101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB2977

 

Introduced 2/4/2020, by Sen. William E. Brady

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Collegiate High School Act. Provides that, beginning on or before the 2022-2023 school year, each public community college must, in cooperation with each school board in its designated service area, establish one or more collegiate high school programs for students enrolled in the 11th grade. Provides that each school board must enter into a contract with at least one community college of the school board's choice to establish a collegiate high school program; specifies the contract's requirements. Provides for course requirements and faculty member credentials. Allows each community college to adopt policies to protect the academic standing of students who are not successful in a collegiate high school program. Provides for academic counseling; specifies the counseling requirements. Requires the Illinois Community College Board, in consultation with the Board of Higher Education and the State Board of Education, to adopt rules and annually evaluate collegiate high school programs. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Collegiate High School Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds all of the
7following:
8        (1) Collegiate high school programs are innovative
9    partnerships between public secondary schools and public
10    community colleges that allow pupils to earn a high school
11    diploma and up to 2 years of college credit in 5 years or
12    less.
13        (2) In collegiate high school programs, students begin
14    taking college courses as soon as they demonstrate
15    readiness to take those courses and are provided with the
16    opportunity to earn an associate degree or a career and
17    technical certificate.
 
18    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
19    "Community college" means a public community college
20included in the definition of "community colleges" under the
21Public Community College Act.
22    "School board" has the meaning given to that term under

 

 

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1Section 1-3 of the School Code.
 
2    Section 15. Collegiate high school program.
3    (a) Beginning on or before the 2022-2023 school year, each
4community college must, in cooperation with each school board
5in its designated service area, establish one or more
6collegiate high school programs for students enrolled in the
711th grade at the time of application under subsection (c). A
8community college may use an intergovernmental agreement with a
9school district to establish the program.
10    (b) At a minimum, a collegiate high school program
11established under this Section must include an option for
12qualified public school students in grades 11 and 12 to
13successfully complete an associate degree or a career and
14technical certification while simultaneously earning a high
15school diploma.
16    (c) To enroll in a collegiate high school program, a
17student must submit an application with the community college.
18In its decision to accept or reject the student admission into
19the program, the community college must use the same standards
20it ordinarily uses in deciding a student's admission into the
21community college. A student applying to participate in the
22program may not be refused admission solely because he or she
23has not graduated from a secondary school.
24    (d) Each school board must enter into a contract with at
25least one community college of the school board's choice to

 

 

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1establish a collegiate high school program under this Section.
2Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, if a community
3college fails to establish a program with a school board that
4requests to do so, a different community college may execute a
5contract with that school board to establish the program. The
6contract must be executed by January 1 of each school year for
7implementation of the program during the next school year. The
8contract must include all of the following:
9        (1) Clearly delineate the school board's and the
10    community college's respective roles and responsibilities
11    in providing the program to students and ensuring the
12    quality and instructional rigor of the program. The
13    community college must ensure that the content and rigor of
14    a course offered in a collegiate high school program is
15    adequate to warrant awarding course credit to a student in
16    the same manner as if the student took the course as a
17    student attending the community college.
18        (2) Describe the collegiate high school program and the
19    delineation of courses and industry certifications
20    offered, including online course availability, the high
21    school and college course credits that may be earned for
22    each postsecondary course completed under the program and
23    industry certification that may be earned, student
24    eligibility criteria, and the enrollment process and
25    relevant deadlines.
26        (3) Describe the methods, medium, and process by which

 

 

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1    students and their parents or guardians are annually
2    informed about the availability of the collegiate high
3    school program, the return on investment associated with
4    participation in the program, and the information
5    described in paragraph (2).
6        (4) Identify the delivery methods for instruction and
7    the instructors for all courses under the program.
8        (5) Identify the student advising services and
9    progress monitoring mechanisms of the program.
10        (6) Establish a program review and reporting mechanism
11    regarding student performance outcomes that includes the
12    creation and maintenance of records for each student
13    enrolled in the program that includes all of the following:
14            (A) The courses in which the student enrolls and
15        the credit hours awarded for those courses.
16            (B) The courses that the student successfully
17        completes and the courses that the student fails to
18        complete.
19            (C) The postsecondary credit granted to the
20        student.
21            (D) Any other information requested by the Board of
22        Higher Education.
23        (7) Describe the terms of funding arrangements to
24    implement the collegiate high school program. Students who
25    are enrolled in the program are not responsible for
26    tuition, fees, or other expenses related to the program.

