Repeals provisions relating to the statewide assessment system

EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 992
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR HENDERSON.
4437S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 135.714, 160.410, 160.518, 160.522, 160.526, 160.570, 160.720, 161.670,
161.855, 161.1085, 161.1090, 161.1100, 162.1300, 163.023, 167.905, 168.749, and
170.017, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof seventeen new sections relating to the
statewide assessment system, with an effective date.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 135.714, 160.410, 160.518, 160.522, 1
160.526, 160.570, 160.720, 161.670, 161.855, 161.1085, 2
161.1090, 161.1100, 162.1300, 163.023, 167.905, 168.749, and 3
170.017, RSMo, are repealed and seventeen new sections enacted 4
in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 135.714, 160.410, 5
160.518, 160.522, 160.526, 160.570, 160.720, 161.670, 161.855, 6
161.1085, 161.1090, 161.1100, 162.1300, 163.023, 167.905, 7
168.749, and 170.017, to read as follows:8
135.714. 1. Each educational assistance organization 1
shall: 2
(1) Notify the state treasurer of such organization's 3
intent to provide scholarship accounts to qualified students; 4
(2) Demonstrate to the state treasurer that such 5
organization is exempt from federal income tax under Section 6
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; 7
(3) Provide a state treasurer-approved receipt to 8
taxpayers for contributions made to the organization; 9
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(4) Ensure that grants are distributed to scholarship 10
accounts of qualified students in the following order: 11
(a) Qualified students who received a scholarship 12
grant in the previous school year; 13
(b) Qualified students who are siblings of qualified 14
students who will receive a scholarship grant in the current 15
school year; 16
(c) Qualified students that have an approved 17
"individualized education plan" (IEP) developed under the 18
federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 19
20 U.S.C. Section 1400, et seq., as amended, or who have 20
been diagnosed with dyslexia, as the term "dyslexia" is 21
defined in section 633.420; 22
(d) Qualified students who are eligible for free lunch 23
as approved by the department of elementary and secondary 24
education in accordance with federal regulations and who 25
reside in an unaccredited or provisionally accredited school 26
district; 27
(e) Qualified students who are eligible for reduced 28
price lunch as approved by the department of elementary and 29
secondary education in accordance with federal regulations 30
and who reside in an unaccredited or provisionally 31
accredited school district; 32
(f) Qualified students who are eligible for free lunch 33
as approved by the department of elementary and secondary 34
education in accordance with federal regulations; 35
(g) Qualified students who are eligible for reduced 36
price lunch as approved by the department of elementary and 37
secondary education in accordance with federal regulations; 38
(h) Qualified students who are active duty military 39
dependents who have relocated to Missouri and are enrolling 40
in a school in the state for the first time; and 41
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(i) All other qualified students; 42
(5) Ensure that: 43
(a) One hundred percent of such organization's 44
revenues from interest or investments is spent on 45
scholarship accounts; 46
(b) At least ninety percent of such organization's 47
revenues from qualifying contributions is spent on 48
scholarship accounts; and 49
(c) Marketing and administrative expenses do not 50
exceed the following limits of such organization's remaining 51
revenue from contributions: 52
a. Ten percent for the first two hundred fifty 53
thousand dollars; 54
b. Eight percent for the next five hundred thousand 55
dollars; and 56
c. Three percent thereafter; 57
(6) (a) Distribute scholarship account payments 58
either four times per year or in a single lump sum at the 59
beginning of the year as requested by the parent of a 60
qualified student, based on the state adequacy target as 61
defined in section 163.011 and calculated by the department 62
of elementary and secondary education, subject to the 63
following total grant amount limits: 64
a. For a qualified student who meets the criteria to 65
be included in a school district's limited English 66
proficiency pupil count as set forth in subdivision (8) of 67
section 163.011, not more than one hundred sixty percent of 68
the state adequacy target; 69
b. For a qualified student who is eligible for free or 70
reduced price lunch as approved by the department of 71
elementary and secondary education in accordance with 72
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federal regulations, not more than one hundred twenty-five 73
percent of the state adequacy target; 74
c. For a qualified student who has an approved 75
individualized education plan developed under the federal 76
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 77
U.S.C. Section 1400, et seq., as amended, not more than one 78
hundred seventy-five percent of the state adequacy target; 79
and 80
d. For all other qualified students, not more than the 81
state adequacy target; 82
(b) Scholarship account payments distributed under 83
this subdivision shall be in the form of a deposit into the 84
scholarship account of the qualified student; 85
(7) Provide the state treasurer, upon request, with 86
criminal background checks on all such organization's 87
employees and board members and exclude from employment or 88
governance any individual who might reasonably pose a risk 89
to the appropriate use of contributed funds; 90
(8) Demonstrate such organization's financial 91
accountability by: 92
(a) Submitting to the state treasurer annual audit 93
financial statements by a certified public accountant within 94
six months of the end of the educational assistance 95
organization's fiscal year; and 96
(b) Having an auditor certify that the report is free 97
of material misstatements; and 98
(9) Ensure that participating students take [the state 99
achievement tests or] nationally norm-referenced tests that 100
measure learning gains in math and English language arts[, 101
and provide for value-added assessment, in grades that 102
require testing under the statewide assessment system set 103
forth in section 160.518]; 104
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(10) Allow costs of the testing requirements to be 105
covered by the scholarships distributed by the educational 106
assistance organization; 107
(11) Provide the parents of each student who was 108
tested with a copy of the results of the tests on an annual 109
basis, beginning with the first year of testing; 110
(12) Provide the test results to the state treasurer, 111
the department of elementary and secondary education, and 112
the board established in section 135.715 on an annual basis, 113
beginning with the first year of testing; 114
(13) Report student information that would allow the 115
state treasurer, the department of elementary and secondary 116
education, and the board established in section 135.715 to 117
aggregate data by grade level, gender, family income level, 118
and race; 119
(14) Provide rates of high school graduation, college 120
attendance, and college graduation for participating 121
students to the state treasurer, the department of 122
elementary and secondary education, and the board 123
established in section 135.715 in a manner consistent with 124
nationally recognized standards; 125
(15) Provide to the state treasurer, the department of 126
elementary and secondary education, and the board 127
established in section 135.715 the results from an annual 128
parental satisfaction survey, including information about 129
the number of years that the parent's child has participated 130
in the scholarship program. The annual satisfaction survey 131
shall ask parents of scholarship students to express: 132
(a) Their level of satisfaction with the child's 133
academic achievement, including academic achievement at the 134
schools the child attends through the scholarship program 135
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versus academic achievement at the school previously 136
attended; 137
(b) Their level of satisfaction with school safety at 138
the schools the child attends through the scholarship 139
program versus safety at the schools previously attended; 140
(16) Demonstrate such organization's financial 141
viability, if such organization is to receive donations of 142
fifty thousand dollars or more during the school year, by 143
filing with the state treasurer before the start of the 144
school year a surety bond payable to the state in an amount 145
equal to the aggregate amount of contributions expected to 146
be received during the school year or other financial 147
information that demonstrates the financial viability of the 148
educational assistance organization. 149
2. The annual audit required under this section shall 150
include: 151
(1) The name and address of the educational assistance 152
organization; 153
(2) The name and address of each qualified student for 154
whom a parent opened a scholarship account with the 155
organization; 156
(3) The total number and total dollar amount of 157
contributions received during the previous calendar year; and 158
(4) The total number and total dollar amount of 159
scholarship accounts opened during the previous calendar 160
year. 161
3. The state treasurer shall: 162
(1) Ensure compliance with all student privacy laws 163
for data in the state treasurer's possession; 164
(2) Collect all test results; 165
(3) Provide the test results and associated learning 166
gains to the public via a state website after the third year 167
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of test and test-related data collection. The findings 168
shall be aggregated by the students' grade level, gender, 169
family income level, number of years of participation in the 170
scholarship program, and race; and 171
(4) Provide graduation rates to the public via a state 172
website after the third year of test and test-related data 173
collection. 174
4. The state treasurer shall cause the following 175
information to be posted on the state treasurer's website 176
annually, provided that no personally identifiable 177
information of any student is released: 178
(1) The number of students who have been awarded a 179
scholarship to date and the number of students who have been 180
awarded a scholarship in the current school year; 181
(2) The number of scholarship recipients enrolled in 182
each qualified school, along with the number of recipients 183
who qualify for free and reduced price lunch and the number 184
of recipients who receive special education services and the 185
type of special education services received. Such 186
information shall be broken down by school year and the 187
total to date; 188
(3) The total number of scholarship recipients who are 189
eligible for free and reduced price lunch as approved by the 190
department of elementary and secondary education in 191
accordance with federal guidelines, broken down by school 192
year and the total to date; 193
(4) The total number of scholarship recipients who 194
have an individualized education plan (IEP) developed under 195
the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 196
U.S.C. Section 1400, et seq., as amended, broken down by 197
school year and the total to date; 198
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(5) The number of scholarship recipients who have 199
received a grant from each educational assistance 200
organization, broken down by school year and the total to 201
date; 202
(6) The student test scores required to be posted 203
online pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection 3 of this 204
section; 205
(7) The results of the parent satisfaction survey 206
