- Perfected -

SS/SCS/SB 1059 - This act generates numerous modifications to the state's education policy.

SECTION 160.720 - This section asserts that the Governor will recognize schools (as identified by DESE) that demonstrate high student achievement and designate such institutions as 'performance' schools. Said performance schools (or districts) will be eligible for waivers of certain administrative rules that result in a meaningful reduction in administrative burden.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will identify as 'priority' those schools, or school districts, that are either: academically deficient; unaccredited; provisionally accredited; or not meeting any of the accreditation standards on student performance based upon the statewide assessment system. In order to address these areas of deficiency, the Board of Education of any priority school district will submit an accountability compliance statement to DESE on or before August 15 that: identifies and analyzes areas of deficiency in student performance by school, grade and academic content area; provides a comprehensive strategy for addressing these areas of deficiency; assures disclosure of deficiency areas in the school accountability report card; and annually reviews the sections of the Safe Schools Act that pertain to school discipline and ensure that the school district's policies are consistent with those sections. However, the act allows the St. Louis city district, which has a desegregation settlement academic improvement plan, to submit that plan for review so that elements that occur in the accountability compliance plan and the desegregation academic improvement plan can be reviewed by the department to prevent duplication of effort.

The comprehensive strategy for addressing these areas of deficiency will include: aligning curriculums to address areas of deficiency; focusing professional development funds on the areas of greatest academic need; establishing school accountability councils; developing a resource reallocation plan for the district while considering the need to implement applicable strategies for the feeder schools of said priority districts; and creating programs to improve teacher and administrator effectiveness. Further, the comprehensive strategies will develop for any student who is not already receiving special education services and is performing at the lowest level of proficiency in any subject area under the statewide assessment an individual performance plan in that subject area which will: be developed by teachers in consultation with the child's parents or guardian; outline responsibilities for the student, parent or guardian, teachers and administrators in implementing the plan; and require those students performing at the lowest levels of proficiency in any subject area be provided with additional instruction time before they retake the assessment.

School districts shall include in any program for improvement of teacher and administrator effectiveness policies that require participation in one of the following professional development programs: an appropriate mentoring program or supervision by an individual previously designated by DESE as a regional resource teacher; successful completion of a training program for certification as a scorer under the statewide assessment program; enrollment and making adequate progress toward national board certification. One additional year of intensive professional development assistance shall be offered to teachers and administrators who do not complete or make adequate progress in the aforementioned professional development activities. Exempt from this process are individuals who either: hold qualifying scores in the appropriate professional assessment or elect to take and receive a qualifying score on that assessment; hold national board certification; are certified as a scorer under the statewide assessment program; are designated by DESE as a regional resource teacher; serve as a mentor teacher for one school year in a program meeting standards adopted by the state board of education; or complete successfully an appropriate administrator academy program.

Any resource reallocation plan must include at least one of the following elements: reduction in class size for areas of academic concern; establishment of full-day kindergarten or preschool programs; establishment of after-school, tutoring and other programs offering extended time for learning; employment of national board-certified teachers or regional resource teachers, along with appropriate salary enhancements for such teachers; establishment of programs of teacher home visitation; or the creation of "school within a school" programs to achieve smaller learning communities within priority schools.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will develop a program of administrator mentoring which focuses on the needs of priority schools and priority school districts.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will withhold state funding to any district until that district submits an accountability compliance statement.

SECTIONS 160.011, 160.051, 160.530, 161.092 and 166.260 - These sections allow public schools to establish family literacy programs. Additionally, the act adds funding for family literacy programs to the priority list of "statewide areas of critical need for learning and development" and makes family literacy personnel eligible to receive a portion of the funds already allocated to address said statewide areas of critical need for learning and development. Also, this act allows local boards of education to include family literacy programs in the "child at-risk in education programs" which utilize moneys already distributed to school districts by means of the state aid formula.

The act mandates that, starting in fiscal year 2005, a portion of the state school aid appropriation to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) shall be distributed by DESE to establish and fund family literacy programs in school attendance centers declared academically deficient or school districts declared unaccredited or provisionally accredited. This amount shall be the lesser of either:

5% percent of any increase from the total line 14 revenue compared to the total line 14 revenue amount distributed to all school districts in fiscal year 2004; or

1.5% percent of the total line 14 distribution.

DESE will promulgate rules for the distribution of these family literacy funds.

Additionally, the act requires the State Board of Education to make an annual report to the General Assembly and the Governor concerning coordination with other agencies and departments of government that support family literacy programs.

SECTION 160.518 - This section expresses that the state board of education shall identify one or more preexisting developmentally appropriate alternate assessments for students who receive special educational services. Students with disabilities who are not able to participate in the general assessment as determined by the student's individualized education program teams and who either function at an academic level at least four grade levels below that student's level on the general assessment based on the student's age or possess an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) between 50 and 70 shall be eligible to participate in the alternative standardized assessment. The primary skill area to be assessed by the alternative standardized assessment shall be independent living skills, which includes how effectively the student addresses common life demands and how well the student meets standards for personal independence expected for someone in the student's age group, sociocultural background, and community setting.

SECTION 168.400 - This section states that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall promulgate rules to allow all teacher education students who have been employed for at least two years as teacher assistants to utilize their teacher assistant experience to bypass the practice teaching evaluation and observation process. These rules shall allow the certified teacher working with the teacher assistant to observe and evaluate said teacher assistant's practice teaching.

SECTION 170.014 - This section prescribes that all public schools offer explicit systematic phonics instruction in grades kindergarten through three as a significant component of their reading program and also asserts that no teacher shall be certified (on and after July 1, 2005) to teach reading in public schools in grades kindergarten through three, either as a reading specialist or as a classroom teacher, unless that teacher has successfully completed instruction in explicit systematic phonics at the university or college level.

SECTION 1 - This section limits the ability of the state board of education and the department of elementary and secondary education to promulgate rules concerning the implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Many of the provisions contained in this act have been incorporated into the truly agreed to CCS/HCS/HB 1711 (2002).

Several of the provisions of this act are similar or identical to the SCS/HB 1817 (2002); SB 783 (2002); SB 1183 (2002); SB 1246 (2002) & SB 1256 (2002).

DONALD THALHUBER