Reference is to Printer's Date 04/24/13-H.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by deleting all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Article 5, Chapter 1, Title 59 of the 1976 code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-1-490.
(A) The provisions of this section
must be known and may be cited as the 'South Carolina Department
of Education Data Use and Governance Policy'.
(B) The policy of the
State Department of Education with respect to use and governance
of student data is to ensure that all data collected, managed,
stored, transmitted, used, reported, and destroyed by the
department is done so in a way to preserve and protect
individual and collective privacy rights and ensure
confidentiality and security of collected data. In developing
this policy, the State strives to:
(1)
maintain compliance with the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, at a minimum;
and
(2)
be mindful that the appropriate use of data is essential
to accelerating student learning, program and financial
effectiveness and efficiency, and policy development.
(C) The State
Department of Education shall not collect individual student
data directly from students or families, except as required to
meet its obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. Each student is assigned a unique student
identifier upon enrollment into the student management system to
ensure compliance with the privacy rights of the student and his
parents or guardians. No personally identifiable individual
student data may be shared in federally required reporting.
(D) All data elements
collected and transferred from the State Department of Education
to the United States Department of Education must be based on
the reporting requirements contained in EDFacts as provided by
the United States Department of Education, or other federal laws
and regulations and may include only aggregated data with no
personally identifiable data.
(E) Data collected by
the State Department of Education must be maintained within a
secure infrastructure environment. Access to this data must be
limited to pre-identified staff who are granted clearance
related to their job responsibilities of federal reporting,
state financial management, program assessment, and policy
development. Training in data security and student privacy laws
must be provided to these specific individuals on a regular
basis in order to maintain their data use clearance along with a
signed Data Use Policy assurance of confidentiality and privacy.
(F) The State
Department of Education shall maintain a managed external data
request procedure managed through a Data Governance Committee.
Each external data request is measured against a pre-determined
set of qualifiers that includes, but must not limited to,
applicability to the goals of the South Carolina State Board of
Education, data availability, report format ability, cost of
report development, and adherence to FERPA requirements.
(G) Each school
district in this State shall adopt, maintain, and comply with a
locally adopted student records governance and use policy. These
policies and their implementation shall be monitored by the
State Department of Education in a manner prescribed by the
department through policy."
SECTION 2. Article 3, Chapter 18, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-18-355.
(A)(1) A revision to a state content
standard recommended pursuant to Section 59-18-350(A), as well
as a new standard or a change in a current standard that the
State Board of Education otherwise considers for approval as an
accountability measure, may not be adopted and implemented
without the:
(a)
advice and consent of the Education Oversight Committee;
and
(b)
approval by a Joint Resolution of the General Assembly.
(2)
General Assembly approval required by item (1)(b) does not
apply to a revision recommended pursuant to Section
59-18-350(A), other approval of a new standard, and other
changes to an old standard if the revision, new standard, or
changed standard is developed by the State Department of
Education.
(B) A revision to an
assessment recommended pursuant to Section 59-18-350(A), as well
as a new assessment or a change in a current assessment that the
State Board of Education otherwise considers for approval as an
accountability measure, may not be adopted and implemented
without the advice and consent of the Education Oversight
Committee.
(C) Upon initiating a
change to an existing standard, including a cyclical review, the
Education Oversight Committee and the Department of Education
shall provide notice of their plans and intent to the General
Assembly and the Governor.
(D) Nothing in this
section may be interpreted to prevent the Department of
Education, Board of Education, and Education Oversight Committee
from considering best practices in education standards and
assessments while developing its own standards and
assessments."
SECTION 3. Section 59-18-310(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(B) The statewide
assessment program must include the subjects of English/language
arts, mathematics, science, and social studies in grades three
through eight, as delineated in Section 59-18-320(B), to be
first administered in 2009, an exit examination in
English/language arts and mathematics to be first administered
in a student's second year of high school enrollment beginning
with grade nine, and end-of-course tests for gateway
courses awarded units of credit in English/language arts,
mathematics, science, and social studies. Student performance
targets must be established following the 2009 administration.
The assessment program must be used for school and school
district accountability purposes beginning with the 2008-2009
school year. The publication of the annual school and school
district report card may be delayed for the 2008-2009 school
year until no later than February 15, 2010. A student's score on
an end-of-year assessment may not be the sole criterion for
placing the student on academic probation, retaining the student
in his current grade, or requiring the student to attend summer
school. Beginning with the graduating class of 2010, students
are required to pass a high school credit course in science and
a course in United States history in which end-of-course
examinations are administered to receive the state high school
diploma. Beginning with the graduating class of 2015,
students are no longer required to meet the exit examination
requirements set forth in this section and State Regulation to
earn a South Carolina high school diploma."
SECTION 4. Article 3, Chapter 18, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-18-325.
