Public Act 097-0086
 
HB0139 EnrolledLRB097 05197 NHT 45246 b


  
    AN ACT concerning education.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:


 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended  by changing Section 
2-3.64 as follows:
 



    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64)  (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64)


    Sec. 2-3.64. State goals and assessment. 

    (a) Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board 
of Education
shall establish standards and periodically, in 
collaboration with local school
districts, conduct studies of 
student performance in the learning areas of fine
arts and 
physical development/health.

    Beginning with the 1998-1999 school
year until the 
2004-2005 school year, the State Board of
Education shall 
annually test: (i) all pupils enrolled
in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th 
grades in English language arts (reading, writing, and
English 
grammar) and mathematics; and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 
4th and
7th grades in the biological and physical sciences and 
the social sciences
(history, geography, civics, economics, 
and government).
Unless the testing required to be implemented 
no later than the 2005-2006 school year under this subsection 
(a) is implemented for the 2004-2005 school year, for the 
2004-2005 school year, the State Board of
Education shall test: 
(i) all pupils enrolled
in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th grades in 
English language arts (reading and
English grammar) and 
mathematics and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th and
7th 
grades in the biological and physical sciences. The maximum 
time allowed for all actual testing required under this

paragraph shall not exceed 25 hours, as allocated among the 
required
tests by the State Board of Education, across all 
grades tested.

    Beginning no later than the 2005-2006 school year, the 
State
Board of Education shall annually test: (i) all pupils 
enrolled in the 3rd,
4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades in 
reading and mathematics
and (ii) all pupils
enrolled in the 4th 
and 7th grades in the biological and physical
sciences. In 
addition, the State Board of Education shall test (1) all 
pupils enrolled in the 5th and 8th grades in writing during the 
2006-2007 school year; (2) all pupils enrolled in the 5th, 6th, 
and 8th grades in writing during the 2007-2008 school year; and 
(3) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th grades in 
writing during the 2008-2009 school year and each school year 
thereafter. After the addition of grades and change in subjects 
as delineated in this paragraph and including whatever other

tests that may be approved from time to time no later than the

2005-2006 school year, the maximum time allowed for all State 
testing in
grades 3 through 8 shall not exceed 38 hours across 
those grades.

    Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, the State Board 
of Education shall not test pupils under this subsection (a) in 
physical development and health, fine arts, and the social 
sciences (history, geography, civics, economics, and 
government). The State Board of Education shall not test pupils 
under this subsection (a) in writing during the 2005-2006 
school year.

    The State Board of
Education shall establish the academic 
standards that are to be applicable to
pupils who are subject 
to State tests under this Section beginning with the
1998-1999 
school year.  However, the State Board of Education shall not

establish any such standards in final form without first 
providing
opportunities for public participation and local 
input in the development
of the final academic standards.  Those 
opportunities shall include a
well-publicized period of public 
comment, public hearings throughout the State,
and 
opportunities to file written comments.  Beginning with the 
1998-99 school
year and thereafter, the State tests will 
identify pupils in the 3rd grade or
5th grade who do not meet 
the State standards.

    If, by performance on the State
tests or local assessments 
or by teacher judgment, a student's performance is
determined 
to be 2 or more grades below current placement, the student 
shall be
provided a remediation program developed by the 
district in consultation with a
parent or guardian. Such 
remediation programs may include, but shall not be
limited to, 
increased or concentrated instructional time, a remedial 
summer
school program of not less than 90 hours (with an 
emphasis on reading and mathematics if the student has 
performed below grade level for 2 consecutive school years), 
improved instructional approaches,
tutorial sessions, 
retention in grade, and modifications to instructional

materials.   Each pupil for whom a remediation program is 
developed under this
subsection shall be required to enroll in 
and attend whatever program the
district determines is 
appropriate for the pupil.  Districts may combine
students in 
remediation programs where appropriate and may cooperate with 
other
districts in the design and delivery of those programs.  
The parent or guardian
of a student required to attend a 
remediation program under this Section shall
be given written 
notice of that requirement by the school district a reasonable

time prior to commencement of the remediation program that the 
student is to
attend.  The State shall be responsible for 
providing school districts with the
new and additional funding, 
under Section 2-3.51.5 or by other or additional
means, that is 
required to enable the districts to operate remediation 
programs
for the pupils who are required to enroll in and 
attend those programs under
this Section.  Every individualized 
educational program as described in Article
14 shall identify 
if the State test or components thereof are appropriate for

that student. The State Board of Education shall develop rules 
and
regulations governing the administration of alternative 
tests prescribed within
each student's individualized 
educational program which are appropriate to the
disability of 
each student.

