(a) The department shall develop and recommend for adoption by the state board a standardized template intended to simplify the process for completing the school accountability report card and make the school accountability report card more meaningful to the public.

(b) The standardized template shall include all of the following:

(1) Fields for the insertion of data and information by the department and by local educational agencies.

(2) A field to report the determination of the sufficiency of textbooks and instructional materials, pursuant to Section 60119.

(3) A summary statement of the condition of school facilities, as required by Section 17014, Section 17032.5, subdivision (a) of Section 17070.75, and subdivision (b) of Section 17089. The department shall provide examples of summary statements of the condition of school facilities that are acceptable and those that are unacceptable.

(4) A description of data available on the DataQuest Internet Web site of the department, including the Uniform Resource Locator for that Internet Web site.

(5) A description of admission requirements for California’s public universities, including the Uniform Resource Locator for the University of California Internet Web site providing information about the courses offered by each school that are approved as meeting those requirements.

(6) A statement concerning the availability of Internet access at public libraries and other locations that are publicly accessible.

(c) When the template for a school is completed, it should enable parents and guardians to compare the manner in which local schools compare to other schools within that district as well as other schools in the state.

(d) In conjunction with the development of the standardized template, the department shall furnish standard definitions for school conditions included in the school accountability report card. The standard definitions shall comply with the following:

(1) Definitions shall be consistent with the definitions already in place or under the development at the state level pursuant to existing law.

(2) Definitions shall enable schools to furnish contextual or comparative information to assist the public in understanding the information in relation to the performance of other schools.

(3) Definitions shall specify the data for which the department will be responsible for providing and the data and information for which the local educational agencies will be responsible.

(e) By February 1, 2008, the department shall report to the Legislature and the Governor on remaining data elements in the school accountability report card and the feasibility of combining elements, linking to other reporting of data elements, and other possible alternatives for improving the usability and readability of the school accountability report card. The report shall include a survey of the conditions for which the department has valid and reliable data at the state, district, or school level. The report shall provide a timetable for the inclusion of conditions for which standard definitions or valid and reliable data do not yet exist through the department.

(f) The Superintendent shall recommend and the state board shall appoint 13 members to serve on a broad-based advisory committee of local administrators, educators, parents, and other knowledgeable parties to develop definitions for the school conditions for which standard definitions do not yet exist. The state board may designate outside experts in performance measurements in support of activities of the advisory board.

(g) The state board shall approve available definitions for inclusion in the template as well as a timetable for the further development of definitions and data collection procedures. Each year the state board shall adopt the template for the current year’s school accountability report card. Definitions for all school conditions shall be included in the template.

(h) The department annually shall post the completed and viewable template on the Internet. The template shall be designed to allow schools or districts to download the template from the Internet. The template shall further be designed to allow local educational agencies, including individual schools, to enter data into the school accountability report card electronically, individualize the report card, and further describe the data elements. The department shall establish model guidelines and safeguards that may be used by school districts with secured access only for those school officials authorized to make modifications.

(i) The department shall maintain current Internet links with the Internet Web sites of local educational agencies to provide parents and the public with easy access to the school accountability report cards maintained on the Internet. In order to ensure the currency of these Internet links, local educational agencies that provide access to school accountability report cards through the Internet shall furnish current Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for their Internet Web sites to the department.

(j) A school or school district that chooses not to utilize the standardized template adopted pursuant to this section shall report the data for its school accountability report card in a manner that is consistent with the definitions adopted pursuant to subdivision (c).

(k) The department shall provide recommendations for changes to the California Basic Educational Data System, or a successor data system, and other data collection mechanisms to ensure that the information will be preserved and available in the future.

(l) The department shall monitor the compliance of local educational agencies with the requirements to prepare and to distribute school accountability report cards, including, but not limited to, the requirements contained in this section, subdivision (c) of Section 35256, and Section 35258.

(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 530, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2008.)