States start by defining adequate yearly progress —
the measurements of academic improvement a school must achieve to ensure that, at the end of 12 years, every student graduating will have a mastery of the basics.
For a district qualifying under this paragraph whose charter school tuition payments exceed 9 per cent
of the school district's net school spending, the board shall only approve an application for the establishment
of a commonwealth charter school if an applicant, or a provider with which an applicant proposes to contract, has a record
of operating at least 1 school or similar program that demonstrates
academic success and organizational viability and serves student populations similar to those the proposed school seeks to serve, from the following categories
of students, those: (i) eligible for free lunch; (ii) eligible for reduced price lunch; (iii) that require special education; (iv) limited English - proficient
of similar language proficiency level as measured by the Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment examination; (v) sub-proficient, which shall mean students who have scored in the «needs
improvement», «warning» or «failing» categories on the mathematics or English language arts exams
of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System for 2
of the past 3 years or as defined by the department using a similar
measurement; (vi) who are designated as at risk
of dropping out
of school based on predictors determined by the department; (vii) who have dropped out
of school; or (viii) other at - risk students who should be targeted to eliminate achievement gaps among different groups
of students.