HB0801ham001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Christian L. Mitchell

Filed: 3/18/2015

09900HB0801ham001 LRB099 04630 NHT 31487 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 801

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 801 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:

(1) the State of Illinois serves more than 2,000,000 school children in 858 school districts statewide;

(2) Illinois students continue to improve in their performance, but achievement gaps persist and rank among the largest nationwide, with too many of Illinois' most vulnerable students left behind;

(3) all Illinois students benefit when they are held to high expectations, taught according to rigorous standards, and supported to reach those standards, regardless of family circumstance or ZIP code;

(4) this State adopted new Illinois Learning Standards in English language arts and math that make clear the knowledge, skills, and understanding students will need to succeed in college and careers;

(5) Illinois students, educators, and schools continue to put the new standards into practice in classrooms statewide to help all students achieve;

(6) Illinois needs a new assessment system to reflect the Illinois Learning Standards, understand whether students perform at the level of the new standards, and ensure that the promise of the new standards for all students is met;

(7) Illinois' assessments should exist for the purpose of evaluating necessary skills for the attainment of gainful, family-sustaining employment and the critical thinking skills necessary to live a fulfilling personal and civic life;

(8) Illinois' previous assessments were norm-referenced, sorting students within testing groups rather than measuring key concepts and critical thinking skills necessary for success in school and in life;

(9) Illinois' previous assessments did not align with internationally benchmarked standards, nor did they align across grade spans, creating a disconnect between grade schools and high schools, which poorly served students;

(10) Illinois recognizes that annual statewide assessments that reflect the learning standards and align across grade levels play a necessary role in the educational process, provide teachers with real-time information to support their instruction, and inform families about their students' progress;

(11) too many Illinois students who leave high school require remediation, and assessing students against the new Illinois Learning Standards will help to ensure remediation rates can be improved, thus better serving Illinois families;

(12) federal law requires the State of Illinois to assess all students in grade 3 through high school during the 2014-2015 school year with new assessments that are in alignment with the depth and breadth of the content of the Illinois Learning Standards;

(13) Illinois is creating new assessments through a multi-state collaborative that benefits Illinois in that it provides an avenue for cost-sharing and ensures benchmarks state-to-state are comparable, thus assisting families who transfer in and out of the State; and

(14) Illinois' new assessments support real teaching and learning by aligning to the standards, progressing smoothly from one grade to the next, and providing timely feedback to students, educators, and families, while allowing teachers and instructors to plan a curriculum that aligns with necessary skills and concepts that are critical building blocks of learning.

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 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.

(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 an advisory a committee to lead an ongoing review, an analysis, and a continuous improvement of the implementation of this State's learning standards and the transition to an assessment system that reflects the standards. The advisory committee shall consist of no more than 21 members, consisting of parents, teachers, school administrators, school board members, higher education representatives, individuals with technical knowledge and experience in the implementation of standards, assessments, and accountability systems, assessment experts, regional superintendents of schools, and citizens, to review the State assessments administered by the State Board of Education. This advisory committee shall also include the Governor or his or her designee and one member appointed by the President of the Senate, one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate, one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. The Committee shall select one of its members as its chairperson.

The Committee shall meet on an ongoing basis, but no less than 3 times a year, in a public setting, to establish a process by which educators, school district leaders, stakeholders, and the public can submit questions and concerns regarding the transition to the Illinois Learning Standards and aligned assessments to be reviewed by the Committee; to sequence its work, analysis, review, and recommendations, based upon a timeline provided by the State Board of Education that meets statutory requirements and responds to the needs of the field; to assist with the development of a system of supports for the implementation of the learning standards and the aligned State assessments; and to provide recommendations to continuously improve and support the implementation of standards and assessments and their role in accountability, including without limitation all of the following:

(1) To support the development of tools that allow school districts to evaluate their implementation of the Illinois Learning Standards and identify areas where additional support is needed.

(2) To provide recommendations for how school districts can review and use local assessments; this should provide school districts with guidance regarding the different uses of assessments and a streamlined, holistic approach to assessments.

(3) To develop recommendations for how the continuum of State assessments, as well as the system of supports that undergirds it, serves the needs of English Learners, drawing upon the expertise of the Advisory Council on Bilingual Education.

(4) To develop recommendations for how the continuum of State assessments, as well as the system of supports that undergirds it, serves the needs of students with special needs, drawing upon the expertise of the Advisory Council on the Education of Children with Disabilities.

(5) To provide recommendations that can be shared with the developer of State assessments regarding testing time and the impact on instructional time.

(6) To provide recommendations on potential changes to the State assessments in response to school scheduling concerns and guidance to school districts as to how best to schedule the State assessments during the school day.

(7) To provide recommendations and make available tools and resources to help school districts identify overlap between State and local assessments and create a more streamlined assessment system at the local level that reduces overall test time.

(8) To provide recommendations about how the diagnostic assessments, a critical element of the State assessment system, might be implemented in school districts statewide and how this State might support this work in school districts.

(9) To provide recommendations for how the kindergarten readiness survey might align and be incorporated within the continuum of the State assessment system.

(10) To provide recommendations about how the State assessments might be used in high school, such as for the purposes of end-of-course exams and for inclusion in end-of-course grades.

(11) To provide recommendations concerning how the State assessment system might be used by institutions of higher education.

(12) To provide recommendations about how the State assessment system should be used as an element of this State's accountability system that is consistent with federal statutory requirements.

(13) To provide recommendations about how State assessments might be used for purposes of student growth within a State accountability system in a manner that is consistent with federal statutory requirements and supportive of student progress. 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 biennial periodic recommendations to the State Superintendent of Education and the General Assembly concerning the assessments. The Committee shall submit its initial report to the Governor, the State Superintendent of Education, and the General Assembly no later than December 31, 2016. This initial report shall include without limitation all of the following:

(1) Progress on the implementation of new standards and assessments.

(2) Barriers to implementation, such as technology.

(3) Concerns about implementation based upon the experiences of school districts.

(4) Student progress and proficiency on the new standards and assessments.

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

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