Article 2.5. Education Improvement Incentive Program of California Education Code >> Division 4. >> Title 2. >> Part 29. >> Chapter 9. >> Article 2.5.

It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage improvement in the performance of all public schools by providing fiscal incentives to motivate teachers and school site administrators to work to increase school performance. It is not the intent of the Legislature that incentive funding provided pursuant to this article be used as a substitute for periodic inflation adjustments to school apportionments. The Legislature recognizes that recent indicators of education achievement, including the results of the California Assessment Program, show high schools to be in the greatest need of educational improvement. It is therefore the intent of the Legislature that the Education Improvement Incentive Program first be implemented in the state's public high schools. It is further the intent of the Legislature that the Californa Assessment Program conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 60600) of Part 33 be used to measure the improvement of school performance in content courses, with an emphasis on logical analysis, the drawing of reasonable inferences, and communication of ideas.

(a) Beginning with the 1984-85 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, the State Board of Education shall develop a composite rating of each school's performance in the subject areas tested pursuant to Section 60602. The composite rating shall be based upon the weighted percentage of correct answers scored by the school on the tests administered pursuant to Section 60603 in each of the subject areas tested pursuant to Section 60602.
  (b) Beginning with the 1984-85 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, the State Board of Education shall develop a statewide composite rating of performance for all schools in the state, based upon the composite ratings of each school developed pursuant to subdivision (a).

(a) In developing composite ratings of each school's performance, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall ensure that equivalent questions from the tests administered pursuant to Section 60603 are compared from fiscal year to fiscal year. For fiscal years in which changes are made in the subject matter or skill level of the tests, the superintendent shall calculate two composite ratings, as follows:
  (1) A rating that includes only those subjects and skill levels which are comparable to those of the prior fiscal year.
  (2) A rating which reflects all subjects and skill levels included in the revised test instrument.
  (b) The State Board of Education shall use the composite rating calculated pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) to calculate incentive funding in the first fiscal year the revised test is administered. The composite rating calculated pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall be used to calculate incentive funding each fiscal year thereafter.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall not include the schools located within a district that has elected not to participate in the Education Improvement Incentive Program in the computations required pursuant to Section 54653, 54654, or 54655.

Beginning with the 1984-85 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, the State Board of Education shall compute the change in the performance of each school as measured by the change in the composite rating from the prior year. Except as otherwise provided in Sections 54653.5 and 54653.6, a school which demonstrates an improved performance from the prior year shall earn incentive funding in the fiscal year in which the performance improvement occurred. The State Board of Education shall compute the incentive funding earned by each school pursuant to this section as follows:
  (a) For each school which demonstrates an improved performance, multiply the increase in the composite score of the school by the number of pupils in that school who took the test during the fiscal year in which the increase occurred.
  (b) Add the individual products computed pursuant to subdivision (a) to determine the total statewide increase in school performance.
  (c) Divide the product computed for the individual school pursuant to subdivision (a) by the total statewide increase in school performance computed pursuant to subdivision (b) to determine the individual school's proportional contribution to the statewide increase in school performance.
  (d) Multiply the quotient obtained pursuant to subdivision (c) by the amount appropriated in that fiscal year for purposes of this article to determine the incentive funding earned by an individual school. In no case, shall the amount of incentive funding earned by an individual school exceed the product of the number of pupils who took the test during the fiscal year in which the increase occurred multiplied by four hundred dollars ($400). The State Board of Education shall provide the Superintendent of Public Instruction with a list of the schools which have earned incentive funding, and the amount of that funding earned by each school. The board shall provide the governing board of each school district with a list of the schools within the district which have earned incentive funding, and the amount of that funding earned by each school.

If the number of pupils who took the test during the fiscal year in which a performance improvement occurred was less than 93 percent of the school's grade 12 enrollment, the school shall not be eligible to receive incentive funding for that fiscal year, and shall not be included in the calculations made pursuant to Section 54653.

If a school's composite rating for the prior year is below the school's composite rating for the 1983-84 fiscal year by an amount as determined by a formula that shall be established by the State Board of Education and that shall account for the size of the school's grade 12 enrollment, then the computation of change in performance for that school shall be based on its composite rating for the 1983-84 fiscal year. The computation of incentive funding for schools subject to the provisions of this section shall be in accordance with Section 54653 based on improved performance as measured by the increase from the 1983-84 composite rating. The provisions of this section shall apply to the determination of incentive funding commencing with the 1985-86 fiscal year.

Commencing with the 1984-85 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall compute a districtwide total of incentive funding earned by individual schools located within each school district. The superintendent shall include this sum in the school district's second principal apportionment for the fiscal year in which the incentive funding was earned. Incentive funding received pursuant to this article shall supplement, and shall not supplant, the apportionment due to a school district.

Incentive funds included in a school district's apportionment pursuant to Section 54654 shall not be considered part of the current expense of education for purposes of Section 41372.

The governing board of a school district which received funding pursuant to Section 54654 shall allocate to each school which earned incentive funding an amount equal to 100 percent of the amount earned by that school as computed pursuant to Section 54653.

Each school which receives an allocation pursuant to Section 54655 shall utilize its school-site council for purposes of planning the expenditure of those funds. If the school does not have a school-site council, it shall establish one as provided by Section 52012.

(a) No funds allocated pursuant to Section 54654 shall be used for any of the following purposes:
  (1) To pay salaries negotiated pursuant to Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of Title 1 of Division 4 of the Government Code.
  (2) To hire additional staff pursuant to employment agreements for a term of one year or more.
  (b) Funds allocated pursuant to Section 54654 may be expended without regard to fiscal year.

Funds allocated to schools pursuant to Section 54655 shall supplement, and shall not supplant, school budgets.

The governing board of each school district which elects to participate in the Education Improvement Incentive Program shall certify to the Superintendent of Public Instruction the number of pupils enrolled in the district which have been exempted from the testing program conducted pursuant to Section 60603. The superintendent shall compare this number with the unduplicated count of individuals with exceptional needs reported by age and disabling conditions by the district to the superintendent as a condition of receiving federal funding pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.). If the superintendent determines that the governing board has exempted an excessive number of pupils from the testing program, the superintendent shall proportionately reduce the district's total incentive funding calculated pursuant to Section 54654.

In order to ensure the validity of the composite ratings of 12th grade performance used for purposes of this article, the State Department of Education shall develop procedures for the 12th grade for the proctoring of tests administered as part of the testing program by persons not employed by the school district administering the test. At least one proctor shall be present in each classroom used for the administration of the test while the test is being conducted. The proctor assigned to each classroom shall be given the responsibility of delivering the completed test forms to the State Department of Education for scoring. The department shall elicit assistance from geographically distributed county offices of education in developing and implementing these procedures.

An amount not to exceed 0.5 percent of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this article shall be used for the payment of grade 12 testing proctors and the administration of the Education Improvement Incentive Program.

This article applies only to public high schools.