Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 23, 2024
(1)
Definitions.
(a)
Applicant school - any
public school with grades K-12, or any combination thereof.
(b)
Performance objective - a
measurable outcome established and agreed upon by a school faculty, the
attainment of which shall be used to evaluate whether school improvement has
occurred.
(c)
Pay for
Performance (PfP) award - funds awarded to a local board of education
for use in accordance with PfP Program rules as a result of an applicant
school's performance being judged exemplary.
(d)
Approved application - an
applicant school's PfP Program application which conforms to the requirements
established for the program and which has been approved by the state
board.
(2)
Requirements.
(a) Schools
seeking to participate in the PfP Program shall send a letter of intent to the
state superintendent of schools by January 1 of the preceding academic year for
which school participation is sought. The letter shall state the local board of
education process through which the school application shall be reviewed and
approved.
(b) Each local board of
education with applicant schools shall establish a local system approval
process to ensure adequate local school board review of the application
submitted by each school. The local board of education shall approve each
application prior to submission to the state board.
(c) Applicant schools shall prepare their
applications in accordance with published program guidelines and shall submit
three copies of their applications to the state superintendent of schools
describing plans to be carried out during the subsequent school year.
Applications must be received by the department on or before March 1 in order
to be considered for approval. The state superintendent of schools or designee
shall review each application in accordance with criteria as provided in this
rule and will notify the local board of education as to the disposition of the
application.
(d) Applicant schools
whose initial applications are not approved by the state superintendent of
schools or designee, may resubmit their applications containing modifications
based on the comments and recommendations prepared by the initial reviewers.
Resubmitted applications shall be due to the state superintendent of schools 28
calendar days after the date of the letter advising the school of the state
board's decision concerning the initial application. No other resubmissions are
permitted.
(e) A local school
wishing the appeal a decision regarding the disposition of a submitted
application may do so by having its local school board request a review of the
decision by the state board.
(3) Applications shall address each of the
following:
(a) Academic achievement criteria.
Three or more performance objectives shall be included, each weighted by the
applicant school, with a minimum total weight of 50 percent. Objectives that
emphasize growth as well as those that emphasize exemplary performance will be
acceptable. The maximum weight to be assigned to performance objectives in this
area is 70 percent. In this category, at least 50 points must be earned using
data from standardized tests mandated by the state in accordance with Rule
160-3-1-.07 Testing Programs -
Student Assessment. If a state-mandated standardized achievement test is not
administered at any grade, a school will administer any standardized test that
is appropriate for its grade configuration.
(b) Client involvement criteria. Two or more
performance objectives shall be included, each weighted by the applicant
school, with a minimum total weight of 10 percent. The maximum weight to be
assigned to performance objectives in this area is 30 percent.
(c) Educational programming criteria. Two or
more performance objectives shall be included, each weighted by the applicant
school, with a minimum total weight of 10 percent. The maximum weight to be
assigned to performance objectives in this area is 30 percent.
(d) Resource development criteria. Two or
more performance objectives shall be included, each weighted by the applicant
school, with a minimum total weight of 10 percent. The maximum weight to be
assigned to performance objectives in this area is 30 percent.
(e) After weights have been assigned to each
performance objective, the total weight of all four areas combined shall be 100
percent.
(f) When considered as a
group, the total set of performance objectives shall:
1. Be comprehensive in scope.
2. Imply impact on a large part of the school
population.
3. Show promise for
improving educational program(s) within the school.
(g) The application shall contain sufficient
information so that readers, familiar with the field of public education but
not familiar with the specific school, can make judgments within the context of
the individual school's characteristics about the following:
1. The appropriateness of the proposed
outcomes.
2. The proposed level of
change or improvement specified in each performance objective.
3. The importance of each of the outcomes in
relation to the others identified in the application.
(4) Schools with approved
applications shall submit a report, at the end of the school year for which the
application was approved, detailing the degree to which each performance
objective was achieved. The report shall be submitted through the local board
of education to the state superintendent of schools by June 15 and shall be in
a form that permits direct comparisons between the stated outcomes in the
approved application and the end-of-year performance report. The report shall
be prepared in accordance with published program guidelines.
(5) In order to be eligible to receive a PfP
award, performance objectives representing 80 percent of the total weights must
be successfully achieved.
(a) A local school
wishing to appeal the state superintendent of schools' decision concerning the
assessment of the end-of-year report results in relation to the approved
performance objectives may do so by having its local school board request a
review of the decision by the state board.
(6) Each local board of education with
applicant schools shall adopt a policy, consistent with state law and state
board rule, which specifies how PfP award funds will be disbursed to the
successful school
(a) Each local board with
applicant schools is responsible for general oversight of the use of
funds.
(b) In each school receiving
an award, personnel in official certified positions must determine by consensus
how award funds will be utilized.
O.C.G.A. Sec.
20-2-213.1,
20-2-240.