 report such information in writing to the State
17 Board of Education; defining State Board of
18 Education authority; providing an effective
19 date.
20
21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23 Section 1. Section 232.245, Florida Statutes, is
24 amended to read:
25 232.245 Public school student Pupil progression;
26 remedial instruction; reporting requirements.--
27 (1) INTENT.--It is the intent of the Legislature that
28 each student's progression from one grade to another be
29 determined, in part, upon proficiency in reading, writing,
30 science, and mathematics; that school district policies
31 facilitate such proficiency; and that each student and his or
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1259
603-169-02
1 her parent or legal guardian be informed of that student's
2 academic progress.
3 (2) COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM.--Each district school board
4 shall establish a comprehensive program for student pupil
5 progression which must include:
6 (a) Standards for evaluating each student's pupil's
7 performance, including how well he or she masters the
8 performance standards approved by the State Board of Education
9 according to s. 229.565; and
10 (b) Specific levels of performance in reading,
11 writing, science, and mathematics for each grade level,
12 including the levels of performance on statewide assessments
13 as defined by the Commissioner of Education, below which a
14 student must receive remediation, or be retained within an
15 intensive program that is different from the previous year's
16 program and that takes into account the student's learning
17 style. No student may be assigned to a grade level based
18 solely on age or other factors that constitute social
19 promotion.
20 (c) Appropriate alternative placement for a student
21 who has been retained 2 or more years.
22 (3) ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES.--District school boards
23 shall allocate remedial and supplemental instruction resources
24 to students in the following priorities:
25 (a) Students who are deficient in reading by the end
26 of grade 3.
27 (b) first to Students who fail to meet achievement
28 performance levels required for promotion consistent with the
29 district school board's plan for student progression required
30 in paragraph (2)(b). The state board shall adopt rules to
31 prescribe limited circumstances in which a student may be
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1259
603-169-02
1 promoted without meeting the specific assessment performance
2 levels prescribed by the district's pupil progression plan.
3 Such rules shall specifically address the promotion of
4 students with limited English proficiency and students with
5 disabilities. A school district must consider an appropriate
6 alternative placement for a student who has been retained 2 or
7 more years.
8 (4) ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION.--
9 (a)(3) Each student must participate in the statewide
10 assessment tests required by s. 229.57. Each student who does
11 not meet specific levels of performance as determined by the
12 district school board in reading, writing, science, and
13 mathematics for each grade level, or who does not meet
14 specific levels of performance, determined by the Commissioner
15 of Education, on statewide assessments at selected grade
16 levels, must be provided with additional diagnostic
17 assessments to determine the nature of the student's
18 difficulty and areas of academic need.
19 (b) The school in which the student is enrolled must
20 develop, in consultation with the student's parent or legal
21 guardian, and must implement an academic improvement plan
22 designed to assist the student in meeting state and district
23 expectations for proficiency. Beginning with the 2002-2003
24 school year, if the student has been identified as having a
25 deficiency in reading, the academic improvement plan shall
26 describe the student's specific areas of deficiency in
27 phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, and
28 vocabulary; the desired levels of performance in these areas;
29 and the instructional and support services to be provided to
30 meet the desired levels of performance. Schools shall also
31 provide for the frequent monitoring of the student's progress
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1259
603-169-02
1 in meeting the desired levels of performance. District school
2 boards shall assist schools and teachers to implement
3 research-based reading activities that have been shown to be
4 successful in teaching reading to low-performing students.
5 Each plan must include the provision of intensive remedial
6 instruction in the areas of weakness. Remedial instruction
7 provided during high school may not be in lieu of English and
8 mathematics credits required for graduation.
9 (c) Upon subsequent evaluation, if the documented
10 deficiency has not been remediated corrected in accordance
11 with the academic improvement plan, the student may be
12 retained. Each student who does not meet the minimum
13 performance expectations defined by the Commissioner of
14 Education for the statewide assessment tests in reading,
15 writing, science, and mathematics must continue to be provided
16 with remedial or supplemental instruction until the
17 expectations are met or the student graduates from high school
18 or is not subject to compulsory school attendance.
19 (5) READING DEFICIENCY AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION.--
20 (a) It is the ultimate goal of the Legislature that
21 every student read at or above grade level. Any student who
22 exhibits a substantial deficiency in reading, based upon
23 locally determined or statewide assessments conducted in
24 kindergarten or grade 1, grade 2, or grade 3, or through
25 teacher observations, must be given intensive reading
26 instruction immediately following the identification of the
27 reading deficiency. The student's reading proficiency must be
28 reassessed by locally determined assessments or through
29 teacher observations at the beginning of the grade following
30 the intensive reading instruction. The student must continue
31
4
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1259
603-169-02
1 to be provided with intensive reading instruction until the
2 reading deficiency is remedied.
3 (b) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, if the
4 student's reading deficiency, as identified in paragraph (a),
5 is not remedied by the end of grade 3, as demonstrated by
6 scoring at Level 2 or higher on the statewide assessment test
7 in reading for grade 3, the student must be retained.
8 (c) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, the
9 parent of any student who exhibits a substantial deficiency in
10 reading, as described in paragraph (a), must be notified in
11 writing of the following:
12 1. That his or her child has been identified as having
13 a substantial deficiency in reading.
14 2. A description of the current services that are
15 provided to the child.
16 3. A description of the proposed supplemental
17 instructional services and supports that will be provided to
18 the child that are designed to remediate the identified area
19 of reading deficiency.
