SCS/SB 815 - This act modifies the duties of the State Board of Education.SECTION 160.514: The State Board of Education must convene work groups composed of education professionals whenever it develops, evaluates, modifies, or revises either academic performance standards or learning standards. This act creates a new selection process for individuals who serve on work groups to develop and recommend academic performance standards. Work groups will consist of fourteen members. This act removes the requirement that the majority of work group members be active classroom teachers.
Separate work groups must be convened for the subject areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. For each subject area, the State Board must convene two separate work groups, one for grades kindergarten through five and another for grades six through twelve. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives will each appoint two members of the Joint Committee on Education to the work groups, as described in the act. The State Board of Education will select the remaining members of the work groups from slates of names provided by the following organizations and persons: two individuals from names provided by a statewide association of parents and teachers; two teachers from names provided by professional teacher organizations of the state; one school administrator from names provided by a statewide association of school administrators; two local school board members from names provided by a statewide association of Missouri school boards; one education professional from names provided by the Commissioner of Higher Education; one education professional from names provided by the heads of state-approved baccalaureate-level teacher preparation programs located in Missouri; and one school principal from names provided by a statewide association of school principals. Teachers do not need to be members of a professional teacher organization to serve on a work group. Each work group member must be a Missouri resident for three years. Education professionals on the work groups must have either taught in the work group's subject area for ten years or have ten years of experience in that subject area. A person may serve on more than one work group.
The State Board must hold at least three public hearings whenever it develops, evaluates, modifies, or revises either academic performance standards or learning standards, as described in the act. The State Board must also solicit feedback and comments from the Joint Committee on Education and academic researchers. All comments must be made publicly available.
Local school districts and charter schools may adopt their own education standards, in addition to those already adopted by the state, provided any additional standards are in the public domain.
SECTION 160.516: This act prohibits the State Board of Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education from mandating the curriculum, textbooks, or other instructional materials used in the public schools. Each local school board is responsible for the approval and adoption of curriculum. However, this prohibition will not apply to any schools or programs administered by the State Board, the Department, or any district classified as unaccredited.
The State Board of Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education are prohibited from adopting and requiring local districts to use any of the appendices to the Common Core State Standards.
This act establishes the "Commission on Science Assessments." The Commission is responsible for adopting assessments in the area of science that will be incorporated into the statewide assessment system. Members are appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of five years.
SECTION 161.096: This act requires the State Board of Education to adopt a rule relating to student data accessibility, transparency, and accountability relating to the statewide longitudinal data system. The rule must include several requirements for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Department must create and make publicly available a data inventory and index of data elements with definitions of individual student data fields in the student data system, as described in the act. The Department must develop policies to comply with all relevant state and federal laws, including the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The policies must address access to personally identifiable student data in the statewide longitudinal data system. The Department must develop criteria for the approval of research and data requests from state and local agencies, researchers working on behalf of the Department, and the public.
The Department must not, unless otherwise authorized, transfer personally identifiable student data. The Department must develop a detailed data security plan, as described in the act, and ensure compliance with FERPA. The Department must ensure that any contracts that govern databases, assessments, or instructional supports that include student or redacted data and are outsourced to private vendors include provisions that safeguard privacy and security and include penalties for non-compliance, except to local service providers, as defined and described in the act. The Department must define quantifiable student performance data to only include performance on locally developed and locally approved assessments.
The Department must report to the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Joint Committee on Education of any new student data proposed for inclusion in the state student data system and any changes to existing data collections required for any reason.
The Department is prohibited from collecting, and school districts are prohibited from reporting the following individual student data: juvenile court delinquency records, criminal records, student biometric information, student political affiliation, and student religion.
SECTION 161.855: By October 1, 2014, the State Board of Education must convene work groups of education professionals to develop and recommend new academic performance standards or learning standards. The State Board of Education must convene separate work groups for the following subject areas: English language arts; mathematics; science; and social studies. For each subject area, the State Board must convene two work groups, one for grades kindergarten through five and one for grades six through twelve.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education must pilot assessments from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium during the 2014-2015 school year for each school district and charter school. For the 2014-2015 school year, the results of the statewide pilot will not be used for high stakes accountability or teacher evaluations or to lower any school district's accreditation.
The work groups must develop and recommend new academic performance standards that meet the needs of the students of the state to the State Board of Education by October 1, 2015. The work groups must report on their progress to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on a monthly basis.
The State Board of Education must adopt and implement new academic performance standards beginning in the 2016-2017 school year. The State Board must align the statewide assessment system to the new standards as needed within three years of adopting new academic performance standards.
Any person performing work for a district or charter school who is required to be certified under the teacher or administrator certification laws must be an employee of the district or charter school. Evaluations of certified teachers must be maintained in the teacher's personnel file and must not be shared with any state or federal agency.
This act is similar to the perfected version of HB 1490 (2014), HB 1157 (2014), and HB 1158 (2014).
MICHAEL RUFF