Bill > S1378

This bill makes several changes to Florida's education laws, primarily focusing on student assessments and graduation requirements. It revises the duties of the Commissioner of Education regarding the statewide student assessment program, allowing for the development of alternative assessments for special student populations and the potential replacement of the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) with assessments from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) program. The bill also mandates that a student's performance on end-of-course assessments will constitute 30 percent of their final course grade, and it clarifies that scores on standardized tests can be considered "equivalent" to passing scores on the FCAT for graduation purposes, replacing the term "concordant." Additionally, it requires the State Board of Education to provide the common placement test, used for college readiness, to school districts for administration at least six times during a student's high school career, and it modifies the criteria for school grading systems. Finally, the bill adjusts the timeline for implementing performance-based salary schedules for instructional personnel and school administrators, shifting the earliest implementation date to no sooner than July 1, 2016.