Public Act 93-0426
HB2352 Enrolled LRB093 03343 NHT 03361 b
AN ACT to implement the federal No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001.
WHEREAS, The General Assembly supports enhancement of the
current State assessment system in order to develop an
appropriate, high-quality, statewide K-12 assessment system,
based on the Illinois Learning Standards; and
WHEREAS, This enhanced statewide assessment system must
have a high level of credibility, reliability, and validity
and must provide continuity with the assessment system in
place prior to the changes made by this amendatory Act of the
93rd General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, A credible, reliable, and valid assessment
system should allow school districts to reduce local
assessments; once the State assessment system is fully
implemented in the 2005-2006 school year, school districts
are encouraged and expected to reduce the local assessments
of students in the grades and subjects assessed by the State;
and
WHEREAS, The changes in the assessment system made by
this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly are a direct
result of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(Public Law 107-110), which requires the testing of all
students as well as enhancements to the system in order to
provide timely results that are meaningful and educationally
useful for educators, parents, and the broader community;
therefore
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
2005-2006 school year at the latest, 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). 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; (ii) all pupils enrolled in 3rd,
4th, 6th, and 8th grades in writing; (iii) all pupils
enrolled in the 4th and 7th grades in the biological and
physical sciences; and (iv) all pupils enrolled in 5th and
8th grades in the social sciences (history, geography,
economics, civics, and government). The State Board of
Education shall sample student performance in the learning
area of physical development and health in grades 4 and 7
through the science tests and in the learning area of fine
arts in grades 5 and 8 through the social sciences tests.
After the addition of subjects and grades 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.
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,
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. For those pupils
for whom the State tests or components thereof are not
appropriate, 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. Any
student who has been enrolled in a State approved bilingual
education program less than 3 cumulative academic years may
take an accommodated State test, to be known as the Illinois
Measure of Annual Growth in English (IMAGE), shall be
exempted 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 IMAGE
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 IMAGE 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., and that student's district shall
have an alternative test program in place for that student.
The State Board of Education shall appoint a task force of
concerned parents, teachers, school administrators and other
professionals to assist in identifying such alternative
tests.
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, beginning with the 2000-2001 school
year and in each school year thereafter, the highest scores
and performance levels 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, common
month 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 week of the month
when State testing under this Section shall occur, 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, administer
the required State testing at any time up to 2 weeks
following the week established by the State Board of
Education for the testing, 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 week established by the State Board of Education for
the testing. The maximum time allowed for all actual testing
required under this subsection during the school year shall
not exceed 25 hours as allocated among the required tests by
the State Board of Education.
(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.
Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board
of Education may, on a pilot basis, include in the State
assessments in reading and math at each grade level tested no
more than 2 short answer questions, where students have to
respond in brief to questions or prompts or show
computations, rather than select from alternatives that are
presented. In the first year that such questions are used,
scores on the short answer questions shall not be reported on
an individual student basis but shall be aggregated for each
school building in which the tests are given. State-level,
school, and district scores shall be reported both with and
without the results of the short answer questions so that the
effect of short answer questions is clearly discernible.
Beginning in the second year of this pilot program, scores on
the short answer questions shall be reported both on an
individual student basis and on a school building basis in
order to monitor the effects of teacher training and
curriculum improvements on score results.
The State Board of Education shall monitor not continue
the use of short answer questions in the math and reading
assessments or in other assessments in order to demonstrate,
or extend the use of such questions to other State
assessments, unless this pilot project demonstrates 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. Each district's
school improvement plan must address specific activities the
district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher
judgment and test results as prescribed in subsection (a) of
this Section demonstrate that they are not meeting State
standards or local objectives. Such activities may include,
but shall not be limited to, summer school, extended school
day, special homework, tutorial sessions, modified
instructional materials, other modifications in the
instructional program, reduced class size or retention in
grade. 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. Nothing in this
Section shall prevent school districts from implementing
testing and remediation policies for grades not required
under this Section.
(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. 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 2 opportunities to take the Prairie
State Achievement Examination beginning as late as practical
during the second 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 these test
administrations 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. Any student who fails to earn a qualifying
score for a Prairie State Achievement Award in any one or
more of the academic areas on the initial test administration
or who wishes to improve his or her score on any portion of
the examination shall be permitted to retake such portion or
portions of the examination during grade 12. 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.
(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 m11(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. 91-283, eff. 7-29-99; 92-604, eff. 7-1-02.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.