As used in the School Support and Accountability Act:

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A. “adjusted cohort graduation rate” means the graduation rate of first-time ninth grade students with a diploma of excellence in a particular school year adjusted by adding any students who transfer into the cohort after the ninth grade and subtracting any students who transfer out, emigrate to another country or die;

B. “chronic absenteeism” means the percentage of students missing ten percent or more of the school year for any reason, including excused absences, unexcused absences and out-of-school suspensions;

C. “college, career and civic readiness” includes the completion of a college-ready course of study; the completion of a high-quality career technical education program; the completion of advanced courses such as advanced placement, international baccalaureate or dual credit; a seal of bilingualism-biliteracy on the student’s diploma of excellence; demonstrating competency for college readiness or career certification; or the completion of a work-based learning experience; and for all students, includes the completion of a service-based learning experience, participation in a civic engagement experience or participation in a college or career exploration experience;

D. “comprehensive support” means support for a school that performs at or below the support identification threshold, or has an adjusted cohort graduation rate of less than sixty-six and two-thirds percent, or fails to exit targeted support status after a number of years determined by the department;

E. “educational climate” means the percentage of school stakeholders who report that the school provides an appropriate climate for learning in the domains of student and staff engagement, social-emotional and physical safety and a school environment conducive to teaching and learning;

F. “English language proficiency” means the ability of students to use academic English to make and communicate meaning in spoken and written contexts in an assessment determined by the department;

G. “local school board” includes the governing body of a charter school;

H. “more rigorous intervention” means an intervention plan for a school that fails to exit comprehensive support status after a number of years determined by the department;

I. “on track to graduate” means data on each individual student that show the student’s graduation status and potential predictors of dropout, such as student attendance, behavior, grades and test scores;

J. “opportunity to learn standards” means a comprehensive view of the context in which learning takes place, including curriculum and instruction, educational resources and school staff competency;

K. “school stakeholders” means students, parents, other family members, teachers, school staff and community partners who are part of a school’s immediate environment;

L. “student growth” means a measure, either norm-referenced to students with similar prior test scores or criterion-referenced to a specific standard, of students’ academic progress within a specified time period;

M. “student proficiency” means a measure demonstrating students’ grade level mastery of the knowledge and skills determined by the New Mexico standards-based assessments;

N. “support identification threshold” means a threshold set by the department using the metrics in the school support and accountability system to identify the lowest performing five percent of schools in the state receiving Title 1 funds;

O. “system” means the school support and accountability system;

P. “targeted support” means support for a school in which at least one subgroup of students, but not the entire school, performs at or below the support identification threshold; and

Q. “traditional support” means a school that is not designated for targeted support or comprehensive support or has exited more rigorous intervention status by surpassing the support identification threshold.