 

 

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1        (8) Establish any limitations that the school board or
2    community college may put on course offerings due to the
3    availability of instructors, the availability of students
4    for specific course offerings, or local board policy. These
5    limitations may not arbitrarily prohibit students from
6    participating in the program.
7        (9) Establish academic criteria for eligibility for
8    high school students to enroll in the program. The academic
9    criteria must be evidence-based and must include multiple
10    appropriate measures to determine if a student is prepared
11    for any dual credit coursework in which the student enrolls
12    and must include a standard for continued enrollment.
13    Exceptions to the academic criteria may be granted to a
14    student on a case-by-case basis if the school board and
15    community college agree on the exceptions and the terms of
16    the agreement are contained within the contract
17    established under this subsection. A community college's
18    board of trustees may establish additional initial student
19    eligibility requirements or prerequisites, which must be
20    included in the contract, to ensure student readiness for
21    postsecondary instruction.
22    Any additional requirements included in the contract may
23not arbitrarily prohibit students who have demonstrated the
24ability to master advanced courses from participating in a
25collegiate high school program. Regardless of whether a student
26meets the eligibility requirements for continued enrollment, a

 

 

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1student may lose the opportunity to participate in a collegiate
2high school program if he or she is disruptive to the learning
3process in a manner that hinders the progress of other students
4or the efficient administration of the course.
5    (e) Each student participating in a collegiate high school
6program must enter into a student performance contract, which
7must be signed by the student, his or her parent or guardian,
8and a representative of the school district and the community
9college. The performance contract must include the schedule of
10courses, by semester, and industry certifications to be taken
11by the student, student attendance requirements, and course
12grade requirements.
13    (f) In addition to executing a contract with a community
14college under this Section, a school board may execute a
15contract to establish a collegiate high school program with a
16private, nonprofit, independent college or university located
17and chartered in this State that is accredited by the Board of
18Higher Education. The contract must meet all of the
19requirements specified under subsection (d).
 
20    Section 20. Collegiate high school program courses.
21    (a) Each course that is part of a collegiate high school
22program must adhere to the requirements of the Dual Credit
23Quality Act. Based on the demand for enrollment in the
24identified courses and the resources available, collegiate
25high school program courses may be offered through (i) on-site

 

 

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1instruction, (ii) online instruction, or (iii) a combination of
2those methods at on-campus or off-campus sites. However, at
3least 50% of the credits must include exposure to community
4college faculty and be on the community college campus.
5    (b) Any faculty member providing course instruction as part
6of a collegiate high school program must meet the academic
7credential requirements to teach a dual credit course under
8Section 20 of the Dual Credit Quality Act.
 
9    Section 25. Student academic standing. Each community
10college may adopt policies to protect the academic standing of
11students who are not successful in a collegiate high school
12program, including, but not limited to, options for late
13withdrawal from a course, taking the course on a pass-fail
14basis, or both. All policies related to the academic standing
15of students enrolled in a collegiate high school program must
16be made publicly available by the community college and
17provided to each student enrolled in the program.
 
18    Section 30. Academic counseling. Prior to enrollment in a
19collegiate high school program, a representative of the school
20district, by agreement with the community college, must meet
21with each student who intends to participate in a collegiate
22high school program to offer academic counseling. At a minimum,
23all of the following must be discussed during the counseling:
24        (1) The courses in which the student may enroll,

 

 

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1    including prerequisites needed for completion of those
2    courses.
3        (2) The postsecondary credit the student may earn after
4    successful completion of a course.
5        (3) The consequences of the student's failure to
6    successfully complete a course.
7        (4) Notice of the courses and their schedule.
8        (5) The financial obligations of the student, the
9    school district, and the community college.
10        (6) The responsibilities of the student, the student's
11    parent or guardian, the school district, and the intuition
12    under the collegiate high school program.
13        (7) Any other matter deemed significant by the school
14    district or community college concerning the collegiate
15    high school program.
 
16    Section 35. Illinois Community College Board; duties. The
17Illinois Community College Board, in consultation with the
18Board of Higher Education and the State Board of Education,
19must do all of the following:
20        (1) Adopt rules to establish guidelines to implement
21    this Act. The guidelines must encourage participation by
22    students at all achievement levels, at all income levels,
23    and in a variety of academic and vocational subjects.
24        (2) Annually evaluate collegiate high school programs
25    and report to the Board of Higher Education and State Board

 

 

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1    of Education on the availability and success of the
2    programs.
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.