In a move aimed at revamping state school accountability, the House Education Oversight Committee has given the green light to House Bill 1412, which seeks to shift the focus from chronic absenteeism to instructional time. According to a statement released by the committee on the Oklahoma House of Representatives website, this bill, proposed by Rep. Ronny Johns, will eliminate chronic absenteeism as a measure on state school report cards, replacing it with a new metric that rewards schools for providing extra instructional time to their students.
The current state law demands a minimum of 165 days and 1080 hours of school per year, but under the new bill, points would be awarded to schools that exceed this, with the ceiling set at 180 days and 1200 hours. "We can all agree that chronic absenteeism has not been a good measure for accountability of schools," Johns said, explaining the rationale behind the change. His remarks, highlighted in the Oklahoma House's report, emphasized the importance of controlling measurable factors and incentivizing schools to maximize time teachers spend with their students.
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert offered additional support for the measure, explaining the positive correlation between increased academic achievement and time spent learning. "All the data shows that academic achievement improves when students have more time with high quality teachers," he told members of the press, as per the Oklahoma House of Representatives website. The bill not only aims to encourage extended school sessions but also looks to broaden the postsecondary readiness measure by adding ACT WorkKeys scores and evidence of military readiness to the existing State School Report Cards.
Further changes outlined in the bill include adjustments to how graduation rates are calculated, exempting students who transfer, emigrate, or pass away from the adjusted cohort graduation rate used for school accountability. The committee's approval of the bill was unanimous, with the legislation now proceeding to the full House for consideration. Its passage could see the changes implemented as early as the 2025-2026 school year, aligning with the expectations set forth by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