20 4. That if the child's reading deficiency is not
21 remediated by the end of grade 3, the child must be retained
22 unless he or she is exempt from mandatory retention for good
23 cause.
24 (4) Any student who exhibits substantial deficiency in
25 reading skills, based on locally determined assessments
26 conducted before the end of grade 1 or 2, or based on teacher
27 recommendation, must be given intensive reading instruction
28 immediately following the identification of the reading
29 deficiency. The student's reading proficiency must be
30 reassessed by locally determined assessment or based on
31 teacher recommendation at the beginning of the grade following
5
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1259
603-169-02
1 the intensive reading instruction, and the student must
2 continue to be given intensive reading instruction until the
3 reading deficiency is remedied. If the student's reading
4 deficiency, as determined by the locally determined assessment
5 at grades 1 and 2, or by the statewide assessment at grade 3,
6 is not remedied by the end of grade 4, and if the student
7 scores below the specific level of performance on the
8 statewide assessment test in reading, the student must be
9 retained.
10 (6) ELIMINATION OF SOCIAL PROMOTION.--
11 (a) No student may be assigned to a grade level based
12 solely on age or other factors that constitute social
13 promotion.
14 (b) The district local school board may only exempt
15 students a student from mandatory retention, as provided in
16 paragraph (5)(b), for good cause. Good cause exemptions shall
17 be limited to the following:
18 1. Limited English proficient students who have had
19 less than 2 years of instruction in an English for Speakers of
20 Other Languages program.
21 2. Students with disabilities whose individual
22 education plan indicates that participation in the statewide
23 assessment program is not appropriate, consistent with the
24 requirements of State Board of Education rule.
25 3. Students who demonstrate an acceptable level of
26 performance on an alternative standardized reading assessment
27 approved by the State Board of Education.
28 4. Students who demonstrate, through a student
29 portfolio, that the student is reading on grade level as
30 evidenced by demonstration of mastery of the Sunshine State
31
6
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1259
603-169-02
1 Standards in reading equal to at least a Level 2 performance
2 on the FCAT.
3 5. Students with disabilities who participate in the
4 FCAT and who have an individual education plan or a Section
5 504 plan that reflects that the student has received the
6 intensive remediation in reading, as required by paragraph
7 (4)(b), for more than 2 years but still demonstrates a
8 deficiency in reading and was previously retained in
9 kindergarten, grade 1, or grade 2.
10 (c) Requests for good cause exemptions for students
11 from the mandatory retention requirement as described in
12 subparagraphs (b)3. and 4. shall be made consistent with the
13 following:
14 1. Documentation shall be submitted from the student's
15 teacher to the school principal that indicates that the
16 promotion of the student is appropriate and is based upon the
17 student's academic record.
18 2. The school principal shall review and discuss such
19 recommendation with the teacher and make the determination as
20 to whether the student should be promoted or retained. If the
21 school principal determines that the student should be
22 promoted, the school principal shall make such recommendation
23 in writing to the district school superintendent. The
24 district school superintendent shall accept or reject the
25 school principal's recommendation in writing.
26 (7) ANNUAL REPORT.--
27 (a)(5) In addition to the requirements in paragraph
28 (5)(b), each district school board must annually report to the
29 parent or legal guardian of each student the progress of the
30 student towards achieving state and district expectations for
31 proficiency in reading, writing, science, and mathematics. The
7
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1259
603-169-02
1 district school board must report to the parent or legal
2 guardian the student's results on each statewide assessment
3 test. The evaluation of each student's progress must be based
4 upon the student's classroom work, observations, tests,
5 district and state assessments, and other relevant
6 information. Progress reporting must be provided to the parent
7 or legal guardian in writing in a format adopted by the
8 district school board.
9 (b) Beginning with the 2001-2002 school year, each
10 district school board must annually publish in the local
11 newspaper, and report in writing to the State Board of
12 Education by September 1 of each year, the following
13 information on the prior school year:
14 1. The provisions of this section relating to public
15 school student progression and the district school board's
16 policies and procedures on student retention and promotion.
17 2. By grade, the number and percentage of all students
18 in grades 3 through 10 performing at Levels 1 and 2 on the
19 reading portion of the FCAT.
20 3. By grade, the number and percentage of all students
21 retained in grades 3 through 10.
22 4. Information on the total number of students who
23 were promoted for good cause, by each category of good cause
24 in paragraph (6)(b).
25 5. Any revisions to the district school board's policy
26 on student retention and promotion from the prior year.
27 (8) STATE BOARD AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITIES.--
28 (a) The State Board of Education shall have the
29 authority to implement any of the following provisions
30 necessary to enforce this section:
31
8
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 2002 CS/HB 1259
603-169-02
1 1. Require the chair of a district school board or a
2 district school superintendent to testify before the State
3 Board of Education regarding implementation of the provisions
4 of this section.
5 2. Request and receive information, data, and reports
6 from school districts relating to student performance, student
7 retention, and good cause exemptions.
8 3. Report to the Governor, the President of the
9 Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives that a
10 school district has not complied with law or State Board of
11 Education rule and recommend action to be taken by the
12 Legislature.
13 4. Withhold a portion of a district school
14 superintendent's salary until the State Board of Education has
15 determined the school district's compliance with the intent
16 and provisions of this section.
17 (b)(6) The State Board Commissioner of Education shall
18 adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 for the
19 administration of this section.
20 (9)(7) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.--The Department of
21 Education shall provide technical assistance as needed to aid
22 school districts in administering this section.
23 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
24 law.
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
9
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.