by Ryan LaFlamme | Jan 10, 2013 | General
Governor John Kasich signed HB 543, also known as the “Jason Flatt Act,” into law on December 20, 2012. The bill, originally sponsored by the mother of a suicide victim, requires school districts to provide in service training in youth suicide awareness and prevention to all teachers, nurses, counselors, school psychologists and administrators. Districts may also provide training to any other personnel deemed appropriate.
Each district is required to either adopt or adapt the curriculum developed by the Department of Education or develop its own curriculum in consultation with public or private agencies or persons involved in youth suicide awareness and prevention programs. The training will count toward professional development required by districts and may be accomplished through self-review of suitable prevention materials approved by the board.
The bill is named for a Tennessee student who committed suicide in 1997. His father has championed the Jason Foundation, Inc. since his son’s death and numerous other states have adopted similar versions of HB 543 as a result of the foundation’s lobbying efforts. The law goes into effect on March 22, 2013.
The full text of the law can be viewd at: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=129_HB_543
by Ryan LaFlamme | Jan 4, 2013 | General
We have recently reported on House Bill 555 which was signed into law by Governor Kasich on December 20, 2012. Certain provisions of the Bill modify the method in which the value-added progress dimension or student academic growth measure must be used to evaluate teachers.
Under continuing law, the State Board must adopt a framework for teacher evaluations which provide for multiple evaluation factors. One such factor addressed by the Bill is student academic growth. Student academic growth should for fifty percent of each evaluation. The Bill provides that when applicable to the grade level or subject area taught by a teacher, the value-added progress dimension or an alternative student academic progress measure, if adopted, shall be used in the student academic growth portion of an evaluation in proportion to the part of a teacher’s schedule of courses or subjects for which the value-added progress dimension is applicable.
The Bill further provides that if a teacher’s schedule is comprised only of courses or subjects for which the value-added progress dimension is applicable, one of the following applies:
- Beginning with the effective date of this Bill (90 days from passage) until June 30, 2014, the majority of the student academic growth factor of the evaluation shall be based on the value-added progress dimension.
- On or after July 1, 2014, the entire student academic growth factor of the evaluation shall be based on the value-added progress dimension. (In calculating student academic growth for an evaluation, a student shall not be included if the student has sixty or more unexcused absences for the school year).
The Bill also exempts substitutes and adult education instructors from the requirements of the evaluation law. We will keep you posted with any further developments. The text of the bill can be viewed at:
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=129_HB_555
by Gary Stedronsky | Dec 21, 2012 | General
Yesterday Governor John Kasich signed into law House Bill 555, which replaces the current academic performance rating system for school districts and individual buildings of districts. The new rating system will assign letter grades of “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F” for overall academic performance, a change from the current ratings of “excellent,” “effective,” “continuous improvement,” “academic watch,” and “academic emergency.” The grade for overall academic performance will be calculated based upon specified components and performance measures that will also be assigned individual letter grades.
The bill requires the State Board of Education to establish a method to assign an overall grade for the 2014-15 school year and each following year. The method must grade each individual performance measure, which will then be grouped into one of the following larger components: gap closing, achievement, progress, graduation, kindergarten through third-grade literacy and prepared for success (the performance measures in the “prepared for success” component do not receive separate grades.) Each component will then be individually graded based upon the performance measures in its group. Only the resulting component grades will be used by the State Board to determine the overall grade.
The following meanings are attributed to each of the letter grades:
A- Making excellent progress
B- Making above average progress
C- Making average progress
D- Making below average progress
F- Failing to meet minimum progress
The bill incrementally increases the number of graded and reported separate performance measures in each of the 2012-2013 through 2014-2015 school years. For 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, letter grades will be assigned only to specified individual performance measures. An overall letter grade will be assigned beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. The bill also applies to community schools, STEM schools, and college-preparatory boarding schools.
ERF will continue to update its clients on this legislation and the State Board of Education’s eventual establishment of a method to assign an overall grade for the 2014-15 school year.