required annually pursuant to subdivision (15) of subsection 207
1 of this section; 208
(8) The average dollar amount of a scholarship grant 209
for all students who participate in the program; 210
(9) The average dollar amount of a scholarship grant 211
for all students who participate in the program and who have 212
an IEP; 213
(10) The average duration of a student's participation 214
in the program; 215
(11) The number of students who are in their first 216
year of participation in the program; 217
(12) A list of the educational assistance 218
organizations that make contributions to the empowerment 219
scholarship accounts of students enrolled in each qualified 220
school; and 221
(13) The total amount of money that has been remitted 222
from qualified students' empowerment scholarship accounts to 223
each qualified school, broken down by school year and the 224
total aggregate amount. 225
5. An educational assistance organization may contract 226
with private financial management firms to manage 227
scholarship accounts with the supervision of the state 228
treasurer, provided that all laws and regulations that apply 229
to employees of such educational assistance organization 230
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shall also apply to the actions of any employees of the 231
management firm while they are conducting work relating to 232
the direct decision-making of the operation of such 233
educational assistance organization. 234
160.410. 1. A charter school shall enroll: 1
(1) All pupils resident in the district in which it 2
operates; 3
(2) Nonresident pupils eligible to attend a district's 4
school under an urban voluntary transfer program; 5
(3) Nonresident pupils who transfer from an 6
unaccredited district under section 167.895, provided that 7
the charter school is an approved charter school, as defined 8
in section 167.895, and subject to all other provisions of 9
section 167.895; 10
(4) In the case of a charter school whose mission 11
includes student drop-out prevention or recovery, any 12
nonresident pupil from the same or an adjacent county who 13
resides in a residential care facility, a transitional 14
living group home, or an independent living program whose 15
last school of enrollment is in the school district where 16
the charter school is established, who submits a timely 17
application; and 18
(5) In the case of a workplace charter school, any 19
student eligible to attend under subdivision (1) or (2) of 20
this subsection whose parent is employed in the business 21
district, who submits a timely application, unless the 22
number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, 23
class, grade level or building. The configuration of a 24
business district shall be set forth in the charter and 25
shall not be construed to create an undue advantage for a 26
single employer or small number of employers. 27
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2. If capacity is insufficient to enroll all pupils 28
who submit a timely application, the charter school shall 29
have an admissions process that assures all applicants of an 30
equal chance of gaining admission and does not discriminate 31
based on parents' ability to pay fees or tuition except that: 32
(1) A charter school may establish a geographical area 33
around the school whose residents will receive a preference 34
for enrolling in the school, provided that such preferences 35
do not result in the establishment of racially or 36
socioeconomically isolated schools and provided such 37
preferences conform to policies and guidelines established 38
by the state board of education; 39
(2) A charter school may also give a preference for 40
admission of children whose siblings attend the school or 41
whose parents are employed at the school or in the case of a 42
workplace charter school, a child whose parent is employed 43
in the business district or at the business site of such 44
school; 45
(3) Charter schools may also give a preference for 46
admission to high-risk students, as defined in subdivision 47
(5) of subsection 2 of section 160.405, when the school 48
targets these students through its proposed mission, 49
curriculum, teaching methods, and services; 50
(4) A charter school may also give a preference for 51
admission to students who will be eligible for the free and 52
reduced price lunch program in the upcoming school year. 53
3. A charter school shall not limit admission based on 54
race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, income level, 55
except as allowed under subdivision (4) of subsection 2 of 56
this section, proficiency in the English language or 57
athletic ability, but may limit admission to pupils within a 58
given age group or grade level. Charter schools may limit 59
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admission based on gender only when the school is a single- 60
gender school. Students of a charter school who have been 61
enrolled for a full academic year shall be counted in the 62
performance of the charter school on [the statewide 63
assessments] nationally norm-referenced assessments in that 64
calendar year, unless otherwise exempted as English language 65
learners. [For purposes of this subsection, "full academic 66
year" means the last Wednesday in September through the 67
administration of the Missouri assessment program test 68
without transferring out of the school and re-enrolling.] 69
4. A charter school shall make available for public 70
inspection, and provide upon request, to the parent, 71
guardian, or other custodian of any school-age pupil 72
resident in the district in which the school is located the 73
following information: 74
(1) The school's charter; 75
(2) The school's most recent annual report card 76
published according to section 160.522; 77
(3) The results of background checks on the charter 78
school's board members; and 79
(4) If a charter school is operated by a management 80
company, a copy of the written contract between the 81
governing board of the charter school and the educational 82
management organization or the charter management 83
organization for services. The charter school may charge 84
reasonable fees, not to exceed the rate specified in section 85
610.026 for furnishing copies of documents under this 86
subsection. 87
5. When a student attending a charter school who is a 88
resident of the school district in which the charter school 89
is located moves out of the boundaries of such school 90
district, the student may complete the current semester and 91
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shall be considered a resident student. The student's 92
parent or legal guardian shall be responsible for the 93
student's transportation to and from the charter school. 94
6. If a change in school district boundary lines 95
occurs under section 162.223, 162.431, 162.441, or 162.451, 96
or by action of the state board of education under section 97
162.081, including attachment of a school district's 98
territory to another district or dissolution, such that a 99
student attending a charter school prior to such change no 100
longer resides in a school district in which the charter 101
school is located, then the student may complete the current 102
academic year at the charter school. The student shall be 103
considered a resident student. The student's parent or 104
legal guardian shall be responsible for the student's 105
transportation to and from the charter school. 106
7. The provisions of sections 167.018 and 167.019 107
concerning foster children's educational rights are 108
applicable to charter schools. 109
160.518. 1. (1) Consistent with the provisions 1
contained in section 160.526, the state board of education 2
shall [develop, modify, and revise, as necessary, a 3
statewide assessment system that provides maximum 4
flexibility for local school districts to] ensure that local 5
school districts test students' academic achievement using 6
nationally norm-referenced assessments that determine the 7
degree to which students in the public schools of the state 8
are proficient in the knowledge, skills, and competencies 9
adopted by such board pursuant to section 160.514. 10
(2) (a) [The statewide assessment system] Such 11
nationally norm-referenced assessments shall assess problem 12
solving, analytical ability, evaluation, creativity, and 13
application ability in the different content areas and shall 14
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be performance-based to identify what students know, as well 15
as what they are able to do, and shall enable teachers to 16
evaluate actual academic performance. 17
(b) The [statewide assessment system] nationally norm- 18
referenced assessments shall neither promote nor prohibit 19
rote memorization and shall not include existing versions of 20
tests approved for use pursuant to the provisions of section 21
160.257, nor enhanced versions of such tests. 22
(3) [After the state board of education adopts and 23
implements academic performance standards as required under 24
section 161.855, the state board of education shall develop 25
and adopt a standardized assessment instrument under this 26
section based on the academic performance standards adopted 27
under section 161.855. 28
(4)] The [statewide assessment system] nationally norm- 29
referenced assessments shall measure, where appropriate by 30
grade level, a student's knowledge of academic subjects 31
including, but not limited to, reading skills, writing 32
skills, mathematics skills, world and American history, 33
forms of government, geography and science. 34
2. [The statewide assessment system shall only permit 35
the academic performance of students in each school in the 36
state to be tracked against prior academic performance in 37
the same school. 38
3. (1) The state board of education shall suggest, 39
but not mandate, criteria for a school to demonstrate that 40
its students learn the knowledge, skills and competencies at 41
exemplary levels worthy of imitation by students in other 42
schools in the state and nation. 43
(2) Exemplary levels shall be measured by the 44
statewide assessment system developed pursuant to subsection 45
1 of this section, or until said statewide assessment system 46
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is available, by indicators approved for such use by the 47
state board of education. 48
(3) The provisions of other law to the contrary 49
notwithstanding, the commissioner of education may, upon 50
request of the school district, present a plan for the 51
waiver of rules and regulations to any such school, to be 52
known as "Outstanding Schools Waivers", consistent with the 53
provisions of subsection 4 of this section. 54
4. (1) For any school that meets the criteria 55
established by the state board of education for three 56
successive school years pursuant to the provisions of 57
subsection 3 of this section, by August first following the 58
third such school year, the commissioner of education shall 59
present a plan to the superintendent of the school district 60
in which such school is located for the waiver of rules and 61
regulations to promote flexibility in the operations of the 62
school and to enhance and encourage efficiency in the 63
delivery of instructional services. 64
(2) The provisions of other law to the contrary 65
notwithstanding, the plan presented to the superintendent 66
shall provide a summary waiver, with no conditions, for the 67
pupil testing requirements pursuant to section 160.257, in 68
the school. 69
(3) Further, the provisions of other law to the 70
contrary notwithstanding, the plan shall detail a means for 71
the waiver of requirements otherwise imposed on the school 72
related to the authority of the state board of education to 73
classify school districts pursuant to subdivision (9) of 74
section 161.092 and such other rules and regulations as 75
determined by the commissioner of education, excepting such 76
waivers shall be confined to the school and not other 77
