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91_HB0506eng HB0506 Engrossed LRB9100167NTsb 1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Section 2 2-3.64. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing 6 Section 2-3.64 as follows: 7 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64) 8 Sec. 2-3.64. State goals and assessment. 9 (a)Beginning in the 1992-93 school year, the State10Board of Education shall establish standards and annually,11through the 1997-1998 school year, assess the performance12of: (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, and 10th13grades in language arts (reading and writing) and14mathematics; and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th, 7th,15and 11th grades in the biological, physical, and social16sciences.Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State 17 Board of Education shall establish standards and 18 periodically, in collaboration with local school districts, 19 conduct studies of student performance in the learning areas 20 of fine arts and physical development/health. Beginning with 21 the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board of Education shall 22 annually test: (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, and 23 8th, and 10thgrades in English language arts (reading, 24 writing, and English grammar) and mathematics; and (ii) all 25 pupils enrolled in the 4th and,7th, and 11thgrades in the 26 biological and physical sciences and the social sciences 27 (history, geography, civics, economics, and government). The 28 State Board of Education shall establish, in final form and29within one year after the effective date of this amendatory30Act of 1996,the academic standards that are to be applicable 31 to pupils who are subject to State tests under this Section HB0506 Engrossed -2- LRB9100167NTsb 1 beginning with the 1998-1999 school year. However, the State 2 Board of Education shall not establish any such standards in 3 final form without first providing opportunities for public 4 participation and local input in the development of the final 5 academic standards. Those opportunities shall include a 6 well-publicized period of public comment, public hearings 7 throughout the State, and opportunities to file written 8 comments. Beginning with the 1998-99 school year and 9 thereafter, the State tests will identify pupils in the 3rd 10 grade or 5th grade who do not meet the State standards. If, 11 by performance on the State tests or local assessments or by 12 teacher judgment, a student's performance is determined to be 13 2 or more grades below current placement, the student shall 14 be provided a remediation program developed by the district 15 in consultation with a parent or guardian. Such remediation 16 programs may include, but shall not be limited to, increased 17 or concentrated instructional time, a remedial summer school 18 program of not less than 90 hours, improved instructional 19 approaches, tutorial sessions, retention in grade, and 20 modifications to instructional materials. Each pupil for whom 21 a remediation program is developed under this subsection 22 shall be required to enroll in and attend whatever program 23 the district determines is appropriate for the pupil. 24 Districts may combine students in remediation programs where 25 appropriate and may cooperate with other districts in the 26 design and delivery of those programs. The parent or 27 guardian of a student required to attend a remediation 28 program under this Section shall be given written notice of 29 that requirement by the school district a reasonable time 30 prior to commencement of the remediation program that the 31 student is to attend. The State shall be responsible for 32 providing school districts with the new and additional 33 funding, under Section 2-3.51.5 or by other or additional 34 means, that is required to enable the districts to operate HB0506 Engrossed -3- LRB9100167NTsb 1 remediation programs for the pupils who are required to 2 enroll in and attend those programs under this Section. Every 3 individualized educational program as described in Article 14 4 shall identify if the State test or components thereof are 5 appropriate for that student. For those pupils for whom the 6 State teststestor components thereof are not appropriate, 7 the State Board of Education shall develop rules and 8 regulations governing the administration of alternative tests 9 prescribed within each student's individualized educational 10 program which are appropriate to the disability of each 11 student. All pupils who are in a State approved transitional 12 bilingual education program or transitional program of 13 instruction shall participate in the State tests. Any 14 student who has been enrolled in a State approved bilingual 15 education program less than 3 academic years shall be 16 exempted if the student's lack of English as determined by an 17 English language proficiency test would keep the student from 18 understanding the test, and that student's district shall 19 have an alternative test program in place for that student. 