Sec. 10-4p. Implementation plan to achieve resource equity and equality of opportunity. Assessment. Reports. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 10-4p. Implementation plan to achieve resource equity and equality of opportunity. Assessment. Reports. (a) The State Board of Education shall develop a five-year implementation plan with appropriate goals and strategies to achieve resource equity and equality of opportunity, increase student achievement, reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation, improve effective instruction and encourage greater parental and community involvement in all public schools of the state. The implementation plan shall: (1) Include methods for significantly reducing over a five-year period any disparities among school districts in terms of resources, staff, programs and curriculum, student achievement and community involvement that negatively impact student learning, (2) provide for monitoring by the Department of Education of the progress made in reducing such disparities, and (3) include proposals for minority staff recruitment, including but not limited to, alternative certification, mentoring programs, involvement of the community-technical colleges and efforts by regional educational service centers.

      (b) Prior to developing the plan, the State Board of Education shall conduct a state-wide assessment of the disparities among local and regional school districts and make comparisons to relevant national standards or regional accreditation standards, in the areas of: (1) Resources, including educational materials, supplies, equipment, textbooks, library materials, facilities and expenditures by category and in total; (2) staff, including the education and experience of teachers, staff-student ratios, the racial and ethnic characteristics of staff, minority staff recruitment and a comparison of the racial diversity of school staffs to the racial diversity of the region where the school is located; (3) program and curriculum, including course offerings, requirements, enrollments in advanced, special and compensatory education, programs and services to students with limited English proficiency and an analysis of such programs and services in terms of the recommendations of the bilingual education task force, policies on student assignment and promotion, extracurricular activities and student participation, goals and objectives and content and performance standards, opportunities for summer school, school-to-career transition, alternative programs, and parent-student choice of school or program; (4) student achievement, including the effect of social promotional policies on student achievement, state and national assessments, dropout rates, attendance, graduation follow-up data, artistic, athletic and community service accomplishments, other documentation of student success, and success in reducing the racial, ethnic and economic isolation of students; and (5) community involvement, including parent and family contact with the school and teachers, business partnerships, joint programs with community agencies, town-wide preschool coordination, opportunities for adult basic education and parenting education.

      (c) (1) The State Board of Education shall report, in accordance with section 11-4a, on the plan developed pursuant to this section to the Governor and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education by February 1, 1998. The report shall: (A) Include the results of the assessment conducted pursuant to subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection (b) of this section, (B) include recommendations for changes in state law, budget proposals and administrative actions, where appropriate, that would assist in reducing the disparities among school districts and increasing the accountability of school districts, and (C) identify the responsibility of individual boards of education to achieve the goals as specified in subsection (a) of this section in their school districts. (2) On or before January 1, 1999, the State Board of Education shall so report, to the Governor and said committee on (A) the assessment conducted pursuant to subdivisions (3) to (5), inclusive, of subsection (b) of this section, (B) include recommendations described in subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of this subsection and (C) identify the responsibility of individual boards of education to take specific action to improve conditions in their school districts. (3) On or before January 1, 2001, and biennially thereafter, the State Board of Education shall so report to the Governor and said committee on the progress made in reducing the disparities among school districts and the remaining barriers to and recommendations for achieving the goals specified in subsection (a) of this section.

      (P.A. 97-290, S. 4, 29.)

      History: P.A. 97-290 effective July 1, 1997.