    All pupils who are in a State approved
transitional 
bilingual education program or transitional program of 
instruction
shall participate in the State
tests.  The time 
allotted to take the State tests, however, may be extended as

determined by the State Board of Education by rule. Any student 
who has been enrolled in a
State approved bilingual education 
program less than 3 cumulative academic
years may take an 
accommodated Limited English Proficient student academic 
content assessment, as determined by the State Board of 
Education, if the student's lack of English as determined by an 
English
language
proficiency test would keep the student from 
understanding the regular
State test. If the
school district 
determines, on a case-by-case individual basis,
that a Limited 
English Proficient student academic content assessment would 
likely yield more accurate and reliable information on
what the 
student knows and can do, the school district may make a

determination to assess the student using a Limited English 
Proficient student academic content assessment for a period 
that does
not exceed 2 additional consecutive years, provided 
that the student has
not yet reached a level of English 
language proficiency sufficient to yield
valid and reliable 
information on what the student knows and can do on
the regular 
State test.

    Reasonable accommodations as prescribed by
the State Board 
of Education shall be provided for individual students in the

testing procedure.  All test procedures prescribed by the State 
Board of
Education shall require: (i) that each test used for 
State and local student
testing under this Section identify by 
name the pupil taking the test; (ii)
that the name of the pupil 
taking the test be placed on the test at the time
the test is 
taken; (iii) that the results or scores of each test taken 
under
this Section by a pupil of the school district be 
reported to that district and
identify by name the pupil who 
received the reported results or scores; and
(iv) that the 
results or scores of each test taken under this Section be made

available to the parents of the pupil.  In addition, in each 
school year the
scores
attained by
a student on the Prairie 
State Achievement
Examination administered under subsection 
(c) of this Section and any Prairie
State Achievement Awards 
received by the student shall become part
of the student's 
permanent record and shall be entered on the student's

transcript pursuant to regulations that the State Board of 
Education shall
promulgate for that purpose in accordance with 
Section 3 and subsection (e) of
Section 2 of the Illinois 
School Student Records Act.  Beginning with the
1998-1999 school 
year and in every school year thereafter, scores received by

students on the State assessment tests administered in grades 3 
through 8 shall
be placed into students' temporary records.

    The State Board of Education shall
establish a
period of 
time, to be referred to as the State test window, in each 
school year for which State
testing shall occur to meet the 
objectives of this Section.  However, if the
schools of a 
district are closed and classes are not scheduled during any 
week
that is established by the State Board of Education as the 
State test
window, the school district may
(at the discretion 
of the State Board of Education) move its State test
window one 
week earlier or one week later than the established State test

window, so long as
the school district gives the State Board of 
Education written notice of its
intention to deviate from the 
established schedule by December 1 of the school
year in which 
falls the State test window established by the State
Board of 
Education for
the testing. 

    (a-5) All tests administered pursuant to this Section shall 
be academically
based.  For the purposes of this Section 
"academically based tests" shall mean
tests consisting of 
questions and answers that are measurable and quantifiable
to 
measure the knowledge, skill, and ability of students in the 
subject matters
covered by tests.  The scoring of academically 
based tests shall be reliable,
valid, unbiased and shall meet 
the guidelines for test development and use
prescribed by the 
American Psychological Association, the National Council of

Measurement and Evaluation, and the American Educational 
Research Association.
Academically based tests shall not 
include assessments or evaluations of
attitudes, values, or 
beliefs, or testing of personality, self-esteem, or

self-concept. Nothing in this amendatory Act is intended, nor 
shall it be
construed, to nullify, supersede, or contradict the 
legislative intent on
academic testing expressed during the 
passage of HB 1005/P.A. 90-296.
Nothing in this Section is 
intended, nor shall it be construed, to nullify,
supersede, or 
contradict the legislative intent on academic testing

expressed in the preamble of this amendatory Act of the 93rd 
General
Assembly.

    The State Board of Education shall monitor the use of
short 
answer
questions in the math
and reading assessments or in 
other assessments in order to demonstrate that the use of short

answer questions results in a statistically significant 
improvement in student
achievement as measured on the State 
assessments for math and reading or on
other State assessments 
and is
justifiable in terms of cost and student performance.

    (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage school 
districts
to continuously test pupil proficiency in the 
fundamental learning areas in
order to:  (i) provide timely 
information on individual students' performance
relative to 
State standards that is adequate to guide instructional 
strategies;
(ii) improve future instruction; and (iii) 
complement the information provided
by the State testing system 
described in this Section.  To assist
school districts in 
testing pupil proficiency in reading in the primary grades,
the 
State Board shall make optional reading inventories for 
diagnostic purposes
available to each school district that 
requests such assistance.  Districts
that administer the 
reading inventories may develop remediation programs for

students who perform in the bottom half of the student 
population.  Those
remediation programs may be funded by moneys 
provided under the School Safety
and Educational Improvement 
Block Grant Program established under Section
2-3.51.5.

