(1) The State Board of Education shall implement a Middle School Dropout Prevention and Recovery Pilot Program in select “D” and “F” rated school districts selected by the State Board of Education. The purpose of the pilot program is to reengage students and increase the graduation rates in Mississippi through an educational program that provides vocational technology, flexible scheduling and a blended learning environment with individualized and self-paced learning options.

(2) Under the pilot program, the educational services and programming shall be provided by an education partner that is a nonprofit or for-profit entity approved by the State Board of Education. The local school board of the districts selected to participate in the pilot program shall be responsible for reporting enrollment to the State Department of Education, working with the education partner to align graduation requirements. The participating schools district shall be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as an indicator of quality instructional programming.

(3) The pilot program shall provide at least the following:

(a) Facilities that are easily accessible to the students being served;

(b) Flexible scheduling, including at least two (2) different program schedules;

(c) Differentiated instruction that shall include individualized, group and online instructional components;

(d) The capacity for assessing, recording and responding to the students’ academic progress on a daily basis using assessments that are aligned with state and local standards and requirements;

(e) A focus on serving a defined population of at-risk students who have dropped out or are likely to drop out of school in the foreseeable future without some type of intervention;

(f) Support services, including social workers and crisis intervention professionals who are trained to assist students in removing barriers to attending school and graduating;

(g) Vocational technology and other instructional models that are self-paced and mastery-based; and

(h) Individualized graduation plans to guide students to graduation with a standard high school diploma.

(4) Before the State Board of Education approves an applicant as an education partner, the applicant must demonstrate the following:

(a) A history providing dropout recovery services to high school students in public schools;

(b) At least two (2) years of relevant experience operating and providing services to brick-and-mortar public schools;

(c) At least two (2) years of relevant experience providing comprehensive online learning or vocational technology programs;

(d) Relevant experience serving diverse student populations, including socioeconomically disadvantaged students;

(e) An explanation of the steps taken by the applicant to ensure that its proposed instructional content is aligned with state standards;

(f) A plan for the recruitment and hiring of state-certified teachers, including hiring criteria;

(g) A plan for the recruitment and hiring of qualified administrators, including hiring criteria;

(h) A detailed description of the applicant’s plan to work with the participating local school districts and the State Board of Education to identify students who need to be served, to reengage those students, and to provide alternative education options for students at risk of dropping out. Students at risk of dropping out from their current schools may be transferred into the pilot program; and

(i) An operational plan that includes the following:

(i) The number and physical location of proposed sites and a list of the equipment required;

(ii) A proposed program calendar and daily schedule and an explanation of how the calendar and schedule meet the needs of prospective students. The schedule must include at least four (4) hours per school day of on-site learning at a physical location;

(iii) The student-to-teacher ratio;

(iv) A description of each of the instructional methods to be used and number of hours per day for each method;

(v) A plan for differentiated instruction that must include individualized, group, and online instructional components;

(vi) Capacity for assessing, recording, and responding to students’ academic progress on a daily basis using standard assessments;

(vii) A detailed one-year budget;

(viii) A system of competency-based credit; and

(ix) A plan for aggregation and reporting of student performance data and reporting of financial activity.

(5)

(a) The State Board of Education shall develop and implement an alternative student performance accountability method to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of pilot program school districts that solely provide dropout prevention services and dropout recovery programs to at-risk students who have dropped out of or are likely to drop out of their base high school. Data and student results collected and compiled from the pilot program districts shall inform the State Board of Education in developing an alternative accountability method to apply statewide and in evaluating the success of the pilot program as a whole.

(b) The alternative accountability method shall only measure academic growth of students who have been continuously enrolled for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days. Students shall be assessed by pre-testing and post-testing at the beginning and end of the one hundred twenty-day enrollment period to measure student growth and shall apply beginning with the 2014-2015 school year.