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Education Legislation

2008 Education Legislation

Components of Senate Bill 1908

Next Generation Sunshine State Standards
The State Board of Education shall review the Sunshine State Standards and replace them with Next Generation Sunshine State Standards prior to December 31, 2011.
School Grading
School Grading System

Additional criteria and student assessment data was established for designating school grades, beginning with the 2009-2010 school year for high schools with grades 9, 10, 11, and 12, or grades 10, 11, and 12.

  • Fifty (50) percent of a school’s grade will be based on the existing FCAT-related factors in s. 1008.34(3)(a), F.S., and the other half will be based on factors that include:
    • A school’s high school graduation rate;
    • As valid data become available, the performance and participation of students in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, dual enrollment courses, Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) courses, and the achievement of industry certification in a career and professional academy;
    • The postsecondary readiness of the students as measured by the SAT, ACT, or the common placement test;
    • The high school graduation rate of at-risk students who scored at Level 2 or lower on the grade 8 FCAT Reading and Mathematics examinations;
    • The performance of a school’s students on statewide standardized end-of-course assessments approved by the Department of Education, when available; and
    • The annual growth or decline in these components.
  • Beginning in 2009-10, in order for a high school to receive a grade of “A” the school must demonstrate adequate progress for at-risk students who scored at Level 2 or lower on the grade 8 FCAT Reading and Mathematics examinations.
College Readiness
Beginning with the 2008-09 school year a college readiness assessment (currently CPT, ACT or SAT) shall be administered to all high school students prior to grade 12 (changed from all second semester sophomores) with defined FCAT scores and who indicate an interest in postsecondary education. Students achieving the minimum scores, and enrolling in a community college within 2 years, will not be required to enroll in remediation courses. High schools, to the extent practicable, must provide students in grade 12 who score below the minimum scores access to remedial instruction prior to graduation, which shall be a collaborative effort between secondary and postsecondary institutions.
Assessment
Changes to the state’s assessment program were made to:
  • Allow the Commissioner to incorporate end-of-course assessments into the statewide assessment program in addition to the comprehensive assessments of reading, mathematics, writing, and science, and must be rigorous, statewide, standardized, and aligned to the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
  • Remove the requirement that the statewide assessment program include norm-referenced tests, beginning with the 2008-09 school year.
  • Require the Commissioner to discontinue the administration of the multiple-choice items on the comprehensive assessment of writing, beginning with the 2008-2009 school year through 2011-2012. In 2012-2013, the Commissioner must administer a comprehensive assessment of writing with specific characteristics, including a combination of multiple-choice, short-response, and extended-response items.
FCAT Preparation Activities
Beginning with the 2008-09 school year, districts must prohibit schools from suspending a regular program of curricula to administer practice tests or engage in other test-preparation activities for a statewide assessment. However, certain activities including instruction on test-taking strategies are authorized.
Electronic Personal Education Plan
An annual review of each high school student’s electronic Personal Education Plan (ePEP) is now required. This will take effect in the 2009-10 school year, when entering 9th graders are required to have completed an ePEP in order to be promoted from 8th grade.
Arts Requirement for High School Graduation
Practical arts courses that incorporate artistic content and techniques of creativity, interpretation, and imagination, as identified through the Course Code Directory, were added to the existing options of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, speech, and debate courses that high school students can take to meet the fine or performing arts graduation requirement.
High School Diploma Designations
Beginning in the 2008-09 school year, the following four new designations must be added to the standard high school diploma, as applicable:
  • Major Area of Interest
  • Completion of four or more accelerated college credit courses in AP, IB, AICE, or dual enrollment (the Commissioner is charged with establishing guidelines for successful passage of examinations or coursework in each of these areas for the purpose of this designation)
  • Career education certification
  • Florida Ready to Work Credential
Teacher Certification for Foreign Language
There is now a new option for satisfying the subject area mastery requirement for certification. For foreign languages for which there are no Florida-developed subject area tests, scores earned on the oral and written proficiency tests administered by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) will now satisfy the mastery of subject area knowledge requirement. The scores must be above the intermediate level.
Florida Teachers Lead Program
Changes were made this year to:
  • Prohibit purchase of equipment with Teachers Lead funds; this provision will clarify that the school district is expected to supply necessary equipment and will eliminate confusion over inventory;