schools in the district unless such other schools meet the 78
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criteria established by the state board of education 79
consistent with subsection 3 of this section and the waivers 80
shall not include the requirements contained in this section 81
and section 160.514. 82
(4) Any waiver provided to any school as outlined in 83
this subsection shall be void on June thirtieth of any 84
school year in which the school fails to meet the criteria 85
established by the state board of education consistent with 86
subsection 3 of this section. 87
5.] The score on any assessment test [developed] 88
conducted pursuant to this section or this chapter of any 89
student for whom English is a second language shall not be 90
counted until such time as such student has been educated 91
for three full school years in a school in this state, or in 92
any other state, in which English is the primary language. 93
[6.] 3. (1) (a) The state board of education shall 94
identify or, if necessary, establish one or more 95
developmentally appropriate alternate assessments for 96
students who receive special educational services, as that 97
term is defined pursuant to section 162.675. 98
(b) In the development of such alternate assessments, 99
the state board shall establish an advisory panel consisting 100
of a majority of active special education teachers residing 101
in Missouri and other education professionals as appropriate 102
to research available assessment options. 103
(c) The advisory panel shall attempt to identify 104
preexisting developmentally appropriate alternate 105
assessments but shall, if necessary, develop alternate 106
assessments and recommend one or more alternate assessments 107
for adoption by the state board. 108
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(d) The state board shall consider the recommendations 109
of the advisory council in identifying or, if necessary, 110
establishing such alternate assessment or assessments. 111
(2) Any student who receives special educational 112
services, as that term is defined pursuant to section 113
162.675, shall be assessed by an alternate assessment 114
established pursuant to this subsection upon a determination 115
by the student's individualized education program team that 116
such alternate assessment is more appropriate to assess the 117
student's knowledge, skills and competencies than the 118
assessment developed pursuant to subsection 1 of this 119
section. 120
(3) The alternate assessment shall evaluate the 121
student's independent living skills, which include how 122
effectively the student addresses common life demands and 123
how well the student meets standards for personal 124
independence expected for someone in the student's age 125
group, sociocultural background, and community setting. 126
[7.] 4. The state board of education shall also 127
develop recommendations regarding alternate assessments for 128
any military dependent who relocates to Missouri after the 129
commencement of a school term, in order to accommodate such 130
student while ensuring that he or she is proficient in the 131
knowledge, skills, and competencies adopted under section 132
160.514. 133
[8.] 5. (1) As used in this subsection, the following 134
terms mean: 135
(a) "Department", the department of elementary and 136
secondary education; 137
(b) "Grade-level equivalence", a metric developed for 138
grades three to eight and used by the department to show a 139
student's proximity to doing grade-level work; 140
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(c) "Parent", a parent, guardian, custodian, or other 141
person with authority to act on behalf of a student. 142
(2) Grade-level equivalence, as developed and used 143
under this subsection, shall consist of a student's 144
knowledge of academic subjects by grade level and 145
performance-level descriptors indicating whether such 146
student is ready for the next grade or level of education. 147
Such performance-level descriptors shall consist of the 148
following: 149
(a) Advanced, which shall indicate that such student: 150
a. Demonstrates superior performance on challenging 151
grade-level subject matter; 152
b. Is above such student's current grade or level of 153
education; and 154
c. Is ready for, at a minimum, the next grade or level 155
of education; 156
(b) Proficient, which shall indicate that such student: 157
a. Demonstrates mastery over all appropriate grade- 158
level standards and has introductory-level knowledge for the 159
next grade or level of education; 160
b. May be above such student's current grade or level 161
of education in some areas; and 162
c. Is ready for the next grade or level of education; 163
(c) Grade level, which shall indicate that such 164
student: 165
a. Demonstrates mastery over appropriate grade-level 166
subject matter; 167
b. Is at such student's current grade or level of 168
education; and 169
c. May be ready, with appropriate reinforcement, for 170
the next grade or level of education; 171
(d) Basic, which shall indicate that such student: 172
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a. Demonstrates partial mastery of the essential 173
knowledge and skills appropriate to such student's grade or 174
level of education; 175
b. May not be at such student's current grade or level 176
of education; and 177
c. May not be ready, without appropriate remediation, 178
for the next grade or level of education; and 179
(e) Below basic, which shall indicate that such 180
student: 181
a. Has failed to perform, at a minimum, at the limited 182
knowledge level necessary for such student's grade or level 183
of education; 184
b. Is not at such student's current grade or level of 185
education; and 186
c. Has been determined to be at the specific lower 187
grade or level of education measured by and listed in such 188
student's [statewide] nationally norm-referenced assessment 189
score. 190
(3) (a) Such grade-level equivalence shall be 191
determined at the same time each student's academic 192
performance is measured by the [statewide assessment system 193
developed] nationally norm-referenced assessment conducted 194
under this section. 195
(b) Such grade-level equivalence shall be provided at 196
the same time such student's [statewide] nationally norm- 197
referenced assessment score is reported to such student or 198
such student's parent. 199
(4) (a) Data related to grade-level equivalence shall 200
be searchable on a building-by-building, school-by-school, 201
district-by-district, and statewide basis on the 202
department's school accountability report card developed 203
under section 160.522. 204
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(b) Data related to grade-level equivalence shall 205
display the percentage of students whose performance-level 206
descriptor is grade level or above on a building-by- 207
building, school-by-school, district-by-district, and 208
statewide basis. 209
(c) No data related to grade-level equivalence shall 210
be disclosed in any form that allows the personal 211
identification of any student to any individual or entity 212
except such student or such student's parent. 213
(5) The provisions of subsection 2 of section 160.514 214
shall not apply to the development of the grade-level 215
equivalence metric. 216
(6) The department may choose a third-party nonprofit 217
entity to develop the grade-level equivalence metric. 218
160.522. 1. The department of elementary and 1
secondary education shall produce or cause to be produced, 2
at least annually, a school accountability report card for 3
each public school district, each public school building in 4
a school district, and each charter school in the state. 5
The report card shall be designed to satisfy state and 6
federal requirements for the disclosure of statistics about 7
students, staff, finances, academic achievement, and other 8
indicators. The purpose of the report card shall be to 9
provide educational statistics and accountability 10
information for parents, taxpayers, school personnel, 11
legislators, and the print and broadcast news media in a 12
standardized, easily accessible form. 13
2. (1) The department of elementary and secondary 14
education shall develop a standard form for the school 15
accountability report card. 16
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(2) The information reported shall include, but not be 17
limited to, the following information reported by each 18
school district or charter school: 19
(a) The most recent accreditation rating; 20
(b) Enrollment; 21
(c) Rates of pupil attendance; 22
(d) High school dropout rate and graduation rate; 23
(e) The number and rate of suspensions of ten days or 24
longer and expulsions of pupils; 25
(f) The district or charter school ratio of students 26
to administrators and students to classroom teachers; 27
(g) The average years of experience of professional 28
staff and advanced degrees earned; 29
(h) Student achievement and grade-level equivalence 30
data as measured through the [statewide assessment system 31
developed] nationally norm-referenced assessments conducted 32
pursuant to section 160.518; 33
(i) Student scores on the ACT, along with the 34
percentage of graduates taking the test; 35
(j) Average teachers' and administrators' salaries 36
compared to the state averages; 37
(k) Average per-pupil current expenditures for the 38
district or charter school as a whole and by attendance 39
center as reported to the department of elementary and 40
secondary education; 41
(l) The adjusted tax rate of the district or charter 42
school; 43
(m) The assessed valuation of the district; 44
(n) The percentage of the district or charter school 45
operating budget received from state, federal, and local 46
sources; 47
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(o) The percentage of students eligible for free or 48
reduced-price lunch; 49
(p) Data on the percentage of students continuing 50
their education in postsecondary programs; 51
(q) Information about the job placement rate for 52
students who complete district or charter school vocational 53
education programs; 54
(r) Whether the school district or charter school 55
currently has a state-approved gifted education program; and 56
(s) The percentage and number of students who are 57
currently being served in the district's or charter school's 58
state-approved gifted education program. 59
3. The report card shall permit the disclosure of data 60
on a school-by-school basis, but the reporting shall not be 61
personally identifiable to any student or education 62
professional in the state. 63
4. The report card shall identify each school or 64
attendance center that has been identified as a priority 65
school under sections 160.720 and 161.092. The report also 66
shall identify attendance centers that have been categorized 67
under federal law as needing improvement or requiring 68
specific school improvement strategies. 69
5. The report card shall not limit or discourage other 70
methods of public reporting and accountability by local 71
school districts. Districts shall provide information 72
included in the report card to parents, community members, 73
the print and broadcast news media, and legislators by 74
December first annually or as soon thereafter as the 75
information is available to the district, giving preference 76
to methods that incorporate the reporting into substantive 77
official communications such as student report cards. The 78
school district shall provide a printed copy of the district- 79
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level or school-level report card to any patron upon request 80
and shall make reasonable efforts to supply businesses such 81
as, but not limited to, real estate and employment firms 82
with copies or other information about the reports so that 83
parents and businesses from outside the district who may be 84
contemplating relocation have access. 85
6. For purposes of completing and distributing the 86
