AB1: Bill Text

Current law also authorizes the state superintendent to withhold state aid from any school district that fails to comply to the state superintendent's satisfaction with any of the above directives.

This bill repeals these provisions.

Academic review system

This bill replaces the school and school district accountability system with an academic review system, to be created by the Academic Review Board (ARB), by rule, within 24 months after the effective date of the bill and to be implemented by DPI beginning in the 2017-18 school year. The academic review system will be applicable to public schools, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a PCP.

Responsibilities of the Academic Review Board

In addition to requiring the ARB to establish the academic review system, the bill gives the ARB the authority to establish an independent charter school or initiate a contract with an individual or group to operate an independent charter school. The bill also gives the ARB a number of responsibilities, including the following:

1. Annually review the review reports issued for schools subject to sanctions and determine whether any such school has made measurable progress towards the goals established by the school.

2. Develop the following by rule:

a. Incentives to be given to exceptional schools.

b. Incentives to be given to schools with a significant population of children at risk or of pupils receiving curriculum modifications or other alternative educational programming.

c. Consequences to be borne by failing schools.

d. Methods for evaluating and improving the collection of data from schools and developing and modifying when appropriate the criteria used to grade schools.

e. The qualifying score for each letter grade assigned by the state superintendent.

3. Develop alternative improvement plans to be implemented by schools subject to Step I sanctions, as discussed below.

4. Approve three of the alternative tests determined, as discussed below, by University of Wisconsin-Madison Value-Added Research Center (VARC) to be appropriate for statistical comparison with examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent of public instruction (state superintendent).

Beginning in 2017 and in each odd-numbered year thereafter, the ARB must submit a report with certain recommendations to DPI, provide a copy to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature, and be prepared to make a presentation about its recommendations to a hearing or joint hearing of the legislature.

Pupil assessments

Current law requires public schools, including independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a PCP to administer examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent in the 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. This bill authorizes a public school, including an independent charter school, and a private school participating in a PCP to administer a test approved by the ARB in lieu of the examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent. If the school elects to administer an alternative test, the school must cover the costs of the test and of administering the test.

Annual review of schools

The bill directs DPI to annually determine a school's performance in the following areas:

1. Pupil achievement in reading and mathematics.

2. Growth in pupil achievement in reading and mathematics, calculated using a value-added methodology.

3. Gap closure in growth in pupil achievement in reading and mathematics and, when available, in graduation rates.

4. Rates of attendance or of high school graduation.

DPI must determine the appropriate weight to be given each of the performance measures used to determine the letter grade assigned to a school. DPI must also determine each school's performance following a review of certain data from the preceding school year and must issue a review report for each school on which DPI assigns a letter grade to the school based upon that data. The bill directs DPI to determine the appropriate weight to be given to each measure reported for each school, and directs the ARB to determine the qualifying score for each letter grade by rule. The bill requires DPI to impose sanctions upon a school that receives a letter grade of "D" or "F" on the third review report of three consecutive review reports.

The bill specifies the information that DPI may use to measure the school's performance in each of the above areas. Generally, schools submit the information through the student information system. The student information includes scores on reading and mathematics examinations administered to pupils attending the school; the disability status, grade level, race or ethnicity, English-language proficiency, and economic status of pupils taking the examinations; and information about the number of pupils who graduate from high school and the number of years within which the pupils obtain a diploma.

For a private school participating in a PCP, the bill directs DPI to use for each performance area only the information that pertains to pupils attending the private school under the PCP unless the private school also submits data about pupils who are not attending the private school under the PCP. DPI may assign two letter grades to PCP schools if the PCP schools submit data about pupils who are not attending the private school under a PCP. The first grade must be derived only from pupils attending the school under the PCP, and the second grade must be derived from all pupils attending the private school. If two grades are reported, DPI may impose sanctions upon a private school based only on the grade derived solely from pupils attending the private school under a PCP.