    (c) Beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, each school 
district that
operates a high school program for students in 
grades 9 through 12 shall
annually administer the Prairie State 
Achievement Examination
established under this subsection to 
its students as set forth
below.  The Prairie State Achievement 
Examination shall be developed by
the State Board of Education 
to measure student performance in the academic
areas of 
reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social sciences.  
Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, however, the State 
Board of Education shall not test a student in the social 
sciences (history, geography, civics, economics, and 
government) as part of the Prairie State Achievement 
Examination unless the student is retaking the Prairie State 
Achievement Examination in the fall of 2004. In addition, the 
State Board of Education shall not test a student in writing as 
part of the Prairie State Achievement Examination during the 
2005-2006 school year. The
State Board of Education shall 
establish the academic standards that are to
apply in measuring 
student performance on the Prairie State Achievement

Examination including the minimum examination score in each 
area that will
qualify a student to receive a Prairie State 
Achievement Award from the State
in recognition of the 
student's excellent performance.  Each school district
that is 
subject to the requirements of this subsection (c) shall afford 
all
students one opportunity to take the Prairie State 
Achievement Examination
beginning as late as practical during 
the spring semester of grade 11, but in
no event before March 
1.  The State Board of Education shall annually notify
districts 
of the weeks during which this test administration shall be

required to occur.  Every individualized educational program as 
described in
Article 14 shall identify if the Prairie State 
Achievement Examination or
components thereof are appropriate 
for that student. Each student, exclusive of
a student whose 
individualized educational program developed under Article 14

identifies the Prairie State Achievement Examination as 
inappropriate for the
student, shall be required to take the 
examination in grade 11.  For each
academic area the State Board 
of Education shall establish the score that
qualifies for the 
Prairie State Achievement Award on that portion of the

examination.  Districts shall inform their students of the

timelines and procedures applicable to their participation in 
every yearly
administration of the Prairie State Achievement 
Examination.  Students
receiving special education services 
whose individualized educational programs
identify the Prairie 
State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for them

nevertheless shall have the option of taking the examination, 
which shall be
administered to those students in accordance 
with standards adopted  by the
State Board of Education to 
accommodate the respective disabilities of those
students.  A 
student who successfully completes all other applicable high

school graduation requirements but fails to receive a score on 
the Prairie
State Achievement Examination that qualifies the 
student for receipt of a
Prairie State Achievement Award shall 
nevertheless qualify for the receipt
of a regular high school 
diploma. In no case, however, shall a student receive a regular 
high school diploma without taking the Prairie State 
Achievement Examination, unless the student is exempted from 
taking the Prairie State Achievement Examination under this 
subsection (c) because (i) the student's individualized 
educational program developed under Article 14 of this Code 
identifies the Prairie State Achievement Examination as 
inappropriate for the student, (ii) the student is exempt due 
to the student's lack of English language proficiency under 
subsection (a) of this Section, (iii) the student is enrolled 
in a program of Adult and Continuing Education as defined in 
the Adult Education Act, (iv) the school district is not 
required to test the individual student for purposes of 
accountability under federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 
requirements, or (v) the student is otherwise identified by the 
State Board of Education through rules as being exempt from the 
assessment.

    (d) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, all schools 
in this
State that are part of the sample drawn by the National 
Center for
Education Statistics, in collaboration with their 
school districts and the
State Board of Education, shall 
administer the biennial State academic
assessments of 4th and 
8th grade reading and mathematics under the
National Assessment 
of Educational Progress carried out under Section 411(b)(2)
 of 
the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C.
9010) 
if the Secretary of Education pays the costs of administering 
the
assessments.

    (e) Beginning no later than the 2005-2006 school year, 
subject to
available federal funds to this State for the 
purpose of student
assessment, the State Board of Education 
shall provide additional tests
and assessment resources that 
may be used by school districts for local
diagnostic purposes. 
These tests and resources shall include without
limitation 
additional high school writing, physical development and

health, and fine arts assessments. The State Board of Education 
shall
annually distribute a listing of these additional tests 
and resources,
using funds available from appropriations made 
for student assessment
purposes.

    (f) For the assessment and accountability purposes of this 
Section,
"all pupils" includes those pupils enrolled in a 
public or
State-operated elementary school, secondary school, 
or cooperative or
joint agreement with a governing body or 
board of control, a charter
school operating in compliance with 
the Charter Schools Law, a school
operated by a regional office 
of education under Section 13A-3 of this
Code, or a public 
school administered by a local public agency or the
Department 
of Human Services.

(Source: P.A. 96-430, eff. 8-13-09; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)