(a) As used in this section “Excellence Gap” means the disparity in the percentage of lower-income versus higher-income students who reach advanced levels of academic performance.
(b) The Department shall:
(1) establish strategies, plans and practices for implementation in all Virgin Islands public schools to eradicate and prevent the Excellence Gap. The application of these strategies and practices must ensure that all students can excel despite their income-level or other circumstances;
(2) carry out a comprehensive program to identify high-ability, low-income students in all public schools beginning with the 2016-2017 school year;
(3) establish gifted programs in all public schools to promote educational excellence for students who show outstanding academic achievements or exceptional ability to learn or reason;
(4) make independent study, dual enrollment, distance learning, promotion to higher grades and advanced placement courses available in all public high schools; and
(5) establish an accountability system to track the number of identified high-achieving students in the public school system and their performance as a separate group, including low-income students.
(c) All public schools shall monitor the performance and growth of all students and shall collect and submit data to the Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Education. All public high schools shall track the number of advanced placement classes and student passage rates.