TITLE 126
PROCEDURAL RULE
BOARD OF EDUCATION
SERIES 191
BETTER SCHOOLS ACCOUNTABILITY: SCHOOL, SCHOOL DISTRICT
AND STATEWIDE SCHOOL REPORT CARDS (7300)
§126-191-1. General.
1.1. Scope. -- These rules establish an accountability system for public education. Report cards
for use at the school, county, and state levels will be developed and disseminated to parents and
the public as well as educational leaders. The purposes are to provide identification of indicators
of performance, establish methods for collecting and reporting data, and develop a format for
three (3) different report cards -- one (1) for the school, one (1) for the county school system, and
one (1) statewide.
1.2. Authority. -- W.Va. Constitution, Article XII, § 2 and W.Va. Code §§18-2-5 and 18-2E-4
1.3. Filing Date. -- November 14, 1997
1.4. Effective Date. -- December 15, 1997
§126-191-2. Indicators and Method of Prescribing Assessment.
2.1. Indicators of student performance and other student data will be collected and reported for
comparison at the school level with county, state, regional, and national data. Data for selected
indicators will be collected and reported for more than one (1) year as available and appropriate.
2.1.1. Test results from NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) will be reported
in the state report card.
2.1.2. Test results from the statewide assessment program adopted by the West Virginia Board
of Education will be reported for grades 3 through 11 in the report cards.
2.1.3. School attendance rates for grades K-12 will be reported as a percentage.
2.1.4. The graduation rate, adjusted for migration, will be calculated according to the number of ninth graders who remain in school and graduate.
2.1.5. The dropout rate will be calculated according to the formula of the National Center for
Education Statistics.
2.1.6. The percentage of graduates taking the ACT (American College Testing) will be reported. The ACT Composite score for a school will be reported when ten or more students are tested.
2.1.7. The percentage of graduates taking the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) will be reported.
The SAT Math and Verbal scores for a school will be reported when ten or more students are
tested.
2.1.8. The percentage of sophomores and percentage of juniors taking the PSAT (Preliminary
Scholastic Aptitude Test) will be reported.
2.1.9. The percentages of tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students who took an advanced
placement course in high school will be reported.
2.1.10. The percentages of tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students who took Advanced
Placement Examinations (The College Board) will be reported.
2.1.11. The percentage of twelfth graders taking Advanced Placement Examinations (The
College Board) who scored a 3 or higher on the examinations will be reported.
2.2. Indicators based on the relationship among students, personnel, classes, and courses will be
reported at the school, county, and state levels.
2.2.1. The average class size will be determined by dividing the number of students in regular
education classes in grades 1-12 by the number of classes. Classes are defined as groups of
students arranged for instructional purposes for a full period in English language arts,
mathematics, science, social studies, or in self-contained regular education classes.
2.2.2. The percentages of students in grades 9-12 enrolled in foreign language, mathematics,
science, English language arts, and social studies courses will be reported.
2.2.3. Pupil-teacher ratio will be determined by dividing the total number of pupils by the total
number of classroom teachers for grades K-12, excluding librarians and counselors but including
head teachers and permanent substitutes, on a FTE basis.
2.2.4. The number of classrooms for which requests for exceptions to pupil-teacher ratio as set
forth in W. Va. Code §18-5-18A were made and the number of classrooms for which exceptions
were granted will be reported.
2.2.5. The pupil-administrator ratio will be determined by dividing the number of pupils enrolled
by the number of administrators on a FTE basis.
2.2.6. The number of split grade classrooms will be reported.
2.2.7. The percentage of students by career cluster as indicated on the individualized student
transition plans will be reported for grades 9-12. (Effective 1999-2000)
2.3. Indicators based on expenditures, personnel qualifications, and school size will be reported
at school, county, and state levels.
2.3.1. County operating expenditures per pupil will be determined by dividing the total operating
expenditures for the entire fiscal year by the tenth-month enrollment.
2.3.2. County instructional and noninstructional expenditures will be provided in graphic
display.
2.3.3. The percentage of professional staff by each educational level will be reported.
2.3.4. The average number of years of experience of professional staff will be reported.
2.3.5. The number of administrators and classroom teachers employed that exceeds the number
allowed by the public school support plan and the amount of salary supplements that would be
available per state authorized employee if all expenditures for the excess employees were
converted to annual salaries for state authorized administrators and classroom teachers will be
reported.
2.3.6. The number of service personnel employed that exceeds the number allowed by the public
school support plan and the amount of salary supplements that would be available per state
authorized employee if all expenditures for the excess employees were converted to annual
salaries for state authorized service personnel will be reported.
2.3.7. The grade range of the school and total enrollment for grades K-12 will be reported.
§126-191-3. Report Card Format and Process.