annual report card as prescribed in this section, a school 87
district may include the data from a charter school located 88
within such school district, provided the local board of 89
education or special administrative board for such district 90
and the charter school reach mutual agreement for the 91
inclusion of the data from the charter school and the terms 92
of such agreement are approved by the state board of 93
education. The charter school shall not be required to be a 94
part of the local educational agency of such school district 95
and may maintain a separate local educational agency status. 96
160.526. 1. In establishing, evaluating, modifying, 1
and revising the academic performance standards and learning 2
standards authorized by section 160.514 [and the statewide 3
assessment system authorized by subsection 1 of section 4
160.518], the state board of education shall consider the 5
work that has been done by other states, recognized regional 6
and national experts, professional education discipline- 7
based associations, other professional education 8
associations, the work product from the department of higher 9
education and workforce development's curriculum alignment 10
initiative, or any other work in the public domain. 11
2. [The state board of education shall by contract 12
enlist the assistance of such national experts to receive 13
reports, advice and counsel on a regular basis pertaining to 14
the validity and reliability of the statewide assessment 15
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system. The reports from such experts shall be received by 16
the state board of education. Within six months prior to 17
implementation of or modification or revision to the 18
statewide assessment system, the commissioner of education 19
shall inform the president pro tempore of the senate and the 20
speaker of the house of representatives about the procedures 21
to implement, modify, or revise the statewide assessment 22
system, including a report related to the reliability and 23
validity of the assessment instruments, and the general 24
assembly may, within the next sixty legislative days, veto 25
such implementation, modification, or revision by concurrent 26
resolution adopted by majority vote of both the senate and 27
the house of representatives. 28
3.] The commissioner of education shall establish a 29
procedure for the state board of education to regularly 30
receive advice and counsel from professional educators at 31
all levels in the state, district boards of education, 32
parents, representatives from business and industry, the 33
general assembly, and labor and community leaders pertaining 34
to the implementation of sections 160.514 and 160.518. By 35
December 31, 2014, the commissioner of education shall 36
revise this procedure to allow the state board of education 37
to regularly receive advice and counsel from professional 38
educators at all levels in the state, district boards of 39
education, parents, representatives from business and 40
industry, the general assembly, and labor and community 41
leaders whenever the state board develops, evaluates, 42
modifies, or revises academic performance standards[,] or 43
learning standards[, or the statewide assessment system] 44
under [sections] section 160.514 [and 160.518]. The 45
procedure shall include, at a minimum, the appointment of ad 46
hoc committees. 47
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160.570. 1. Nothing in this section or section 1
105.1209 shall be construed to affect or limit any state 2
agency's authority regarding professional registration, 3
licensing or issuance of professional certificates, nor 4
shall this section be construed to limit or affect the 5
authority of the state board of education to examine 6
applicants and issue high school equivalency certificates. 7
2. The school board of each school district shall 8
establish a written policy on student participation in 9
[statewide] nationally norm-referenced assessments. The 10
policy shall be provided to each student and the parent, 11
guardian or other person responsible for every student under 12
eighteen years of age at the beginning of each school year 13
and a copy of the policy shall be maintained in the district 14
office and shall be available for viewing by the public 15
during business hours of the district office. A school 16
board may establish a policy designed to encourage students 17
to give their best efforts on each portion of any 18
[statewide] nationally norm-referenced assessment 19
established pursuant to section 160.518 which may include 20
but is not limited to incentives or supplementary work as a 21
consequence of performance. 22
3. In no case shall the state board of education or 23
any other state agency establish any single test or group of 24
tests as a condition or requirement for high school 25
graduation or as a requirement for a state-approved diploma. 26
160.720. 1. The department of elementary and 1
secondary education shall identify as a priority school any 2
school building or attendance center that fails to meet 3
acceptable standards of student achievement established by 4
the state board of education and based upon factors which 5
shall include, but not be limited to, student assessments, 6
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graduation rate, drop-out rate, school attendance rate, 7
graduate placement in college, vocational or technical 8
school, or high-wage employment and incidence of school 9
violence. 10
2. The board of education of any district that 11
contains a priority school shall submit a comprehensive 12
school improvement plan that provides for the following: 13
(1) Identification of the areas of academic deficiency 14
in student performance on the [statewide] nationally norm- 15
referenced assessment [established] conducted pursuant to 16
section 160.518 by disaggregating scores based upon school, 17
grade, academic content area and student demographic 18
subgroups, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, 19
race, ethnicity, disability status, migrant status, limited 20
English proficiency, and economic disadvantage; 21
(2) Implementation of research-based strategies to 22
assist the priority school in addressing the areas of 23
deficiency; 24
(3) Alignment of the priority school's curriculum to 25
address deficiencies in student achievement; 26
(4) Reallocation of district resources to address the 27
areas of academic deficiency, which shall include focusing 28
available funding on professional development in the areas 29
of deficiency; and 30
(5) Listing of all school buildings and attendance 31
centers declared to be priority schools in the district's 32
annual school accountability report distributed pursuant to 33
section 160.522. 34
3. The state board of education may appoint a team to 35
conduct an educational audit of any priority school to 36
determine the factors that have contributed to the lack of 37
student achievement and shall give audit priority to schools 38
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based upon failure to meet standards of student achievement 39
as established pursuant to this section. 40
(1) An audit team shall include an experienced teacher 41
and an experienced administrator from successful school 42
districts of comparable size and per-pupil funding. The 43
size of the audit team shall be based upon the size of the 44
school to be audited; 45
(2) The audit team shall report its findings to the 46
state board of education and the local board of education; 47
(3) The state board may require all or part of those 48
findings to be addressed in the comprehensive school 49
improvement plan required pursuant to this section. 50
4. Comprehensive school improvement plans shall be 51
evaluated based upon standards established pursuant to 52
subsection 2 of this section and upon the following time 53
lines: 54
(1) The comprehensive school improvement plan shall be 55
submitted to the department of elementary and secondary 56
education on or before August fifteenth following any school 57
year in which a school district building meets the criteria 58
established under subsection 1 of this section; 59
(2) The department of elementary and secondary 60
education shall review and identify areas of concern in the 61
plan within sixty days of receipt; and 62
(3) Changes to the plan shall be forwarded to the 63
department of elementary and secondary education within 64
sixty days of notice to the district of the areas of concern. 65
5. The department of elementary and secondary 66
education shall withhold funds authorized in section 163.031 67
from any school district that fails to submit a 68
comprehensive school improvement plan based upon the 69
standards and time lines established in this section. 70
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Withheld funds shall be released upon submission of a 71
comprehensive school improvement plan that meets the 72
established requirements. 73
6. Designation as a priority school and the 74
effectiveness of the school district in implementing the 75
comprehensive school improvement plan required under this 76
section shall be considered by the state board of education 77
in the school district's accreditation granted pursuant to 78
section 161.092. 79
7. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under this 80
section shall become effective unless it has been 81
promulgated pursuant to chapter 536. 82
161.670. 1. Notwithstanding any other law, prior to 1
July 1, 2007, the state board of education shall establish 2
the "Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program" to 3
serve school-age students residing in the state. The 4
Missouri course access and virtual school program shall 5
offer nonclassroom-based instruction in a virtual setting 6
using technology, intranet, or internet methods of 7
communication. Any student under the age of twenty-one in 8
grades kindergarten through twelve who resides in this state 9
shall be eligible to enroll in the Missouri course access 10
and virtual school program pursuant to subsection 3 of this 11
section. 12
2. (1) For purposes of calculation and distribution 13
of state school aid, students enrolled in the Missouri 14
course access and virtual school program shall be included 15
in the student enrollment of the school district in which 16
the student is enrolled under the relevant provisions of 17
subsection 3 of this section for such enrollment. Student 18
attendance for full-time virtual program students shall only 19
be included in any district pupil attendance calculation 20
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under chapter 163 using current-year pupil attendance for 21
such full-time virtual program pupils. For the purpose of 22
calculating average daily attendance in full-time virtual 23
programs under this section, average daily attendance shall 24
be defined as the quotient or the sum of the quotients 25
obtained by dividing the total number of hours attended in a 26
term by enrolled pupils between the ages of five and twenty- 27
one by the actual number of hours that the program was in 28
session in that term, and the provisions of section 162.1250 29
shall not apply to such funding calculation. Such 30
calculation shall be generated by the virtual provider and 31
provided to the host district for submission to the 32
department of elementary and secondary education. Such 33
students may complete their instructional activities, as 34
defined in subsection 4 of this section, during any hour of 35
the day and during any day of the week. The hours attended 36
for each enrolled pupil shall be documented by the pupil's 37
weekly progress in the educational program according to a 38
process determined by the virtual program and published 39
annually in the virtual program's enrollment handbook or 40
policy. To the average daily attendance of the following 41
school term shall be added the full-time equivalent average 42
daily attendance of summer school students. In the case of 43
