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SB-1124, As Passed House, March 22, 2006

HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 1124

A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled

"The revised school code,"

(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1278a; and to repeal acts

and parts of acts.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Sec. 1278a. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section,

beginning with pupils scheduled to graduate from high school in

2010, the board of a school district or board of directors of a

public school academy shall not award a high school diploma to a

pupil unless the pupil meets all of the following:

(a) Has successfully completed all of the following credit

requirements as part of his or her high school course work:

(i) At least 4 credits in English language arts that are

aligned with subject area content expectations developed by the

department under subsection (2) and approved by the state board

under subsection (3).

(ii) At least 4 credits in mathematics that are aligned with

subject area content expectations developed by the department under

subsection (2) and approved by the state board under subsection

(3), including completion of at least 1 algebra I credit, 1 algebra

II credit, 1 geometry credit, and an additional mathematics credit.

If a pupil successfully completes a credit in algebra I or algebra

II before entering high school, the pupil shall be given high

school credit for that credit. At least 1 of these credits shall be

completed during the pupil's last year in high school.

(iii) At least 3 credits in science that are aligned with

subject area content expectations developed by the department under

subsection (2) and approved by the state board under subsection

(3), including completion of at least 1 biology credit, 1 chemistry

or physics credit, and an additional science credit. At least 1 of

the additional credits approved by the department shall be a credit

in earth science. If a pupil successfully completes 1 or more of

these science credits before entering high school, the pupil shall

be given high school credit for each of them.

(iv) At least 0.5 credit in civics, 0.5 credit in economics, 1

credit in United States history and geography, and 1 credit in

world history and geography. These credits shall be aligned with

subject area content expectations developed by the department under

subsection (2) and approved by the state board under subsection

(3).

(v) At least 1 credit in subject matter that includes both

health and physical education aligned with guidelines developed by

the department under subsection (2) and approved by the state board

under subsection (3).

(vi) At least 1 credit in visual, performing, and applied arts

aligned with guidelines developed by the department under

subsection (2) and approved by the state board under subsection

(3).

(b) Has successfully completed at least 1 course or learning

experience that is presented online, as defined by the department.

If a school district or public school academy is unable to provide

the basic level of technology and internet access required by the

state board to complete the online course or learning experience,

the school district or public school academy is encouraged to apply

for an educational mandate rollback contract as described in

subsection (9).

(2) For the purposes of this section, the department shall do

all of the following:

(a) Develop subject area content expectations for all elements

of the curriculum required under subsection (1)(a)(i), (ii), (iii), and

(iv) and develop guidelines for the remaining elements of the

curriculum required under subsection (1)(a). All of the following

apply to these subject area content expectations and guidelines:

(i) All subject area content expectations shall be consistent

with the state board recommended model core academic curriculum

content standards under section 1278. Subject area content

expectations or guidelines shall not include attitudes, beliefs, or

value systems that are not essential in the legal, economic, and

social structure of our society and to the personal and social

responsibility of citizens of our society.

(ii) The subject area content expectations and the guidelines

must be approved by the state board under subsection (3).

(iii) The subject area content expectations shall state in clear

and measurable terms what pupils are expected to know upon

completion of each credit.

(iv) Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, the

subject area content expectations and the guidelines for all

subjects shall be developed by the department and approved by the

state board not later than April 15, 2006. The subject area content

expectations for sophomore-level English language arts shall be

developed by the department and approved by the state board not

later than April 15, 2007, for junior-level English language arts

shall be developed by the department and approved by the state

board not later than April 15, 2008, and for senior-level English

language arts shall be developed by the department and approved by

the state board not later than April 15, 2009.

(v) The subject area content expectations for English language

arts shall include at least a focus on reading and writing.

(vi) The subject area content expectations for mathematics

shall focus on the study of measurement, properties, and

relationships of quantities and sets, using both numbers and

symbols.

(vii) The subject area content expectations for science shall

include at least the use of the scientific method to critically

evaluate scientific theories and using relevant scientific data to

assess the validity of those theories and formulate arguments for

and against those theories.

(viii) The subject area content expectations for civics shall

include at least a focus on the constitution of the United States,

the constitution of this state, and the history and present form of

government of the United States and of this state and its political

subdivisions.

(ix) The subject area content expectations for economics shall

include at least a focus on the fundamental concepts of

microeconomics, macroeconomics, international economics, and

personal finance.

(x) The subject area content expectations for United States

history and geography shall include at least a focus on the history

of the American experiment of liberty under law and shall cover

American colonial heritage and the founding of the republic to

present day.

(xi) The subject area content expectations for world history

and geography shall include at least a focus on analyzing and

interpreting documents, accounts, artifacts, and historical sites

from the earliest civilizations to present day to understand the

long-term consequences of decisions or events.

(xii) The guidelines for providing subject matter that includes

health and physical education shall be consistent with the Michigan

model for comprehensive school health education and with part 21.

