Report Title:

Academic Performance Index

 

Description:

Requires the superintendent of education to create, implement and publish an Academic Performance Index to measure the performance of schools.

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1624

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to educational accountability system: Annual reports.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that schools need more public accountability. This Act requires the superintendent of education, with the approval of the state board of education, to develop and implement the Academic Performance Index (API), consisting of a variety of indicators, to be used to measure the performance of schools. It also requires that the superintendent of education annually publish API rankings, and requires each school district as well as the board of education to discuss the results at an annual meeting not less than forty-five days after publication.

SECTION 2. Section 302A-101, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

"Academic Performance Index" or "API" means a numeric index (or scale) measuring the academic performance and growth of schools using reports including, but not limited to, the results of the U.S. DOE NAEP, SAT I, SAT II, ELPT, ACT, and Advanced Placement (AP). Individual student scores in each subject area are combined into a single number to represent the performance of a school. The national percentile rank (NPR) for each student tested is used to make the calculation. A school's score or placement on the API is an indicator of a school's performance level."

SECTION 3. Section 302A-1004, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The department shall implement a comprehensive system of educational accountability to motivate and support the improved performance of students and the education system. This accountability system shall:

(1) Include student accountability; school or collective professional accountability; individual professional accountability for teachers, principals, and other employees; and public accounting for other significant partners to the education process (including, but not limited to, parents, community members, businesses, higher education, media, and political leadership);

(2) Link authority and adequate resources to responsibility;

(3) Define clear roles for all parties and lines of responsibility and mutual obligation and develop a collaborative process with stakeholders, including representatives of appropriate bargaining units, parents, administration, and students;

(4) Involve fair and adequate assessment against agreed upon goals;

(5) Invoke a full and balanced set of appropriate consequences for observed performance, including rewards and recognition for those schools that meet or exceed their goals, assistance to those that fall short, and sanctions for those that given adequate assistance and ample time, continue to fail to meet goals;

(6) Involve:

(A) A statewide student assessment program that provides annual data on student, school, and system performance at selected benchmark grade levels in terms of student performance relative to statewide content and performance standards and embodies high and rigorous expectations for the attainment of all students; and

(B) An annual assessment in core subjects for each grade level, as conducted by each school;

(7) Involve the creation and implementation of the Academic Performance Index and a comprehensive school profile or report card for each school, which shall include, but not be limited to, student performance measures, school attendance, drop-out rates, and parental involvement. These reports shall be made available annually to the board, the governor, the legislature, the parents, and the general public[;] by publication in a local newspaper of major circulation;

(8) Require that each school district as well as the board of education discuss the results at an annual meeting not less than forty-five days after publication of the API.

[(8)](9) Require that teachers and administrators engage in the continuous professional growth and development that ensure their currency with respect to disciplinary content, leadership skill, knowledge, or pedagogical skill, as appropriate to their position. This requirement may be established by the department in terms of credit hours earned or their equivalent in professional development activity certified by the department as appropriate in focus and rigor; and

[(9)](10) Establish an explicit link between professional evaluation results and individual accountability through professional development of the knowledge, skill, and professional behavior necessary to the position, by requiring that results of the professional evaluation be used by the department to prescribe professional development focus and content, as appropriate.

Beginning with the 2001-2002 school year, the department shall submit to the legislature, the governor, and the board of education at least twenty days prior to the convening of each regular legislative session a report of the specifics of the design of the comprehensive accountability system, as well as the fiscal requirements and legislative actions necessary to create the accountability system."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

 

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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