North Carolina § 115C-269 - 50. EPP report cards.

§ 115C-269. 50. EPP report cards.

The State Board shall create an annual report card for each EPP that, at a minimum, summarizes the information collected in the annual performance reports, as set forth in G.S. 115C-269.35(b) . The report cards shall provide user-friendly access to the public, and shall provide the ability to easily compare annual report card information between EPPs, including performance and other data reported by each EPP, as provided in G.S. 115C-269.35(b) . The State Board shall make the report cards available to the public through the State Board's Internet Web site on an annual basis beginning December 15, 2019, and shall submit the report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee annually by that date. History (2017-189, s. 2(i); 2018-32, s. 3(a).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2017-189, s. 7(a) made this section effective July 27, 2017, and applicable beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. Session Laws 2019-149, s. 3(a), (b), provides: "(a) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Public Instruction and the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC), shall develop a formulaic, performance-based weighted model for the purposes of comparing the annual report card information between each educator preparation program (EPP) pursuant to G.S. 115C-269.50 . The State Board, in consultation with the Department and PEPSC, shall do at least the following in designing the weighted model: "(1) Identify and select measures from the annual performance reports required by G.S. 115C-269.35(b) , as amended by this act, to be used in the weighted model. "(2) Assign weight to each measure, including making rounding decisions for awarding points. "(3) Determine the number of years of data that will be used to calculate measures, such as three or five years. "(4) Examine potential reasons for excluding EPPs from the reporting, including if there are missing or too few data points for certain measures. "(5) Establish targets and minimum standards. To the extent practicable, EPPs shall be measured against objective criteria rather than norm-referenced criteria. "(6) Consider whether the weighted model should be used solely for public accountability and to inform policymakers or if the weighted model may also be used as a corrective or compliance tool. "(7) Examine how an information dashboard system could be used as part of the reporting system, including any challenges related to integrating data from both public and private EPPs in one information dashboard system. "(8) Examine whether additional information should be included in the weighted model to most effectively achieve the following: "a. Meet federal and State law requirements. "b. Hold EPPs accountable for established standards. "c. Assist EPPs in improving performance. "d. Communicate EPP performance to policymakers and the public. "(9) Identify any necessary changes to State law that would enable a transition to the new weighted model. "(b) By February 15, 2020, the State Board, in consultation with the Department and PEPSC, shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on (i) the development of the formulaic, performance-based weighted model for EPPs as required by subsection (a) of this section, (ii) recommendations on the purposes and uses of the weighted model, (iii) recommendations on the time line for possible implementation of the weighted model, and (iv) any legislative changes needed for implementation of the model. The State Board shall not implement the weighted model without express authorization from the General Assembly." Session Laws 2019-149, s. 4, provides: "By October 1, 2019, the State Board of Education shall adopt the rule required by G.S. 115C-269.45(c1) , as enacted by this act, and shall report on the rule to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee. The State Board shall apply the rule beginning with data collected from the 2018-2019 academic year for the purposes of the annual report made available to the public by December 15, 2019, and annually thereafter, pursuant to G.S. 115C-269.50 ." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.1, as amended by Session Laws 2020-49, s. 3(a), provides: "For the purposes of this Part, the following definitions apply: "(1) Authority. - State Education Assistance Authority. "(2) Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. - The period beginning March 10, 2020, and continuing until the Governor signs an executive order rescinding Executive Order No. 116 (Declaration of a State of Emergency to Coordinate Response and Protective Actions to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19). "(3) Federal testing waiver. - The testing waiver granted to the State Board of Education by the United States Department of Education for the 2019-2020 school year, pursuant to section 8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended, which, pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11 , eliminated the collection of certain student assessment data for the 2019-2020 school year. "(4) Modified calendar school. - A school that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar. "(5) State Board. - The State Board of Education. "(6) Year-round school. - A school with a single or multi-track instructional calendar that was adopted prior to March 1, 2020, and provides instructional days in compliance with Section 2.11(b)(1) of this Part throughout the entire school calendar year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, by utilizing at least one of the following plans: "a. A plan dividing students into four groups and requiring each group to be in school for assigned and staggered quarters each school calendar year. "b. A plan providing students be scheduled to attend an average of between 44 and 46 instructional days followed by an average of between 15 and 20 days of vacation, repeated throughout the school calendar year. "c. A plan dividing the school calendar year into five nine-week sessions of classes and requiring each student to attend four assigned and staggered sessions out of the five nine-week sessions to complete the student's instructional year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.2, provides: "The purpose of this Part is to clarify or modify certain requirements in consideration of actions and circumstances related to the COVID-19 emergency, including, but not limited to, the federal testing waiver and the closure of schools for in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 school year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.22(f), provides: "EPP Report Cards. - Due to limited available information and the waiver of the requirement to submit certain information to the State Board under subsection (c) of this section, notwithstanding G.S. 115C-269.50 , the State Board shall create and submit annual report cards for EPPs as required by G.S. 115C-269.50 by December 15, 2020, to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee (Committee) but shall not make the annual report cards created pursuant to this section available to the public through the State Board's Web site for the 2019-2020 academic year. The State Board shall also include in its report to the Committee aggregated information on the following: "(1) The number and overall percentage of students who were admitted to an EPP with a GPA that was less than 2.7 as permitted by subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section. "(2) The number and overall percentage of students who had their clinical internships deemed completed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 5, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2018-32, s. 3(a), effective June 22, 2018, in the first sentence, substituted "an annual report card" for "a report card in a common format," added the second sentence, and deleted the former last sentence, which read: "The State Board of Education shall also provide the information from each EPP's annual performance report to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina to be incorporated into the Teacher Quality Dashboard to provide greater accessibility and comparability of data on the performance of EPPs in the State."