School districts will submit plans for improving student performance with measurable performance benchmarks. The State Board of Education will establish the criteria and approve plans for use of the School Improvement Fund resources. These benchmarks will include improvement in student scores, drop-out rates and others. These plans will be updated and included as part of their Consolidated District Improvement Plans. These funds are for major project activities necessary to directly network classroom voice, data, and video communications to the Internet or other approved backbone or telephone service.
School districts face individual challenges to student performance.
School districts which face multiple barriers to student learning and achievement may qualify for additional resources from the Fund. This Fund will help overcome that combination of barriers, which disadvantages student achievement. The database pilot project will be completed in the 1997-99 biennium. The statewide implementation is proposed for 1999-2001. Database information is valuable to all policymakers, managers, and education stakeholders.