a host school district enrolling one or more full-time 44
virtual school students, such enrolling district shall, as 45
part of its monthly state allocation, receive no less under 46
the state aid calculation for such students than an amount 47
equal to the state adequacy target multiplied by the 48
weighted average daily attendance of such full-time 49
students. Students residing in Missouri and enrolled in a 50
full-time virtual school program operated by a public 51
institution of higher education in this state shall be 52
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counted for a state aid calculation by the department, and 53
the department shall pay, from funds dedicated to state 54
school aid payments made under section 163.031, to such 55
institution an amount equal to the state adequacy target 56
multiplied by the weighted average daily attendance of such 57
full-time students. 58
(2) The Missouri course access and virtual school 59
program shall report to the district of residence the 60
following information about each student served by the 61
Missouri course access and virtual school program: name, 62
address, eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, 63
limited English proficiency status, special education needs, 64
and the number of courses in which the student is enrolled. 65
The Missouri course access and virtual school program shall 66
promptly notify the resident district when a student 67
discontinues enrollment. A "full-time equivalent student" 68
is a student who is enrolled in the instructional equivalent 69
of six credits per regular term. Each Missouri course 70
access and virtual school program course shall count as one 71
class and shall generate that portion of a full-time 72
equivalent that a comparable course offered by the school 73
district would generate. 74
(3) Pursuant to an education services plan and 75
collaborative agreement under subsection 3 of this section, 76
full-time equivalent students may be allowed to use a 77
physical location of the resident school district for all or 78
some portion of ongoing instructional activity, and the 79
enrollment plan shall provide for reimbursement of costs of 80
the resident district for providing such access pursuant to 81
rules promulgated under this section by the department. 82
(4) In no case shall more than the full-time 83
equivalency of a regular term of attendance for a single 84
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student be used to claim state aid. Full-time equivalent 85
student credit completed shall be reported to the department 86
of elementary and secondary education in the manner 87
prescribed by the department. Nothing in this section shall 88
prohibit students from enrolling in additional courses under 89
a separate agreement that includes terms for paying tuition 90
or course fees. 91
(5) A full-time virtual school program serving full- 92
time equivalent students shall be considered an attendance 93
center in the host school district and shall participate in 94
the [statewide assessment system] nationally norm-referenced 95
assessments as defined in section 160.518. The academic 96
performance of students enrolled in a full-time virtual 97
school program shall be assigned to the designated 98
attendance center of the full-time virtual school program 99
and shall be considered in like manner to other attendance 100
centers. The academic performance of any student who 101
disenrolls from a full-time virtual school program and 102
enrolls in a public school or charter school shall not be 103
used in determining the annual performance report score of 104
the attendance center or school district in which the 105
student enrolls for twelve months from the date of 106
enrollment. 107
(6) For the purposes of this section, a public 108
institution of higher education operating a full-time 109
virtual school program shall be subject to all requirements 110
applicable to a host school district with respect to its 111
full-time equivalent students. 112
3. (1) A student who resides in this state may enroll 113
in Missouri course access and virtual school program courses 114
of his or her choice as a part of the student's annual 115
course load each school year, with any costs associated with 116
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such course or courses to be paid by the school district or 117
charter school if: 118
(a) The student is enrolled full-time in a public 119
school, including any charter school; and 120
(b) Prior to enrolling in any Missouri course access 121
and virtual school program course, a student has received 122
approval from his or her school district or charter school 123
through the procedure described under subdivision (2) of 124
this subsection. 125
(2) Each school district or charter school shall adopt 126
a policy that delineates the process by which a student may 127
enroll in courses provided by the Missouri course access and 128
virtual school program that is substantially similar to the 129
typical process by which a district student would enroll in 130
courses offered by the school district and a charter school 131
student would enroll in courses offered by the charter 132
school. The policy may include consultation with the 133
school's counselor and may include parental notification or 134
authorization. The policy shall ensure that available 135
opportunities for in-person instruction are considered prior 136
to moving a student to virtual courses. The policy shall 137
allow for continuous enrollment throughout the school year. 138
If the school district or charter school disapproves a 139
student's request to enroll in a course or courses provided 140
by the Missouri course access and virtual school program, 141
the reason shall be provided in writing and it shall be for 142
good cause. Good cause justification to disapprove a 143
student's request for enrollment in a course shall be a 144
determination that doing so is not in the best educational 145
interest of the student, and shall be consistent with the 146
determination that would be made for such course request 147
under the process by which a district student would enroll 148
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in a similar course offered by the school district and a 149
charter school student would enroll in a similar course 150
offered by the charter school, except that the determination 151
may consider the suitability of virtual courses for the 152
student based on prior participation in virtual courses by 153
the student. Appeals of any course denials under this 154
subsection shall be considered under a policy that is 155
substantially similar to the typical process by which 156
appeals would be considered for a student seeking to enroll 157
in courses offered by the school district and a charter 158
school student seeking to enroll in courses offered by the 159
charter school. 160
(3) For students enrolled in any Missouri course 161
access and virtual school program course in which costs 162
associated with such course are to be paid by the school 163
district or charter school as described under this 164
subdivision, the school district or charter school shall pay 165
the content provider directly on a pro rata monthly basis 166
based on a student's completion of assignments and 167
assessments. If a student discontinues enrollment, the 168
district or charter school may stop making monthly payments 169
to the content provider. No school district or charter 170
school shall pay, for any one course for a student, more 171
than the market necessary costs but in no case shall pay 172
more than fourteen percent of the state adequacy target, as 173
defined under section 163.011, as calculated at the end of 174
the most recent school year for any single, year-long course 175
and no more than seven percent of the state adequacy target 176
as described above for any single semester equivalent course. 177
(4) (a) A student who lives in this state may enroll 178
in a virtual program of their choice as provided in this 179
subdivision, and the provisions of subdivisions (1) to (3) 180
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of this subsection shall not apply to such enrollment in a 181
full-time virtual program. Each host school district 182
operating a full-time virtual program under this section 183
shall adopt, operate and implement an enrollment policy as 184
specified by the provisions of this subdivision. The 185
student, the student's parent or guardian if the student is 186
not considered homeless, the virtual program, the host 187
district, and the resident district shall collaborate in 188
good faith to implement the enrollment policy regarding the 189
student's enrollment, and the resident school district and 190
the host school district may mutually agree that the 191
resident district shall offer or continue to offer services 192
for the student under an agreement that includes financial 193
terms for reimbursement by the host school district for the 194
necessary costs of the resident school district providing 195
such services. An enrollment policy specified under this 196
subsection shall: 197
a. Require a student's parent or guardian, if the 198
student is not considered homeless, to apply for enrollment 199
in a full-time virtual program directly with the virtual 200
program; 201
b. Specify timelines for timely participation by the 202
virtual program, the host district, and resident district; 203
provided that the resident district shall provide any 204
relevant information and input on the enrollment within ten 205
business days of notice from the virtual program of the 206
enrollment application; 207
c. Include a survey of the reasons for the student's 208
and parent's interests in participating in the virtual 209
program; 210
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d. Include consideration of available opportunities 211
for in-person instruction prior to enrolling a student in a 212
virtual program; 213
e. Evaluate requests for enrollment based on meeting 214
the needs for a student to be successful considering all 215
relevant factors; 216
f. Ensure that, for any enrolling student with a 217
covered disability, an individualized education program and 218
a related services agreement, in cases where such agreement 219
is needed, are created to provide all services required to 220
ensure a free and appropriate public education, including 221
financial terms for reimbursement by the host district for 222
the necessary costs of any virtual program, school district, 223
or public or private entity providing all or a portion of 224
such services; 225
g. Require the virtual program to determine whether an 226
enrolling student will be admitted, based on the enrollment 227
policy, in consideration of all relevant factors and provide 228
the basis for its determination and any service plan for the 229
student, in writing, to the student, the student's parent or 230
guardian, the host district, and the resident district; and 231
h. Provide a process for reviewing appeals of 232
decisions made under this subdivision. 233
(b) The department shall publish an annual report 234
based on the enrollments and enrollment surveys conducted 235
under this subdivision that provides data at the statewide 236
and district levels of sufficient detail to allow analysis 237
of trends regarding the reasons for participation in the 238
virtual program at the statewide and district levels; 239
provided that no such survey results will be published in a 240
manner that reveals individual student information. The 241
department shall also include, in the annual report, data at 242
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the statewide and district levels of sufficient detail to 243
allow detection and analysis of the racial, ethnic, and 244
socio-economic balance of virtual program participation 245
among schools and districts at the statewide and district 246
levels, provided that no such survey results will be 247
