Katie Dauphinais, Legislative Affairs Director for ExcelinEd in Action, issued the following statement on the passage of school flexibility legislation by the Arizona Legislature. House Bill 2862 is an example of how Arizona policymakers quickly identified flexibilities that were provided to schools during the pandemic and can better meet the needs of all students across the state.
“While many are overwhelmed by the challenges the pandemic created in education, Arizona is taking a bold step to identify possibilities for education improvements.
“Providing flexibility from the traditional one-size-fits-all, seat-time requirement empowers educators to be innovative in shaping education to better reflect their student and community needs.
“ExcelinEd in Action thanks Representative Michelle Udall and Senator Paul Boyer, as well as our partner Great Leaders, Strong Schools, for supporting creative solutions to benefit students and teachers.”
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House Bill 2862, co-sponsored by both House and Senate Education Committee Chairs Representative Michelle Udall and Senator Paul Boyer, gives school districts and public charter schools the flexibility to adopt an instructional time model that permits them to deliver annual required instructional time through a variety of methods. This can be accomplished through a combination of approaches beyond direct instruction, such as project-based learning, independent learning, mastery-based learning and remote instruction. It creates the opportunity for school districts and public charter schools to develop innovative ways to meet the individual needs of students by determining how those hours are met.
The bill now heads to Governor Doug Ducey for his signature.
For more information on next generation learning, visit ExcelinEd’s policy library.
