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SPONSOR: Sen. McDowell & Sen. Henry & Rep. Heffernan & Rep.
Jaques
Sens. Bushweller, Marshall & Poore; Reps. Brady, Briggs King &
Ramone

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DELAWARE STATE SENATE
148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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SENATE BILL NO. 193
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AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EDUCATION AND A PILOT
PROGRAM FOR DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN IN EARLY PRIMARY GRADES FOCUSED UPON REDUCED
CLASS SIZE AND AN INTENSIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCE.
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6BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
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WHEREAS, the General Assembly wishes to encourage Delaware schools to help disadvantaged students in
9primary grades one through three to attain a more robust level of academic achievement in the early primary grades and, by
10doing so, provide them with learning skills that will help sustain them through grade school, high school, and college;
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WHEREAS, it has been demonstrated that smaller class size is an important determinant of student outcomes;

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Whereas, smaller classes are particularly effective at raising achievement levels of low-income and minority

13children; and
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WHEREAS, the factors associated with smaller class size, which can enhance academic achievement, include

15higher levels of student engagement, increased time on task, and the opportunity smaller classes afford to tailor instruction
16to the students in the class;
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NOW THEREFORE:

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Section 1. Amend Chapter 17, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and

19deletions as shown by strike through as follows:

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1724. Pilot program for disadvantaged students in primary grades.

a

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The purpose of this program is to implement a three-year pilot program for disadvantaged students in

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primary grades one through three.

b

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The State of Delaware shall appropriate $3 million to fund this pilot program to be disbursed at $1

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million per year for three consecutive years.

c

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The Department of Education shall develop the guidelines for applying for the pilot program grants and
distribute those guidelines to every qualifying school in the state. On or before August 15, 2016, the

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Department of Education shall select Delaware public schools to receive grants up to a maximum of

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$200,000 each, for four consecutive years, to be funded by the state. The schools receiving grants shall

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be in the highest quartile of Delaware public schools with respect to the percentage of student population

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from low-income families.

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Grants shall be awarded, and the funds distributed, by the Department of Education to those schools

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whose grants are accepted. To be eligible for a grant, a public school shall have to create a classroom for

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first graders with a class size of 10 students with at least one teacher in the initial year of the program.

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Each student in the class must be from a household whose income is not more than 150% of the 2016

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Federal Poverty Level. Students selected for the pilot program shall be randomly selected from the total

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student population of the schools in the program which meet the qualifying selection guidelines. The

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students may be identified through an early learner survey or assessment that helps to identify at-risk

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early education students who have not entered first grade. The target group of students are not those

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placed in, or eligible for, special education, but rather students who are not achieving at grade level. In

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years two through three of the pilot program, each school that received a grant in the first year of the

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program shall receive a grant at least equal to the first-year grant to be applied to the same group of

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students as in year one who remain enrolled in the funded school, while retaining a class size of exactly

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ten students per class. Each student shall receive at least one day, or two half days, per month of one-on-

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one reading instruction with a reading specialist teacher.

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Grants shall be awarded to schools in all three counties based as closely as possible on student

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populations in each county. The State Department of Education shall include the student selection

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criteria in the grant proposal issued by the Department. The guidelines developed by the Department of

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Education shall require that all teachers assigned to the classes funded by the grants must have at least 5

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years of teaching experience and satisfactory performance evaluations. Grants shall be awarded on a

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competitive basis to individual schools. Extra teachers funded by the pilot program shall not be counted

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in the unit count for participating schools.

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Public schools awarded a grant under the program may supplement the grant funding with other funds.

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Delaware State University, Delaware Technical and Community College, the University of Delaware,

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and other institutions of higher learning within and outside Delaware should be invited to help collect

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and analyze data to assess the effectiveness of the pilot program in conjunction with the State

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Department of Education and the schools receiving grants.

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SYNOPSIS

This Act will create a three-year pilot program for disadvantaged students in primary grades in Delaware public
schools. The state will provide $1 million in grant funding per year, over a three year period, to support the pilot program.
Under the Act, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical and Community College, and the University of Delaware
are invited to help collect and analyze data to assess the program.
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Author: Senator McDowell