(a) By September 1 of each year, the department shall assign a performance designation to each public school and school district and to the state public school system in accordance with (f) of this section.
(b) The department shall inform the governing body of each district of the performance designations assigned to the district and to the state public school system under (a) of this section.
(c) The state board shall adopt regulations implementing this section, providing for a statewide student assessment system, and providing for the process of assigning a designation under (a) of this section, including
(1) the methodology used to assign the performance designation, including the measures used and their relative weights;
(2) a comparison of the state public school system to public schools in other states, including a comparison of student participation in standards-based assessments and student performance on the assessments;
(3) high performance and low performance designations that are based on the accountability system under this section;
(4) a procedure for appealing a designation that may be used by the principal of a public school or by the superintendent of a public school district;
(5) additional measures that may be progressively implemented by the commissioner to assist schools or districts to improve performance in accordance with this section; the additional measures may be unique to a certain school or district if that school or district receives federal funding that is not available to all schools or districts in the state.
(d) A public school or district that receives a low performance designation under this section shall prepare and submit to the department a school or district improvement plan, as applicable, in accordance with regulations adopted by the board. The improvement plan must be prepared with the maximum feasible public participation of the community including, as appropriate, interested individuals, teachers, parents, parent organizations, students, tribal organizations, local government representatives, and other community groups. The improvement plan must, to the extent possible, include measures that increase local control of education and parental choice and that do not require a direct increase in state or federal funding for the school or district.
(e) The department shall establish a program of special recognition for those public schools that receive a high performance designation, based on the accountability system under (f) of this section, that demonstrates
(1) an improvement over the school's performance designation for the previous year; or
(2) maintenance of a proficient or high performance designation from the previous year.
(f) In the accountability system for schools and districts required by this section, the department shall
(1) implement state criteria and priorities for accountability including the use of
(A) measures of student performance on standards-based assessments in language arts and mathematics; the assessments must be selected with the input of teachers and school administrators and minimize disruption to classroom instruction;
(B) measures of student improvement and academic achievement; and
(C) other measures identified that are indicators of student success and achievement; and
(2) to the extent practicable, minimize the administrative burden on districts.
(g) In this section,
(1) “district” has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990;
(2) “state public school system” means the combination of all public schools, public school districts, and state-operated schools.