North Carolina § 115C-105 - 41. Students who have been placed at risk of academic failure and transition plans.

§ 115C-105. 41. Students who have been placed at risk of academic failure and transition plans.

In order to implement Part 1A of Article 8 of this Chapter, local school administrative units shall identify students who are at risk for academic failure and who are not successfully progressing toward grade promotion and graduation, beginning in kindergarten. Identification shall occur as early as can reasonably be done and can be based on grades, observations, diagnostic and formative assessments, State assessments, and other factors, including reading on grade level, that impact student performance that teachers and administrators consider appropriate, without having to await the results of end-of-grade or end-of-course tests. Local boards of education shall adopt policies that direct school improvement teams to develop plans to include successful transition between elementary and middle school years and between the middle school and high school years for students at risk, as defined by the State Board of Education. History (2001-424, s. 28.17(e); 2009-542, s. 1; 2010-162, s. 1; 2011-145, s. 7.13(ee); 2011-391, s. 14(a); 2012-77, s. 4; 2012-142, s. 7A.1(d); 2013-226, s. 2; 2015-46, s. 1.) Fairness in Testing Program. - Session Laws 2001-424, s. 28.17(a), provides: "The State Board of Education shall provide the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee with a detailed analysis of the current resources allocated to meet the needs of all students subject to the Statewide Student Accountability Standards, and in addition, shall submit recommendations regarding other resources that would best assist students in meeting these new standards." Session Laws 2001-424, s. 28.17(g), provides: "Schools shall devote no more than two days of instructional time per year to the taking of practice tests that do not have the primary purpose of assessing current student learning." Session Laws 2001-424, s. 28.17(h), as amended by 2001-487, s. 116, provides: "Students in a local school shall not be subject to field tests or national tests during the two-week period preceding the administration of the end-of-grade tests, end-of-course tests, or the school's regularly scheduled final exams. No school shall participate in more than two field tests at any one grade level during a school year unless: "(1) That school volunteers, through a vote of its school improvement team, to participate in an expanded number of field tests; or "(2) The State Board of Education makes written findings, based on information provided by the Department of Public Instruction, that an additional field test must be administered at that school to ensure the reliability and validity of a specific test." Session Laws 2001-424, s. 28.17(j), provides: "The State Board of Education shall develop and report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on its objectives for the Statewide Testing Program and on the implementation of that Program. The report shall include: "(1) A statement of the relationship between these objectives and the tests currently administered under the Program; "(2) An analysis of whether the current tests appropriately achieve these objectives; "(3) A statement of any actions that may be needed to coordinate the objectives and the tests more effectively; and "(4) Strategies for communicating the objectives of the Program, the tests administered under the Program, and the relationship between these objectives and tests to principals, teachers, parents, and students throughout the State." Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2001-424, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2001'." Session Laws 2001-424, s. 36.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2001-2003 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2001-2003 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2001-424, s. 36.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2007-323, s. 7.26(a), (b), provides: "(a) G.S. 115C-105.41 prohibits charging tuition or fees to Students at Risk for Academic Failure. Effective July 1, 2007, local school administrative units shall formally communicate to at-risk students and their parents or guardians that there will be no charge for participation in intervention activities/practices offered by the local school administrative units to at-risk students, or for transportation necessary for participation in the intervention activities. "(b) Effective July 1, 2007, local school administrative units shall formally communicate to students and their parents or guardians that tuition and fees will not be charged for summer school courses that are required for remediation or courses that are necessary for the student to meet graduation requirements." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2007'." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7A.1(i), made the amendments to this section by Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7A.1(d), effective July 2, 2012, and applicable beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. The developmental screening and kindergarten entry assessment required by this section shall be administered beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. Session Laws 2012-142, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2012.'" Session Laws 2012-142, s. 27.7, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2013-226, s. 12, made the amendment to subsection (a) by Session Laws 2013-226, s. 2, applicable beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. Session Laws 2015-46, s. 3.5, provides: "The State Board of Education shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by November 15, 2016, on how at risk students are identified and being served through interventions to prevent academic failure." Session Laws 2015-46, s. 4, made the amendment to this section by Session Laws 2015-46, s. 1, applicable beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2009-542, s. 1, effective August 28, 2009, and applicable beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, in the first paragraph, substituted "who are" for "who have been placed" in the first sentence, and, in the third sentence, substituted "No later than the end of the first quarter, or after a teacher has had up to nine weeks of instructional time with a student," for "At the beginning of the school year," substituted "developed or updated for any student at risk of academic failure who is not performing" for "developed for any student not performing," and added "and other factors noted above" at the end; added the first sentence in the second paragraph; and added the last paragraph. Session Laws 2010-162, s. 1, effective July 23, 2010, in the first paragraph, in the first sentence, inserted "and who are not successfully progressing toward grade promotion and graduation, beginning no later than the fourth grade," and in the second sentence, inserted "including reading on grade level"; and added the third paragraph. Session Laws 2012-77, s. 4, effective June 26, 2012, in the section catchline, added "transition teams and transition plans"; designated the existing provisions as subsection (a); added the third sentence in the second paragraph of subsection (a); and added subsection (b). Session Laws 2012-142, s. 7A.1(d), effective July 2, 2012, rewrote the first sentence, in the second sentence inserted "diagnostic and formative assessments", in the fourth sentence substituted "instructional supports and services, reading interventions," for "intervention" and substituted "evidence-based" for "research-based best" in the first paragraph. For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2013-226, s. 2, effective July 3, 2013, deleted the former third paragraph of subsection (a), which read "Local school administrative units shall certify that they have complied with this section annually to the State Board Education. The State Board of Education shall periodically review data on the progress of identified students and report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee." For applicability, see Editor's note. Session Laws 2015-46, s. 1, effective June 2, 2015, deleted "personal education plans; transition teams" preceding "and transition plans" in the section heading; in subsection (a), deleted sentences three through six in the first paragraph and the last two paragraphs, relating to personal education plans; and rewrote subsection (b). For applicability, see editor's note. §§ 115C-105.42 through 115C-105.44: Reserved for future codification purposes.