(xiii) The guidelines for providing instruction in visual,

performing, and applied arts shall include at least a focus on

expanding a pupil's creative capacity by providing firsthand

experience with works of art or music.

(b) Develop and implement a process for developing the subject

area content expectations and guidelines required under this

section. This process shall provide for all of the following:

(i) Soliciting input from all of the following groups:

(A) Recognized experts in the relevant subject areas.

(B) Representatives from 4-year colleges or universities,

community colleges, and other postsecondary institutions.

specialized knowledge of the subject area.

(D) Representatives from the business community.

(E) Representatives from vocational and career and technical

education providers.

(F) Government officials, including officials from the

legislature.

(G) Parents of public school pupils.

(ii) A review of the subject area content expectations or

guidelines by national experts.

(iii) An opportunity for the public to review and provide input

on the proposed subject area content expectations or guidelines

before they are submitted to the state board for approval. The time

period allowed for this review and input shall be at least 15

business days.

access required for pupils to complete the online course or

learning experience requirement of subsection (1)(b), and submit

that determination to the state board for approval.

(d) Develop and make available material to assist school

districts and public school academies in implementing the

requirements of this section. This shall include developing

guidelines for alternative instructional delivery methods as

described in subsection (5).

(3) The state board shall approve subject area content

expectations and guidelines developed by the department under

subsection (2) before those subject area content expectations and

guidelines may take effect. The state board also shall approve the

basic level of technology and internet access required for pupils

to complete the online course or learning experience requirement of

subsection (1)(b).

(4) The requirements of this section are subject to all of the

following:

(a) A pupil may request a personalized curriculum modifying

his or her individual high school curriculum requirements for

grades 11 and 12. However, a pupil who is at least age 16 may

request a personalized curriculum modifying his or her individual

high school curriculum requirements for any semester that begins

after the pupil turns age 16. If all of the requirements under this

subdivision for a personalized curriculum are met, then the board

of a school district or board of directors of a public school

academy may award a high school diploma to a pupil who successfully

completes his or her personalized curriculum even if it does not

meet the requirements of the curriculum required under subsection

(1). All of the following apply to a personalized curriculum:

(i) The personalized curriculum shall be developed by a group

consisting of the pupil, at least 1 of the pupil's parents or the

pupil's legal guardian, and the pupil's high school counselor or

another designee qualified under section 1233 or 1233a selected by

the high school principal. If the pupil is at least age 18 or is an

emancipated minor, at the pupil's option this group shall not

include the pupil's parent or legal guardian.

(ii) The personalized curriculum shall meet all of the

following:

(A) Shall incorporate as much of the subject area content

expectations of the curriculum required under subsection (1) as is

practicable.

(B) Shall establish measurable goals that the pupil must

achieve while enrolled in high school and shall provide a method to

evaluate whether the pupil achieved these goals.

after graduation from high school or for enrollment in a 4-year

college or university, a community college, or a postsecondary

trade, technical, or vocational institution after graduation from

high school.

(iii) Before it takes effect, the personalized curriculum must

be agreed to by the pupil's parent or legal guardian, or by the

pupil if the pupil is at least age 18 or is an emancipated minor,

and by the superintendent of the school district or chief executive

of the public school academy or his or her designee.

(iv) Unless the pupil is at least age 18 or is an emancipated

minor, the pupil's parent or legal guardian shall be in

communication with each of the pupil's teachers at least once each

calendar quarter to monitor the pupil's progress toward the goals

contained in the pupil's personalized curriculum.

(v) A group consisting of the same people as under

subparagraph (i) shall at least annually review the pupil's progress

toward the goals contained in the pupil's personalized curriculum.

(vi) Modifications may be made in a personalized curriculum if

the modifications are developed and agreed to in the same manner as

the original personalized curriculum.

(b) If a pupil receives special education services, the

pupil's individualized education program, in accordance with the

individuals with disabilities education act, title VI of Public Law

91-230, shall identify the appropriate course or courses of study

and identify the supports, accommodations, and modifications

necessary to allow the pupil to progress in the general education

curriculum, or in a personalized curriculum as provided under this

subsection, and meet the requirements for a high school diploma.

section for a high school diploma because the state board has not

approved subject area content expectations for a credit or the

department or state board otherwise has not complied with this

section, then that particular requirement does not apply to the

pupil.

(d) If any of the subject area content expectations and

guidelines required under subsection (2) are not developed by the

department and approved by the state board by the applicable date

prescribed in subsection (2), then the requirements of this section

apply beginning with pupils scheduled to graduate from high school

in 2011 instead of pupils scheduled to graduate from high school in

2010.

(5) A school district, intermediate school district, or public

school academy shall ensure that the content expectations for the

curriculum requirements of subsection (1) are met by providing the

credits specified in subsection (1) or by using alternative

instructional delivery methods such as alternative course work,

humanities course sequences, or career and technical education. The

purpose of career and technical education is to prepare pupils for

careers after high school. School districts and public school

academies that operate career and technical education programs are

encouraged to integrate the credit requirements of this section

into those programs.

