Sec. 10-223e. State-wide education accountability plan and possible actions. Study of academic achievement.
Sec. 10-223e. State-wide education accountability plan and possible actions.
Study of academic achievement. (a) In conformance with the No Child Left Behind
Act, P.L. 107-110, the Commissioner of Education shall prepare a state-wide education
accountability plan, consistent with federal law and regulation. Such plan shall identify
the schools and districts in need of improvement, require the development and implementation of improvement plans and utilize rewards and consequences.
(b) Public schools identified by the State Board of Education pursuant to section
10-223b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2001, as schools
in need of improvement shall: (1) Continue to be identified as schools in need of improvement, and continue to operate under school improvement plans developed pursuant to
said section 10-223b through June 30, 2004; (2) on or before February 1, 2003, be
evaluated by the local board of education and determined to be making sufficient or
insufficient progress; (3) if found to be making insufficient progress by a local board
of education, be subject to a new remediation and organization plan developed by the
local board of education; (4) continue to be eligible for available federal or state aid;
(5) beginning in February, 2003, be monitored by the Department of Education for
adequate yearly progress, as defined in the state accountability plan prepared in accordance with subsection (a) of this section; and (6) be subject to rewards and consequences
as defined in said plan.
(c) (1) Any school or school district identified as in need of improvement pursuant
to subsection (a) of this section and requiring corrective action pursuant to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, P.L. 107-110, shall be designated and listed as
a low achieving school or school district and shall be subject to intensified supervision
and direction by the State Board of Education.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision of this title or any regulation adopted pursuant
to said statutes, except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, in carrying out
the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection, the State Board of Education shall
take any of the following actions to improve student performance and remove the school
or district from the list of schools or districts designated and listed as a low achieving
school or district pursuant to said subdivision (1), and to address other needs of the
school or district: (A) Require an operations audit to identify possible programmatic
savings and an instructional audit to identify any deficits in curriculum and instruction
or in the learning environment of the school or district; (B) require the local or regional
board of education for such school or district to use state and federal funds for critical
needs, as directed by the State Board of Education; (C) provide incentives to attract
highly qualified teachers and principals; (D) direct the transfer and assignment of teachers and principals; (E) require additional training and technical assistance for parents
and guardians of children attending the school or a school in the district and for teachers,
principals, and central office staff members hired by the district; (F) require the local
or regional board of education for the school or district to implement model curriculum,
including, but not limited to, recommended textbooks, materials and supplies approved
by the Department of Education; (G) identify schools for reconstitution, as may be
phased in by the commissioner, as state or local charter schools, schools established
pursuant to section 10-74g, or schools based on other models for school improvement,
or for management by an entity other than the local or regional board of education for
the district in which the school is located; (H) direct the local or regional board of
education for the school or district to develop and implement a plan addressing deficits
in achievement and in the learning environment as recommended in the instructional
audit; (I) assign a technical assistance team to the school or district to guide school or
district initiatives and report progress to the Commissioner of Education; (J) establish
instructional and learning environment benchmarks for the school or district to meet as
it progresses toward removal from the list of low achieving schools or districts; (K)
provide funding to any proximate district to a district designated as a low achieving
school district so that students in a low achieving district may attend public school in
a neighboring district; (L) direct the establishment of learning academies within schools
that require continuous monitoring of student performance by teacher groups; (M) require local and regional boards of education to (i) undergo training to improve their
operational efficiency and effectiveness as leaders of their districts' improvement plans,
and (ii) submit an annual action plan to the Commissioner of Education outlining how,
when and in what manner their effectiveness shall be monitored; or (N) any combination
of the actions described in this subdivision or similar, closely related actions.
(3) If a directive of the State Board of Education pursuant to subparagraph (C), (D),
(E) or (L) of subdivision (2) of this subsection or a directive to implement a plan pursuant
to subparagraph (H) of said subdivision affects working conditions, such directive shall
be carried out in accordance with the provisions of sections 10-153a to 10-153n, inclusive.