The bill provides that if DPI determines there is insufficient data about a school to grade its performance, or that a grade would be inappropriate because the mission of the school is to serve predominantly or exclusively children at risk, pupils with a disability, or pupils who have other special needs, DPI must issue a report card but must grade the school as "satisfactory" or "needs improvement."

Sanctions for schools receiving a "d" or "f"

The bill requires the state superintendent to increase the severity of sanctions imposed upon schools that receive failing grades in two steps: Steps I and II. The sanctions imposed upon public schools, including independent charter schools, differ in some respects from the sanctions imposed upon private schools participating in a PCP.

Step I sanctions

For a public school, or a private school at which at least 20 pupils attending the school are participating in a PCP, that receives a grade of "D" on the third review report of three consecutive review reports, the school must develop goals, implement a reform plan, and comply with the requirements imposed upon Title I focus schools for four consecutive years. The school may choose to comply with an alternative improvement plan approved by the ARB.

For a public school, or a private school at which at least 20 pupils attending the school are participating in a PCP, that receives a grade of "F" on the third review report of three consecutive review reports, the public school must develop goals, implement a reform plan, and comply with the requirements imposed upon Title I priority schools for four consecutive years. The school may choose to comply with an alternative improvement plan approved by the ARB.

A private school subject to Step I sanctions may choose to accept no new pupils under a PCP for two school years or to withdraw entirely from the PCP for four school years and to reapply to the program at the end of the two- or four-year period. If the private school chooses either of these options, the private school must implement the improvement plan to which the school would have been subject had the school not elected to withdraw from the PCP.

Step II sanctions

If the ARB determines that a school subject to Step I sanctions has not made adequate progress towards the improvement goals established under the Step I sanctions, the state superintendent may impose any of the following Step II sanctions:

1. For a public school other than an independent charter school, DPI must publish a request for proposals that directs interested applicants to submit a proposal to convert the public school to an independent charter school. DPI must forward any proposals to the ARB for its review. If the ARB finds a proposal acceptable, the ARB must authorize the conversion of the public school to an independent charter school.

2. For a public school described under item 1, if no proposal is acceptable, the school board must convert the school to a charter school under its authority.

3. For a public school that is an independent charter school, DPI must discontinue payments to the charter school as soon as practicable under the terms of the contract.

4. For a private school, the private school must fulfill any contractual or other requirements with DPI, and DPI must discontinue payments to the private school as soon as practicable. In addition, the private school may not accept any new pupils under a PCP for four school years. The private school may reapply to participate in a PCP after four school years. The private school would be subject to the same requirements imposed upon private schools withdrawing from a PCP under Step I sanctions.

Exiting sanctions

Under the bill, the state superintendent may release a school from sanctions if the ARB determines that the school has either demonstrated measurable progress towards the goals established by the school within four years or is on a trajectory to meet the goals within six years.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Value-Added Research Center

The bill requires VARC to statistically equate achievement data and scores derived from nationally recognized, norm-referenced tests to the scores obtained on standardized examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent and required to be administered to pupils attending public schools in this state. The purpose of statistically equating the scores is to be able to measure the achievement and growth of pupils attending the school against the achievement and growth of pupils attending schools where the examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent are administered.

Under the bill, VARC must also provide to the ARB a list of alternative tests determined by VARC to be acceptable for statistical comparison with the examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent that may be administered by schools instead of the examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent. Finally, the bill requires VARC to work with the ARB and DPI to review alternative tests proposed for administration by individual schools.

Educational options

This bill directs each school board to annually inform the parent or guardian of each child between the ages of 3 and 18 who resides in the school district of the educational options available for the child.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB1,1 Section 1. 15.07 (1) (a) 6. of the statutes is created to read:

AB1,6,5 15.07 (1) (a) 6. Members of the academic review board appointed under s. 15.375 (3) shall be nominated as provided in that section, and with the advice of the senate education committee and consent of the senate appointed, to serve for terms prescribed by law.

