Purpose
This development addresses two issues: 1) assessment graduation requirements for students who have been enrolled in an English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program for less than two years, and 2) the implementation timeline for concordant and comparative scores aligned to the Florida Standards.
1) In compliance with s. 1003.433(3)(b), F.S., as amended during the 2021 Legislative Session, this proposed rule amendment will specify alternative methods available for students who have been enrolled in an ESOL program for less than two years to meet the grade 10 English Language Arts (ELA) assessment graduation requirement.
2) Pursuant to s. 1008.22(9)-(10), F.S., concordant and comparative scores aligned to the Florida Standards were established by the State Board of Education in May 2018 after a public review period, and they are scheduled to become effective for students graduating in 2021-22 who entered grade 9 in 2018-19. Pursuant to Florida Department of Education Emergency Order No. 2020-EO-1, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spring K-12 statewide assessment test administrations for the 2019-20 school year were canceled, and grade 10 students were unable to participate that school year in the grade 10 ELA assessment and the Algebra 1 End-of-Course (EOC) assessment, if enrolled in the Algebra 1 course required for graduation. Such students have had fewer opportunities than other graduating classes to pass the assessment prior to their scheduled graduation. This proposed rule language delays the implementation of the concordant and comparative scores aligned to the Florida Standards by one year, allowing the graduating class of 2021-22 to use as many options for meeting their assessment graduation requirements as possible.