Summary: Standards of Quality; specialized student support positions. The bill modifies a school personnel requirement in Standard 2 of the Standards of Quality. It requires each school board to provide at least three specialized student support positions, including school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, licensed behavior analysts, licensed assistant behavior analysts, and other licensed health and behavioral positions, per 1,000 students.

Summary: Department of Education; special education. Requires the Department of Education and the Board of Education to develop new policies and procedures and effect numerous modifications to existing policies and procedures to improve the administration and oversight of special education in the Commonwealth.

Summary: Child care providers; background check portability; subsidy pilot program; report. Exempts prospective employees and volunteers of certain child care providers from statutory background check requirements where the individual completed a background check within the previous five years, provided that (i) such background check was conducted after July 1, 2017; (ii) the results of such background check indicated that the individual had not been convicted of any barrier crime and was not the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect; and (iii) the individual is an employee or volunteer of a child care provider that is subject to background check requirements or has been separated from such employment or volunteer position for not more than 180 days. The bill requires such child care providers, prior to hiring or allowing to volunteer any individual without the completion of a background check, to obtain written certification that such individual satisfies all such requirements and is eligible to serve as an employee or volunteer. The bill also directs the Department of Education (the Department) to establish a two-year pilot program for the purpose of stabilizing and improving the quality of services provided in the Commonwealth's child care industry. The bill provides that under the pilot program a fixed sum of funds, based on the number of children served and certain other factors, will be disbursed to participating child care providers who agree to meet higher standards of quality and care, as determined by the Department. The bill requires the Department to report to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 1 of each year of the pilot program certain information set forth in the bill. The bill also requires the Department, in collaboration with the School Readiness Committee, to (a) identify and analyze financing strategies that can be used to support the systemic costs of high-quality child care services, ensure equitable compensation for child care staff, and better prepare children for kindergarten and (b) analyze the effectiveness of using a cost-of-quality modeling system for the child care subsidy program. The bill requires the Department to report its findings to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2021.

Summary: Board of Education; through-year growth assessment system; report. Requires the Board of Education to establish a through-year growth assessment system for use during the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 school years for students in grades three through eight. The bill requires that the system be established using available federal funds and that the system provide accurate measurement of a student's performance in English and mathematics through computer adaptive technology. The bill also requires each school division to administer reading diagnostic assessments throughout the year in grades kindergarten through two, using existing assessments. The bill requires the Board of Education to report to the General Assembly on the results of the through-year growth assessments by September 1, 2022, and September 1, 2023. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.