20 The State Board of Education shall appoint a task force of 21 concerned parents, teachers, school administrators and other 22 professionals to assist in identifying such alternative 23 tests. Reasonable accommodations as prescribed by the State 24 Board of Education shall be provided for individual students 25 in the testing procedure. All test procedures prescribed by 26 the State Board of Education shall require: (i) that each 27 test used for State and local student testing under this 28 Section identify by name the pupil taking the test; (ii) that 29 the name of the pupil taking the test be placed on the test 30 at the time the test is taken; (iii) that the results or 31 scores of each test taken under this Section by a pupil of 32 the school district be reported to that district and identify 33 by name the pupil who received the reported results or 34 scores; and (iv) that the results or scores of each test HB0506 Engrossed -4- LRB9100167NTsb 1 taken under this Section be made available to the parents of 2 the pupil. In addition,beginning with the 1998-1999 school3year and in each school year thereafter, all scores received4by a student on the Illinois Goals and Assessment Program5tests administered in grades 10 and 11 by the State Board of6Education under this Section and,beginning with the 71999-2000-2001 school year and in each school year 8 thereafter, the highest scores and performance levels 9 attainedreceivedby a student on the Prairie State 10 Achievement Examination administered under subsection (c) of 11 this Section shall become part of the student's permanent 12 record and shall be entered on the student's transcript 13thereinpursuant to regulations that the State Board of 14 Education shall promulgate for that purpose in accordance 15 with Section 3 and subsection (e) of Section 2 of the 16 Illinois School Student Records Act. Beginning with the 17 1998-1999 school year and in every school year thereafter, 18 scores received by students on the State assessmentIllinois19Goals and Assessment Programtests administered inother20 grades 3 through 8 shall be placed into students' temporary 21 records.Except as provided in subsection (c) of this22Section,The State Board of Education shall establish a 23 common month in each school year for which State testing 24 shall occur to meet the objectives of this Section. However, 25 if the schools of a district are closed and classes are not 26 scheduled during any week that is established by the State 27 Board of Education as the week of the month when State 28 testing under this Section shall occur, the school district 29 may administer the required State testing at any time up to 2 30 weeks following the week established by the State Board of 31 Education for the testing, so long as the school district 32 gives the State Board of Education written notice of its 33 intention to deviate from the established schedule by 34 December 1January 2of the school year in which falls the HB0506 Engrossed -5- LRB9100167NTsb 1 week established by the State Board of Education for the 2 testing. The maximum time allowed for all actual testing 3 required under this subsection during the school year shall 4 not exceed 25 hours as allocated among the required tests by 5 the State Board of Education. 6 (a-5) All tests administered pursuant to this Section 7 shall be academically based. For the purposes of this 8 Section "academically based tests" shall mean tests 9 consisting of questions and answers that are measurable and 10 quantifiable to measure the knowledge, skill, and ability of 11 students in the subject matters covered by tests. The scoring 12 of academically based tests shall be reliable, valid, 13 unbiased and shall meet the guidelines for test development 14 and use prescribed by the American Psychological Association, 15 the National Council of Measurement and Evaluation, and the 16 American Educational Research Association. Academically based 17 tests shall not include assessments or evaluations of 18 attitudes, values, or beliefs, or testing of personality, 19 self-esteem, or self-concept. Nothing in this amendatory Act 20 is intended, nor shall it be construed, to nullify, 21 supersede, or contradict the legislative intent on academic 22 testing expressed during the passage of HB 1005/P.A. 90-296. 23 Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board 24 of Education may, on a pilot basis, include in the State 25 assessments in reading and math at each grade level tested no 26 more than 2 short answer questions, where students have to 27 respond in brief to questions or prompts or show 28 computations, rather than select from alternatives that are 29 presented. In the first year that such questions are used, 30 scores on the short answer questions shall not be reported on 31 an individual student basis but shall be aggregated for each 32 school building in which the tests are given. State-level, 33 school, and district scores shall be reported both with and 34 without the results of the short answer questions so that the HB0506 Engrossed -6- LRB9100167NTsb 1 effect of short answer questions is clearly discernible. 2 Beginning in the second year of this pilot program, scores on 3 the short answer questions shall be reported both on an 4 individual student basis and on a school building basis in 5 order to monitor the effects of teacher training and 6 curriculum improvements on score results. 7 The State Board of Education shall not continue the use 8 of short answer questions in the math and reading 9 assessments, or extend the use of such questions to other 10 State assessments, unless this pilot project demonstrates 11 that the use of short answer questions results in a 12 statistically significant improvement in student achievement 13 as measured on the State assessments for math and reading and 14 is justifiable in terms of cost and student performance. 