Chapter 347
2012 -- S 2356
Enacted 06/20/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
EDUCATION
Introduced By: Senators Gallo, DaPonte, Lanzi, DiPalma, and DeVall
Date Introduced: February 14, 2012
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled
"EDUCATION" is hereby amended
by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER
98
ACCESS
TO ADVANCED PLACEMENT COURSES FOR ALL STUDENTS ACT
16-98-1. Short title.
– This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Access
To
Advanced Placement Courses For
All Students Act."
16-98-2. Definitions.
– The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall
have the following meanings given to them unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) “Advanced
placement” means a high school level preparatory course for a college
advanced placement exam that:
(i)
Incorporates all topics specified by the college board
on its standards syllabus for a
given subject area; and
(ii) Is authorized by
the college board.
(2) "Board of
regents" means the board of regents for elementary and secondary
education.
(3) "College
board" means the non-profit examination board in the
comprised of over four thousand five hundred (4,500)
institutions of higher learning and known
for managing standardized tests such as the advanced
placement or “AP” tests.
(4) “Department”
means the
education.
(5) “Eligible
teacher” means a professional employee that is certified in the subject area
of the advanced placement course that he or she will be
teaching.
(6) “Four core
academic areas” means advanced placement courses in English,
mathematics, science and social science.
(7) “Poverty level”
means the percentage of students in a school district eligible for free
and reduced lunch.
(8) “Program” means
the advanced placement teacher training program.
(9) “School district”
means any public school district, school unit, area-vocational-
technical school, or charter school that composes a school
district; the term also encompasses a
single high school or multiple high schools within a school
district where applicable.
(10) “Teacher
training entities” means institutions of higher education, intermediate units
or organizations approved/certified by the college board
to train teachers to teach advanced
placement courses.
(11) “Virtual
learning instruction” means providing academic courses to students via the
Internet and/or the use of
technology in providing instruction to students.
16-98-3. Advanced
placement teacher training program. – (a)
Purpose – The purpose
of the advanced placement teacher training program is to
provide access to advanced placement
courses in the four (4) core academic subjects of English,
mathematics, science and social science
for all students by training teachers in advanced
placement course instruction at all high schools
that do not presently provide advanced placement courses.
(b) Establishment –
Subject to appropriation, the advanced placement teacher-training
program shall be established in the department of education
by the board of regents to train
teachers in eligible school entities to teach advanced
placement courses in the four (4) core
academic areas of English, mathematics, science and social
science in one or more of these
disciplines.
(c) Eligible school
entities – Eligible school entities are those that do not have in each of
their high schools at least one advanced placement course
in the four (4) core academic areas.
(1) A school district
that has an advanced placement course in one or more of the four (4)
core academic areas but not in all four (4) core academic
areas is only eligible to have a teacher
trained in those core academic areas that it does not have an
advanced placement course.
(2) No more than one
teacher per core academic area in each high school of an eligible
school district shall be trained under this program.
(3) More than one
eligible school district may apply jointly to the program to train a
teacher in advanced placement course instruction if that
teacher is to provide such instruction in
more than one school district either through classroom
instruction or through virtual learning
instruction.
(d) Application
requirements for eligible school entities – The application by an eligible
school district seeking funding for the program shall
include the following:
(1) The subject areas
that currently have an advanced placement courses in each of its
high schools;
(2) The subject areas
among the four (4) core academic areas that it does not have an
advanced placement course in each of its high schools;
(3) The names of the
eligible teachers including the high school where they are teaching
and the advanced placement academic subject area that
each of the teachers will be providing
instruction and whether the instruction will be in a classroom or
through virtual learning
instruction;
(4) The names of the
eligible teacher training entities that shall be providing the training
for teachers in providing advanced placement instruction;
(5) Agreement to
provide the advanced placement course for high school students for at
least three (3) years;
(6) Guidelines the
school district will use in determining which students may be eligible
to enroll in an advanced placement course. The school
district shall not discriminate on any basis
in enrollment of students that is illegal under
applicable federal or state law;
(7) Agreement to
annually report to the department for each of the four (4) core
academic
areas that were taught by teachers whose training was
funded by this program the following
information:
(i)
The number of students taking advanced placement courses;
(ii) The number of
students who took the advanced placement examinations; and
(iii) The number of
students scoring a three (3) or higher on the advanced placement
examinations.
16-98-4. Powers and duties of department.
– (a) Guidelines.
– The department shall
promulgate rules, regulations and procedures necessary for the
implementation of this chapter
including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) In consultation
with the college board, certify those teacher-training
entities that are
qualified to provide training of teachers to teach advanced
placement courses in the four (4) core
academic areas;
(2) In certifying
teacher-training entities for this program, the department shall ensure
that the training times and locations will be
geographically accessible for teachers from eligible
school entities to attend;
(3) The department,
in consultation with the college board, shall ensure
that training
provided by those teacher-training entities must provide
teachers of advanced placement courses
with the necessary content knowledge and instructional
skills to prepare students for success in
advanced placement courses and examinations; and
(4) Starting at the
end of the first year of the program, and every year thereafter, the
department shall issue a report to the general assembly on the
advanced placement teacher-
training program that shall include, but not be limited to:
(i)
The number of teachers receiving training in advanced placement instructions in
school entities, school districts and high schools in each
of the four (4) core academic areas.
(ii) The number of students
taking advanced placement courses at school entities in each
of the four (4) core academic areas.
(iii) The number of
students scoring a three (3) or more on an advanced placement
examination at school entities in each of the four (4) core
academic areas.
(iv)
The remaining unmet need for trained teachers in school entities
that do not offer
advanced placement courses.
16-98-5. Funding to teacher training
entities. – To the extent funds are
appropriated for
this program, the department shall provide grants per
eligible teacher to the endorsed teacher
training entities that provide training to teachers to teach
advanced placement upon completion of
the training program.
16-98-6. Program funding.
– (a) Funding for this program is subject to appropriation by
the general assembly to the department for that
purpose.
(b) In the event
that insufficient moneys are appropriated in any fiscal year to provide
funding for all eligible school entities applying to the
program, the department shall prioritize
funding of eligible school entities based on the poverty
level of the school districts that high
school students who will be taking the advanced placement
courses reside in.
16-98-7. Availability of advanced placement
courses. – (a) Any
school district offering
advanced placement courses to students shall notify parents of
their availability and the
guidelines the school district uses in determining which
students may be eligible to enroll in an
advanced placement course.
(b) Any school
district offering advanced placement courses to students shall publish on
the school district’s website the names of the advanced
placement courses being offered to
students and the guidelines the school district uses in determining
which students may be eligible
to enroll in an advanced placement course.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01407
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