H435 [Edition 1]

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2013

H 1

HOUSE BILL 435

Short Title: School Performance Grades.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representatives Langdon, Johnson, Holloway, and Cotham (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:	Education.

March 27, 2013

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to provide for the CALCULATION of school performance Scores and grades by the state Board of Education.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1. Section 7A.3(e) of S.L. 2012-142 is repealed.

SECTION 2. Article 8 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Part to read:

"Part 1B. School Performance.

"§ 115C-83.11. School performance scores and grades.

(a) The State Board of Education shall award school performance scores, grades, and an indicator of student growth as required by G.S. 115C-12(9)c1., calculated as provided in this section.

(b) For schools serving students in any combination of grades third through eighth grade, the school performance grade shall be calculated based on the performance composite comprised of the following:

(1) Percent of students who score at or above proficient on annual assessments for reading assessments in grades three through eight.

(2) Percent of students who score at or above proficient on annual assessments for mathematics in grades three through eight.

(3) Percent of students who score at or above proficient on annual assessments for science in grades five and eight.

(4) Percent of proficient scores in Algebra I/Integrated I, English II, and Biology end-of-course tests.

(c) For schools serving students in any combination of grades ninth through twelfth grade, the school performance grade shall be the average of the following five indicators:

(1) Percent of proficient scores in Algebra I/Integrated I, English II, and Biology end-of-course tests.

(2) Percent of students who complete a higher level mathematics class with a passing grade.

(3) Percent of college readiness benchmarks met on a nationally normed test of college readiness.

(4) Percent of students who graduate within four years of entering high school.

(5) Percent of students who demonstrate workplace readiness on a nationally normed test of workplace readiness.

(d) The State Board of Education shall calculate school performance scores using the State mean to set the criteria for each indicator. Each indicator will be translated to a common scale and averaged for the reporting of one school performance letter grade for each school.

(e) For schools that meet or exceed growth as determined by the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS), the final letter grade shall be increased by one value.

(f) For schools serving students in third through eighth grade, their final letter grade shall be increased by one letter grade if the performance composite, comprising of the percent of proficient scores for reading, mathematics, and science, is at or above eighty percent (80%) for the current year and the two prior school years.

(g) For schools serving students in ninth through twelfth grade, their final letter grade shall be increased by one letter grade if the performance composite, comprising of the percent of proficient scores for Algebra I/Integrated I, English II, and Biology end-of-course tests, is at or above eighty percent (80%) for the current year and the two prior school years.(h) In calculating the overall school performance score earned by schools, the State Board of Education shall proportionally adjust the scale to account for the absence of a school performance element for award of scores to a school that does not have a measure of one of the school performance elements annually assessed for the grades taught at that school.

(i) The State Board of Education shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee annually by January 15 on any adjustments to the calculation and the distribution of the school performance grades."

SECTION 3. G.S. 115C-12(9)c1. reads as rewritten:

"c1. To issue an annual "report card" for the State and for each local school administrative unit, assessing each unit's efforts to improve student performance based on the growth in performance of the students in each school and taking into account progress over the previous years' level of performance and the State's performance in comparison with other states. This assessment shall take into account factors that have been shown to affect student performance and that the State Board considers relevant to assess the State's efforts to improve student performance. As a part of the annual "report card" for each local school administrative unit, the State Board shall ~~award~~award, in accordance with G.S. 115C-83.11, an overall numerical school performance score on a scale of zero to 100 and a corresponding letter grade of A, B, C, D, or F earned by each school within the local school administrative unit. The school performance score and grade shall reflect student performance on annual subject-specific assessments, college and workplace readiness measures, and graduation rates. For schools serving students in any grade from kindergarten to eighth grade, separate performance scores and grades shall also be awarded based on the school performance in reading and mathematics respectively. The annual "report card" for schools serving students in third grade also shall include the number and percentage of third grade students who (i) take and pass the alternative assessment of reading comprehension; (ii) were retained in third grade for not demonstrating reading proficiency as indicated in G.S. 115C-83.7(a); and (iii) were exempt from mandatory third grade retention by category of exemption as listed in G.S. 115C-83.7(b)."

SECTION 4. This section is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. The State Board of Education shall issue the first annual report cards under G.S. 115C-12(9)c1., as amended by this act, no earlier than August 1, 2014.