§ 16-90-5 - Implementation. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 16-90-5

   § 16-90-5  Implementation. – (a) Duties and responsibilities imposed by the statute with respect to thestate's adoption, public reporting and implementation, with respect to thepublic high schools in the state, of a standard four (4) year adjusted cohortgraduation rate using the defined formula.

   (1) Within ninety (90) days of the effective date of thisact, the board of regents, in conjunction with each local school board,district, or agency, shall adopt and implement a standard four (4) yearadjusted cohort graduation rate definition and data collection protocol usingthe graduation rate formula as defined in this chapter.

   (2) Students who enroll in a GED or any other alternativeeducational program that does not issue or provide credits toward the issuanceof a regular high school diploma are not "transfers out" and remain in thecohort for the purpose of graduation rate calculations described in thischapter.

   (3) The board of regents, in conjunction with each localschool board, district, or agency shall develop and retain capacity forcollection, analysis, and public reporting of public high school graduationrate data. Graduation rates shall be calculated and publicly reported for eachschool, school district and for the state. Graduation rates shall be calculatedand publicly reported in the aggregate and disaggregated by the major racialand ethnic groups, for students with disabilities, for English languagelearners, for socio-economically disadvantaged students, and fornon-socio-economically disadvantaged students.

   (4) The state's education system, in conjunction with localschool with school districts, is encouraged to develop and implement one ormore complementary indicators to enhance the state's ability to measure andreport different forms of high school completion, including: five (5) and six(6) year graduation rates; dropout rates; retention rates; completion rates;and college-ready graduation rates. The board of regents shall developconsistent definitions to ensure that these measures are reported in comparableways across schools and districts within the state. These additional indicatorswill not replace or be presented or treated as an alternative to the graduationrate delineated in this chapter.

   (5) Nothing in this chapter should be construed as limitingthe reporting on a variety of other indices of school completion such asdropout rates, five (5) and six (6) year graduation rates, and other schoolcompletion rates recommended for development in this chapter.

   (6) The board of regents shall take the necessary steps toinculcate in the overall mission of the state's education system, theimportance of collecting, maintaining, analyzing, and publicly reporting at thestate and district level, accurate and disaggregated data on the graduationrates of public high schools at the district and school level. These stepsinclude, but are not limited to, mandatory training for all school districtadministrators, registrars and other school-and district-based personnel withresponsibility for collecting and maintaining data on cohorts and graduationrates. In addition, the board of regents shall implement a system for verifyingthe accuracy of locally reported graduation-rate data that shall includestatistical checks and analyses along with on-site audits of record-keepingprocedures to ensure that schools and districts adhere to state standards andguidelines.

   (7) The board of regents shall take the necessary steps toeducate the public as to the need for the state's education system to be ableto collect, maintain, analyze, and report publicly, accurate data on thegraduation rates of public high schools and school districts. Such steps shallinclude, but not be limited to, outreach to civic associations, community basedgroups, and parents organizations to educate them about the need for accurategraduation rates, to inform them of the reporting and assistance to beimplemented by the state, and to solicit suggestions and community support.

   (8) The board of regents shall collaborate with localgovernments in the process of adopting and implementing the public high schoolgraduation rate required by this section. This collaboration shall include thecalculation and public reporting of an interim graduation rate until such timeas the state and local governments have all the data required to fullyimplement the cohort graduation rate definition mandated by this chapter. Thisinterim graduation rate shall be the ratio of diploma recipients in the givenyear to ninth (9th) grade enrollment four (4) years prior.

   (9) The interim graduation rate mandated in this chaptershall be used as the additional high school indicator for the purposes ofdetermining a high school's adequate yearly progress status under the No ChildLeft Behind Act of 2001 until such time as the cohort graduation rate, mandatedby this chapter is implemented upon implementation of the cohort graduationrate. This rate shall be used as the additional high school indicator for thepurposes of determining a high school's adequate yearly progress status underthe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

   (b) This chapter applies only to graduation rate data forstudents who attend public high schools in Rhode Island.