1. A. The State Board of Education shall determine and adopt a series of student performance levels for the criterion-referenced tests administered pursuant to the Oklahoma School Testing Program Act, Section 1210.505 et seq. of this title. The performance levels shall be known as the Oklahoma Performance Index and shall be set by a method of similar to that used for the achievement levels on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Student performance levels shall be labeled: advanced, satisfactory, limited knowledge, and unsatisfactory.
2. B. Contingent upon the availability of fund, the State Board of Education shall award school sites which demonstrate academic achievement on the criterion-referenced tests as determined by the Oklahoma Performance Index. The award shall consist of recognition and incentive for achievement measured against benchmarks. The State Board of Education shall report to the Legislature by November 1 of each year the school sites which have demonstrated academic achievement pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.

3. C. For the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 school years, the State Board of Education shall identify and publish annually by site and by district the results of the tests, presented in context with other relevant information. By February 1, 2000, the State Department of Education shall make recommendations to the Legislature to identify sites at which a specified percentage of students score Unsatisfactory on the Oklahoma Performance Index in both reading/English and mathematics on the grade-level criterion-referenced tests or on the secondary end-of-instruction tests. Other relevant information employed by the State Board of education to identify low-performing and high challenge schools may include, but shall not be limited to, the following criteria:

   1. 1. Delineation of the percentages of students not tested on criterion-referenced tests;
   2. 2. High school graduation, student attendance, and student dropout rates;
   3. 3. Teacher attendance rates;
   4. 4. Student suspensions and other disciplinary measures which can be quantified;
   5. 5. Secondary student participation in and completion of the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program when applicable;
   6. 6. Student vocational-technical program participation and completion rates;
   7. 7. Student college entrance and preparatory test-taking rates;
   8. 8. Parental involvement rates; and

   9. 9. Any indicators reported through the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program.

      By November 1, 2000, the State Department of Education shall make recommendations to the Legislature for the identification of low-performing and high challenge schools based on the four student performance levels required in the Oklahoma Performance Index as specified by subsection A of this section. Such school shall be declared a low-performing school, if so identified for one (1) or two (2) consecutive years, and shall be declared a high challenge school if so identified for three (3) consecutive years, by the State Board of Education. Subject to the availability of funds, the State Department of Education shall provide funding to such sites for remediation. The State Board of Education shall assign a team to provide guidance and assistance to the school site and district until the site is no longer declared to be low-performing or high challenge. Other means of intervention which may be exercised by the State Board of Education may include but are not necessarily limited to: special funding; reassignment of district personnel; transfer of students; operation of the school by personnel employed by the State Department of Education; mandatory annexation of all or part of the local school district; and placing operation of the school with an institution of higher education as a developmental research school pursuant to the provisions of Sections 1210.571 through 1210.579 of this title if the high challenge school is within a single-site district and is within ten (10) miles of a college of education within an institution of The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education.

Laws 1989, SB 183, c. 335, § 14, emerg. eff. July 1, 1989; Amended by Laws 1992, SB 1025, c. 248, § 2, emerg. eff. July 1, 1992; Amended by Laws 1992, SB 583, c. 281, § 3, emerg. eff. July 1, 1992 (repealed by Laws 1992, HB 2500, c. 373, § 22, emerg. eff. July 1, 1992); Amended by Laws 1993, SB 528, c. 257, § 13, emerg. eff. May 26, 1993; Amended by Laws 1996, HB 2193, c. 343, § 4, emerg. eff. July 1, 1996; Amended by Laws 1999, HB 1599, c. 356, § 4, emerg. eff. July 1, 1999 (superseded document available).