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92_HB1456eng HB1456 Engrossed LRB9202667NTsb 1 AN ACT regarding education. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing 5 Section 2-3.64 as follows: 6 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64) 7 Sec. 2-3.64. State goals and assessment. 8 (a) Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State 9 Board of Education shall establish standards and 10 periodically, in collaboration with local school districts, 11 conduct studies of student performance in the learning areas 12 of fine arts and physical development/health. Beginning with 13 the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board of Education shall 14 annually test: (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, and 15 8th grades in English language arts (reading, writing, and 16 English grammar) and mathematics; and (ii) all pupils 17 enrolled in the 4th and 7th grades in the biological and 18 physical sciences and the social sciences (history, 19 geography, civics, economics, and government). The State 20 Board of Education shall establish the academic standards 21 that are to be applicable to pupils who are subject to State 22 tests under this Section beginning with the 1998-1999 school 23 year. However, the State Board of Education shall not 24 establish any such standards in final form without first 25 providing opportunities for public participation and local 26 input in the development of the final academic standards. 27 Those opportunities shall include a well-publicized period of 28 public comment, public hearings throughout the State, and 29 opportunities to file written comments. Beginning with the 30 1998-99 school year and thereafter, the State tests will 31 identify pupils in the 3rdgradeor 5th grade who do not meet HB1456 Engrossed -2- LRB9202667NTsb 1 the State standards. If, by performance on the State tests 2 or local assessments or by teacher judgment, a student's 3 performance is determined to be 2 or more grades below 4 current placement, the student shall be provided a 5 remediation program developed by the district in consultation 6 with a parent or guardian. Such remediation programs may 7 include, but shall not be limited to, increased or 8 concentrated instructional time, a remedial summer school 9 program of not less than 90 hours, improved instructional 10 approaches, tutorial sessions, retention in grade, and 11 modifications to instructional materials. Each pupil for 12 whom a remediation program is developed under this subsection 13 shall be required to enroll in and attend whatever program 14 the district determines is appropriate for the pupil. 15 Districts may combine students in remediation programs where 16 appropriate and may cooperate with other districts in the 17 design and delivery of those programs. The parent or 18 guardian of a student required to attend a remediation 19 program under this Section shall be given written notice of 20 that requirement by the school district a reasonable time 21 prior to commencement of the remediation program that the 22 student is to attend. The State shall be responsible for 23 providing school districts with the new and additional 24 funding, under Section 2-3.51.5 or by other or additional 25 means, that is required to enable the districts to operate 26 remediation programs for the pupils who are required to 27 enroll in and attend those programs under this Section. 28 Every individualized educational program as described in 29 Article 14 shall identify if the State test or components 30 thereof are appropriate for that student. For those pupils 31 for whom the State tests or components thereof are not 32 appropriate, the State Board of Education shall develop rules 33 and regulations governing the administration of alternative 34 tests prescribed within each student's individualized HB1456 Engrossed -3- LRB9202667NTsb 1 educational program which are appropriate to the disability 2 of each student. All pupils who are in a State approved 3 transitional bilingual education program or transitional 4 program of instruction shall participate in the State tests. 5 Any student who has been enrolled in a State approved 6 bilingual education program less than 3 academic years shall 7 be exempted if the student's lack of English as determined by 8 an English language proficiency test would keep the student 9 from understanding the test, and that student's district 10 shall have an alternative test program in place for that 11 student. The State Board of Education shall appoint a task 12 force of concerned parents, teachers, school administrators 13 and other professionals to assist in identifying such 14 alternative tests. Reasonable accommodations as prescribed 15 by the State Board of Education shall be provided for 16 individual students in the testing procedure. All test 17 procedures prescribed by the State Board of Education shall 18 require: (i) that each test used for State and local student 19 testing under this Section identify by name the pupil taking 20 the test; (ii) that the name of the pupil taking the test be 21 placed on the test at the time the test is taken; (iii) that 22 the results or scores of each test taken under this Section 23 by a pupil of the school district be reported to that 24 district and identify by name the pupil who received the 25 reported results or scores; and (iv) that the results or 26 scores of each test taken under this Section be made 27 available to the parents of the pupil. In addition, 28 beginning with the 2000-2001 school year and in each school 29 year thereafter, the highest scores and performance levels 30 attained by a student on the Prairie State Achievement 31 Examination administered under subsection (c) of this Section 32 shall become part of the student's permanent record and shall 33 be entered on the student's transcript pursuant to 34 regulations that the State Board of Education shall HB1456 Engrossed -4- LRB9202667NTsb 1 promulgate for that purpose in accordance with Section 3 and 2 subsection (e) of Section 2 of the Illinois School Student 3 Records Act. Beginning with the 1998-1999 school year and in 4 every school year thereafter, scores received by students on 5 the State assessment tests administered in grades 3 through 8 6 shall be placed into students' temporary records. The State 7 Board of Education shall establish a common month in each 8 school year for which State testing shall occur to meet the 9 objectives of this Section. However, if the schools of a 10 district are closed and classes are not scheduled during any 11 week that is established by the State Board of Education as 12 the week of the month when State testing under this Section 13 shall occur, the school district may administer the required 14 State testing at any time up to 2 weeks following the week 15 established by the State Board of Education for the testing, 16 so long as the school district gives the State Board of 17 Education written notice of its intention to deviate from the 18 established schedule by December 1 of the school year in 19 which falls the week established by the State Board of 20 Education for the testing. The maximum time allowed for all 21 actual testing required under this subsection during the 22 school year shall not exceed 25 hours as allocated among the 23 required tests by the State Board of Education. 