3.1. Each county school system must identify a contact for report cards who serves as liaison
between the Department of Education and the county school system and who oversees and
coordinates data collection, reporting efforts, and the duplication and dissemination of report
cards as stipulated in this policy. The name, title, and mailing address of this contact must be
forwarded to the state superintendent of schools within two (2) weeks of the effective date of this
policy. If the contact is changed, the county superintendent is responsible for notifying the state
superintendent of the change.
3.2. Goals for each school year (July 1-June 30) are reported for the school and the county school
system. Goals and measurable objectives to correct deficiencies in performance of the school
system are determined annually by each school and county board of education. Evidence of
attainment of prior year's goals is prominently reported in an appendix provided by the school or
county school system.
3.2.1. Goals and their attainment that have been made public prior to the release of the report
cards do not have to be included in an appendix to the report cards.
3.3. Instructions and guidelines for the collection of data and the reporting of data to the
Department of Education will be made available to county school systems on or before July 1 of
each year. The county board of education shall transmit information to the Department of
Education through WVEIS (West Virginia Education Information System) unless otherwise
specified. The information must be certified by the county superintendent as accurate and
complete and sent to the Department of Education by the specified deadlines for inclusion in the
report card.
3.4. Report cards shall be mailed from the Department of Education to the county boards of
education by December 1 of each year and shall be presented to the county board of education at
or before a regular meeting in December. All data in the county and school report cards shall be
public information after they have been presented to the county board of education and shall be
made available to a newspaper of general circulation serving the county prior to December 31 of
each year.
3.5. Within 30 days of receiving the original copies from the Department of Education, individual school report cards must be mailed by the county school system or school using the U.S. Postal Service or hand delivered by students to the custodial parent or guardian of all children enrolled at that school. If the county board of education chooses hand delivery by students, written verification must be provided to the school that the custodial parent or guardian has received the school report card.
§126-191-4. Certification of Training by Administrators and Board Members.
4.1. The state report card will include county board of education members' full name, term
expiration date, attendance at an orientation program for new members approved by the West
Virginia Board of Education and conducted by the West Virginia School Board Association or
other approved organization, and number of hours of training that meets standards prescribed by
the West Virginia Board of Education received during the school term reported.
4.2. The state report card will contain the names of the county superintendent and every assistant
and associate superintendent and the number of training programs related to their area of school
administration for the school term reported.
§126-191-5. Nontraditional Program Report.
5.1. An alternative education program is an authorized departure from the regular school
program designed to provide educational and social development for students whose disruptive
behavior places them at risk of not succeeding in the traditional school structures and in adult life
without positive interventions.
5.2. The evaluation of the effectiveness of alternative education programs shall focus upon the
impact of the program on student performance and results using indicators such as: academic
gains; reduction in dropout rates; reduction in incidences requiring disciplinary action;
improvement in attendance rates; rates of successful program completion and return to the
regular school program; rates of successful completion of vocational training programs; rates of
successful completion of high school graduation or attainment of a GED; and rates of successful
job placement and job retention.
5.3. To the extent applicable and appropriate, information will be presented by the county school
system in report card format for alternative education programs that are separate from the regular
school.
§126-191-6. Other Information Collected and Available for Reporting Through the Better
Schools Accountability Report Card Process.
6.1. Information will be provided by and disseminated as an appendix to the individual school
report card for the following indicators:
6.1.1. The names of the members of the local school improvement council and
6.1.2. The name or names of the business partner or partners of the school.
6.2. The need at the county or school level for including any new data in the individual school
report card must be established and inclusion of such data in the report card must be approved by
the state superintendent.
6.3. County boards of education or schools cannot change any of the data reported in the West
Virginia Report Cards, but may add to or expand upon the data through an appendix.
§126-191-7. Attainment of the Education Goals of West Virginia.
7.1. West Virginia Code §18-1-4(c) requires the State Board to annually report on the progress in attaining the education goals of the state. To the extent feasible, all or portions of the information contained in that report shall be included in the state report card.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BOARD OF EDUCATION
POLICY NUMBER AND TITLE: Policy 7300
Better Schools Accountability: School, School District and Statewide School Report Cards
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ENDS: October 17, 1997 ADOPTED: November 14, 1997
Background: Policy 7300 was written to implement provisions of West Virginia Code §18-2E-4, enacted by the legislature in June 1988, where a system of accountability for public education was established through the publication of school-, district- and state-level report cards.
Purpose: Policy 7300 identifies the indicators to be reported, the process of collecting and
reporting the information, and procedures that are to be followed. S.B. 300 requires that
additional indicators be reported. In addition, the West Virginia Education Information System
(WVEIS) allows for better and more standardized methods of reporting information. The
revisions reflect those changes and realign Policy 7300 with S.B. 300.
Comments: There were no comments submitted on Policy 7300; however, minor technical changes were made and approved by the West Virginia Board of Education.
