S99 - Appropriations Act of 2018. (SL 2018-5)

Overview: Sec. 7.25 of S.L. 2018-5 requires the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to contract with Schools That Lead, Inc. to provide professional development to teachers and principals in up to 60 schools, beginning with the 2018-2019 school year and ending in the 2020-2021 school year. Charter schools and schools under the authority of a local school administrative unit are eligible. The program must offer services to at least three cohorts of schools, including:

• High schools working to increase on-time graduation.
• Middle schools working to prepare students to succeed in high school by reducing the likelihood of retention in the ninth grade for multiple school years.
• Elementary schools working to reduce the number of students with early warning indicators of course failures, absences, and discipline.

DPI must contract with an independent research organization to measure the impacts on student outcomes, including:

• On-time graduation in high school.
• Ninth grade retention rates.
• Course failures, absences, and discipline in elementary school.

The research organization must submit annual interim reports to DPI by June 30, starting in 2019, and a final report no later than June 30, 2022. DPI must submit an annual report between October 1, 2019, and October 1, 2022, to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and the Fiscal Research Division.

This section became effective July 1, 2018.