  • Requires the Commissioner of Education to disburse the Teachers Lead funds to the school districts by July 15;
  • Specifies that funds may be allocated and expended through the use of debit cards, direct deposit, check, or purchasing card and that the funds are not subject to competitive bidding or collective bargaining (this subsection is retroactive to July 1, 2007);
  • Limits to four years the amount of time that a classroom teacher must keep receipts for materials and supplies purchased with funds;
  • Provides that Teachers Lead funds do not affect a classroom teacher’s wages, hours, or terms and conditions of employment and are therefore not subject to collective bargaining; and
  • Specifies that a classroom teacher may decline receipt of or return the funds without explanation or cause.
Virtual Education
School districts are required to offer virtual instruction programs beginning in the 2009-10 and may offer them in 2008-09. The purpose of the program is to make online and distance learning instruction available to full-time virtual students in grades kindergarten through grade 8 (K-8) or to full- or part-time students in grades 9-12 (9-12 is limited to DJJ programs, dropout prevention program and career and vocational programs). Providers must be approved by the DOE and annually meet certain qualifications.
School Safety
The “Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act,” and expresses legislative intent that school districts take every reasonable precaution to protect students and school employees from the irreparable physiological, physical, emotional, mental, and social harm of bullying and harassment. It requires that districts adopt a policy prohibiting bullying and harassment that is in substantial conformity with the Department’s model policy, or risk losing their Safe Schools appropriation.
Students with Disabilities
The following terminology relating to students with disabilities was replaced with current language more commonly used in the field of special education:
  • Emotionally handicapped or emotional handicaps is replaced with the term “emotional or behavioral disabilities.”
  • A reference to “serious emotional disturbance” is removed from s. 1002.39, F.S., as this is no longer considered a separate program.
  • Mentally handicapped or mental retardation is replaced with the term “intellectual disabilities.”
  • Physically impaired is replaced with references to the specific impairments included – orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, and traumatic brain injury.
  • Autism or autistic is replaced with the term “autism spectrum disorder.”
Supplemental Educational Services (SES) Providers
The Department is required to annually designate performance grades of A-F for each state-approved SES provider, based on a combination of student learning gains and student proficiency levels, as measured by the statewide assessment pursuant to s. 1008.22, F.S., and norm-referenced tests approved by the DOE for students in kindergarten through grade 3. The first grades will be available by March 1, 2009, for the 2007-08 school year and by March 1 each year thereafter.
Ethics in Education Act
This act requires districts, charter schools, Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, and private schools that accept state scholarship students to:
  • Adopt policies establishing standards of ethical conduct for instructional personnel and school administrators, including the requirement of training on the standards, responsibilities and procedures for reporting misconduct affecting the health, safety, and welfare of students by instructional personnel and school administrators, and liability protections.
  • Ban confidentiality agreements with terminated or dismissed instructional personnel and school administrators (or those that resign in lieu of termination) based on misconduct and require that employment recommendations for future educational settings disclose the misconduct.
  • Disqualify instructional personnel and school administrators from employment in any position that required direct contact with students if they have been convicted of offenses listed in s. 1012.315, Florida Statutes.
  • Conduct employment history checks for instructional personnel and school administrator candidates for positions requiring direct student contact, screen with DOE tools and document findings.

The state must:

  • Provide technical assistance to districts on the development of their policies and procedures.
  • Disqualify from certification any applicants for certification, instructional personnel, and school administrators if they have been convicted of offenses listed in s. 1012.315, Florida Statutes.

Physical Education
Districts must:
  • Include in their written physical education policy the benefits of physical education and the availability of one-on-one counseling concerning these benefits.
  • Provide 150 minutes of physical education each week for students for students in grade 6 who are enrolled in a school that contains one or more elementary grades (in addition to the existing requirement of 150 weekly minutes for students in grades K-5).
  • Provide at least 30 consecutive minutes of physical education instruction on any day during which it is conducted for students in grades kindergarten through grade 5, and for students in grade 6 who are enrolled in a school that contains one or more elementary grades.
  • Provide the equivalent of one class period per day of physical education for one semester of each year for students enrolled in grades 6 through 8, beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.
  • Notify the parents of students of the waiver options available before scheduling the student to participate in physical education.

Archived Legislation