Ohio Core Curriculum

In specifying the three required units of science (among physical science, biology, and several advanced sciences), the committee added an amendment that these credits must be chosen from among those same specified areas "or their equivalent."

Adds "agricultural education" as an area from among which a student may choose the required five units of electives.

Adds students pursuing a career-technical instructional track to the list of students who are exempted from the fine arts requirement.

Permits a school district board or a community or nonpublic school governing authority to adopt a policy to excuse from the physical education requirement students who have participated in athletics, marching band, or cheerleading for at least two full seasons.

Dropout prevention and recovery programs

Specifies that the Department of Education must either approve or reject the application of a dropout prevention and recovery program for a waiver from the Ohio Core requirements within 60 days after the application is submitted. If the Department does not act within that time, the waiver is considered to be granted.

Other curriculum-related provisions

Replaces the word "technical" with "career-technical" in referring to the authorization under current law to award high school credit for English language arts, math, and social studies courses delivered through integrated forms of instruction.

Dual enrollment

Requires joint vocational school districts to offer at least one dual enrollment program for their students.

Specifies that, if the Partnership for Continued Learning does not submit its recommendations for improving the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program and other dual enrollment opportunities by the May 31, 2007, deadline, each state university must begin providing dual enrollment courses in math and science via the Internet or interactive distance learning at one-tenth its normal per-credit-hour fee.

Admission to a state university

Permits a person who is receiving instruction at home to be admitted to a state university without completing the Ohio Core curriculum.

Standards for academic remedial and developmental courses

Specifies that the standards for academic remedial and developmental courses the Board of Regents is required to adopt must be uniform and apply statewide to all state institutions of higher education.

Partnership for Continued Learning

Adds one teacher who teaches in any of grades 9 to 12 in a career center to the Partnership for Continued Learning.

Other provisions

Requires school districts to enter into supplemental contracts with teachers who teach courses for high school credit for students of compulsory school age outside the normal school day.

Adds a requirement that the State Board of Education develop a plan to be implemented by teacher preparation programs to increase the number of science, math, and foreign language teachers needed throughout the state, especially in hard-to-staff schools, as part of its report (required by the bill) on the quality of teacher preparation programs.

Requires that the Teacher Quality Partnership submit its reports on the relationship of teacher licensure assessments to effectiveness in classroom teaching to the Governor, the President and minority leader of the Senate, the Speaker and minority leader of the House, the chairs and ranking minority members of the Senate and House Education committees, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Board of Regents, and the Partnership for Continued Learning; instead of to the Educator Standards Board as required under the Senate version.

Changes the wording of the required duties of the Private-Public Collaborative Commission, established by the Senate version, (1) to include developing recommendations for encouraging students and their families "to develop a greater vision for their successful future in Ohio, including consideration of career opportunities afforded by higher education" (instead of their merely considering those opportunities as under the Senate version) and (2) to eliminate recommendations for a means to educate students and families about higher education opportunities.

Eliminates an appropriation of $1 million earmarked for a grant program to provide financial incentives to attract and recruit math and science teachers.

S0311-126.doc/ejs 12/18/06