AB1,2 Section 2. 15.07 (3) (bm) 8. of the statutes is created to read:

AB1,6,8 15.07 (3) (bm) 8. The academic review board shall meet at least 2 times each year.

AB1,3 Section 3. 15.375 (3) of the statutes is created to read:

AB1,6,12 15.375 (3) Academic review board. (a) There is created an academic review board, attached to the department of public instruction under s. 15.03, consisting of the following members appointed as specified for staggered 4-year terms:

AB1,6,13 1. The state superintendent or his or her designee.

AB1,6,14 2. One principal of a public school, nominated by the state superintendent.

AB1,7,2 3. One representative of a college or university in the University of Wisconsin System, nominated by the state superintendent.

AB1,7,5 4. One individual employed as instructional staff, as defined in s. 118.40 (2r) (a), by a charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r), nominated by the state superintendent.

AB1,7,8 5. One administrator, as defined in s. 115.39 (1) (a), of a private school participating in a parental choice program, as defined in s. 115.39 (1) (d), nominated by the state superintendent.

AB1,7,10 6. One teacher employed by a private school, participating in a parental choice program under s. 118.60 or 119.23, nominated by the state superintendent.

AB1,7,12 7. One representative of a technical college located in this state, nominated by the state superintendent.

AB1,7,14 8. One representative of a private college or university in this state, nominated by the governor.

AB1,7,15 9. One individual nominated by the governor.

AB1,7,17 10. One principal of a charter school established under s. 118.40 (2r), nominated by the minority leader of the assembly.

AB1,7,18 11. One individual nominated by the speaker of the assembly.

AB1,7,20 12. One teacher employed by a school district, nominated by the senate minority leader.

AB1,7,21 13. One individual nominated by the senate majority leader.

AB1,7,23 (b) The academic review board may appoint nonvoting members to serve on the board in an advisory capacity.

AB1,4 Section 4. 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated: - See PDF for table

AB1,5 Section 5. 20.255 (1) (fm) of the statutes is created to read:

AB1,8,4 20.255 (1) (fm) Value-Added Research Center. The amounts in the schedule to pay the costs of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Value-Added Research Center under s. 115.39 (4) (e).

AB1,6 Section 6. 115.28 (61) of the statutes is created to read:

AB1,8,10 115.28 (61) Educational options. Annually, in January, inform the parent or guardian of each child who is at least 3 years old but not yet 18 years old who resides in the school district of the educational options available to the child, including public schools, private schools participating in a parental choice program, charter schools, full-time open enrollment, youth options, and course options.

AB1,7 Section 7. 115.28 (62) of the statutes is created to read:

AB1,8,13 115.28 (62) Alternative tests. Publish on the department's Internet site a list of alternative tests approved by the academic review board under s. 115.39 (9) (a) 6.

AB1,8 Section 8. 115.385 (3) of the statutes is created to read:

AB1,8,15 115.385 (3) This section does not apply after September 30, 2017.

AB1,9 Section 9. 115.39 of the statutes is created to read:

AB1,8,17 115.39 School review system. (1) Definitions. In this section:

AB1,8,20 (a) "Administrator" means the superintendent, supervising principal, executive director, or other person who acts as the administrative head of a private school participating in a parental choice program.

AB1,9,1 (b) "Child at risk" has the meaning given in s. 118.153 (1) (a).

AB1,9,4 (c) "Focus school" means a Title I public school identified as a focus school by the department or by the school district as eligible to receive funding under 20 USC 6303 (g) for the purpose of developing and implementing a school reform plan.

AB1,9,5 (d) "Parental choice program" means the program under s. 118.60 or 119.23.

AB1,9,8 (e) "Priority school" means a Title I public school identified as a priority school by the department or by the school district as eligible to receive funding under 20 USC 6303 (g) for the purpose of implementing rigorous interventions in the school.

AB1,9,10 (f) "Research center" means the University of Wisconsin-Madison Value-Added Research Center.

AB1,9,11 (g) "Review board" means the academic review board.