published in a manner that reveals individual student 248
information. 249
(5) In the case of a student who is a candidate for A+ 250
tuition reimbursement and taking a virtual course under this 251
section, the school shall attribute no less than ninety-five 252
percent attendance to any such student who has completed 253
such virtual course. 254
(6) The Missouri course access and virtual school 255
program shall ensure that individual learning plans designed 256
by certified teachers and professional staff are developed 257
for all students enrolled in more than two full-time course 258
access program courses or a full-time virtual school. 259
(7) Virtual school programs shall monitor individual 260
student success and engagement of students enrolled in their 261
program and, for students enrolled in virtual courses on a 262
part-time basis, the virtual school program shall provide 263
regular student progress reports for each student at least 264
four times per school year to the school district or charter 265
school, provide the host school district and the resident 266
school district ongoing access to academic and other 267
relevant information on student success and engagement, and 268
shall terminate or alter the course offering if it is found 269
the course is not meeting the educational needs of the 270
students enrolled in the course. 271
(8) The department of elementary and secondary 272
education shall monitor the aggregate performance of 273
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providers and make such information available to the public 274
under subsection 11 of this section. 275
(9) Pursuant to rules to be promulgated by the 276
department of elementary and secondary education, when a 277
student transfers into a school district or charter school, 278
credits previously gained through successful passage of 279
approved courses under the Missouri course access and 280
virtual school program shall be accepted by the school 281
district or charter school. 282
(10) Pursuant to rules to be promulgated by the 283
department of elementary and secondary education, if a 284
student transfers into a school district or charter school 285
while enrolled in a Missouri course access and virtual 286
school program course or full-time virtual school, the 287
student shall continue to be enrolled in such course or 288
school. 289
(11) Nothing in this section shall prohibit home 290
school or FPE school students, private school students, or 291
students wishing to take additional courses beyond their 292
regular course load from enrolling in Missouri course access 293
and virtual school program courses under an agreement that 294
includes terms for paying tuition or course fees. 295
(12) Nothing in this subsection shall require any 296
school district, charter school, virtual program, or the 297
state to provide computers, equipment, or internet access to 298
any student unless required under the education services 299
plan created for an eligible student under subdivision (4) 300
of this subsection or for an eligible student with a 301
disability to comply with federal law. An education 302
services plan may require an eligible student to have access 303
to school facilities of the resident school district during 304
regular school hours for participation and instructional 305
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activities of a virtual program under this section, and the 306
education services plan shall provide for reimbursement of 307
the resident school district for such access pursuant to 308
rules adopted by the department under this section. 309
(13) The authorization process shall provide for 310
continuous monitoring of approved providers and courses. 311
The department shall revoke or suspend or take other 312
corrective action regarding the authorization of any course 313
or provider no longer meeting the requirements of the 314
program. Unless immediate action is necessary, prior to 315
revocation or suspension, the department shall notify the 316
provider and give the provider a reasonable time period to 317
take corrective action to avoid revocation or suspension. 318
The process shall provide for periodic renewal of 319
authorization no less frequently than once every three years. 320
(14) Courses approved as of August 28, 2018, by the 321
department to participate in the Missouri virtual 322
instruction program shall be automatically approved to 323
participate in the Missouri course access and virtual school 324
program, but shall be subject to periodic renewal. 325
(15) Any online course or virtual program offered by a 326
school district or charter school, including those offered 327
prior to August 28, 2018, which meets the requirements of 328
section 162.1250 shall be automatically approved to 329
participate in the Missouri course access and virtual school 330
program. Such course or program shall be subject to 331
periodic renewal. A school district or charter school 332
offering such a course or virtual school program shall be 333
deemed an approved provider. 334
(16) A host district may contract with a provider to 335
perform any required services involved with delivering a 336
full-time virtual education. 337
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4. (1) As used in this subsection, the term 338
"instructional activities" means classroom-based or 339
nonclassroom-based activities that a student shall be 340
expected to complete, participate in, or attend during any 341
given school day, such as: 342
(a) Online logins to curricula or programs; 343
(b) Offline activities; 344
(c) Completed assignments within a particular program, 345
curriculum, or class; 346
(d) Testing; 347
(e) Face-to-face communications or meetings with 348
school staff; 349
(f) Telephone or video conferences with school staff; 350
(g) School-sanctioned field trips; or 351
(h) Orientation. 352
(2) A full-time virtual school shall submit a 353
notification to the parent or guardian of any student who is 354
not consistently engaged in instructional activities and 355
shall provide regular student progress reports for each 356
student at least four times per school year. 357
(3) Each full-time virtual school shall develop, 358
adopt, and post on the school's website a policy setting 359
forth the consequences for a student who fails to complete 360
the required instructional activities. Such policy shall 361
state, at a minimum, that if a student fails to complete the 362
instructional activities after receiving a notification 363
under subdivision (2) of this subsection, and after 364
reasonable intervention strategies have been implemented, 365
that the student shall be subject to certain consequences 366
which may include disenrollment from the school. Prior to 367
any disenrollment, the parent or guardian shall have the 368
opportunity to present any information that the parent deems 369
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relevant, and such information shall be considered prior to 370
any final decision. 371
(4) If a full-time virtual school disenrolls a student 372
under subdivision (3) of this subsection, the school shall 373
immediately provide written notification to such student's 374
school district of residence. The student's school district 375
of residence shall then provide to the parents or guardian 376
of the student a written list of available educational 377
options and promptly enroll the student in the selected 378
option. Any student disenrolled from a full-time virtual 379
school shall be prohibited from reenrolling in the same 380
virtual school for the remainder of the school year. 381
5. School districts or charter schools shall inform 382
parents of their child's right to participate in the 383
program. Availability of the program shall be made clear in 384
the parent handbook, registration documents, and featured on 385
the home page of the school district or charter school's 386
website. 387
6. The department shall: 388
(1) Establish an authorization process for course or 389
full-time virtual school providers that includes multiple 390
opportunities for submission each year; 391
(2) Pursuant to the time line established by the 392
department, authorize course or full-time virtual school 393
providers that: 394
(a) Submit all necessary information pursuant to the 395
requirements of the process; and 396
(b) Meet the criteria described in subdivision (3) of 397
this subsection; 398
(3) Review, pursuant to the authorization process, 399
proposals from providers to provide a comprehensive, full- 400
time equivalent course of study for students through the 401
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Missouri course access and virtual school program. The 402
department shall ensure that these comprehensive courses of 403
study align to state academic standards and that there is 404
consistency and compatibility in the curriculum used by all 405
providers from one grade level to the next grade level; 406
(4) Within thirty days of any denial, provide a 407
written explanation to any course or full-time virtual 408
school providers that are denied authorization; 409
(5) Allow a course or full-time virtual school 410
provider denied authorization to reapply at any point in the 411
future. 412
7. The department shall publish the process 413
established under this section, including any deadlines and 414
any guidelines applicable to the submission and 415
authorization process for course or full-time virtual school 416
providers on its website. 417
8. If the department determines that there are 418
insufficient funds available for evaluating and authorizing 419
course or full-time virtual school providers, the department 420
may charge applicant course or full-time virtual school 421
providers a fee up to, but no greater than, the amount of 422
the costs in order to ensure that evaluation occurs. The 423
department shall establish and publish a fee schedule for 424
purposes of this subsection. 425
9. Except as specified in this section and as may be 426
specified by rule of the state board of education, the 427
Missouri course access and virtual school program shall 428
comply with all state laws and regulations applicable to 429
school districts, including but not limited to the Missouri 430
school improvement program (MSIP), annual performance report 431
(APR), teacher certification, curriculum standards, audit 432
requirements under chapter 165, access to public records 433
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under chapter 610, and school accountability report cards 434
under section 160.522. Teachers and administrators employed 435
by a virtual provider shall be considered to be employed in 436
a public school for all certification purposes under chapter 437
168. 438
10. The department shall submit and publicly publish 439
an annual report on the Missouri course access and virtual 440
school program and the participation of entities to the 441
governor, the chair and ranking member of the senate 442
education committee, and the chair and ranking member of the 443
house of representatives elementary and secondary education 444
committee. The report shall at a minimum include the 445
following information: 446
(1) The annual number of unique students participating 447
in courses authorized under this section and the total 448
number of courses in which students are enrolled in; 449
(2) The number of authorized providers; 450
(3) The number of authorized courses and the number of 451
students enrolled in each course; 452
(4) The number of courses available by subject and 453
grade level; 454
(5) The number of students enrolled in courses broken 455
down by subject and grade level; 456
(6) Student outcome data, including completion rates, 457
student learning gains, student performance on state or 458
nationally accepted assessments, by subject and grade level 459
per provider. This outcome data shall be published in a 460
manner that protects student privacy; 461
(7) The costs per course; 462