24 (a-5) All tests administered pursuant to this Section 25 shall be academically based. For the purposes of this 26 Section "academically based tests" shall mean tests 27 consisting of questions and answers that are measurable and 28 quantifiable to measure the knowledge, skill, and ability of 29 students in the subject matters covered by tests. The 30 scoring of academically based tests shall be reliable, valid, 31 unbiased and shall meet the guidelines for test development 32 and use prescribed by the American Psychological Association, 33 the National Council of Measurement and Evaluation, and the 34 American Educational Research Association. Academically based HB1456 Engrossed -5- LRB9202667NTsb 1 tests shall not include assessments or evaluations of 2 attitudes, values, or beliefs, or testing of personality, 3 self-esteem, or self-concept. Nothing in this amendatory Act 4 is intended, nor shall it be construed, to nullify, 5 supersede, or contradict the legislative intent on academic 6 testing expressed during the passage of HB 1005/P.A. 90-296. 7 Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board 8 of Education may, on a pilot basis, include in the State 9 assessments in reading and math at each grade level tested no 10 more than 2 short answer questions, where students have to 11 respond in brief to questions or prompts or show 12 computations, rather than select from alternatives that are 13 presented. In the first year that such questions are used, 14 scores on the short answer questions shall not be reported on 15 an individual student basis but shall be aggregated for each 16 school building in which the tests are given. State-level, 17 school, and district scores shall be reported both with and 18 without the results of the short answer questions so that the 19 effect of short answer questions is clearly discernible. 20 Beginning in the second year of this pilot program, scores on 21 the short answer questions shall be reported both on an 22 individual student basis and on a school building basis in 23 order to monitor the effects of teacher training and 24 curriculum improvements on score results. 25 The State Board of Education shall not continue the use 26 of short answer questions in the math and reading 27 assessments, or extend the use of such questions to other 28 State assessments, unless this pilot project demonstrates 29 that the use of short answer questions results in a 30 statistically significant improvement in student achievement 31 as measured on the State assessments for math and reading and 32 is justifiable in terms of cost and student performance. 33 (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage 34 school districts to continuously test pupil proficiency in HB1456 Engrossed -6- LRB9202667NTsb 1 the fundamental learning areas in order to: (i) provide 2 timely information on individual students' performance 3 relative to State standards that is adequate to guide 4 instructional strategies; (ii) improve future instruction; 5 and (iii) complement the information provided by the State 6 testing system described in this Section. Each district's 7 school improvement plan must address specific activities the 8 district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher 9 judgment and test results as prescribed in subsection (a) of 10 this Section demonstrate that they are not meeting State 11 standards or local objectives. Such activities may include, 12 but shall not be limited to, summer school, extended school 13 day, special homework, tutorial sessions, modified 14 instructional materials, other modifications in the 15 instructional program, reduced class size or retention in 16 grade. To assist school districts in testing pupil 17 proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board 18 shall make optional reading inventories for diagnostic 19 purposes available to each school district that requests such 20 assistance. Districts that administer the reading 21 inventories may develop remediation programs for students who 22 perform in the bottom half of the student population. Those 23 remediation programs may be funded by moneys provided under 24 the School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant 25 Program established under Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this 26 Section shall prevent school districts from implementing 27 testing and remediation policies for grades not required 28 under this Section. 29 (c) Beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, each 30 school district that operates a high school program for 31 students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the 32 Prairie State Achievement Examination established under this 33 subsection to its students as set forth below. The Prairie 34 State Achievement Examination shall be developed by the State HB1456 Engrossed -7- LRB9202667NTsb 1 Board of Education to measure student performance in the 2 academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and 3 social sciences. The State Board of Education shall 4 establish the academic standards that are to apply in 5 measuring student performance on the Prairie State 6 Achievement Examination including the minimum examination 7 score in each area that will qualify a student to receive a 8 Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition 9 of the student's excellent performance. Each school district 10 that is subject to the requirements of this subsection (c) 11 shall afford all students 2 opportunities to take the Prairie 12 State Achievement Examination beginning as late as practical 13 during the second semester of grade 11, but in no event 14 before March 1. The State Board of Education shall annually 15 notify districts of the weeks during which these test 16 administrations shall be required to occur. Every 17 individualized educational program as described in Article 14 18 shall identify if the Prairie State Achievement Examination 19 or components thereof are appropriate for that student. Each 20 student, exclusive of a student whose individualized 21 educational program developed under Article 14 identifies the 22 Prairie State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for 23 the student, shall be required to take the examination in 24 grade 11. For each academic area the State Board of 25 Education shall establish the score that qualifies for the 26 Prairie State Achievement Award on that portion of the 27 examination. Any student who fails to earn a qualifying 28 score for a Prairie State Achievement Award in any one or 29 more of the academic areas on the initial test administration 30 or who wishes to improve his or her score on any portion of 31 the examination shall be permitted to retake such portion or 32 portions of the examination during grade 12. Districts shall 33 inform their students of the timelines and procedures 34 applicable to their participation in every yearly HB1456 Engrossed -8- LRB9202667NTsb 1 administration of the Prairie State Achievement Examination. 2 Students receiving special education services whose 3 individualized educational programs identify the Prairie 4 State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for them 5 nevertheless shall have the option of taking the examination, 6 which shall be administered to those students in accordance 7 with standards adopted by the State Board of Education to 8 accommodate the respective disabilities of those students. A 9 student who successfully completes all other applicable high 10 school graduation requirements but fails to receive a score 11 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination that qualifies 12 the student for receipt of a Prairie State Achievement Award 13 shall nevertheless qualify for the receipt of a regular high 14 school diploma. 15 (Source: P.A. 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 90-789, eff. 8-14-98; 16 91-283, eff. 7-29-99.)