MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2011 Regular Session
To: Education; Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Burton
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO CONTRACT WITH A SOLE SOURCE VENDOR FOR A HOME-BASED EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM TO PROVIDE SCHOOL READINESS SKILLS FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN TO BE NAMED THE "MISSISSIPPI UPSTART" PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS; TO PROVIDE MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE FOR LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTICIPATION IN THE MISSISSIPPI UPSTART PROGRAM UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS; TO PROVIDE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR FAMILY PARTICIPATION IN THE MISSISSIPPI UPSTART PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE FOR THE PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT FOR THE PROGRAM THROUGH COOPERATIVE PURCHASING CONTRACTS; TO PROVIDE FOR AUDIT OF THE PROGRAM AND REPORTS; TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT FINANCIAL LITERACY EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS UNDER CERTAIN STANDARDS AND RECOGNITION AND INCENTIVE PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS WHO COMPLETE THE PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Definitions. (1) As used in this act:
(a) "Contractor" means Waterford Institute, a not-for-profit, sole source provider of educational technology services.
(b) "Low income" means an income below two hundred percent (200%) of the federal poverty guideline.
(c) "Preschool children" means children who are:
(i) Age four (4) or five (5); and
(ii) Have not entered kindergarten.
(d) "MISSISSIPPI UPSTART" means the project established under this act that uses a home-based educational technology program to develop school readiness skills of preschool children.
(e) "Technology" includes, but is not limited to, computers, software, telecommunications, cable television, interactive video, film, low-power television, satellite communications, microwave communications, technology-based equipment installation and maintenance, and the training of staff in the use of such technology-based instruction.
SECTION 2. Project to develop school readiness skills of preschool children. (1) MISSISSIPPI UPSTART, a project that uses a home-based educational technology program to develop school readiness skills of preschool children, is established within the public education system.
(2) MISSISSIPPI UPSTART is created to:
(a) Evaluate the effectiveness of giving preschool children access, at home, to interactive individualized instruction delivered by computers and the Internet to prepare them academically for success in school; and
(b) Test the feasibility of scaling a home-based curriculum in reading, math, and science delivered by computers and the Internet to all preschool children in Mississippi.
(3) The State Board of Education shall contract with the Waterford Institute which is determined to be a sole source educational technology provider for the delivery of a home-based educational technology program for preschool children that meets the requirements of subsection (4) of this section.
(4) A home-based educational technology program for preschool children shall meet the following standards:
(a) The contractor shall provide computer-assisted instruction for preschool children on a home computer connected by the Internet to a centralized file storage facility;
(b) The contractor shall:
(i) Provide technical support to families for the installation and operation of the instructional software; and
(ii) Provide for the installation of computer and Internet access in homes of low-income families that cannot afford the equipment and service;
(c) The contractor shall have the capability of doing the following through the Internet:
(i) Communicating with parents;
(ii) Updating the instructional software;
(iii) Validating user access;
(iv) Collecting usage data;
(v) Storing research data; and
(vi) Producing reports for parents, schools, and the Legislature;
(d) The program shall include the following components:
(i) Computer-assisted, individualized instruction in reading, mathematics, and science;
(ii) A multisensory reading tutoring program; and
(iii) A validated computer adaptive reading test that does not require the presence of trained adults to administer and is an accurate indicator of reading readiness of children who cannot read;
(e) The contractor shall have the capability to quickly and efficiently modify, improve, and support the product;
(f) The contractor shall work in cooperation with school district personnel who will provide administrative and technical support of the home-based educational technology program as provided in Section 4 of this act;
(g) The contractor shall solicit families to participate in the program as provided in Section 4 of this act; and
(h) In implementing the home-based educational technology program, the contractor shall seek the advise and expertise of early childhood education professionals within the Mississippi System of Higher Education on issues such as:
(i) Soliciting families to participate in the program;
(ii) Providing training to families; and
(iii) Motivating families to regularly use the instructional software.
(5) The contract shall provide funding for a home-based educational technology program for preschool children for one (1) year with an option to extend the contract for additional years or to expand the program to a greater number of preschool children, subject to the appropriation of money by the Legislature for MISSISSIPPI UPSTART.
SECTION 3. School district participation in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART. (1) A school district may participate in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART if the local school board agrees to work in cooperation with the contractor to provide administrative and technical support for the project.
(2) Family participants in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART shall be solicited from school districts that participate in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART.
(3) A school district that participates in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART shall:
(a) Receive funding for:
(i) Paraprofessional and technical support staff; and
(ii) Travel, materials, and meeting costs of the program;
(b) Participate in program training by the contractor; and
(c) Agree to adopt standardized policies and procedures in implementing the project.
SECTION 4. Family participation in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART. (1) The contractor shall solicit families to participate in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART through a public information campaign and referrals from participating school districts.
(2) (a) Preschool children who participate in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART shall:
(i) Be from families with diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds; and
(ii) Reside in different regions of the state in both urban and rural areas.
(b) At least thirty percent (30%) of the preschool children who participate in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART shall be from low-income families.