(4) The Comptroller shall, pursuant to the provisions of section 10-262i, withhold
any grant funds that a town is otherwise required to appropriate to a local or regional
board of education due to low academic achievement in the school district pursuant to
section 10-262h. Said funds shall be transferred to the Department of Education and
shall be expended by the department on behalf of the identified school district. Said
funds shall be used to implement the provisions of subdivision (2) of this subsection
and to offset such other local education costs that the Commissioner of Education deems
appropriate to achieve school improvements. These funds shall be awarded by the commissioner to the local or regional board of education for such identified school district
upon condition that said funds shall be spent in accordance with the directives of the
commissioner.
(d) The State Board of Education shall monitor the progress of each school or district
designated as a low achieving school or district pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection
(c) of this section and provide notice to the local or regional board of education for each
such school or district of the school or district's progress toward meeting the benchmarks
established by the State Board of Education pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.
If a district fails to make acceptable progress toward meeting such benchmarks established by the State Board of Education and fails to make adequate yearly progress pursuant to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, P.L. 107-110, for two consecutive years while designated as a low achieving school district, the State Board of
Education, after consultation with the Governor and chief elected official or officials
of the district, may request that the General Assembly enact legislation authorizing that
control of the district be reassigned to the State Board of Education or other authorized
entity.
(e) Any school district or elementary school after two successive years of failing
to make adequate yearly progress shall be designated as a low achieving school district
or school and shall be evaluated by the Commissioner of Education. After such evaluation, the commissioner may require that such school district or school provide full-day
kindergarten classes, summer school, extended school day, weekend classes, tutorial
assistance to its students or professional development to its administrators, principals,
teachers and paraprofessional teacher aides if (1) on any subpart of the third grade state-wide mastery examination, thirty per cent or more of the students in any subgroup, as
defined by the No Child Left Behind Act, P.L. 107-110, do not achieve the level of
proficiency or higher, or (2) the commissioner determines that it would be in the best
educational interests of the school or the school district to have any of these programs.
In ordering any educational program authorized by this subsection, the commissioner
may limit the offering of the program to the subgroup of students that have failed to
achieve proficiency as determined by this subsection, those in particular grades or those
who are otherwise at substantial risk of educational failure. The costs of instituting the
ordered educational programs shall be borne by the identified low achieving school
district or the school district in which an identified low achieving school is located. The
commissioner shall not order an educational program that costs more to implement than
the total increase in the amount of the grant that a town receives pursuant to section 10-262i in any fiscal year above the prior fiscal year.
(f) The Commissioner of Education shall conduct a study, within the limits of the
capacity of the Department of Education to perform such study, of academic achievement of individual students over time as measured by performance on the state-wide
mastery examination in grades three to eight, inclusive. If this study evidences a pattern
of continuous and substantial growth in educational performance on said examinations
for individual students, then the commissioner may determine that the school district
or elementary school shall not be subject to the requirements of subsection (e) of this
section, but shall still comply with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act,
P.L. 107-110, if applicable.
(May 9 Sp. Sess. P.A. 02-7, S. 6; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-3, S. 32; P.A. 08-153, S. 4.)
History: May 9 Sp. Sess. P.A. 02-7 effective August 15, 2002; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-3 added Subsecs. (c) to (f) re
low achieving schools or districts and direction by the State Board of Education, re monitoring of progress by State Board
of Education, re evaluation by Commissioner of Education and re study of academic achievement, respectively, effective
July 1, 2007; P.A. 08-153 amended Subsec. (c)(2) to add exception re Subsec. (c)(3) and, in Subpara. (E), add provision
re parents and guardians, add new Subpara. (M) re training and annual action plan, redesignate existing Subpara. (M) as
Subpara. (N) and make a technical change therein, added new Subsec. (c)(3) re carrying out directive in accordance with
Secs. 10-153a to 10-153n and redesignated existing Subsec. (c)(3) as Subsec. (c)(4), effective July 1, 2008.