HB 2020 Summary

• Requires public schools and state-supported institutions of higher education to include grade distribution information on student report cards and transcripts by August 1, 2015, showing how many students received each grade in the same class taught by the same teacher.

• Schools and colleges may report grade distributions using standard letter grades or score ranges and must include statutory notice explaining the distribution's purpose for comparing individual student performance to classmates.

• Mandates that teacher evaluations in public schools and annual/tenure/promotion evaluations in higher education institutions include review of grade distributions to assess grading practices and require explanations for unusual grade patterns.

• Requires public schools to report grade distribution by grade level and subject in annual school performance reports, and requires state colleges to report distribution by course to the Department of Higher Education.

• Establishes privacy protections allowing schools to establish minimum class sizes of 20 or fewer students before reporting, combine class sections for reporting purposes, and exempts evaluator-only grade distribution information from privacy restrictions.