Amendment #286 to H5007

College in High School

Mr. Roy of Franklin moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

"SECTION XXXX. SECTION 1. Chapter 15A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 39 the following section:-

Section 39A. (a) All public institutions of higher education, as defined by section 5 of chapter 15A, shall develop and adopt written policies and procedures to accept scores on all Advanced Placement examinations to satisfy degree requirements. The policies shall indicate whether the credit shall be granted for general education, major, or elective requirements at the institution, and shall include procedures related to the transferability of these credits from another institution of higher education.

An institution requiring an Advanced Placement exam score of more than three for the purposes of receiving college credit for general education, major, or elective requirement shall annually report to the department of higher education 1) evidence for requiring an exam score of more than three for success in a related or more advanced course for which the lower division course is a prerequisite; and 2) any disparate student impacts that are the results of requiring an exam score of more than three for college credit.  Annual reports shall be posted on each institution’s website and be accessible to the public for review.

(b) All policies, procedures, and exceptions governing the awarding of credit shall be posted on the institution’s website under the category of admission, which the institution shall update annually to reflect any changes in policies and procedures. In addition, each institution shall submit its policies and procedures, or any changes thereto, to the department of higher education who shall post each institution’s policies and procedures, or changes thereto, on the department’s website.

(c) The board of higher education shall annually review the Advanced Placement examination score course granting policies of each public institution of higher education in accordance with the requirements of this section and report its findings with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the chairs of the joint committee on education, and the chairs of the joint committee on higher education.  Each institution of higher education shall provide the board of higher education with all necessary data to conduct its analysis.

(d) The board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section in a manner that ensures compliance with federal law regarding confidentiality of student education information, including the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.

SECTION 2. Chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 36 the following section:-

Section 37. (a) Within the department of elementary and secondary education there shall be an office of college in high school, herein the office. The office shall shall implement policies jointly set by the Boards of Elementary and Secondary Education and Higher Education (“The Boards”) or any joint committee pursuant to their policies. The Office shall be overseen by the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education in consultation with the Commissioner of the Department of Higher Education. The office shall establish standards for approving and, where applicable, designating college in high school programs. The office may establish new designation categories and innovative models, that expand student access to college and postsecondary opportunities through high-quality instructional programming, hereinafter referred to as college in high school, in order to increase the rates of student success in postsecondary attainment and in the workforce. All programs established under this section shall:

(1) Offer a coherent sequence of courses that allows a student to earn a high school diploma and achieve at least one of the following:

(i) the accumulation of transferable college credits; provided that, academic courses that count for college credit shall be those agreed to by the institutions of higher education participating in the partnership with the high school,

(ii) an industry-recognized credential or certificate determined to be necessary for occupations with high employment value, which shall be determined by considering factors including but not limited to a given occupation’s entry wage, ability to be promoted over time to higher wages, and average annual openings; or

(iii) participation in a registered apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship, or apprentice readiness program.

(2) Prepare students adequately for future success in the workforce or in an institution of higher education;

(3) Encourage the cooperative or shared use of resources, personnel and facilities between public high schools, public and independent colleges or universities and employers;

(4) ) Emphasize support services to address students’ social, emotional, and academic needs that are integrated across the secondary and post-secondary system, including, consistent counseling, advising, and data informed support services across the secondary and post-secondary systems, as well as parent engagement so that families and students can make responsible decisions regarding course selection, can track the student's academic progress and success, and be supported by cross-campus interventions where needed to achieve success;

(5) Develop methods for early identification of potential participating students in the middle grades and through high school and provide outreach to those students to promote academic preparation and awareness of college in high school programs; and

(6) Develop strategies to identify and engage underserved populations including by income, race, ethnicity, sex, English language learner status and students with disabilities.

(b) The office shall oversee all necessary college in high school programs, including but not limited to programs that incorporate one or more of the following: (1) early college; (2) dual enrollment; (3) industry-recognized credentialing in high school, including those for credentials determined to be necessary for occupations with high employment value as defined in section 38 of this chapter; (4) advanced placement; (5) international baccalaureate programs; or (6) innovation pathways.The office shall administer all aspects of state support, track and report on performance, and where applicable, designate college in high school programs.

Annually, by December 31, the office shall file a report with the commissioner of the department of elementary and secondary education and the commissioner of higher education, on performance measures, including, but not limited to the following categories:

(i) high school graduation rates of participating students;

(ii) disaggregated data showing (a) the percentage of participating students who complete the program; (b) the percentage of participating students who gain any postsecondary credits; (c) credits earned by participating students in college in high school programs, including percentage of each program incorporating early college to gain at least 12 credits; and (d) percentage of participating students who immediately enroll and persist in two- or four-year institutions of higher education; (e) percentage of participating students in a 6-year cohort who attain postsecondary degrees; and (f) percentage of students earning an industry-recognized credential or certificate;

(iii) college and career outcomes of participating students;

(iv) budget recommendations for the next fiscal year; and

(v) recommendations for further innovations for college in high school programs.

The commissioners shall prepare an aggregate report for the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on higher education, and the joint committee on education.

(c) The office shall, subject to approval by the boards of elementary and secondary education and higher education, set multi-year goals for the commonwealth for the attainment of college degrees and qualifying, industry-recognized certificates for students participating in college in high school programs. Such goals shall include overall goals as well as goals for historically underserved populations including by income, race, ethnicity, sex, English language learner status and students with disabilities. Goals should include statewide-, district-, and school-level goals. Progress towards the goals at the statewide-, district-, and school-levels shall annually be reported publicly.

(d) The office shall establish a publicly accessible online dashboard using data from the reports filed pursuant to subsections (g) and (h) of the section to generate information on each college in high school program. The purpose of the dashboard shall be to create user friendly displays of the overall success of the individual programs in achieving the goals and shall be written in terms understandable to the general public and to help students and their families identify available college in high school opportunities.

(e) Where applicable college in high school programs shall enter into an agreement with at least one postsecondary institution that provides students with opportunities to receive postsecondary credits during the student's participation in the program. The agreement shall establish how the program will be sustainable on current funding plus any anticipated annual state supplement for designated college in high school programs as well as the designated duties for the high school and college where relevant, in the areas of program coordination, student support, faculty support, career partnership coordination and performance monitoring.

(f) Designation as a college in high school program shall be for an initial period of five years, subject to review after the first three years, and renewable subject to performance. The department of elementary and secondary education shall, subject to appropriation, provide additional funding to designated programs for each participating student.

(g) The boards of elementary and secondary education and higher education may promulgate regulations as needed to carry out the provisions of this act.

Subject to appropriation, all high schools shall offer an affordable college in high school program to students before the completion of their 12th grade year that incorporates one or more of the following: (1) early college; (2) dual enrollment; (3) industry-recognized credentialing in high school; (4) advanced placement; (5) international baccalaureate programs; or (6) innovation pathways.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #286 to H5007

College in High School