SB238 Alabama 2020 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Clay Scofield

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2020

Title

Education, grading of K-12 schools and school districts, academic performance or English as a second language (ESL) students exempted from consideration, Sec. 16-6C-2 am'd.

Summary

SB238 would exclude certain English language learner students from being counted in a public school's overall grade, while continuing to track their growth and English proficiency.

What This Bill Does

It amends the school grading law to ensure that the academic performance of some ESL students who haven't proven proficiency is not counted toward a school's or district’s academic achievement grade. These students' progress will instead be measured in the growth category and in English language proficiency, not in the overall grade. The rest of the grading system (A-F grades, indicators like achievement gaps, college/career readiness, and learning gains) remains in place and grades are publicly posted and shared with parents.

Who It Affects

• English language learners who have not yet shown proficiency (e.g., on ACCESS for ELL or other state English proficiency tests) — their academic performance will not count toward school grades.
• Public K-12 schools and school districts — their overall school grades will be calculated without counting those ESL students' academic performance.

Key Provisions

• Exempts the academic performance of certain English language learners from being counted in the school's academic achievement grade.
• Requires those students' progress to be measured in growth and English language proficiency categories instead.
• Maintains the existing A–F grading framework and use of multiple indicators (achievement, gaps, readiness, learning gains) for calculating grades.
• Grades must be publicly posted and delivered to parents; the act takes effect on the first day of the third month after passage.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 23, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Education