H 3969 Session 123 (2019-2020) H 3969 General Bill, By Rivers A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, SO AS TO ENACT THE "COMPETITIVE EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT ACT"; TO AMEND SECTION 59-18-300, RELATING TO THE ADOPTION OF EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS IN CERTAIN CORE ACADEMIC AREAS, SO AS TO INCLUDE SPANISH AMONG THESE AREAS, AND TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS FOR SPANISH BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2019, TO BE IMPLEMENTED BEGINNING WITH THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR; TO AMEND SECTION 59-18-310, RELATING TO THE STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE STUDENT LEARNING AND MEASURE STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON STATE STANDARDS, SO AS TO INCLUDE SPANISH AMONG THE SUBJECTS INCLUDED IN THE STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM; AND TO AMEND SECTION 59-18-320, RELATING TO THE REVIEW AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATEWIDE ASSESSMENTS, SECTION 59-18-325, RELATING TO THE SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM, SECTION 59-18-350, RELATING TO THE CYCLICAL REVIEW OF STATEWIDE STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS, AND SECTION 58-19-900, RELATING TO PERFORMANCE RATINGS OF SCHOOLS, ALL SO AS TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES.
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, SO AS TO ENACT THE "COMPETITIVE EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT ACT"; TO AMEND SECTION 59-18-300, RELATING TO THE ADOPTION OF EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS IN CERTAIN CORE ACADEMIC AREAS, SO AS TO INCLUDE SPANISH AMONG THESE AREAS, AND TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS FOR SPANISH BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2019, TO BE IMPLEMENTED BEGINNING WITH THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR; TO AMEND SECTION 59-18-310, RELATING TO THE STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE STUDENT LEARNING AND MEASURE STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON STATE STANDARDS, SO AS TO INCLUDE SPANISH AMONG THE SUBJECTS INCLUDED IN THE STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM; AND TO AMEND SECTION 59-18-320, RELATING TO THE REVIEW AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATEWIDE ASSESSMENTS, SECTION 59-18-325, RELATING TO THE SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM, SECTION 59-18-350, RELATING TO THE CYCLICAL REVIEW OF STATEWIDE STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS, AND SECTION 58-19-900, RELATING TO PERFORMANCE RATINGS OF SCHOOLS, ALL SO AS TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES. Whereas, as our twenty-first century economy becomes increasingly globalized and the complexion of America evolves as its diversity flourishes, it is imperative that our educational system keeps pace in making necessary changes to the way it prepares young people for the future; and Whereas, such changes are not only necessary to create a more unified and empowered society, but also to provide a competitive workforce that attracts business and industry to invest in the Palmetto State; and Whereas, among the initiatives South Carolina public schools may pursue in this regard is the implementation of comprehensive bilingual and bicultural training in kindergarten through twelfth grade, with an emphasis on the Spanish language and culture. Now, therefore, Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina: SECTION 1. This act must be known and may be cited as the "Competitive Education Employment Act". SECTION 2. Section 59-18-300 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-18-300. (A) The State Board of Education is directed to adopt grade specific performance-oriented educational standards in the core academic areas of mathematics, English/language arts, social studies (history, government, economics, and geography), (1) read, view, and listen to complex information in the English language and the Spanish language; (2) write and speak effectively in the English language and the Spanish language; (3) solve problems by applying mathematics; (4) conduct research and communicate findings; (5) understand and apply scientific concepts;
(6) obtain a working knowledge of world, United States, (7) use information to make decisions. (B) The standards must be reflective of the highest level of academic skills with the rigor necessary to improve the curriculum and instruction in South Carolina's schools so that students are encouraged to learn at unprecedented levels and must be reflective of the highest level of academic skills at each grade level. (C) The educational standards for Spanish must be established by the State Board before December 1, 2019, for implementation beginning in the 2020-2021 School Year." SECTION 3. Section 59-18-310(B)(1) and (D) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(1) The statewide assessment program must include the subjects of English/language arts, mathematics, science,
(D) The State Board of Education shall create a statewide adoption list of formative assessments for grades kindergarten through nine aligned with the state content standards in English/language arts SECTION 4. Section 59-18-320(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(B) After review and approval by the Education Oversight Committee, and pursuant to Section 59-18-325, the standards-based assessment of mathematics, English/language arts, social studies, SECTION 5. Section 59-18-325(C)(1) and (3) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(1) The summative assessment must be administered to all students in grades three through eight. The summative assessment must assess students in English/language arts (a) compares performance of students in South Carolina to other students' performance on comparable standards in other states with the ability to link the scales of the South Carolina assessment to the scales from other assessments measuring those comparable standards; (b) be a vertically scaled, benchmarked, standards-based system of summative assessments; (c) measures a student's preparedness for the next level of their educational matriculation and individual student performance against the state standards in English/language arts, Spanish, reading, writing, mathematics, and student growth; (d) documents student progress toward national college and career readiness benchmarks derived from empirical research and state standards; (e) establishes at least four student achievement levels; (f) includes various test questions including, but not limited to, multiple choice, constructed response, and selected response, that require students to demonstrate their understanding of the content; (g) be administered to all students in a computer-based format except for students with disabilities as specified in the student's IEP or 504 plan, and unless the use of a computer by these students is prohibited due to the vendor's restrictions on computer-based test security, in which case the paper version must be made available; and (h) assists school districts and schools in aligning assessment, curriculum, and instruction.
(3) Beginning with the SECTION 6. Section 59-18-350(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(B) For the purpose of developing new college and career readiness English/language arts SECTION 7. Section 59-18-900(B)(2) of the 1976 Code is amended to read: "(2) The same categories of performance ratings also must be assigned to individual indicators used to measure a school's performance including, but not limited to, academic achievement, student growth or progress, graduation rate, English language proficiency, Spanish language proficiency, and college and career readiness." SECTION 8. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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