(6) If the board of a school district or board of directors of

a public school academy wants its high school to be accredited

under section 1280, the board or board of directors shall ensure

that all elements of the curriculum required under subsection (1)

are made available to all affected pupils. If a school district or

public school academy does not offer all of the required credits,

the board of the school district or board of directors of the

public school academy shall ensure that the pupil has access to the

required credits by another means, such as enrollment in a

postsecondary course under the postsecondary enrollment options

act, 1996 PA 160, MCL 388.511 to 388.524; enrollment in an online

course; a cooperative arrangement with a neighboring school

district or with a public school academy; or granting approval

under section 6(6) of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL

388.1606, for the pupil to be counted in membership in another

school district.

(7) If a pupil is not successfully completing a credit

required for graduation, or is identified as being at risk of

withdrawing from high school, then the pupil's school district or

public school academy shall notify the pupil's parent or legal

guardian or, if the pupil is at least age 18 or is an emancipated

minor, the pupil, of the availability of tutoring or other

supplemental educational support and counseling services that may

be available to the pupil under existing state or federal programs,

such as those programs or services available under section 31a of

the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1631a, or under the no

child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110.

(8) If a school district or public school academy demonstrates

to the department that the school district or public school academy

is unable to meet the requirements of this section because the

school district or public school academy is unable to hire enough

highly qualified teachers, the department shall work with the

school district or public school academy to develop a plan to allow

the school district or public school academy to hire enough highly

qualified teachers to meet the requirements of this section.

(9) If a school district or public school academy does not

offer all of the required credits or provide options to have access

to the required credits as provided under subsection (6), then the

school district or public school academy is encouraged to apply for

an education mandate rollback contract under section 1290.

(10) The department shall develop, with state board approval,

a model policy regarding instruction in languages other than

English. This model policy shall address the grade levels in both

the elementary and secondary levels at which pupils learn languages

other than English most effectively and shall provide guidelines on

how to provide instruction in those grades. For the purposes of

this section, American sign language is considered a language other

than English. School districts and public school academies are

encouraged to provide instruction in accordance with this model

policy.

(11) The board of a school district or board of directors of a

public school academy that operates a high school shall ensure that

each pupil entering high school has an educational development plan

before beginning high school. All of the following apply to an

educational development plan:

(a) An educational development plan shall be based upon a

pupil's individual career or educational goals and shall identify

which courses the pupil should enroll in during each grade of high

school in order to achieve these goals. An educational development

plan shall meet all of the following:

(i) Shall identify courses that are aligned with the pupil's

individual career or educational goals and that the pupil should

enroll in to complete the curriculum required under subsection (1).

(ii) Shall identify elective courses that are aligned with the

pupil's individual career or educational goals and that will

prepare the pupil for employment after graduation from high school

or for enrollment in a 4-year college or university, a community

college, or a postsecondary trade, technical, or vocational

institution after graduation from high school.

(iii) Shall identify measurable goals that a pupil should

achieve while enrolled in high school that indicate the pupil is

making progress toward the pupil's individual career or educational

goals.

(b) An educational development plan shall be developed by the

pupil with the supervision of the counselor. The board of a school

district or the board of directors of a public school academy shall

ensure that the pupil's parents or the pupil's legal guardian has

the opportunity to participate in the development of the pupil's

educational development plan.

of a public school academy shall periodically notify the pupil's

parent or the pupil's legal guardian about the pupil's progress

toward meeting the goals identified in the educational development

plan.

(d) The pupil shall be provided the opportunity to annually

review and modify the pupil's educational development plan.

Modifications may be made in an educational development plan if the

modifications are developed in the same manner as the original

educational development plan.

(12) For the purposes of this section, all of the following

apply:

(a) A pupil is considered to have completed a credit if the

pupil successfully completes the subject area content expectations

or guidelines developed for the credit by the department and

approved by the state board.

(b) A pupil is considered to have successfully completed a

credit if the pupil meets either of the following:

(i) Earns a passing grade.

(ii) Earns a qualifying score, as determined by the state

board, on an assessment developed or selected by the department and

approved by the state board that measures a pupil's understanding

of the subject area content expectations or guidelines. Until the

state board approves assessments for the purposes of this

subparagraph, a school district or public school academy may award

credit to a pupil if the pupil receives a passing grade, as

determined by the school district or public school academy, on an

assessment selected by the school district or public school

academy.

(13) The department shall submit an annual report to the

legislature that evaluates the overall success of the high school

curriculum required under this section, the rigor and relevance of

the course work required by the curriculum, the ability of public

schools to implement the curriculum and the required course work,

and the impact of the curriculum on student success, and that

details any activities the department has undertaken to implement

this section or to assist public schools in implementing the

requirements of this section.

(14) The department shall submit the annual report under

subsection (13) not later than April 1 of each year.

Enacting section 1. Section 1166 of the revised school code,

1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1166, is repealed effective July 1, 2007.

Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect