Florida Statutes
Part II - Accountability, Early Learning-20 (Ss. 1008.31-1008.47)
1008.31 - Florida’s Early Learning-20 education performance accountability system; legislative intent; mission, goals, and systemwide measures; data quality improvements.

(1) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.—It is the intent of the Legislature that:
(a) The performance accountability system implemented to assess the effectiveness of Florida’s seamless Early Learning-20 education delivery system provide answers to the following questions in relation to its mission and goals:
1. What is the public receiving in return for funds it invests in education?
2. How effectively is Florida’s Early Learning-20 education system educating its students?
3. How effectively are the major delivery sectors promoting student achievement?
4. How are individual schools and postsecondary education institutions performing their responsibility to educate their students as measured by how students are performing and how much they are learning?

(b) The Early Learning-20 education performance accountability system be established as a single, unified accountability system with multiple components, including, but not limited to, student performance in public schools and school and district grades.
(c) The Early Learning-20 education performance accountability system comply with the requirements of the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001,” Pub. L. No. 107-110, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
(d) The early learning accountability system comply with the requirements of parts V and VI of chapter 1002 and the requirements of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Trust Fund, pursuant to 45 C.F.R. parts 98 and 99.
(e) The State Board of Education and the Board of Governors of the State University System recommend to the Legislature systemwide performance standards; the Legislature establish systemwide performance measures and standards; and the systemwide measures and standards provide Floridians with information on what the public is receiving in return for the funds it invests in education and how well the Early Learning-20 system educates its students.

(f)1. The State Board of Education establish performance measures and set performance standards for individual public schools and Florida College System institutions, with measures and standards based primarily on student achievement.
2. The Board of Governors of the State University System establish performance measures and set performance standards for individual state universities, including actual completion rates.

(2) MISSION, GOALS, AND SYSTEMWIDE MEASURES.—
(a) The mission of Florida’s Early Learning-20 education system shall be to increase the proficiency of all students within one seamless, efficient system, by allowing them the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skills through learning opportunities and research valued by students, parents, and communities.
(b) The process for establishing state and sector-specific standards and measures must be:
1. Focused on student success.
2. Addressable through policy and program changes.
3. Efficient and of high quality.
4. Measurable over time.
5. Simple to explain and display to the public.
6. Aligned with other measures and other sectors to support a coordinated Early Learning-20 education system.

(c) The Department of Education shall maintain an accountability system that measures student progress toward the following goals:
1. Highest student achievement, as indicated by evidence of student learning gains at all levels.
2. Seamless articulation and maximum access, as measured by evidence of progression, readiness, and access by targeted groups of students identified by the Commissioner of Education.
3. Skilled workforce and economic development, as measured by evidence of employment and earnings.
4. Quality efficient services, as measured by evidence of return on investment.
5. Other goals as identified by law or rule.

(3) EDUCATION DATA QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS.—To provide data required to implement education performance accountability measures in state and federal law, the Commissioner of Education shall initiate and maintain strategies to improve data quality and timeliness. The Board of Governors shall make available to the department all data within the State University Database System to be integrated into the educational data warehouse. The commissioner shall have unlimited access to such data for the purposes of conducting studies, reporting annual and longitudinal student outcomes, and improving college readiness and articulation. All public educational institutions shall annually provide data from the prior year to the educational data warehouse in a format based on data elements identified by the commissioner.
(a) School districts and public postsecondary educational institutions shall maintain information systems that will provide the State Board of Education, the Board of Governors of the State University System, and the Legislature with information and reports necessary to address the specifications of the accountability system. The level of comprehensiveness and quality must be no less than that which was available as of June 30, 2001.
(b) Colleges and universities eligible to participate in the William L. Boyd, IV, Effective Access to Student Education Grant Program shall annually report student-level data from the prior year for each student who receives state funds in a format prescribed by the Department of Education. At a minimum, data from the prior year must include retention rates, transfer rates, completion rates, graduation rates, employment and placement rates, and earnings of graduates. By October 1 of each year, the colleges and universities described in this paragraph shall report the data to the department.
(c) The Commissioner of Education shall determine the standards for the required data, monitor data quality, and measure improvements. The commissioner shall report annually to the State Board of Education, the Board of Governors of the State University System, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives data quality indicators and ratings for all school districts and public postsecondary educational institutions.
(d) Before establishing any new reporting or data collection requirements, the commissioner shall use existing data being collected to reduce duplication and minimize paperwork.

(4) RULES.—The State Board of Education shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this section relating to the educational data warehouse.
History.—s. 375, ch. 2002-387; s. 1, ch. 2003-80; s. 13, ch. 2005-56; s. 44, ch. 2006-74; s. 20, ch. 2008-235; s. 199, ch. 2010-102; s. 107, ch. 2011-5; s. 12, ch. 2012-195; s. 26, ch. 2013-35; s. 20, ch. 2013-51; s. 5, ch. 2014-23; s. 25, ch. 2018-4; s. 128, ch. 2019-3; s. 67, ch. 2021-10; s. 84, ch. 2022-4.