A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require that students who complete high school are career and college ready.
Whereas, a study by the Community College Research Center at Columbia University found that students who enter college underprepared and requiring remediation are much less likely to graduate than those who test at college‑ready levels and that students who enter college underprepared and requiring remediation frequently do not enroll in classes of any kind; and
Whereas, of those students in 2013 who graduated from high school and immediately enrolled in a North Carolina community college, 52% were required to take one or more remedial courses at the community college, including 41% who were required to take a remedial math course, and 36% who were required to take a remedial reading and English course; and
Whereas, reducing the need for remediation reduces the impact that being underprepared has on students who are dependent on financial aid and helps remove barriers to completion of college programs; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The State Board of Community Colleges, in consultation with the State Board of Education (Boards), shall develop a program for implementation in the 2016‑2017 school year that introduces the college developmental mathematics and developmental reading and English curriculums in the high school senior year and provide opportunities for college remediation for students prior to high school graduation through cooperation with community college partners. The program shall require the following:
(1)	Establishment by the State Board of Community College of measures for determining student readiness and preparation for college coursework by using ACT scores, student grade point averages, or other measures currently used by the State Board of Community Colleges to determine college readiness for entering students.
(2)	Changes in curriculum, policy, and rules as needed by the State Board of Community Colleges and State Board of Education to make remedial courses mandatory for students who do not meet readiness indicators by their junior year to ensure college readiness prior to high school graduation. These changes shall include the flexibility for students to fulfill senior mathematics and English graduation requirements through enrollment in mandatory remedial courses or to enroll in those courses as electives.
(3)	Revisions to current direct instruction remediation modules used by the North Carolina community colleges by the State Board of Community Colleges, in cooperation with the State Board of Education, to provide remedial education to high school students.
(4)	Determinations by the State Board of Community Colleges on the following:
a.	Appropriate measures of successful completion of the remedial courses to ensure students are prepared for coursework at a North Carolina community college without need for further remediation in mathematics or reading and English.
b.	The length of time following high school graduation in which a student who successfully completed high school remedial courses will not be required to enroll in developmental courses at a North Carolina community college.
(5)	Policies established by the State Board of Community Colleges and State Board of Education for delivery of college remediation instruction in high schools. The policies shall include the following requirements:
a.	Faculty from the partner community college will provide training and oversight for high school faculty who will serve as facilitators for high school students enrolled in the remedial courses.
b.	Faculty from the partner community college will make regular site visits to provide assistance to students and high school faculty with the remedial courses.
c.	Partner high schools shall identify and assign appropriate faculty to the remedial course. Assigned faculty shall be trained by partner community college faculty prior to the start of the school year or semester in which the faculty will facilitate the remedial course.
d.	Partner high schools shall provide appropriate technology resources for delivery of the remedial course modules.
The Boards shall report on progress of implementation of the program, including the above requirements, statewide to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee no later than January 15, 2016.
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.