AN ACT relating to education assessment and accountability, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring an emergency.
     Create a new section of KRS 158.645 to 158.805 to define terms; create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to require the Department of Education to develop an implementation plan for assessment and accountability addressing specified components and make quarterly reports to the Interim Joint Committee on Education; create new sections of KRS Chapter 158 to establish the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee as a permanent subcommittee of the Legislative Research Commission to review administrative regulations and advise the Kentucky Board of Education in planning and implementing the assessment and accountability program; establish the process for the review; create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to establish a 15-member School Curriculum, Assessment, and Accountability Council appointed by the Governor from recommendations of various education interest groups, to advise the state board and LRC on all issues related to setting academic standards, assessment, and accountability; create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to establish the National Technical Advisory Panel on Assessment and Accountability composed of no fewer than 3 professionals with a variety of expertise in education testing and measurement to advise the state board and LRC on issues related to assessment and accountability; amend KRS 13A.030 and 13A.290 to conform; amend KRS 156.095 to require the state board to provide for a series of state-sponsored professional development activities to promote high academic achievement for students with diverse learning needs, provide information about successful research-based models of instruction, and assessment strategies to include integrating portfolio development with content instruction, and provide follow-up training activities; amend KRS 156.132 to conform; amend KRS 156.160 to require the state board to identify the common content for the different grades and subjects in the Program of Studies and to distribute the Program of Studies to schools and school districts; require that student scores from any assessment that are reliable at the individual student level be included on the student transcript; amend 157.067 to require that the Office of Education Accountability find that the data supports the accuracy of accountability decisions prior to the distribution of rewards; amend KRS 158.6453 to require that the assessment program include a secure, customized, nationally normed test in reading and mathematics that matches Kentucky's core content for assessment and provides normative data reliable for individual students, open-response and multiple-choice items in reading, mathematics, writing, science, social studies, arts and humanities, and practical living and vocational studies derived from the core content with significant teacher involvement, writing portfolios that include no more than 4 pieces of student work and direct the board to seek the advice of the Writing Advisory Committee for further reducing the teacher and student time involved in the portfolio process; performance assessment events for schools that have students participating in certain arts organizations' sanctioned events, and a technically sound longitudinal comparison of the assessment results for the same students; require the assessments to be designed to measure core academic content, basic skills, and higher-order skills, provide valid and reliable scores for schools and for students when scores are reported for students individually, minimize the time spent by teachers and students on testing; require the reporting of results as soon as practicable; require a biennial plan for validation studies with reports to the Interim Joint Committee on Education; require district continuous assessments to provide diagnostic information to improve instruction; require the Kentucky Board of Education to establish the components of a school report card that include measures of academic achievement, nonacademic achievement, and the school learning environment, including parent involvement; amend KRS 158.6455 to require the board, after receiving the advice of the Office of Education Accountability, the School Curriculum, Assessment, and Accountability Council, and the National Technical Advisory Panel on Assessment and Accountability, to establish the new accountability system; establish the expected growth in school improvement for each school with a "reward" threshold, an "improving" threshold and a "not improving" threshold set for each accountability cycle beginning with the 2002-2004 cycle, with the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 school years serving as the baseline; require schools to have a dropout rate less than 6% to qualify for rewards; provide rewards for the benefit of the staff assigned to the school on the last working day of the accountability cycle unless a majority of the staff vote otherwise; require a scholastic audit before classifying a school as "in review"; require the board to establish the process for the audit to include assignment of team members, evaluation of the school's learning environment, the evaluation of certified staff, and recommendations concerning subsequent evaluations, professional development activities if weaknesses are identified, permit the certified employee to determine whether subsequent evaluations if needed are conducted by the audit team or the distinguished educator assigned to the school; prohibit the dismissal of any teacher based on the initial evaluation; require the audit team to recommend whether the school should be classified as "not improving" or "in review"; require the board to establish new thresholds for "improving" and "not improving" if a school is "in review"; require the board to recognize all schools with an accountability index above 80 as high performing and not subject to classification as "not improving" or "in review"; require the state board after seeking advice to establish a formula for school accountability with an improvement goal set for each school for the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 school years using the academic and nonacademic components that are administered consistently during the 4-year period; reward schools that exceed their thresholds; require the department to review schools that fail to improve to determine whether to assign a distinguished education to act solely in an advisory capacity; make schools failing to improve eligible for school improvement funds; make conforming changes to the district accountability system; amend KRS 158.805 to require the School Curriculum, Assessment, and Accountability Council to assist the board in implementation of the Commonwealth School Improvement Fund; amend KRS 158.782 to limit the distinguished educator supplement to 35%, as opposed to 50% and make other changes to conform; amend KRS 160.350 and 161.790 to conform; require the Kentucky Board of Education to classify schools and districts based on the results for the 1994-98 accountability cycle in accordance with administrative regulations in effect for the cycle; distribute $30 million in rewards with schools exceeding their baseline to receive an amount determined by the board and schools exceeding their thresholds to receive twice that amount paid to the staff unless a majority of the staff decide otherwise; require schools that fail to reach their improvement goal to develop a school improvement plan and make them eligible for school improvement funds; permit schools classified "in decline" or "in crisis" to request the assistance of a distinguished educator to act solely in an advisory capacity; permit parents of children attending schools in crisis to transfer to a successful school; EMERGENCY.

     Feb 17-introduced in House
     Feb 18-to Education (H); posted in committee
     Mar 2-reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute
     Mar 3-2nd reading, to Rules
     Mar 4-posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for March 5, 1998; floor amendments (1) and (2) filed to Committee Substitute
     Mar 5-floor amendments (3) (4) (5) filed to Committee Substitute and floor amendment (6-title) filed
     Mar 6-floor amendments (7) and (8) filed; 3rd reading; floor amendment (2) withdrawn; floor amendment (1) ruled not germane; passed 62-33 with Committee Substitute and Floor Amendment (3)
     Mar 9-received in Senate
     Mar 10-to Education (S)