January 24, 2006, Introduced by Reps. Palmer, Mortimer, Taub, Ball, Vander Veen, Robertson, Caul, Pavlov, Garfield, Marleau, LaJoy, Meyer, Stakoe and Acciavatti and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
by amending section 1280 (MCL 380.1280), as amended by 2003 PA 275,
and by adding section 1278a; and to repeal acts and parts of acts.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1278a. (1) Beginning with pupils scheduled to graduate
from high school in 2010, and subject to subsection (4), the board
of a school district or board of directors of a public school
academy shall not award a high school diploma to a pupil unless the
pupil meets all of the following:
(a) Has successfully completed all of the following credit
requirements as part of his or her high school course work:
(i) At least 4 credits in English language arts that are
aligned with course content expectations developed by the
department under subsection (2) and approved by the state board
under subsection (3).
(ii) At least 4 credits in mathematics that are aligned with
course content expectations developed by the department under
subsection (2) and approved by the state board under subsection
(3), including completion of at least 2 algebra courses, 1 geometry
course, and an additional course beyond algebra I and geometry from
among courses approved by the department. If a pupil completed 1 or
more of these specified mathematics courses before beginning high
school, the pupil shall substitute another mathematics course for
each of these courses he or she completed before high school.
(iii) At least 3 credits in science that are aligned with course
content expectations developed by the department under subsection
(2) and approved by the state board under subsection (3), including
completion of at least 1 biology course, 1 chemistry or physics
course, and an additional course from among courses approved by the
department. At least 1 of the additional courses approved by the
department shall be a course in earth science.
(iv) At least 0.5 credit in civics, 0.5 credit in economics, 1
credit in United States history and geography, and 1 credit in
world history and geography.
(v) At least 1 credit in health and physical education from
among courses approved by the department.
(vi) At least 1 credit in fine arts or music from among courses
approved by the department.
(b) Beginning in the academic year that begins after the state
board has adopted a resolution indicating that the state board has
determined that all high school pupils in this state have
substantially similar access to the internet and to substantially
similar computing technology, has successfully completed at least 1
course or learning experience that is presented online, as defined
by the department.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the department shall do
all of the following:
(a) Develop course content expectations for all elements of
the curriculum required under subsection (1). All of the following
apply to these course content expectations:
(i) All course content expectations shall be consistent with
the state board recommended model core academic curriculum content
standards under section 1278.
(ii) The course content expectations must be approved by the
state board under subsection (3).
(iii) The course content expectations shall state in clear and
measurable terms what pupils are expected to know upon completion
of each course.
(iv) Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, the
course content expectations for all subjects shall be developed by
the department and approved by the state board under subsection (3)
not later than March 1, 2006. The course content expectations for
sophomore-level English language arts shall be developed by the
department and approved by the state board under subsection (3) not
later than March 1, 2007, for junior-level English language arts
shall be developed by the department and approved by the state
board under subsection (3) not later than March 1, 2008, and for
senior-level English language arts shall be developed by the
department and approved by the state board under subsection (3) not
later than March 1, 2009.
(v) The course content expectations for English language arts
shall focus on reading and writing.
(vi) The course content expectations for mathematics shall
focus on the study of measurement, properties, and relationships of
quantities and sets, using both numbers and symbols.
(vii) The course content expectations for science shall include
using the scientific method to critically evaluate scientific
theories and using relevant scientific data to assess the validity
of those theories and formulate arguments for and against those
theories.
(viii) The course content expectations for civics shall focus on
the constitution of the United States, the constitution of this
state, and the history and present form of government of the United
States and of this state and its political subdivisions.
(ix) The course content expectations for economics shall focus
on the fundamental concepts of microeconomics, macroeconomics,
international economics, and personal finance.
(x) The course content expectations for United States history
and geography shall focus on the history of the American experiment
of liberty under law and shall cover American colonial heritage and
the founding of the republic to present day.
(xi) The course content expectations for world history and
geography shall focus on the development of cultures before 1600,
beginning with consideration of the Mesopotamian and Hebrew
civilizations. The course shall be designed to acquaint pupils with
the historical roots of the Western heritage.
(xii) The course content expectations for health and physical
education shall focus on demonstration of competency in motor
skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of
physical activities and understanding of movement concepts,
principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the learning
and performance of physical activities.
(xiii) The course content expectations for fine arts or music
shall focus on analyzing the dynamics of the creative process in a
given medium, addressing the interaction between the artist and the
cultural milieu, and analyzing the nature of the aesthetic
response, and shall require firsthand experience with works of art
or music.
(b) Develop guidelines for alternative instructional delivery
methods as described in subsection (5).
(3) The state board shall approve course content expectations
developed by the department under subsection (2) before those
course content expectations may take effect. Before the department
presents proposed course content expectations to the state board
for approval, the department shall submit the proposed course
content expectations to a group consisting of a designee of the
state board, the chair of the senate standing committee on
education or his or her designee, and the chair of the house
standing committee on education or his or her designee. The
department shall not present a proposed course content expectation
to the state board for approval unless all of the members of this
group have determined that the course content expectation is
consistent with the requirements of this section.
