HB 1301

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to student achievement; creating s.
3	1007.35, F.S.; providing a popular name; providing
4	legislative intent; creating the Florida Partnership for
5	Minority and Underrepresented Student Achievement;
6	providing purposes and duties of the partnership;
7	providing duties of the Department of Education and the
8	College Board; requiring the partnership to submit an
9	annual evaluation report to the department; providing for
10	funding the partnership; authorizing the State Board of
11	Education to adopt rules; providing an effective date.
12
13	WHEREAS, research conducted by the United States Department
14	of Education shows that the rigor of a student's high school
15	coursework is the single most important predictor of college
16	success, and
17	WHEREAS, research conducted by the United States Department
18	of Education also shows that the impact of a rigorous high
19	school curriculum on college completion is far more positively
20	pronounced for African-American and Hispanic students than any
21	other precollege indicator, and
22	WHEREAS, research conducted by the United States Department
23	of Education further shows that rigorous high school academics
24	have a much greater impact on the college success of African-
25	American and Hispanic students than on other students, and
26	WHEREAS, research conducted by the United States Department
27	of Education additionally shows that the highest level of
28	mathematics a student studies in secondary school has the
29	strongest continuing influence on the completion of a bachelor's
30	degree, such that finishing a course beyond the level of Algebra
31	II (for example, trigonometry or precalculus) more than doubles
32	the odds that a student who enters postsecondary education will
33	complete a bachelor's degree, and
34	WHEREAS, research conducted by the United States Department
35	of Education shows that 85 percent of College Board Advanced
36	Placement students continue their education beyond high school,
37	and
38	WHEREAS, the Florida Department of Education and the
39	College Board have collaborated, under the direction of the
40	Legislature, to increase participation in College Board Advanced
41	Placement examinations by African-American and Hispanic students
42	by 106 percent from 1999 to 2003 by placing an emphasis on
43	improving student achievement in low-performing middle and high
44	schools by providing teacher professional development and
45	academic support for students, parents, and teachers, and
46	WHEREAS, the Florida Department of Education and the
47	College Board have also collaborated to increase the
48	participation of 10th-grade students in the Preliminary
49	SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which identifies
50	students capable of succeeding in College Board Advanced
51	Placement courses, by 173 percent from 1999 to 2002, NOW,
52	THEREFORE,
53
54	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
55
56	Section 1.  Section 1007.35, Florida Statutes, is created
57	to read:
58	1007.35  Florida Partnership for Minority and
59	Underrepresented Student Achievement.--
60	(1)  This section may be referred to by the popular name
61	the "Florida Partnership for Minority and Underrepresented
62	Student Achievement Act."
63	(2)(a)  The Legislature recognizes the importance of not
64	only access to college but also success in college for all
65	students. It is the intent of the Legislature that every student
66	enrolled in a public secondary school has access to high-
67	quality, rigorous academics, with a particular focus on access
68	to College Board Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
69	(b)  It is the intent of the Legislature to provide
70	assistance to all public secondary schools, with a primary focus
71	on low-performing middle and high schools.
72	(c)  It is the intent of the Legislature that the
73	partnership created in this section accomplish its mission
74	primarily through strengthening the content knowledge of
75	teachers and providing instructional resources, including
76	materials and strategies, which enable teachers to provide
77	instruction to students who have diverse learning styles.
78	(3)  There is created the Florida Partnership for Minority
79	and Underrepresented Student Achievement. The Department of
80	Education shall contract with the College Board for operation of
81	the partnership.
82	(4)  The mission of the partnership is to prepare, inspire,
83	and connect students to college success and opportunity, with a
84	particular focus on minority students and students who are
85	underrepresented in postsecondary education.
86	(5)  Each public school district shall ensure that each of
87	its high schools, including, but not limited to, schools and
88	alternative sites and centers of the Department of Juvenile
89	Justice, administer the Preliminary SAT/National Merit
90	Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) to all enrolled 10th-
91	grade students. The examination must be administered on the
92	weekday national administration date set by the College Board
93	and National Merit Scholarship Corporation. By October 2005,
94	districts that offer fall breaks must schedule those breaks on
95	dates that do not coincide with the weekday national test date
96	for the PSAT/NMSQT.
