HB0306eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0306 Engrossed LRB099 00235 NHT 20240 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 2-3.64a-5 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/2-3.64a-5)

Sec. 2-3.64a-5. State goals and assessment.

(a) For the assessment and accountability purposes of this Section, "students" includes those students 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.

(b) The State Board of Education shall establish the academic standards that are to be applicable to students who are subject to State assessments under this Section. 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 and opportunities to file written comments.

(c) Beginning no later than the 2014-2015 school year, the State Board of Education shall annually assess all students enrolled in grades 3 through 8 in English language arts and mathematics.

Beginning no later than the 2017-2018 school year, the State Board of Education shall annually assess all students in science at one grade in grades 3 through 5, at one grade in grades 6 through 8, and at one grade in grades 9 through 12.

The State Board of Education shall annually assess schools that operate a secondary education program, as defined in Section 22-22 of this Code, in English language arts and mathematics. The State Board of Education shall administer no more than 3 assessments, per student, of English language arts and mathematics for students in a secondary education program. One of these assessments shall include a college and career ready determination.

Students who are not assessed for college and career ready determinations may not receive a regular high school diploma unless the student is excused from taking a State assessment under subsection (c-5) of this Section or the student is exempted from taking State assessments under subsection (d) of this Section because (i) the student's individualized educational program developed under Article 14 of this Code identifies the State assessment as inappropriate for the student, (ii) the student is enrolled in a program of adult and continuing education, as defined in the Adult Education Act, (iii) the school district is not required to assess the individual student for purposes of accountability under federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requirements, (iv) the student has been determined to be an English language learner, referred to in this Code as a student with limited English proficiency, and has been enrolled in schools in the United States for less than 12 months, or (v) the student is otherwise identified by the State Board of Education, through rules, as being exempt from the assessment.

The State Board of Education shall not assess students under this Section in subjects not required by this Section.

Districts shall inform their students of the timelines and procedures applicable to their participation in every yearly administration of the State assessments. The State Board of Education shall establish periods of time in each school year during which State assessments shall occur to meet the objectives of this Section.

(c-5) A student is not required to take a particular State assessment under this Section if that student's parent or guardian requests, in writing, that the student be excused from taking the State assessment. The State Board of Education shall, by rule, (i) determine the form of the opt-out request; (ii) ensure that the State Board of Education, regional superintendents of schools, and school boards take no negative action against a student, school, school district, or district employee, through grades or evaluations, due to a student being excused from taking a State assessment other than sanctions for encouraging or discouraging opting out of State assessments as otherwise prohibited under this subsection (c-5); and (iii) ensure that students who are excused from taking a State assessment are offered supervised instructional or enrichment opportunities during the time the State assessment is being administered.

Once each school year, before any State assessments are administered, a school district shall communicate with the parents and guardians of students to explain the right to opt out of a particular State assessment under this subsection (c-5) and shall make opt-out forms available. Neither the school district, nor any teacher or school in the district, may issue additional official correspondence to students or their parents or guardians about the right to opt out under this subsection (c-5). A school district shall accept any letter expressing a parent's or guardian's intent for his or her child to be excused from taking a particular State assessment in lieu of the opt-out form as long as the letter is signed by the parent or guardian.

A school district and its teachers, principals, and other administrators are prohibited from encouraging or discouraging students or their parents or guardians, either individually or collectively, to opt out of State assessments under this subsection (c-5). The State Board of Education shall, by rule, determine appropriate sanctions for a violation of this prohibition.

(d) Every individualized educational program as described in Article 14 shall identify if the State assessment or components thereof are appropriate for the student. The State Board of Education shall develop rules governing the administration of an alternate assessment that may be available to students for whom participation in this State's regular assessments is not appropriate, even with accommodations as allowed under this Section.

Students receiving special education services whose individualized educational programs identify them as eligible for the alternative State assessments nevertheless shall have the option of taking this State's regular assessment that includes a college and career ready determination, which shall be administered in accordance with the eligible accommodations appropriate for meeting these students' respective needs.

All students determined to be an English language learner, referred to in this Code as a student with limited English proficiency, shall participate in the State assessments, excepting those students who have been enrolled in schools in the United States for less than 12 months. Such students may be exempted from participation in one annual administration of the English language arts assessment. Any student determined to be an English language learner, referred to in this Code as a student with limited English proficiency, shall receive appropriate assessment accommodations, including language supports, which shall be established by rule. Approved assessment accommodations must be provided until the student's English language skills develop to the extent that the student is no longer considered to be an English language learner, referred to in this Code as a student with limited English proficiency, as demonstrated through a State-identified English language proficiency assessment.

(e) The results or scores of each assessment taken under this Section shall be made available to the parents of each student.

In each school year, the scores attained by a student on the State assessment that includes a college and career ready determination must be placed in the student's permanent record and must be entered on the student's transcript pursuant to rules that the State Board of Education shall adopt for that purpose in accordance with Section 3 of the Illinois School Student Records Act. In each school year, the scores attained by a student on the State assessments administered in grades 3 through 8 must be placed in the student's temporary record.

(f) All schools shall administer an academic assessment of English language proficiency in oral language (listening and speaking) and reading and writing skills to all children determined to be English language learners, referred to in Section 14C-3 of this Code as children with limited English-speaking ability.

(g) 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 academic assessments under the National Assessment of Educational Progress carried out under Section 411(b)(2) of the federal National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9010) if the U.S. Secretary of Education pays the costs of administering the assessments.

(h) Subject to available funds to this State for the purpose of student assessment, the State Board of Education shall provide additional assessments and assessment resources that may be used by school districts for local assessment purposes. The State Board of Education shall annually distribute a listing of these additional resources.

(i) For the purposes of this subsection (i), "academically based assessments" means assessments consisting of questions and answers that are measurable and quantifiable to measure the knowledge, skills, and ability of students in the subject matters covered by the assessments. All assessments administered pursuant to this Section must be academically based assessments. The scoring of academically based assessments shall be reliable, valid, and fair and shall meet the guidelines for assessment development and use prescribed by the American Psychological Association, the National Council on Measurement in Education, and the American Educational Research Association.

The State Board of Education shall review the use of all assessment item types in order to ensure that they are valid and reliable indicators of student performance aligned to the learning standards being assessed and that the development, administration, and scoring of these item types are justifiable in terms of cost.

(j) The State Superintendent of Education shall appoint a committee of no more than 21 members, consisting of parents, teachers, school administrators, school board members, assessment experts, regional superintendents of schools, and citizens, to review the State assessments administered by the State Board of Education. The Committee shall select one of its members as its chairperson. The Committee shall meet on an ongoing basis to review the content and design of the assessments (including whether the requirements of subsection (i) of this Section have been met), the time and money expended at the local and State levels to prepare for and administer the assessments, the collective results of the assessments as measured against the stated purpose of assessing student performance, and other issues involving the assessments identified by the Committee. The Committee shall make periodic recommendations to the State Superintendent of Education and the General Assembly concerning the assessments.

(k) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to implement this Section.

(Source: P.A. 98-972, eff. 8-15-14.)

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