Please be advised that on January 21, 2004, and February 2, 2004, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) presented Director’s Memos regarding Act 1116 and Act 1761 of the Regular Session of 2003 of the 84th General Assembly. Subsequently, on February 6, 2004, the proposed Rules Governing Course Approval and Consistency and Rigor were promulgated and placed for public comment. Based upon public comments and concerns regarding the requirements of Act 1116 and Act 1761, the ADE requested an Attorney General’s Opinion (A.G. Opinion) in this area.
The A.G. Opinion has raised some issues which will eventually be addressed. The ADE intends to submit another version of the rule for final approval to the State Board. The ADE will seek to place this version of the rule out for additional public comment. However, due to the delay on this matter, the ADE is not seeking to apply any additional requirements or obligations on school districts regarding course approvals for the 2004-2005 school year. As a result, school districts are not required to submit any additional information for the limited purpose of obtaining course approval for the 2004-2005 school year.
However, keep in mind that Act 1761, codified in part at A.C.A. § 6-15-1505, provides as follows:
“6-15-1505. District implementation.
(a) Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, each local school district shall establish procedures and monitoring processes to ensure that the content of each course offered by the district is consistent with content standards and curriculum frameworks developed by the State Board of Education.
(b) The superintendent of each school district shall provide to the Department of Education, by October 1 of each year following the adoption of the plan under subsection (a) of this section, a written statement of assurance that the content of each class and subject area, as required by the Arkansas Standards of Accreditation for Arkansas Public Schools regardless of levels, is aligned to content standards and curriculum frameworks developed by the state board in the plan.
(c) The department shall monitor, during the standards review visit, documentation related to the plan.
(d) If the department determines that a school district has failed to align the content of each class and subject area as required by the state board to content standards and curriculum frameworks developed by the state board, the department shall:
(1) Note the failure to comply in the annual school performance report under § 6-15-1402; and
(2) Cite the failure to comply of each school on the Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools Annual Report.”
For additional information or questions, contact Dr. Ken James at 501-682-4204.