ENROLLED
H. B. 3116
(By Delegates Shaver,
M. Poling, Perry, Pethtel, Lawrence,
Ennis, Smith, Pasdon and Moye
SPONSOR)
[Passed March 12, 2011; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §18-5A-6Bill Title of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the authority of
school curriculum teams and local school collaborative
processes with respect to selection and use of testing and
assessment instruments not required by statute or state
board when certain conditions are met; providing purposes of
section; clarifying duties and removing conflicting
language; specific exceptions; providing discretionary use
of certain assessments, instructional strategies and
programs for certain teams when certain conditions are met;
vesting powers and duties of curriculum teams with certain
collaborative processes if formed; and authorizing
collaborative process to incorporate functions of other
committees required by rule eliminate the committees at the
school. Title Language
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5A-6Enacting Section of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5A. LOCAL SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT.
§18-5A-6. Establishment of school curriculum teams; process for
teacher collaboration to improve learning.
(a) There shall be established at each school in the state
a school curriculum team composed of the school principal, the
counselor designated to serve that school and no fewer than three
teachers representative of the grades taught at the school and
chosen by the faculty senate: In instances where the counselor
is assigned to an elementary school or a combination elementary
and middle school on less than a one-half time basis, a school
curriculum team established at that school may meet on days when
the counselor is not at the school and the principal shall
consult with the counselor on the issues relevant to the meeting
agenda.
(b) The purposes of this section are to implement the
following goals:
(1) Provide professional opportunities for teachers,
administrators and other school personnel that allow them to have
a direct voice in the operation of their schools and to create a
culture of shared decision-making focused on the ultimate goal of
raising student achievement;
(2) Encourage the use of different, high-quality models of
teaching, scheduling and other aspects of educational delivery
that meet a variety of student needs;
(3) Increase high-quality educational opportunities for all
students that close achievement gaps between high-performing and
low-performing groups of public school students;
and
(4) Provide public schools with increased school-level
freedom and flexibility to achieve these purposes
when they have
achieved exceptional levels of results-driven accountability
.
(c) Powers and duties of the school curriculum team. --
(1) Establish for use at the school the programs and methods
to be used to implement a curriculum based on state-approved
content standards that meet the needs of students at the
individual school.
(A) The curriculum shall focus on reading, composition,
mathematics, science and technology.
(B) The curriculum thus established shall be submitted to
the county board which may approve for implementation at the
school or may return to the curriculum team for reconsideration.
(2) Review the list of other, non-required testing and
assessment instruments provided by the state board through the
statewide assessment program as provided in section five, article
two-e of this chapter. The curriculum team may select one or more
tests or assessment instruments that are applicable to the grade
levels at the school for use at the school to improve student
learning.
(3) Establish for use at the school the assessments,
instructional strategies and programs that it determines are best
suited to promote student achievement and to achieve content
standards for courses required by the state board. The
curriculum team shall submit the established assessments,
instructional strategies and programs to the county board which shall approve the recommendations for implementation at the
school or shall return them to the curriculum team for
reconsideration.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, the
school curriculum team established at a school that has achieved
adequate yearly progress or has achieved an accreditation status
of distinction or exemplary in accordance with section five,
article two-e of this chapter, may use the assessments and
implement the instructional strategies and programs consistent
with the approved curriculum that it determines are best suited
to promote student achievement at the school.
(1) The school may not be required to assess students using
any specific assessment except the state summative assessment
known as the WESTEST2 or any successor tests, the Alternative
Performance Task Assessment, the Online Writing Assessment, and
the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); and
(2) The school may not be required to employ any specific
instructional strategy or program to achieve content standards
for courses required by the state board, except as approved by
the school curriculum team.
(e) If a school fails to achieve adequate yearly progress or
if it receives any school approval level other than distinction
or exemplary as set forth in section five, article two-e of this
chapter, the curriculum team may not exercise the options
provided in subsections (d) and (i) of this article until the
school has regained one or more of these credentials.
(f) Nothing in this section exempts a school from
assessments required by statute or state board policy including,
but not limited to, the state summative assessment known as the
WESTEST2 or any successor tests, the Alternative Performance Task
Assessment, the Online Writing Assessment, and the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
(g) The school curriculum team may apply for a waiver for
instructional resources approved and adopted pursuant to article
two-a of this chapter if, in the judgment of the team, the
instructional resources necessary for the implementation of the
instructional strategies and programs best suited to teach the
school's curriculum are not available through the normal adoption
process.
(h) The school curriculum team may apply for a grant from
the state board to develop and/or implement remedial and
accelerated programs to meet the needs of the students at the
individual school.
(i)Process for teacher collaboration. --
(1) Notwithstanding the application and approval process
established by article five-c of this chapter, at a school that
has achieved adequate yearly progress or has achieved a school
accreditation status of distinction or exemplary in accordance
with section five, article two-e of this chapter, the faculty
senate, with approval of the principal, may establish a process
for teacher collaboration to improve instruction and learning.
(A) The collaborative process may be established in addition to, or as an alternative to, the school curriculum team provided
for in subsection (a) of this section.
(B) The mission of the collaboration process is to review
student academic performance based on multiple measures, to
identify strategies to improve student performance and make
recommendations for improvement to be implemented subject to
approval of the principal.
(C) The teacher collaborative includes members the faculty
senate determines are necessary to address the needed
improvements in the academic performance of students at the
school. If applicable, the collaborative may consist of multiple
subject area subcommittees which may meet independently.
(2) If a collaborative process is established as an
alternative to the school curriculum team, the teacher
collaborative has all the powers and duties assigned to school
curriculum teams.
(A) The collaborative process also may incorporate the
functions of the Strategic Planning Committee, the Technology
Team, and/or the School Support Team.
(B) When the functions of any or all of these committees are
incorporated into the collaborative process, the school is not
required to establish a separate committee for any one whose
functions have been assumed by the collaborative.