A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to make certain modifications to the implementation of advanced math courses offered when practicable for grades three and higher.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑81.36 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑81.36.  Advanced courses in mathematics.
(a)	When practicable, local boards of education shall offer advanced learning opportunities in mathematics in grades three through five, and advanced courses in mathematics in all grades six and higher. For the purposes of this section, advanced learning opportunities are those services and curricular modifications in mathematics for academically or intellectually gifted students approved as part of the local plan, as required by G.S. 115C-150.7.
(a1)	When advanced learning opportunities are offered in mathematics in grades three through five, any student scoring at the highest level on the end‑of‑grade test shall, for the next school year, be provided advanced learning opportunities in mathematics approved for that student's grade level. No student who qualifies under this subsection shall be removed from the advanced learning opportunity provided to the student unless a parent or guardian of the student provides written consent for the student to be excluded or removed after being adequately informed that the student's placement was determined by the student's achievement on the previous end‑of‑grade test.
(b)	When advanced courses are offered in mathematics in grades six and higher, any student scoring at the highest level on the end‑of‑grade or end‑of‑course test for the mathematics course in which the student was most recently enrolled shall be enrolled in the advanced course for the next mathematics course in which the student is enrolled. A student in seventh grade scoring at the highest level on the seventh grade mathematics end‑of‑grade test shall be enrolled in a high school level mathematics course in eighth grade. Local boards of education may administer diagnostic assessments upon enrollment in the high school level mathematics course for the purpose of providing identified students with supplemental content enrichment. No student who qualifies under this subsection shall be removed from the advanced or high school mathematics course in which the student is enrolled unless a parent or guardian of the student provides written consent for the student to be excluded or removed from that course after being adequately informed that the student's placement was determined by the student's achievement on the previous end‑of‑grade or end‑of‑course test.
(c)	By December 15, 2019, and annually thereafter, the Department of Public Instruction shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee containing data collected on the number and demographics of students who were eligible for advanced math courses, and of those students, the number and demographics of those who were placed in advanced math courses and were not placed in advanced math courses. The report shall include information on the type and format of advanced math courses provided and shall also include any feedback provided by local boards of education on the implementation of this section.
(d)	The Department of Public Instruction shall provide guidance to local boards of education on how to best develop programming and courses to ensure all impacted students receive rigorous, academically appropriate instruction in mathematics."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2019‑2020 school year.