MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Senator(s) Farris, Nunnelee, Hamilton, White (29th)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-3-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THAT THE ANNUAL MISSISSIPPI REPORT CARD SHALL INCLUDE A SPECIAL REPORT ASSESSING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI ADEQUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM IN ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH LESS THAN A LEVEL III ACCREDITATION; TO AUTHORIZE THE CHILD PREP INITIATIVE TO DEVELOP AND CONDUCT SUCH ASSESSMENT AND TO PRESCRIBE THE COMPONENTS OF THE ASSESSMENT; TO REQUIRE AN ANNUAL REPORT WITH RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE LEGISLATURE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 37-3-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-3-53. (1) Beginning with the 1993-1994 school year and each school year thereafter, the State Board of Education, acting through the Office of Educational Accountability, shall develop a public school reporting system, or "Mississippi Report Card," on the performance of students and schools at the local, district and state level. In developing said report card, the Office of Educational Accountability shall collect school, district and state level student achievement data in the appropriate grades as designated by the State Board of Education in all core subjects, and compare such data with national standards to identify students' strengths and weaknesses. The Mississippi Report Card shall provide more than reports to parents on the level at which their children are performing; said report shall provide clear and comparable public information on the level at which schools, school districts and the state public education system are performing. The Office of Educational Accountability shall encourage local school districts and the general public to use Mississippi Report Card information along with local individual student data to assess the quality of instructional programs and the performance of schools and to plan and implement programs of instructional improvement.

(2) Beginning with the 1998-1999 school year and each school year thereafter, the State Board of Education shall include as a distinct part of the Mississippi Report Card an assessment of the implementation of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program funding formula. This annual assessment shall be developed and prepared by the CHILD PREP program, which is a nonprofit cooperative program organized to coordinate the delivery of the educational services for all Mississippi residents. The annual assessment shall include the following:

(a) The development of a special accountability unit and assessment model responsible for monitoring and assessing the implementation of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program funding formula in all school districts with less than a Level III accreditation;

(b) The accountability unit shall use the model to make an annual assessment of the impact of additional funding under the adequate education program on such school districts with less than a Level III accreditation;

(c) The accountability unit shall develop a report, by high school, on the number of prior year Mississippi high school graduates who enrolled for the first time in public postsecondary education in this state during the previous summer, fall, or spring term, indicating the number of students referred for remediation. This information shall be compiled in a manner which shall identify the school districts with the highest and lowest percentage of students ready for college based upon said information.

The CHILD PREP assessment shall be prepared in report form appropriate for presentation in the annual Mississippi Report Card and shall include recommendations on the adequate education program to each regular session of the Legislature and to the Governor, beginning with the 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1998.