(3) A low-income family that cannot afford a computer and Internet service to operate the instructional software may obtain a computer and peripheral equipment on loan and receive free Internet service for the duration of the family's participation in the project.
(4) The contractor shall make the home-based educational technology program available to families at an agreed upon cost if the number of families who would like to participate in MISSISSIPPI UPSTART exceeds the number of participants funded by the legislative appropriation.
SECTION 5. Purchase of equipment and service through cooperative purchasing contracts. The State Board of Education or a school district may purchase computers, peripheral equipment, and Internet service for low-income families who cannot afford them through cooperative purchasing contracts administered by the Department of Finance and Administration.
SECTION 6. Audit and evaluation. (l) The State Auditor shall:
(a) Conduct an annual audit of the contractor's use of funds for MISSISSIPPI UPSTART; or
(b) Contract with an independent certified public accountant to conduct an annual audit.
(2) The State Board of Education shall:
(a) Require by contract that the contractor will open its books and records relating to its expenditure of funds pursuant to the contract to the State Auditor or the State Auditor's designee; and
(b) Reimburse the State Auditor for the actual and necessary costs of the audit.
(3) Of the monies appropriated by the Legislature for MISSISSIPPI UPSTART, excluding funds used to provide computers, peripheral equipment, and Internet service to families, no more than five percent (5%) may be used for the audit of the program.
SECTION 7. Annual report. (1) The State Board of Education shall make a report on MISSISSIPPI UPSTART to the House of Representatives and State Senate Education Committees by November 30 each year.
(2) The report shall:
(a) Address the extent to which MISSISSIPPI UPSTART is accomplishing the purposes for which it was established as specified in Section 2 of this act; and
(b) Include the following information:
(i) The number of families:
1. Volunteering to participate in the program;
2. Selected to participate in the program;
3. Requesting computers; and
4. Furnished computers;
(ii) The frequency of use of the instructional software;
(iii) Obstacles encountered with software usage, hardware, or providing technical assistance to families;
(iv) Student performance on prekindergarten and post-kindergarten assessments conducted by school districts and charter schools for students who participated in the home-based educational technology program and those who did not participate in the program; and
(v) As available, the evaluation of the program conducted pursuant to Section 2 of this act.
SECTION 8. Financial literacy education. (1) As used in this section, "financial and economic literacy passport" means a document that tracks mastery of financial and economic literacy concepts and completion of financial and economic activities, including the following:
(a) Basic budgeting;
(b) Saving and financial investments;
(c) Banking and financial services, including balancing a checkbook or a bank account;
(d) Career management, including earning an income;
(e) Rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home;
(f) Retirement planning;
(g) Loans and borrowing money, including interest, credit card debt, predatory lending, and payday loans;
(h) Insurance;
(i) Federal, state, and local taxes;
(j) Charitable giving;
(k) Online commerce;
(1) Identity fraud and theft;
(m) Negative financial consequences of gambling;
(n) Bankruptcy;
(o) Free markets and prices;
(p) Supply and demand;
(q) Monetary and fiscal policy;
(r) Effective business plan creation, including using economic analysis in creating a plan;
(s) Scarcity and choices;
(t) Opportunity cost and tradeoffs;
(u) Productivity;
(v) Entrepreneurism; and
(w) Economic reasoning.
(2) The State Board of Education shall:
(a) In cooperation with interested private and nonprofit entities:
(i) Develop a financial and economic literacy passport that students may elect to complete;
(ii) Develop methods of encouraging parent and educator involvement in completion of the financial and economic literacy passport; and
(iii) Develop and implement appropriate recognition and incentives for students who complete the financial and economic literacy passport, including:
1. A financial and economic literacy endorsement on the student's diploma of graduation;
2. A specific designation on the student's official transcript; and
3. Any incentives offered by community partners;
(b) More fully integrate existing and new financial and economic literacy education into instruction in Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade by:
(i) Coordinating financial and economic literacy instruction with existing instruction in other core curriculum areas such as mathematics and social studies;
(ii) Using curriculum mapping;
(iii) Creating training materials and staff development programs that:
1. Highlight areas of potential coordination between financial and economic literacy education and other core curriculum concepts; and
2. Demonstrate specific examples of financial and economic literacy concepts as a way of teaching other core curriculum concepts; and
(iv) Using appropriate financial and economic literacy assessments to improve financial and economic literacy education and, if necessary, developing assessments;
(c) Work with interested private and nonprofit entities to:
(i) Coordinate school use of existing financial and economic literacy education resources; and
(ii) Develop simple, clear, and consistent messaging to reinforce and link existing financial literacy resources; and
(iii) Coordinate the efforts of school, work, private, nonprofit, and other financial education providers in implementing methods of appropriately communicating to teachers, students, and parents key financial and economic literacy messages; and
(d) In accordance with the Mississippi Administrative Procedures Act, make rules to develop guidelines and methods for school districts and charter schools to more fully integrate financial and economic literacy education into other core curriculum courses.
(3) The State Superintendent of Education shall annually report to the Education Committees of each house of the Legislature by November of each year on the successes and areas of needed improvement in financial and economic literacy education provided pursuant to this section.
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2011.