Session of 2000
HOUSE BILL No. 2789
By Committee on Education
2-2
9 AN ACT
concerning school districts; relating to school building report
10 cards; requiring
certain information and disposition; amending K.S.A.
11 1999 Supp. 72-6439 and
repealing the existing section.
12
13 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of Kansas:
14 Section
1. K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 72-6439 is hereby amended to read as
15 follows: 72-6439. (a) In order to
accomplish the mission for Kansas ed-
16 ucation, the state board of education shall
design and adopt a school
17 performance accreditation system based upon
improvement in perform-
18 ance that reflects high academic standards
and is measurable.
19 (b) The state
board of education shall provide for assessments in the
20 core academic areas of mathematics,
science, reading, writing, and social
21 studies, and shall establish curriculum
standards for such core academic
22 areas. The assessments shall be
administered at three grade levels, as
23 determined by the state board. The
curriculum standards shall be equal
24 to the best standards and shall be reviewed
at least every three years. The
25 state board shall ensure compatibility
between the statewide assessments
26 and the curriculum standards. Nothing in
this subsection shall be con-
27 strued in any manner so as to impinge upon
any district's authority to
28 determine its own curriculum.
29 (c) The state
board of education shall determine performance levels
30 on the statewide assessments, the
achievement of which represents ex-
31 cellence in the academic area at the grade
level to which the assessment
32 applies. The state board should specify the
measure of excellence both
33 for individual performance and school
performance on the assessments.
34 (d) Each school
in every district shall establish a school site council
35 composed of the principal and
representatives of teachers and other
36 school personnel, parents of pupils
attending the school, the business
37 community, and other community groups.
School site councils shall be
38 responsible for providing advice and
counsel in evaluating state, school
39 district, and school site performance goals
and objectives and in deter-
40 mining the methods that should be employed
at the school site to meet
41 these goals and objectives.
42 (e) On or before
January 1, 1997 in each school year, the
state board
43 of education shall prepare a public
education performance report card
2
1 consisting of statewide aggregated
data pertaining to performance on
2 statewide assessments and other
measurable performance indicators
3 specified by the state board as part
of the accreditation system. The report
4 card shall be designed to show
comparative data over multiple years, as
5 determined by the state board. In
addition to the public education per-
6 formance report card, the state board
shall prepare a school building
7 report card for each school building
operated by a district and shall pro-
8 vide the board of each district with
information showing the statewide
9 data and school building data,
including multiple year data. Each school
10 building report card shall be designed
in an easy-to-read style and shall
11 identify the school as being in one of
the following performance grade
12 categories: (1) "A" for schools making
excellent progress; (2) "B" for
13 schools making above average progress;
(3) "C" for schools making sat-
14 isfactory progress; (4) "D" for schools
making less than satisfactory pro-
15 gress; and (5) "F" for schools failing
to make adequate progress. A school's
16 performance grade category shall be
determined in accordance with rules
17 and regulations of the state board by
pupil performance and school per-
18 formance on the statewide assessments
and on other appropriate perform-
19 ance data, including, but not limited
to, attendance, dropout rate, school
20 disciplinary data, grade-to-grade
promotion and high school graduation
21 rates, and pupil readiness for
postsecondary education or entry into the
22 work force. The board of each district
shall distribute the school building
23 report card to the parents of each pupil
in attendance at school in such
24 school building. The method for
distributing the report card shall be de-
25 termined by the board of each
district.
26 (f) Under
the direction of Kansas, Inc., and subject to
appropriations
27 therefor, a study evaluating
changes in pupil performance attributable to
28 the school accreditation system
shall be conducted between July 1 and
29 November 30, 1997. The main purpose
of the study shall be to ascertain,
30 through evaluation of the 48 school
districts that began implementation
31 of the school performance
accreditation process in the 1991-92 school
32 year, the extent of the change in
pupil academic performance under the
33 system and to provide an
explanation of the factors that have contributed
34 materially to the changes that have
occurred. The study shall be based
35 on data for the 1996-97 school
year. The results of the study shall be
36 reported to the legislature at the
commencement of the 1998 session.
37 Kansas, Inc. shall convene an
advisory committee for assistance in de-
38 signing the study, providing
direction for the conducting of research, an-
39 alyzing research findings, and
preparing the report of the results of the
40 study. The advisory committee shall
consist of not less than seven and
41 not more than 11 members and shall
be representative of the state board
42 of education, teachers, school
administrators, boards of education, busi-
43 ness, and the public. Members of
the advisory committee attending meet-
3
1 ings of the committee or
subcommittee meetings authorized by Kansas,
2 Inc. shall be paid amounts
provided for in subsection (e) of K.S.A. 75-
3 3223, and amendments
thereto.
4 Sec. 2. K.S.A. 1999 Supp.
72-6439 is hereby repealed.
5 Sec. 3. This act
shall take effect and be in force from and after its
6 publication in the statute book.