Indiana State Board of Education Duties

1. Indiana State Board of Education
Statutory Roles and Responsibilities
Michelle Gough McKeown, J.D., Ph.D.
General Counsel, SBOE

2. General Information
 Intended as a high-level review
 Not exhaustive
 Areas discussed do not constitute a normative
judgment on which statutory responsibilities are
most “important”
 Distinct lists of statutory responsibilities for SBOE,
IDOE, and SPI
 Comprehensive lists of statutory responsibility
available hardcopy and may also be emailed

3. Statutory Responsibilities
General duties per 20-19-2-14
The state board shall do the following:
(1) Establish the educational goals of the state, developing standards
and objectives for local school corporations.
(2) Assess the attainment of the established goals.
(3) Assure compliance with established standards and objectives.
(4) Coordinate with the commission for higher education (IC 21-18-1)
and the department of workforce development (IC 22-4.1-2) to
develop entrepreneurship education programs for elementary and
secondary education, higher education, and individuals in the work
force.
(5) Make recommendations to the governor and general assembly
concerning the educational needs of the state, including financial
needs.
(6) Provide for reviews to ensure the validity and reliability of the
ISTEP program.

4. Statutory Responsibilities
Operations
Compulsory attendance
Accountability
Curriculum-related
Accreditation
Education Service Centers
Average Daily Membership (“ADM”)
Freeway schools
Advanced Placement courses
Health and safety
Operations
Innovative Programs Projects
Career and Technical Education
ISTEP/Assessment
Charter school sponsors
Post-secondary Enrollment Programs
Standards
Primetime
Common School Fund
Reading Plan

5. Statutory Responsibilities
Remediation
Teacher Evaluation
School Construction
Teacher licensure
Schools’ Continuous Improvement and
Achievement Plan
Teacher Quality and Professional
Improvement Program
School Corporation Allocation of
Resources to Student Learning
Veterans memorial school construction
fund
School Disaster Loan Fund
Miscellaneous
School Reorganization
Hearings (legal settlement, right to
attend, transfer tuition, etc)
Secondary level certificate of
achievement
Summer School
Special Education

6. Statutory Responsibilities
 Some responsibilities designated under the statutes
require the SBOE to adopt administrative rules
 Rulemaking authority falls under Title 511 of the
Indiana Administrative Code
 The Rulemaking authority for the Indiana
Department of Education falls under Title 512

7. Statutorily-granted Rulemaking Responsibility
 Teacher Licensure
 Alternative Education
 Accountability
 Turnaround Academies
 Standards for students personnel and guidance
standards
 Criteria upon which the IDOE may make arts
education grants
 Assessment
 Accreditation

8. Non-rulemaking statutory responsibility
Assessment
Assessment
IC 20-32-5-4
SBOE
The state board shall
(1) authorize the development and implementation of the ISTEP
Program”
(2) determine the date on which the statewide testing is
administered in each school corporation.
SPI
The state superintendent is responsible for the overall
development, implementation, and monitoring of the ISTEP program.
IDOE
(c) The department shall prepare detailed design specifications for
the ISTEP program that must do the following:
(1) Take into account the academic standards adopted under
IC 20-31-3.
(2) Include testing of students' higher level cognitive thinking
in each subject area tested.

9. Non-rulemaking statutory responsibility
Standards
SBOE
Standards board shall
20-31-1-1 “The state
adopt clear, concise, and jargon
free state academic standards
that are comparable to national
and international academic
standards. These academic standards
must be adopted for each grade level
from kindergarten through grade 12 for
the following subjects….”
20-19-2-14.5 “Before July 1, 2014, the
state board shall adopt college and
career readiness educational standards.
The educational standards must
meet national and international
benchmarks for college and
career readiness standards and
be aligned with postsecondary
educational expectations…”
IDOE
SPI
20-31-1-2.“The department shall
develop academic standards for
the
following subject areas for each
grade level from kindergarten
through grade 12…”
20-31-1-4 “The state
superintendent shall
appoint an academic
standards committee
composed of subject area
teachers and parents
during the period when a
subject area is undergoing
revision.”
20-31-1-3 “The department shall
revise and update academic
Standards”

10. Non-rulemaking statutory responsibility
School Accountability & Assessment(accompanying rulemaking responsibility)
IC 20-31-8-1
ISTEP scores and other assessments
Sec. 1. (a) The performance of a school's students on the ISTEP
program test and other assessments recommended by the education
roundtable and approved by the state board are the primary and
majority means of assessing a school's improvement.
(b) The education roundtable shall examine and make
recommendations to the state board concerning:
(1) performance indicators to be used as a secondary means of
determining school progress;
(2) expected progress levels, continuous improvement
measures, distributional performance levels, and absolute
performance levels for schools; and
(3) an orderly transition from the performance based
accreditation system to the assessment system set forth in this
article…

11. Non-rulemaking statutory responsibility
Accountability: School Support and Intervention (also accompanying rulemaking)
Ind. Code
Year(s) of
lowest category
designation
IC 20-31-9-2
1
-
Place the school and the corporation on notice
This is accomplished through the public distribution of grades
IC 20-31-9-3
4
-
Establish/assign expert team; the team must include representatives from the
area that the school serves
The team shall assist in revising the school’s school improvement plan;
recommend changes to the school; and provide technical assistance to the
school.
Hold a public hearing in the school corporation to hear public testimony about
the following options: merger, assignment of a special management team,
recommendations for improvement, other options (including closure), revision
of the school plan
If SBOE determine that one of the above options will improve the school, it
must intervene
Unless the intervention is closure or merger, the school becomes a turnaround
academy
The State Board of Education (“SBOE”) shall:
-
IC 20-31-9-4
6
-
-

12. Non-rulemaking statutory responsibility
Charter Authorizer Accountability
IC 20-24-2.2-2: Minimum standards for charter renewal
Sec. 2. The minimum standards for renewal and the standards to avoid closure imposed by authorizers
on the charter school in the charter school agreement must include a requirement that the charter school
not remain in the lowest category or designation of school improvement, including any alternative
accountability category or designation, in the third year after initial placement in the lowest category…
IC 20-24-2.2-3: Hearing
Sec. 3. (a) After giving at least thirty (30) days notice, the state board may require an authorizer to
appear at a hearing conducted by the state board if the authorizer has renewed the charter of or failed to
close a charter school that does not meet the minimum standards …
(b) After the hearing, the state board may implement one (1) or more of the following actions unless the
state board finds sufficient justification for the charter school's performance under the state school
accountability system:
(1) Transfer the authorization of the charter school identified in subsection (a) to another authorizer.
(2) Order the closure of the charter school identified in subsection (a) at the end of the current school
year.
(3) Order the reduction of any administrative fee collected under IC 20-24-7-4 that is applicable to
the charter school identified in subsection (a). The reduction must become effective at the beginning of
the month following the month of the authorizer's hearing before the state board.
A charter school that is closed by the state board under this section may not be granted a charter by any
other authorizer.
(c) In determining whether to impose consequences under subsection (b), the state board must consider
the following:
(1) Enrollment of students with special challenges such as drug or alcohol addiction, prior withdrawal
from school, prior incarceration, or other special circumstances.
(2) High mobility of the student population resulting from the specific purpose of the charter school.
(3) Annual improvement in the performance of students enrolled in the charter school, as measured
by IC 20-31-8-1, compared with the performance of students enrolled in the charter school in the
immediately preceding school year.