2015 Arkansas Code
Title 6 - Education
Subtitle 2 - Elementary And Secondary Education Generally
Chapter 15 - Educational Standards and Quality Generally
Subchapter 4 - Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment, and Accountability Program Act
§ 6-15-426 - School improvement.

(a) The State Board of Education shall develop a single comprehensive testing, assessment, and accountability program which shall identify and address all public schools or public school districts in school improvement or academic distress and shall be incorporated into the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment, and Accountability Program rules and regulations which shall comply with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-10, as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq.

(b) The school district board president and the superintendent of a public school or school district identified by the Department of Education as being classified as in school improvement shall be notified of the classification in writing by the department via certified mail, return receipt requested, and the school district shall have a right of appeal pursuant to the program rules and regulations which shall comply with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq.

(c) The single comprehensive testing, assessment, and accountability program shall require that any public school or school district in school improvement that fails to make adequate yearly progress as required in the single comprehensive testing, assessment, and accountability program may, after being afforded all due process rights and in a timely manner required under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq., be advanced by the state board to the corrective action or restructuring phase of the single comprehensive testing, assessment, and accountability program adopted in the single comprehensive testing, assessment, and accountability program rules and regulations.

(d) Any public school or school district classified in school improvement shall comply with all requirements placed on a public school or school district under the single comprehensive testing, assessment, and accountability program rules and regulations as required by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq.

(e) Each public school or school district shall develop and file with the department a comprehensive school improvement plan which shall be reviewed by the department and shall be designed to ensure that all students have an opportunity to obtain an adequate education and demonstrate proficiency on all portions of the state-mandated assessments.

(f) (1) The comprehensive school improvement plan shall be based on an analysis of student performance data and other relevant data that provide a plan of action to address deficiencies in student performance and any academic achievement gap evidenced in the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment, and Accountability Program.

(2) The comprehensive school improvement plan shall include a general description of the public school or school district's use of categorical funding for:

(A) Alternative learning environments;

(B) Professional development;

(C) English-language learners; and

(D) National school lunch students, as defined by § 6-20-2303(12)(A).

(g) Any public school or school district classified as in school improvement under § 6-15-425 shall, with the assistance of the department, develop and file with the department a revised comprehensive school improvement plan meeting the requirements of this section and containing any additional requirements determined necessary by the department to ensure that all students in the public school or school district have an opportunity to demonstrate proficiency on all portions of the state-mandated assessments.

(h) At the end of each school year, the school district shall assess the effectiveness of an intervention or other action included in the comprehensive school improvement plan in improving student performance and include the assessment in the comprehensive school improvement plan for the following school year.

(i) (1) The department shall monitor each public school's and school district's compliance regarding its comprehensive school improvement plan.

(A) [Repealed.]

(B) [Repealed.]

(2) As part of the monitoring process under this subsection, the department shall evaluate the research cited by the public school or school district in its comprehensive school improvement plan in support of the proposed interventions and actions to assess its independence and empirical support for the effectiveness of the single comprehensive testing, assessment, and accountability program.

(3) The department shall use the information obtained through monitoring comprehensive school improvement plans under this section to:

(A) Determine the compliance of the public school or school district with this subchapter;

(B) Evaluate whether the assessment conducted by the public school or school district under subsection (h) of this section was conducted properly; and

(C) Assess the areas in which the public school or school district needs to revise its plan.

(j) The state board shall incorporate the provisions of subsections (f)-(i) of this section into its rules for comprehensive school improvement plans and may amend those rules in the same manner as provided by law for other rules established by the state board.