Personal Education Plan bill moves on

House Bill 804 that requires parents be notified that their child is at-risk of academic failure and are receiving a Personal Education Plan received a favorable report in the House Education Committee this morning.

Under the new bill, the classification of a student as at-risk of failure would trigger the creation of a Personal Education Plan (PEP) that would outline steps the school would take to improve the student’s academic performance. Currently, there is no requirement that parents be notified that their child is receiving a PEP.

Committee members heard from Reverend Barber of the NAACP who spoke in favor of the bill. After reflecting on the considerable difference between the passing rates of black and white students and deploring the dropout rate of minorities, Barber highlighted the disparity with which schools treated gifted students and those at risk of failure and dropping out. Gifted students received individual attention and plans, failing students are relatively ignored by comparison. Barber stated it was critical that parents get notification that their child was at-risk of failure and was receiving a PEP.

The bill clarifies an inconsistency in the law regarding what triggers the creation of a PEP. While schools are currently required to identify students at-risk of academic failure early in the school year via several means – grades, teacher observations, state assessments and any other factor considered appropriate – end-of-grade test scores are used to determine whether a student should receive a PEP. The new bill would direct teachers to create a PEP once a child was determined to be at-risk of failure and therefore widens the criteria used to trigger the creation of to a PEP and subsequent parental notification.