GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2017
H 2
HOUSE BILL 751
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/25/17
Short Title: Career and College Ready/High School Grads. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
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Referred to: |
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April 13, 2017
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require all students who receive a high school diploma endorsement to demonstrate a certain level of reading achievement and to require the SUPERINTENDENT of public instruction to study best practices to ensure students complete high school with the necessary literacy skills for career and college readiness.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C‑12(40) reads as rewritten:
"(40) To Establish High
School Diploma Endorsements. – The State Board of Education shall establish,
implement, and determine the impact of adding (i) college, (ii) career, and
(iii) college and career endorsements to high school diplomas to encourage
students to obtain requisite job skills necessary for that student to be successful
in a wide range of high‑quality careers and to reduce the need for
remedial education in institutions of higher education. These endorsements
shall reflect courses completed, overall grade point average, reading achievement,
and other criteria as developed by the State Board of Education. A student
shall only receive a high school diploma endorsement if that student receives on
a nationally norm‑referenced college admissions test for reading, either administered
under G.S. 115C‑174.11(c)(4) or as an alternative nationally norm‑referenced
college admissions test approved by the State Board, at least the benchmark
score established by the testing organization that represents the level of achievement required for
students to have approximately a fifty percent (50%) chance of obtaining a grade
B or higher or a seventy‑five percent (75%) chance of obtaining a grade C
or higher in a corresponding credit‑bearing first‑year college
course. A student may retake a nationally norm‑referenced test as many
times as necessary to achieve the required benchmark score for reading in order
to receive a high school diploma endorsement prior to the student's graduation.
The State Board of Education shall report
annually to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on (i) the
impact of awarding these endorsements on high school graduation, college
acceptance and remediation, and post‑high school employment rates.rates,
(ii) the number of students who had to retake a nationally norm‑referenced
college admissions test to meet the reading benchmark score required by this subdivision
to receive a high school diploma endorsement, and (iii) the number of students who
were not awarded a high school diploma endorsement solely because of the
inability to meet the benchmark score for reading as required by this
subdivision."
SECTION 2. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall study and make recommendations on best practices for public schools in the State to improve reading comprehension, understanding, and application for students in grades four through 12 to ensure that students complete high school with literacy skills necessary for career and college readiness. The study shall include recommendations on appropriate methods to monitor student progress and provide appropriate and timely remediation to students to ensure success on nationally norm‑referenced college admissions tests. The Superintendent may appoint an advisory group to assist and advise in this study that may include superintendents, principals, reading instructors, representatives from research institutions, and other individuals as determined by the Superintendent. The Superintendent may contract with an independent research organization from funds available to the Department of Public Instruction to assist in the study. The Superintendent shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the State Board of Education on the study, including any findings and recommendations, no later than January 15, 2019. The State Board of Education may use the findings and recommendations to inform the Board's policies and may submit additional comments on the report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than February 15, 2019.
SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with high school diploma endorsements awarded in the 2019‑2020 school year.