(8) Evaluation of in-school course availability 463
compared to course access availability to ensure gaps in 464
course access are being addressed statewide. 465
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11. (1) The department shall be responsible for 466
creating the Missouri course access and virtual school 467
program catalog providing a listing of all courses 468
authorized and available to students in the state, detailed 469
information, including costs per course, about the courses 470
to inform student enrollment decisions, and the ability for 471
students to submit their course enrollments. 472
(2) On or before January 1, 2023, the department shall 473
publish on its website, and distribute to all school 474
districts and charter schools in this state, a guidance 475
document that details the options for virtual course access 476
and full-time virtual course access for all students in the 477
state. The guidance document shall include a complete and 478
readily understood description of the applicable enrollment 479
processes including the opportunity for students to enroll 480
and the roles and responsibilities of the student, parent, 481
virtual provider, school district or districts, and charter 482
schools, as appropriate. The guidance document shall be 483
distributed in written and electronic form to all school 484
districts, charter schools, and virtual providers. School 485
districts and charter schools shall provide a copy of the 486
guidance document to every pupil and parent or legal 487
guardian of every pupil enrolled in the district or charter 488
school at the beginning of each school year and upon 489
enrollment for every pupil enrolling at a different time of 490
the school year. School districts and charter schools shall 491
provide a readily viewable link to the electronic version of 492
the guidance document on the main page of the district's or 493
charter school's website. 494
12. Any virtual school or program may administer any 495
[statewide] nationally norm-referenced assessment required 496
pursuant to the provisions of section 160.518, except for 497
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college readiness or workforce readiness assessments 498
provided by a national college and career readiness 499
assessment provider, in a virtual setting that aligns with 500
the student's regular academic instruction. Any 501
administration of a virtual [statewide] assessment shall 502
meet the following conditions: 503
(1) The assessment shall be administered to the 504
student at an assigned date and time; 505
(2) The assessment shall be administered during a 506
synchronous assessment session initiated and managed by an 507
employee of the virtual school; 508
(3) The student shall be monitored by an assessment 509
proctor via a camera for the duration of the assessment. If 510
the assessment platform does not allow for integrated camera 511
proctoring, the student shall use two devices during the 512
assessment. The first device shall be used to take the 513
assessment and the second device shall have a functioning 514
camera and be used to monitor the student during the 515
assessment. However, if the assessment platform allows for 516
the proctor to view the student and background, then a 517
second device shall not be required; 518
(4) The virtual school or program shall make every 519
reasonable effort to maintain a student assessment taker to 520
assessment proctor ratio of ten to one or lower; 521
(5) The student shall not exit the assessment platform 522
until instructed to do so by the assigned assessment 523
proctor; and 524
(6) The student's submission of the completed 525
assessment shall be verified by the assessment administrator. 526
13. The state board of education through the 527
rulemaking process and the department of elementary and 528
secondary education in its policies and procedures shall 529
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ensure that multiple content providers and learning 530
management systems are allowed, ensure digital content 531
conforms to accessibility requirements, provide an easily 532
accessible link for providers to submit courses or full-time 533
virtual schools on the Missouri course access and virtual 534
school program website, and allow any person, organization, 535
or entity to submit courses or full-time virtual schools for 536
approval. No content provider shall be allowed that is 537
unwilling to accept payments in the amount and manner as 538
described under subdivision (3) of subsection 3 of this 539
section or does not meet performance or quality standards 540
adopted by the state board of education. 541
14. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is 542
defined in section 536.010, that is created under the 543
authority delegated in this section shall become effective 544
only if it complies with and is subject to all of the 545
provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 546
536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and 547
if any of the powers vested with the general assembly 548
pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective 549
date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently 550
held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking 551
authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 552
2006, shall be invalid and void. 553
161.855. 1. By October 1, 2014, the state board of 1
education shall convene work groups composed of education 2
professionals to develop and recommend academic performance 3
standards. The work groups shall be composed of individuals 4
as provided in section 160.514. The state board of 5
education and the work groups shall follow the procedures 6
and conduct the public hearings required by section 7
160.514. The state board of education shall convene 8
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separate work groups for the following subject areas: 9
English language arts; mathematics; science; and history and 10
governments. For each of these four subject areas, the 11
state board of education shall convene two separate work 12
groups, one work group for grades kindergarten through five 13
and another work group for grades six through twelve. 14
2. The work groups shall develop and recommend 15
academic performance standards to the state board of 16
education by October 1, 2015. The work groups shall report 17
on their progress in developing the academic performance 18
standards to the president pro tempore of the senate and the 19
speaker of the house of representatives on a monthly basis. 20
3. The state board of education shall adopt and 21
implement academic performance standards beginning in the 22
2016-17 school year. [The state board of education shall 23
align the statewide assessment system to the academic 24
performance standards as needed. 25
4. The department of elementary and secondary 26
education shall pilot assessments from the Smarter Balanced 27
Assessment Consortium during the 2014-15 school year. 28
Notwithstanding any rules adopted by the state board of 29
education or the department of elementary and secondary 30
education in place on August 28, 2014, for the 2014-15 31
school year, and at any time the state board of education or 32
the department of elementary and secondary education 33
implements a new statewide assessment system, develops new 34
academic performance standards, or makes changes to the 35
Missouri school improvement program, the first year of such 36
statewide assessment system and performance indicators shall 37
be utilized as a pilot year for the purposes of calculating 38
a district's annual performance report under the Missouri 39
school improvement program. The results of a statewide 40
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pilot shall not be used to lower a public school district's 41
accreditation or for a teacher's evaluation. 42
5.] 4. Any person performing work for a school 43
district or charter school for which teacher certification 44
or administrator certification is regularly required under 45
the laws relating to the certification of teachers or 46
administrators shall be an employee of the school district 47
or charter school. All evaluations of any such person shall 48
be maintained in the teacher's or administrator's personnel 49
file and shall not be shared with any state or federal 50
agency. 51
161.1085. For purposes of sections 161.1080 to 1
161.1130, the following terms mean: 2
(1) "Department", the department of elementary and 3
secondary education; 4
(2) "Governing board", the board of education of a 5
district or the governing board of a charter school that has 6
declared itself a local educational agency; 7
(3) "Initial remedial year", the year in which a 8
district school or charter school is designated as a school 9
in need of intervention under section 161.1090; 10
(4) "Local educational agency", any school district 11
and any charter school that has declared itself a local 12
educational agency; 13
(5) "Nationally norm-referenced assessment", any test 14
of student achievement in English language arts, 15
mathematics, or science, including any such test 16
administered in a computer-adaptive format, that is 17
administered under section 160.518; 18
(6) "School", a public school under the control of a 19
local educational agency; 20
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[(6)] (7) "School in need of intervention", a school 21
that has been designated as in need of intervention by the 22
department according to an outcome-based measure as 23
determined by the department under section 161.1090, which 24
may include, but shall not be required to include, schools 25
identified for intervention under the state's every student 26
succeeds act plan[; 27
(7) "Statewide assessment", any test of student 28
achievement in English language arts, mathematics, or 29
science, including any such test administered in a computer- 30
adaptive format, that is administered statewide under 31
section 160.518]. 32
161.1090. 1. Subject to appropriation, the department 1
shall establish a school turnaround program to assist 2
schools designated by the department as in need of 3
intervention in accordance with the provisions of sections 4
161.1080 to 161.1130. 5
2. The department shall use an outcome-based measure 6
to set criteria for the designation of schools in need of 7
intervention. 8
3. No more than one month after [statewide] nationally 9
norm-referenced assessment results are made public, the 10
department shall designate specific schools as in need of 11
intervention. The department shall designate a school as in 12
need of intervention only if sufficient funds are available 13
in the school turnaround fund established in section 14
161.1105 to pay an independent school turnaround expert. 15
4. The department shall determine the specific 16
criteria that a school shall be required to meet in order to 17
exit the school turnaround program based on the same outcome- 18
based measure that was used to designate the school as in 19
need of intervention. 20
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5. The department shall not designate any school as in 21
need of intervention before September 1, 2020. 22
6. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the criteria 23
established under this section from satisfying a school's 24
requirement for intervention under the every student 25
succeeds act. 26
161.1100. 1. Before August 30, 2020, the department 1
shall identify two or more approved independent school 2
turnaround experts, through a request for proposals process, 3
that a school in need of intervention may select from to 4
partner with, to: 5
(1) Collect and analyze data on the school's student 6
achievement, personnel, culture, curriculum, assessments, 7
instructional practices, digital tools and other methods for 8
teaching and learning, governance, leadership, finances, and 9
policies; 10
(2) Recommend changes to the school's culture, 11
curriculum, assessments, instructional practices, 12