(A) With the approval of the State
Board of Education and the Education Oversight Committee, the
South Carolina Department of Education will administer in school
year 2014-2015 a summative assessment and optional interim
formative assessments as defined in Section 59-18-310 to
students in grades three through eight that assesses students in
English/language arts and math. The summative assessment,
provided by a vendor which is procured by the South Carolina
Department of Education under emergency procurement regulations,
if needed, must meet the following requirements:
(1)
be a vertically-articulated, benchmarked, standards-based
system of summative assessments;
(2)
document student progress toward national college and
career benchmarks derived from empirical research evidence and
state standards;
(3)
be available in paper-and-pencil and computer-based
formats by 2015-2016; and,
(4)
be anchored to a national college readiness assessment
already used in the state.
The Department will also administer
state-developed or adopted and approved assessments in social
studies and science to all students in grades four through
eight.
(B) All students
entering the eleventh grade for the first time in school year
2014-2015 and subsequent years, will be administered a career
readiness assessment and a college readiness assessment as
required by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and that
are provided by vendors procured by the department. The results
of the assessments will be provided to each student, to the
school and to the state in order to:
(1)
assist students, parents, teachers, and guidance
counselors in developing individual graduation plans and in
selecting courses aligned with each student's future ambitions;
(2)
promote South Carolina's Work Ready Communities
initiative; and
(3)
meet federal and state accountability requirements.
Students may then use the results of these
assessments to apply to college or to enter careers. The results
must be added as part of each student's permanent record and
maintained at the South Carolina Department of Education for at
least ten years. The results will also provide instructional
information to assist students, parents and teachers to plan for
each student's course selection which might include remediation
courses, dual-enrollment courses, Advanced Placement courses,
internships, or other options during the remaining semesters in
high school.
(C) The South Carolina
Department of Education will provide to the Education Oversight
Committee student performance results on assessments authorized
in this section and end-of-course assessments in a format agreed
upon by both the department and the committee and within thirty
days of the data being provided to the school districts. The
committee will use the results of these assessments in school
year 2014-2015 and in 2015-2016 to report on student academic
performance in each school and district pursuant to Section
59-18-900. However, the committee may not determine state
ratings for schools or districts using the results of these new
assessments pursuant to Section 59-18-900 until after the
conclusion of the 2015-2016 school year for public reporting
beginning in the fall of 2016. The committee will also develop
and recommend a single accountability system that meets federal
and state accountability requirements by the fall of 2016.
(D) The South Carolina
Department of Education shall submit a plan for approval and
implementation to the Education Oversight Committee and the
State Board of Education to mitigate the impact that changes in
assessments are projected to have on teacher evaluation systems.
If such an impact can be reasonably mitigated by delaying
evaluations the department shall seek a waiver if necessary for
federal approval.
(E) After school year
2014-2015 when standards are revised, the department and
committee shall approve assessments pursuant to Section
59-18-320."
SECTION 5. Section 59-18-350 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 282 of 2008, is further amended to read:
"Section 59-18-350.
(A) The State Board of Education, in
consultation with the Education Oversight Committee, shall
provide for a cyclical review by academic area of the state
standards and assessments to ensure that the standards and
assessments are maintaining high expectations for learning and
teaching. At a minimum, each academic area should be reviewed
and updated every seven years. After each academic area is
reviewed, a report on the recommended revisions must be
presented to the Education Oversight Committee and the State
Board of Education for consideration. After approval by
the Education Oversight Committee and the State Board of
Education, the recommendations may be implemented.
However, The previous content standards shall remain in
effect until approval has been given by both
entities the recommended revisions are adopted
pursuant to Section 59-18-355. As a part of the review, a
task force of parents, business and industry persons, community
leaders, and educators, to include special education teachers,
shall examine the standards and assessment system to determine
rigor and relevancy.
(B) Upon
approval of this act, the cyclical review shall be performed
pursuant to subsection (A) for English/language arts and
Mathematics state standards not developed by the South Carolina
Department of Education. The review must be completed no later
than July 1, 2016.
(BC)
The State Department of Education annually shall convene a
team of curriculum experts to analyze the results of the
assessments, including performance item by item. This analysis
must yield a plan for disseminating additional information about
the assessment results and instruction and the information must
be disseminated to districts not later than January fifteenth of
the subsequent year."
SECTION 6. Section 59-18-950 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-18-950.
Notwithstanding another provision of law to the contrary,
the Education Oversight Committee may base ratings for school
districts and high schools on criteria that include graduation
rates, exit examination performance, and other
criteria identified by technical experts and appropriate groups
of educators and workforce advocates."
SECTION 7. Section 59-48-35 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-48-35.
The students enrolled in the Special School of Science and
Mathematics who earn a total of twenty units of credit
distributed as specified in the Defined Minimum Program for
South Carolina school districts, who pass the exit
examination described in Section 59-30-10(f), and who
meet the school's requirements for graduation, are
eligible to receive a state high school diploma. The board of
the Special School, in its discretion, may issue its own high
school diploma."
SECTION 8. Upon passage of this legislation, South Carolina will no longer be a governing or advisory state in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. Furthermore, the State of South Carolina may not adopt or administer the Smarter Balanced Assessment.
SECTION 9. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.