To strengthen and streamline the administrative requirements of the Florida Tax Credit scholarship program in the areas of reporting, documentation and assessments.

 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

State Board of Education

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

6A-6.0960Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: To strengthen and streamline the administrative requirements of the Florida Tax Credit scholarship program in the areas of reporting, documentation and assessments.

SUMMARY: Propose changes to streamline and strengthen administration of the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) scholarship program: (1) Scholarship Funding Organizations (SFOs) will no need parents to submit a written statement affirming that the school district knows that the student will attend a private school; (2) Adjust the format and timing of the SFO quarterly reports; and (3) Use revised criteria to approve nationally norm-referenced assessments used by participating private schools.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION:

The Agency has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has not been prepared by the Agency.

The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein: The proposed change in rule adjusts reports to be made by Scholarship Funding Organizations and the criteria used to approve alternate norm-referenced assessments by the Office of Assessments. The rule does not impose or cause any regulatory costs and is not expected to require legislative ratification.

Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 1002.395, FS.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 1002.395, FS.

A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:

DATE AND TIME: February 16, 2017, 9:00 a.m.

PLACE: Alachua County School Board Office, 620 East University Avenue Gainesville, FL 32601.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Adam Miller, Executive Director, Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice, 325 W. Gaines Street, Suite 1044, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400.

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

 

6A-6.0960 Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program will be implemented as required by Section 1002.395, F.S., to allow nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations to provide scholarships from eligible contributions to qualified students attending eligible private schools or public schools outside the school district in which the student resides or in a laboratory school.

(1) No change.

(2) Nonprofit scholarship-funding organization requirements. Eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations shall:

(a) Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, upon each first-time scholarship student’s entry to the scholarship program, if the student was enrolled in a Florida public school in the year prior to entering the scholarship program, obtain a written statement that the parent has informed the student’s school district that the child will be attending an eligible private school. The written statement shall be maintained on file by each nonprofit scholarship-funding organization for no less than three (3) years or until such time as the student graduates or otherwise exits the program.

(b) Four (4) Five (5) times a year, no later than August 10 15, October 10 15, January 10 15, and March 10 15 and no later than fifteen (15) days after the last payment date of the school year, submit in a format to be specified by the Department of each year, submit in a format to be specified by the Department an electronic list of all participating scholarship students. The list shall include the following information:

(a)1. Demographic information for each student, including name, date of birth, social security number, grade level, gender, race, parent’s name, and address;

(b)2. Information on the student’s school of attendance, including tuition, fees, and transportation amounts; and,

(c)3. The amount of each student’s scholarship; and .

(d)(c) Year-to-date information on No later than thirty (30) days after the last payment date of the school year, provide a summary to the Department detailing the amount paid for each scholarship student during the school year and the school attended. If a student attended more than one school during the year, the summary shall detail the amount of the scholarship payments that the student generated by each school.

(3) through (5) No change.

(6) Measurement of student achievement. Private schools participating in the program are responsible for ensuring that all students in grades three through ten who are receiving scholarships are assessed annually and the results reported as required by Section 1002.395(8)(c)2., F.S. Achievement data for scholarship students shall not be used to rate publicly the performance of private schools that participate in the program.

(a) Pursuant to Section 1002.395(9)(i), F.S., relating to the identification and selection of nationally norm-referenced tests for the measurement of student achievement, participating private schools must annually administer a nationally norm-referenced test that has been approved by the Department and listed on the Department’s website to students receiving Florida Income Tax Credit Scholarships. The list may be accessed at http://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/k-12-scholarship-programs/ftc/annual-assessment-requirement.stml http://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/information/CTC/norm_referenced_assessment.asp.

(b) The Department of Education may approve the use of a nationally norm-referenced assessment if it meets the following criteria:

1. The assessment has norming studies that show dates of the studies, definition of the populations sampled, the procedure used to draw the samples, sample sizes, participation rates, and any weighting or smoothing procedure used to make the sample data better represent the population. Norming studies must have been conducted within the last ten (10) years, with five (5) years being preferable.

2. The assessment has internal consistency/reliability and must be reported for content sub-domains (e.g., mathematics, reading) at a minimum of 0.80, and that reliability data be reported for each grade level.

3. For any open-ended, constructed-response items, rater agreement information (e.g., exact rater agreement rates, intraclass correlations, or kappa coefficients) is reported.

4. The standard error of measurement and conditional standard error of measurement (at various test score levels) are reported.

5. The test developer includes a clear description of the construct to be measured, the purpose of the test, intended interpretation of the scores/other test results, and intended test-taking population.

6. Documentation includes conceptual, empirical, and theoretical evidence that the test meets its intended purposes and support the intended interpretations of test results for the intended populations.

7. Documentation includes evidence that each test is aligned with rigorous content standards, and serves as an adequate measure of K-12 student achievement in core academic areas.

1. Internal consistency reliability coefficients of at least 0.8;

2. High validity evidenced by the alignment of the test with nationally recognized content standards, as well as specific evidence of content, concurrent, or criterion validity;

3. Norming studies within the last five (5) to ten (10) years, with norming within five (5) years being preferable; and,

4. Serves as a measure of K-12 student achievement in core academic areas.

(7) through (9) No change.

Rulemaking Authority 1002.395(9)(i), (13)(d), (16)(h)-(i) FS. Law Implemented 1002.395 FS. History–New 2-5-07, Amended 11-26-08, 6-22-10, 10-25-10, 11-4-14.,_____.

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Adam Miller, Executive Director, Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice.

NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Pam Stewart, Commissioner, Department of Education.

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: January 13, 2017

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAR: December 6, 2016