governance, finances, policies, or other areas based on data 13
collected under subdivision (1) of this subsection; 14
(3) Develop and implement, in partnership with the 15
school turnaround committee, a school turnaround plan that 16
meets the criteria described in section 161.1095; 17
(4) Monitor the effectiveness of a school turnaround 18
plan through reliable means of evaluation including, but not 19
limited to, onsite visits, observations, surveys, analysis 20
of student achievement data, and interviews; 21
(5) Provide ongoing implementation support and project 22
management for a school turnaround plan; 23
(6) Provide high-quality professional development and 24
coaching personalized for school staff that is designed to 25
build: 26
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(a) The leadership capacity of the school principal; 27
(b) The instructional capacity of school staff; and 28
(c) The collaborative practices of teacher and 29
leadership teams; 30
(7) Provide job-embedded professional learning and 31
coaching for all instructional staff on a weekly basis, at a 32
minimum; 33
(8) Provide job-embedded professional learning and 34
coaching for the school principal at least twice monthly, 35
focused on proven strategies to turn around schools in need 36
of intervention that are aligned with administrator 37
standards developed under section 168.410; and 38
(9) Leverage support from community partners to 39
coordinate an efficient delivery of supports to students 40
both inside and outside the classroom. 41
2. In identifying independent school turnaround 42
experts under subsection 1 of this section, the department 43
shall identify experts who: 44
(1) Have a credible track record of improving student 45
academic achievement in public schools with various 46
demographic characteristics, as measured by [statewide] 47
nationally norm-referenced assessments; 48
(2) Have experience designing, implementing, and 49
evaluating data-driven instructional systems in public 50
schools; 51
(3) Have experience coaching public school 52
administrators and teachers on designing and implementing 53
data-driven school improvement plans; 54
(4) Have experience collaborating with the various 55
education entities that govern public schools; 56
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(5) Have experience delivering high-quality 57
professional development and coaching in instructional 58
effectiveness to public school administrators and teachers; 59
(6) Are willing to be compensated for professional 60
services based on performance as described in section 61
161.1105; and 62
(7) Are willing to partner with any school in need of 63
intervention in the state, regardless of location. 64
162.1300. If a change in school district boundary 1
lines occurs under section 162.223, 162.431, 162.441, or 2
162.451, or by action of the state board of education under 3
section 162.081, including attachment of a school district's 4
territory to another district or dissolution, such that a 5
school district receives additional students as a result of 6
such change, the [statewide] nationally norm-referenced 7
assessment scores and all other performance data for those 8
students whom the district received shall not be used for 9
three years when calculating the performance of the 10
receiving district for three school years for purposes of 11
the Missouri school improvement program. 12
163.023. 1. Commencing September 1, 1997, a school 1
district that has an operating levy for school purposes as 2
defined in section 163.011, of less than the minimum value 3
required by section 163.021, shall be classified as 4
unaccredited by the state board of education and shall be 5
deemed to be an unclassified school district for all 6
purposes under force of law, pursuant to the authority of 7
the state board of education to classify school districts 8
pursuant to section 161.092, except that no school district 9
shall be classified as unaccredited or deemed to be an 10
unclassified school district pursuant to this section if 11
such district is ineligible to receive state aid under 12
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section 163.031, exclusive of categorical add-ons, because 13
the district's local effort is greater than its weighted 14
average daily attendance multiplied by the state adequacy 15
target multiplied by the dollar value modifier. No school 16
district, except a district which is ineligible to receive 17
state aid under section 163.031, exclusive of categorical 18
add-ons, because the district's local effort is greater than 19
its weighted average daily attendance multiplied by the 20
state adequacy target multiplied by the dollar value 21
modifier, may be classified or reclassified as accredited 22
until such district has an operating levy for school 23
purposes which is equal to or greater than the minimum value 24
required by section 163.021. Beginning July 1, 1998, the 25
state board of education shall consider the results for a 26
school district from the [statewide assessment system 27
developed] nationally norm-referenced assessments conducted 28
pursuant to the provisions of section 160.518 when 29
classifying a school district as authorized by subdivision 30
(9) of section 161.092. Further, the state board of 31
education shall consider the condition and adequacy of 32
facilities of a school district when determining such 33
classification. 34
2. For any school district classified unaccredited for 35
any school year, the state board of education shall conduct 36
procedures to classify said school district for the first 37
school year following. 38
167.905. 1. By July 1, 2018, each school district 1
shall develop a policy and implement a measurable system for 2
identifying students in their ninth grade year, or students 3
who transfer into the school subsequent to their ninth grade 4
year, who are at risk of not being ready for college-level 5
work or for entry-level career positions. Districts shall 6
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include, but are not limited to, the following sources of 7
information: 8
(1) A student's performance on [the Missouri 9
assessment program test] a nationally norm-referenced 10
assessment in eighth grade in English language arts and 11
mathematics; 12
(2) A student's comparable statewide assessment 13
performance if such student transferred from another state; 14
(3) The district's overall reported remediation rate 15
under section 173.750; and 16
(4) A student's attendance rate. 17
2. The district policy shall require academic and 18
career counseling to take place prior to graduation so that 19
the school may attempt to provide sufficient opportunities 20
to the student to graduate college-ready or career-ready and 21
on time. 22
3. Each school district shall adopt a policy to permit 23
the waiver of the requirements of this section for any 24
student with a disability if recommended by the student's 25
IEP committee. For purposes of this subsection, "IEP" means 26
individualized education program. 27
168.749. 1. Beginning with school year 2010-11, 1
teachers who elect to participate in the teacher choice 2
compensation package shall be eligible for stipends based on 3
the following criteria: 4
(1) Score on a value-added test instrument or 5
instruments. Such instruments shall be defined as those 6
which give a reliable measurement of the skills and 7
knowledge transferred to students during the time they are 8
in a teacher's classroom and shall be selected by the school 9
district from one or more of the following assessments: 10
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(a) A list of recognized value-added instruments 11
developed by the department of elementary and secondary 12
education; 13
(b) Scores on the [statewide] assessments 14
[established] conducted under section 160.518 may be used 15
for this purpose, and the department of elementary and 16
secondary education shall develop a procedure for 17
identifying the value added by teachers that addresses the 18
fact that not all subjects are necessarily tested at all 19
grade levels each year [under the state assessment program]; 20
(c) Scores on annual tests required by the federal 21
Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization of 22
2002 for third through eighth grade may be used as value- 23
added instruments if found appropriate after consideration 24
and approval by the state board of education; 25
(d) A district may choose an instrument after a public 26
hearing of the district board of education on the matter, 27
with the reasons for the selection entered upon the minutes 28
of the meeting; provided, however, that this option shall 29
not be available to districts after scores are established 30
for paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this subdivision; 31
(2) Evaluations by principals or other administrators 32
with expertise to evaluate classroom performance; 33
(3) Evaluations by parents and by students at their 34
appropriate developmental level. 35
Model instruments for these evaluations shall be developed 36
or identified by the department of elementary and secondary 37
education. Districts may use such models, may use other 38
existing models, or may develop their own instruments. A 39
district that develops its own instrument shall not use that 40
instrument as its sole method of evaluation. 41
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2. The department of elementary and secondary 42
education shall develop criteria for determining eligibility 43
for stipend increments, including a range of target scores 44
on assessments for use by the districts. The test-score 45
options listed in subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of this 46
section shall be given higher weight than the evaluation 47
options listed in subdivisions (2) and (3) of subsection 1 48
of this section. The decision of individual districts about 49
the qualifications for each increment based on the 50
evaluations listed in subdivisions (2) and (3) of subsection 51
1 of this section and for value-added instruments for which 52
target scores have not been developed by the department of 53
elementary and secondary education may address the 54
district's unique characteristics but shall require 55
demonstrably superior performance on the part of the 56
teacher, based primarily on improved student achievement 57
while taking into account classroom demographics including 58
but not limited to students' abilities, special needs, and 59
class size. 60
170.017. The department of elementary and secondary 1
education shall, by July 1, 2015, develop a high school 2
graduation policy that allows a student to fulfill one unit 3
of academic credit with a district-approved agriculture or 4
career and technical education course for any communication 5
arts, mathematics, science, or social studies unit required 6
for high school graduation in any combination up to 7
fulfilling one requirement in each of the four subject 8
areas. [The substitution may not be made where the course 9
for which the agriculture or career and technical education 10
course is being substituted requires an end-of-course 11
statewide assessment. The credit cannot be substituted for 12
any course which requires a statewide end-of-course 13
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assessment.] The policy required under this section shall 14
be in addition to the optional waiver of one unit of 15
academic credit for a three-unit career and technical 16
program of studies. 17
Section B. Section A of this act shall become 1
effective only upon notification to the revisor of statutes 2
by an opinion by the attorney general of Missouri, a 3
proclamation by the governor of Missouri, or the adoption of 4
a concurrent resolution by the Missouri general assembly 5
that the United States Department of Education has been 6
abolished or dismantled by an act of the United States 7
Congress. 8
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