Public Act 093-0857
 		





SB2769 Enrolled
LRB093 19985 NHT 45729 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 
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. 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), 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.

    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 highest
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.  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. 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 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, or (iii) the 
student is enrolled in a program of Adult and Continuing 
Education as defined in the Adult Education Act.


    (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. 92-604, eff. 7-1-02; 93-426, eff. 8-5-03.)

 

    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.