15 (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage 16 school districts to continuously test pupil proficiency in 17 the fundamental learning areas in order to: (i) provide 18 timely information on individual students' performance 19 relative to State standards that is adequate to guide 20 instructional strategies; (ii) improve future instruction; 21 and (iii) complement the information provided by the State 22 testing system described in this Section. Each district's 23 school improvement plan must address specific activities the 24 district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher 25 judgment and test results as prescribed in subsection (a) of 26 this Section demonstrate that they are not meeting State 27 standardsgoalsor local objectives. Such activities may 28 include, but shall not be limited to, summer school, extended 29 school day, special homework, tutorial sessions, modified 30 instructional materials, other modifications in the 31 instructional program, reduced class size or retention in 32 grade. To assist school districts in testing pupil 33 proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board 34 shall make optional reading inventories for diagnostic HB0506 Engrossed -7- LRB9100167NTsb 1 purposes available to each school district that requests such 2 assistance. Districts that administer the reading 3 inventories may develop remediation programs for students who 4 perform in the bottom half of the student population. Those 5 remediation programs may be funded by moneys provided under 6 the School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant 7 Program established under Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this 8 Section shall prevent school districts from implementing 9 testing and remediation policies for grades not required 10 under this Section. 11 (c) Beginning with the1999-2000-2001 school year, each 12 school district that operates a high school program for 13 students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the 14 Prairie State Achievement Examination established under this 15 subsection to its12th gradestudents as set forth below. 16 The Prairie State Achievement Examination shall be developed 17 by the State Board of Education to measure student 18 performance in the5 fundamentalacademic areas of reading, 19 writing, mathematics, science, and social sciences. The 20 State Board of Education shall establish the academic 21 standards that are to apply in measuring student performance 22 on the Prairie State Achievement Examinationin those 523fundamental academic areas,including the minimumcomposite24 examination scoreand the minimum scorein each area that,25taken together,will qualify a student to receive athe26 Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition 27 of the student's excellent performance. Each school district 28 that is subject to the requirements of this subsection (c) 29 shall afford all studentsa graduating student2 30 opportunities to take the Prairie State Achievement 31 Examination beginning as late as practical during the second 32 semester of grade 11, but in no event before March 1during33the semester in which the student will graduate. The State 34 Board of Education shall annually notify districts of the HB0506 Engrossed -8- LRB9100167NTsb 1 weeks during which these test administrations shall be 2 required to occur. Every individualized educational program 3 as described in Article 14 shall identify if the Prairie 4 State Achievement Examination or components thereof are 5 appropriate for that student. Each student, exclusive of a 6 student whose individualized educational program developed 7 under Article 14 identifies the Prairie State Achievement 8 Examination as inappropriate for the student, shall be 9 required to take the examination in grade 11.the final10semester before his or her graduation. Score reportsFor 11 eachfundamentalacademic area the State Board of Education 12 shall establishindicatethe score that qualifies for the 13 Prairie State Achievement Awardas an excellent scoreon that 14 portion of the examination. Any studentwho attains a15satisfactory composite score butwho fails to earn a 16 qualifying score for a Prairie State Achievement Award in any 17 one or more of thefundamentalacademic areas on the initial 18 test administration or who wishes to improve his or her score 19 on any portion of the examinationfor the semester during20which the student will graduate from high schoolshall be 21 permitted to retake such portion or portions of the 22 examination during grade 12the second test of that semester. 23 Districts shall inform their students of the timelines and 24 procedures applicable to theiroptionalparticipation in 25 every yearly administrationsuch additionaladministrations26 of the Prairie State Achievement Examination. Students 27 receiving special education services whose individualized 28 educational programs identify the Prairie State Achievement 29 Examination as inappropriate for them nevertheless shall have 30 the option of taking the examination, which shall be 31 administered to those students in accordance with standards 32 adopted by the State Board of Education to accommodate the 33 respective disabilities of those students. A student who 34 successfully completes all other applicable high school HB0506 Engrossed -9- LRB9100167NTsb 1 graduation requirements but fails to receive a score on the 2 Prairie State Achievement Examination that qualifies the 3 student for receipt of athePrairie State Achievement Award 4 shall nevertheless qualify for the receipt of a regular high 5 school diploma. 6 (Source: P.A. 89-610, eff. 8-6-96; 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 7 90-789, eff. 8-14-98.) 8 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 9 becoming law.