97	(a)  Test results will provide each high school with a
98	database of student assessment data which guidance counselors
99	will use to identify students who are prepared or who need
100	additional work to be prepared to enroll and be successful in AP
101	courses or other higher-level college-preparatory high school
102	courses.
103	(b)  Funding for the PSAT/NMSQT for all 10th-grade students
104	shall be provided annually in the General Appropriations Act.
105	(6)  The partnership shall:
106	(a)  Provide teacher training and professional development
107	to enable teachers of AP courses to have the necessary content
108	knowledge and instructional skills to prepare students for
109	success on AP examinations and mastery of college course
110	content. All professional development for this purpose must be
111	endorsed by the College Board.
112	(b)  Provide to middle school teachers and administrators
113	professional development that will enable them to educate middle
114	school students at the level necessary to prepare the students
115	to enter high school ready to participate in advanced courses.
116	Professional development to prepare teachers for pre-AP must be
117	endorsed by the College Board.
118	(c)  Provide teacher training and materials that are
119	aligned with the Sunshine State Standards and are consistent
120	with best theory and practice regarding multiple learning styles
121	and research on learning, instructional strategies,
122	instructional design, and classroom assessment. Curriculum
123	materials must be based on current, accepted, and essential
124	academic knowledge. Materials for prerequisite courses should,
125	at a minimum, address the skills assessed on the Florida
126	Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).
127	(d)  Provide assessment of individual strengths and
128	weaknesses as related to potential success in AP courses and
129	readiness for college.
130	(e)  Provide SAT preparation through a variety of means
131	that may include, but are not limited to, training teachers to
132	provide courses at schools; training community organizations to
133	provide courses at community centers, faith-based organizations,
134	and businesses; and providing on-line courses. All courses must
135	use materials endorsed by the College Board.
136	(f)  Consider ways to incorporate community colleges in the
137	mission of preparing all students for success in college.
138	(g)  Provide a plan for communication and coordination of
139	efforts with the Florida Virtual School's provision of on-line
140	AP courses.
141	(h)  Provide a plan of communication and marketing which
142	includes, but need not be limited to, the dissemination to
143	parents of materials that emphasize the importance of AP courses
144	to a student's ability to gain access to and to succeed in
145	college and of materials that emphasize the importance of the
146	PSAT/NMSQT, which provides diagnostic feedback on skills and
147	relates student scores to the probability of success on AP
148	examinations, and also the dissemination of such information to
149	students, teachers, counselors, administrators, districts,
150	community colleges, and state universities. The department shall
151	assist the partnership in communicating opportunities and
152	priorities to administrators, teachers, and counselors whenever
153	possible.
154	(7)  By May 31 of each year, the Department of Education
155	shall approve a plan of delivery of services for the subsequent
156	academic year.
157	(8)(a)  The partnership shall submit to the department
158	annually by September 30 a report that contains an evaluation of
159	the effectiveness of the delivered services and activities.
160	Activities and services must be evaluated on their effectiveness
161	at raising student achievement and increasing the number of AP
162	examinations in low-performing middle and high schools. Other
163	indicators that must be addressed in the evaluation report
164	include the number of middle and high school teachers trained,
165	the effectiveness of the training, measures of college readiness
166	of the students affected by the program, levels of participation
167	in 10th-grade PSAT/NMSQT testing, and measures of student,
168	parent, and teacher awareness of and satisfaction with the
169	services of the partnership.
170	(b)  The department shall contribute to the evaluation
171	process by providing access to student and teacher information
172	necessary to match against databases containing teacher
173	professional development data and databases containing
174	assessment data for the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, and AP. The department
175	shall also provide student-level data on student progress from
176	middle school through high school and into college and the
177	workforce, if available, in order to support longitudinal
178	studies.
179	(9)(a)  Funding for the partnership shall be provided
180	annually in the General Appropriations Act.
181	(b)  The College Board is required to match at least one-
182	third of the allocation provided to the partnership in the
183	General Appropriations Act in materials and services to the
184	program.
185	(10)  The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
186	administer this section.
187	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.