2017 Arizona Revised Statutes
Title 15 - Education
§ 15-241 School, charter school and school district accountability; annual achievement profiles; classification; letter grade system; profiles; appeals process; failing schools tutoring fund; definition

15-241. School, charter school and school district accountability; annual achievement profiles; classification; letter grade system; profiles; appeals process; failing schools tutoring fund; definition

A. The department of education shall compile an annual achievement profile for each public school and local education agency.

B. Each school, charter holder and school district shall submit to the department any data that is required and requested and that is necessary to compile the achievement profile. A school or local education agency that fails to submit the information that is necessary is not eligible to receive monies from the classroom site fund established by section 15-977.

C. The annual achievement profile compiled by the department shall be used to determine a standard measurement of acceptable academic progress for each school and local education agency and a school and local education agency classification pursuant to subsection F of this section. Any disclosure of educational records compiled by the department of education pursuant to this section shall comply with the family educational rights and privacy act of 1974 (20 United States Code section 1232g).

D. The annual achievement profile for schools and local education agencies shall include, at a minimum, the following academic performance indicators:

1. Multiple measures of academic performance or other academically relevant indicators of school quality that are appropriate to assess the educational impact of a school during the academic year as determined by the state board of education.

2. Academic progress on statewide assessments adopted pursuant to section 15-741 in English language arts and mathematics.

3. Academic progress on the English language learner assessments administered pursuant to section 15-756, subsection B and sections 15-756.05 and 15-756.06.

4. Progress toward college and career readiness for all schools and local education agencies that offer instruction in any of grades nine through twelve.

E. Subject to final adoption by the state board of education, the department shall determine the criteria for each school and local education agency classification label using a researched-based methodology. The methodology developed in collaboration with a coalition of qualified technical and policy stakeholders, at a minimum, shall include the performance of pupils at all achievement levels, account for pupil mobility, account for the distribution of pupil achievement at each school and local education agency and include longitudinal indicators of academic performance. For the purposes of this subsection, " researched-based methodology" means the systematic and objective application of statistical and quantitative research principles to calculate the indicators used to determine A through F letter grades.

F. The annual achievement profile shall be used to determine a school and local education agency classification based on an A through F letter grade system adopted by the state board of education in which a letter grade of A reflects an excellent level of performance and a letter grade of F reflects a failing level of performance. The A through F letter grade system shall indicate expected standards of performance for all schools and the manner in which schools may rise above or fall below those expected standards of performance. The state board of education may also assign a school a letter grade of F if the state board of education determines that the school is among the " persistently lowest-achieving schools" in the state under the federal school accountability requirements pursuant to section 1003(g) of the elementary and secondary education act (20 United States Code section 6303).

G. The classification for each school and the criteria used to determine classification pursuant to subsections E and F of this section shall be included on the school report card prescribed in section 15-746.

H. Subject to final adoption by the state board of education, the department of education shall use achievement profiles appropriately to assess the educational impact of accommodation schools, alternative schools and extremely small schools, may develop profiles for schools that participate in the board examination system prescribed in chapter 7, article 6 of this title and schools that participate in Arizona online instruction pursuant to section 15-808 and may develop other exceptions as prescribed by the state board of education for the purposes of this section.

I. The department of education shall establish a process for a school or local education agency to correct student data used to determine the school's or local education agency's annual achievement profile. The state board of education shall establish an appeals process to allow a school or local education agency to appeal the school's or local education agency's final letter grade based on mitigating factors identified by the board. The board may delegate the administration of the appeals process to the department of education.

J. The failing schools tutoring fund is established consisting of monies collected pursuant to section 42-5029, subsection E as designated for this purpose. The department of education shall administer the fund. The department of education may use monies from the fund to purchase materials designed to assist students to meet the Arizona academic standards and to achieve a passing score on assessments adopted by the state board of education.

K. For the purposes of this section, " academic progress" means measures of both proficiency and academic gain.