Bill Summary for S 502 (2023-2024)

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Summary date: 

Apr 3 2023

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2023-2024 Session
Senate Bill 502 (Public) Filed Monday, April 3, 2023
AN ACT TO MODIFY SCHOOL PERFORMANCE GRADES TO PROVIDE THAT ALL SCHOOLS RECEIVE A GRADE FOR SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT AND A GRADE FOR SCHOOL GROWTH.
Intro. by Hunt, Waddell, Chaudhuri.

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Bill summary

Part I

Amends GS 115C-12 to require that the annual report card for each local school administrative unit include numerical school achievement and school growth scores and a separate corresponding letter grade of A-F for both the school achievement and school growth earned by each school within the unit. Makes conforming changes to GS 115C-47(58). 

Amends GS 115C-83.15, establishing scales for school achievement grades and school growth grades based on school achievement scores and school growth scores. Enacts new subsection (b1) to now require the score for school achievement (determined pursuant to existing subsection (b)) to be used to determine the school achievement grade, according to the following scale, which cannot be modified to add any other designation related to other performance measures, such as plus or minus: a score of at least 85 is equivalent to an A, at least 70 is equivalent to a B, at least 55 is equivalent to a C, at least 40 is equivalent to a D, and less than 40 is equivalent to an F. Similarly, enacts new subsection (c1) to now require the score for school growth (determined pursuant to existing subsection (c)) to be converted by the State Board of Education (State Board) to a 100-point scale and used to determine the school growth grade, according to the following scale and modified to add any other designation related to other performance measures, such as plus or minus: a score of at least 90 is equivalent to an A, at least 80 is equivalent to a B, at least 70 is equivalent to a C, at least 60 is equivalent to a D, and less than 60 is equivalent to an F. Makes conforming changes throughout the statute. Adds to the information that must be displayed prominently on a report card, accessible to the public on the Department of Public Instruction's website, the percentage of schools receiving a school growth letter grade of A-F earned by each school located within a local school administrative unit and statewide. 

Amends GS 115C-83.17 by defining school grades as the letter grades earned by a school for achievement and growth for all students served by a school. Defines school scores as the numerical scores earned by a school for achievement and growth. Makes further conforming changes to statutory references and terms. 

Part II

Makes conforming changes to GS 115C-83.16, concerning school performance indicators for the purpose of compliance with federal law. Adds a new requirement for the State Board to calculate the overall school performance score by adding the school achievement score and the school growth score earned by a school, with the student achievement score accounting for 80% and the school growth score accounting for 20% of the total sum, for purposes of compliance with specified federal law. Makes conforming changes. 

Makes further conforming changes to GS 115C-75.5, GS 115C-105.37, GS 115C-105.39A, GS 115C-218.65, GS 115C-218.94, GS 115C-238.66, GS 116-239.8, and GS 116-239.13.

Part III

Effective January 1, 2024, and applies to school achievement grades, growth grades, and report cards issued based on data from the 2023-24 school year.