1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; requiring accelerated 
  1.3             instruction for elementary and secondary students who 
  1.4             score three standard deviations above the norm on 
  1.5             standardized achievement tests; proposing coding for 
  1.6             new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 126. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [126.238] [ACCELERATED INSTRUCTION FOR HIGH 
  1.9   SCORING STUDENTS.] 
  1.10     Every district shall provide accelerated instruction to all 
  1.11  enrolled elementary and secondary students who score three 
  1.12  standard deviations above the norm on a standardized achievement 
  1.13  test used to assess student performance.  Each high scoring 
  1.14  student shall have a written accelerated learning plan developed 
  1.15  by an accelerated learning plan team that includes the student's 
  1.16  teachers, parents, and school counselor and may include other 
  1.17  qualified educators and the student if the student is a 
  1.18  secondary school student.  The plan shall state the educational 
  1.19  outcomes the student will work to achieve, indicating the 
  1.20  curricular content of the educational outcomes and the 
  1.21  instructional strategies to be used in providing curricula.  
  1.22  Cost to the school district may be among the factors the team 
  1.23  considers in choosing how to provide the accelerated instruction 
  1.24  contained in the student's plan.  The school district shall make 
  1.25  the final decision about the contents of a plan.  Plan contents 
  1.26  shall be consistent with and enhance the requirements of the 
  2.1   state's results-oriented high school graduation rule.  The 
  2.2   accelerated learning plan of each secondary student shall 
  2.3   provide for a transition from secondary school to post-secondary 
  2.4   education, employment, or community service.  The district shall 
  2.5   evaluate a student's success in achieving the educational 
  2.6   outcomes stated in the accelerated learning plan and the 
  2.7   contents of the plan at least once per school year.  School 
  2.8   districts with a small number of high scoring students may 
  2.9   cooperate with other districts in providing the students with 
  2.10  sufficient opportunities for accelerated instruction as stated 
  2.11  in the student's accelerated learning plan. 
  2.12     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.13     Section 1 is effective for the 1998-1999 school year and 
  2.14  thereafter.