6-15-1402. Purpose — Report — Confidentiality — Rules.

6-15-1402. Purpose — Report — Confidentiality — Rules. (a)(1) In order to generally improve public school accountability, to provide benchmarks for measuring individual school improvement, and to empower parents and guardians of children enrolled in Arkansas public schools by providing them with the information to judge the quality of their schools, the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall prepare and publish annually a school performance report for each public school in the state, including without limitation the Arkansas School for the Deaf, the Arkansas School for the Blind, and the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, and shall notify the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education of the availability of the report on the division's website no later than April 15 each year. (2)(A) The school performance report for each school shall be made available to every parent or guardian of a child in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) in the public schools of Arkansas by posting the school performance report for each school on the website of the division by April 15 each year. (B) Each school district shall post the school performance report for each of its schools on the district's website not later than ten (10) days after it is posted on the division's website. (b)(1)(A) The school performance report shall be based on reliable statistical information uniformly required to be collected and submitted by each local school district to the division and shall be published in a format that can be easily understood by parents or guardians who are not professional educators. (B) The information necessary to produce the school performance report, including the names and addresses of parents and guardians, shall be filed with the division. (C) The division may contract with individuals or businesses knowledgeable in the areas of graphic and computer design to ensure that the school performance reports required by this subchapter are published in a format that encourages their utilization by the citizens of the state. (2) The school performance report for elementary schools shall: (A) Include three-year trend data and allow parents or guardians to compare the school's performance with state and national averages in areas and shall include without limitation the following measures: (i) School safety; (ii) Statewide student assessment results beginning with grade three (3); (iii) Licensed staff qualifications; (iv) Total per-pupil spending; (v) Assessment of the local taxpayer investment in the school district; (vi) Percentage of students eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals; (vii) Average salary of the staff; and (viii) Average attendance rates for students; and (B) Indicate separately whether: (i) The school distributed the school's student discipline policy to parents; (ii) The school's teachers, administrators, classified school employees, and volunteers have been provided with appropriate student discipline training; and (iii) The school district has adopted a parental involvement plan in compliance with § 6-15-1702. (3) The school performance report for middle schools, junior high schools, and high schools shall: (A) Include three-year trend data and allow parents or guardians to compare the school's performance with state and national averages in areas which shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (i) School safety; (ii) Statewide student assessment results; (iii) Licensed staff qualifications; (iv) Per-pupil spending; (v) Assessment of the local taxpayer investment in the school district; (vi) Percentage of students eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals; (vii) Average salary of the staff; (viii) Average attendance rates for students; (ix) Drop-out rate; (x) Graduation or completion rates; (xi) College remediation rate for high schools only; and (xii) Collegiate admission test results, including the total number of students in grades nine through eleven (9-11) who took the ACT or SAT; and (B) Indicate separately whether: (i) The school distributed the school's student discipline policy to parents; (ii) The school's teachers, administrators, classified school employees, and volunteers have been provided with appropriate student discipline training; (iii) The school district has adopted a parental involvement plan in compliance with § 6-15-1702; and (iv) The school district provides college preparation and remediation for students who have taken the ACT before their senior year of high school under the Universal ACT Assessment Program Act, § 6-18-1601 et seq. (4) Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, for the school year covered by a school performance report, the report shall include: (A) The total number of teachers who are employed in the public school; and (B) Of that total, the number who meet each of the following criteria: (i) Identified as proficient or above under the Teacher Excellence and Support System for the school; and (ii) Certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (c) School districts may prepare and distribute supplemental materials concerning the information contained in the school performance reports. (d) The division is encouraged to: (1) Include explanatory material regarding efforts to improve the state's public schools on the website of the division with school performance reports; and (2) Explore the feasibility of incorporating the school-level improvement plans developed by schools and school district support plans developed by school districts with the school performance reports. (e) The school performance report shall not include individual student information if the information is reported in a manner that would identify a particular student except as permitted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, as in effect on January 1, 2017. (f)(1) The division shall not disclose parent or guardian names, addresses, or other identifying information under any circumstances. (2) Any vendor, contractor, or supplier utilized to provide services under this subchapter shall sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting the disclosure of parent or guardian names, addresses, or other identifying information. (g) The Arkansas School for the Blind and the Arkansas School for the Deaf shall submit to the division: (1) The results of the appropriately adopted student achievement tests for the students enrolled at these schools; and (2) A list of other schools' programs to which these schools can be compared. (h) The division may promulgate rules necessary to carry out the purposes of this subchapter.