(4) The requirements of subsection (1) are subject to both of
the following:
(a) A pupil who has completed at least grade 8 may request a
modification of his or her individual high school graduation
requirements and a personalized alternative curriculum. If all of
the requirements under this subdivision for a personalized
alternative curriculum are met, then the board of a school district
or board of directors of a public school academy may award a high
school diploma to a pupil who successfully completes his or her
personalized alternative curriculum even if it does not meet the
requirements of the curriculum required under subsection (1). All
of the following apply to a personalized alternative curriculum:
(i) The personalized alternative curriculum shall be developed
by a group consisting of the pupil, at least 1 of the pupil's
parents or the pupil's legal guardian, at least 1 of the pupil's
high school teachers who is selected by the high school principal,
and the pupil's high school counselor or another designee selected
by the high school principal. If the pupil is at least age 18 or is
an emancipated minor, at the pupil's option this group shall not
include the pupil's parent or legal guardian.
(ii) The personalized alternative curriculum shall meet all of
the following:
(A) Shall incorporate as much of the course content
expectations of the curriculum required under subsection (1) as is
practicable.
(B) Shall establish measurable goals that the pupil must
achieve while enrolled in high school and shall provide a method to
evaluate whether the pupil achieved these goals.
(C) Shall be designed to prepare the pupil for employment
after graduation from high school or for enrollment in a 4-year
college or university, a community college, or a postsecondary
trade, technical, or vocational institution after graduation from
high school.
(iii) Before it takes effect, the personalized alternative
curriculum must be agreed to by the pupil's parent or legal
guardian, or by the pupil if the pupil is at least age 18 or is an
emancipated minor, and by the superintendent of the school district
or chief executive of the public school academy or his or her
designee.
(iv) Unless the pupil is at least age 18 or is an emancipated
minor, the pupil's parent or legal guardian shall be in
communication with each of the pupil's teachers at least once each
calendar quarter to monitor the pupil's progress toward the goals
contained in the pupil's personalized alternative curriculum.
(v) A group consisting of the same people as under
subparagraph (i) shall at least annually review the pupil's progress
toward the goals contained in the pupil's personalized alternative
curriculum.
(vi) Modifications may be made in a personalized alternative
curriculum if the modifications are developed and agreed to in the
same manner as the original personalized alternative curriculum.
(b) If a pupil receives special education services, the
pupil's individualized education plan supersedes the requirements
of subsection (1).
(5) A school district, intermediate school district, or public
school academy shall ensure that the content expectations for the
curriculum requirements of subsection (1) are met by providing the
course work specified in subsection (1) or by using alternative
instructional delivery methods such as alternative course work,
career and technical education, or humanities course sequences.
(6) The board of a school district or board of directors of a
public school academy shall ensure that all elements of the
curriculum required under subsection (1) are made available to all
affected pupils. If a school district or public school academy does
not offer all of the required courses, the board of the school
district or board of directors of the public school academy shall
ensure that the pupil has access to the required courses by another
means, such as enrollment in a postsecondary course under the
postsecondary enrollment options act, 1996 PA 160, MCL 388.511 to
388.524; cooperative arrangement with a neighboring school district
or with a public school academy; or granting approval under section
6(6) of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1606, for the
pupil to be counted in membership in another school district.
(7) If a pupil is unable to meet a requirement under this
section for a high school diploma because the state board has not
approved course content expectations for a course or the department
or state board otherwise has not complied with this section, then
that particular requirement does not apply to the pupil.
(8) For the purposes of this section, all of the following
apply:
(a) A pupil is considered to have completed 1 credit if the
pupil successfully completes a course that meets the course content
expectations developed for the course by the department and
approved by the state board.
(b) A pupil is considered to have successfully completed a
course if the pupil earns a grade of at least 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Sec. 1280. (1) The board of a school district that does not
want to be subject to the measures described in this section shall
ensure that each public school within the school district is
accredited.
(2) As used in subsection (1), and subject to subsection (6),
"accredited" means certified by the superintendent of public
instruction as having met or exceeded standards established under
this section for 6 areas of school operation: administration and
school organization, curricula, staff, school plant and facilities,
school and community relations, and school improvement plans and
student performance. The building-level evaluation used in the
accreditation process shall include, but is not limited to, school
data collection, self-study, visitation and validation,
determination of performance data to be used, and the development
of a school improvement plan.
(3) The department shall develop and distribute to all public
schools proposed accreditation standards. Upon distribution of the
proposed standards, the department shall hold statewide public
hearings for the purpose of receiving testimony concerning the
standards. After a review of the testimony, the department shall
revise and submit the proposed standards to the superintendent of
public instruction. After a review and revision, if appropriate, of
the proposed standards, the superintendent of public instruction
shall submit the proposed standards to the senate and house
committees that have the responsibility for education legislation.
Upon approval by these committees, the department shall distribute
to all public schools the standards to be applied to each school
for accreditation purposes. The superintendent of public
instruction shall review and update the accreditation standards
annually using the process prescribed under this subsection.
(4) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop and
distribute to all public schools standards for determining that a
school is eligible for summary accreditation under subsection (6).
The standards shall be developed, reviewed, approved, and
distributed using the same process as prescribed in subsection (3)
for accreditation standards, and shall be finally distributed and
implemented not later than December 31, 1994.
(5) The standards for accreditation or summary accreditation
under this section shall include as criteria pupil performance on
Michigan education assessment program (MEAP) tests and on the
Michigan merit examination under section 1279g and, until the
Michigan merit examination has been fully implemented, the
percentage of pupils achieving state endorsement under section
1279, as
criteria, but shall not be based solely on pupil
performance on MEAP tests or the Michigan merit examination or on
the percentage of pupils achieving state endorsement under section
1279. The standards shall also include as criteria multiple year
change in pupil performance on MEAP tests and the Michigan merit
examination and, until after the Michigan merit examination is
fully implemented, multiple year change in the percentage of pupils
achieving
state endorsement under section 1279.
as criteria. If
it is necessary for the superintendent of public instruction to
revise accreditation or summary accreditation standards established
under subsection (3) or (4) to comply with this subsection, the
revised standards shall be developed, reviewed, approved, and
distributed using the same process as prescribed in subsection (3).
(6) If the superintendent of public instruction determines
that a public school has met the standards established under
subsection (4) or (5) for summary accreditation, the school is
considered to be accredited without the necessity for a full
building-level evaluation under subsection (2).
(7) If the superintendent of public instruction determines
that a school has not met the standards established under
subsection (4) or (5) for summary accreditation but that the school
is making progress toward meeting those standards, or if, based on
a full building-level evaluation under subsection (2), the
superintendent of public instruction determines that a school has
not met the standards for accreditation but is making progress
toward meeting those standards, the school is in interim status and
is subject to a full building-level evaluation as provided in this
section.
(8) If a school has not met the standards established under
subsection (4) or (5) for summary accreditation and is not eligible
for interim status under subsection (7), the school is unaccredited
and subject to the measures provided in this section.
(9) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, if at least 5%
of a public school's answer sheets from the administration of the
Michigan educational assessment program (MEAP) tests are lost by
the department or by a state contractor and if the public school
can verify that the answer sheets were collected from pupils and
forwarded to the department or the contractor, the department shall
not assign an accreditation score or school report card grade to
the public school for that subject area for the corresponding year
for the purposes of determining state accreditation under this
section. The department shall not assign an accreditation score or
school report card grade to the public school for that subject area
until the results of all tests for the next year are available.
(10) Subsection (9) does not preclude the department from
determining whether a public school or a school district has
achieved adequate yearly progress for the school year in which the
answer sheets were lost for the purposes of the no child left
behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425. However,
the department shall ensure that a public school or the school
district is not penalized when determining adequate yearly progress
status due to the fact that the public school's MEAP answer sheets
were lost by the department or by a state contractor, but shall not
require a public school or school district to retest pupils or
produce scores from another test for this purpose.
(11) The superintendent of public instruction shall annually
review and evaluate for accreditation purposes the performance of
each school that is unaccredited and as many of the schools that
are in interim status as permitted by the department's resources.
(12) The superintendent of public instruction shall, and the
intermediate school district to which a school district is
constituent, a consortium of intermediate school districts, or any
combination thereof may, provide technical assistance, as
appropriate, to a school that is unaccredited or that is in interim
status upon request of the board of the school district in which
the school is located. If requests to the superintendent of public
instruction for technical assistance exceed the capacity, priority
shall be given to unaccredited schools.
(13) A school that has been unaccredited for 3 consecutive
years is subject to 1 or more of the following measures, as
determined by the superintendent of public instruction:
(a) The superintendent of public instruction or his or her
designee shall appoint at the expense of the affected school
district an administrator of the school until the school becomes
accredited.
(b) A parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis of a
child who attends the school may send his or her child to any
accredited public school with an appropriate grade level within the
school district.
(c) The school, with the approval of the superintendent of
public instruction, shall align itself with an existing research-
based school improvement model or establish an affiliation for
providing assistance to the school with a college or university
located in this state.
(d) The school shall be closed.
(14) The superintendent of public instruction shall evaluate
the school accreditation program and the status of schools under
this section and shall submit an annual report based upon the
evaluation to the senate and house committees that have the
responsibility for education legislation. The report shall address
the reasons each unaccredited school is not accredited and shall
recommend legislative action that will result in the accreditation
of all public schools in this state.
(15) Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, a high school
shall not be accredited by the department unless the department
determines that the high school is providing all of the elements of
the curriculum required under section 1278a that have been finally
approved by the state board. If it is necessary for the
superintendent of public instruction to revise accreditation or
summary accreditation standards established under subsection (3) or
(4) to comply with the changes made to this section by the
amendatory act that added this subsection, the revised standards
shall be developed, reviewed, approved, and distributed using the
same process as prescribed in subsection (3).
Enacting section 1. Section 1166 of the revised school code,
1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1166, is repealed effective July 1, 2006.