101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB3556

 

Introduced 2/14/2020, by Sen. John F. Curran

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/2-3.64a-5

    Amends the School Code. With regard to State assessments, provides that the State Board of Education shall develop a process for the State's final accountability assessment that allows a school district to apply to the State Board to utilize the nationally recognized and locally selected assessment option of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Requires that the State Board adopt technical criteria under specified federal law and rule to evaluate the proposed assessment. Provides that a nationally recognized and locally selected assessment adopted by another state that meets certain requirements under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and that demonstrates, through a third-party study, alignment to the Illinois Learning Standards is deemed to meet the State Board's technical criteria and shall be approved by the State Board. Requires the State Board to reimburse a school district for costs associated with the administration of the nationally recognized and locally selected assessment option of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Effective immediately.


LRB101 19732 CMG 69236 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3556LRB101 19732 CMG 69236 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
52-3.64a-5 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64a-5)
7    Sec. 2-3.64a-5. State goals and assessment.
8    (a) For the assessment and accountability purposes of this
9Section, "students" includes those students enrolled in a
10public or State-operated elementary school, secondary school,
11or cooperative or joint agreement with a governing body or
12board of control, a charter school operating in compliance with
13the Charter Schools Law, a school operated by a regional office
14of education under Section 13A-3 of this Code, or a public
15school administered by a local public agency or the Department
16of Human Services.
17    (b) The State Board of Education shall establish the
18academic standards that are to be applicable to students who
19are subject to State assessments under this Section. The State
20Board of Education shall not establish any such standards in
21final form without first providing opportunities for public
22participation and local input in the development of the final
23academic standards. Those opportunities shall include a

 

 

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1well-publicized period of public comment and opportunities to
2file written comments.
3    (c) Beginning no later than the 2014-2015 school year, the
4State Board of Education shall annually assess all students
5enrolled in grades 3 through 8 in English language arts and
6mathematics.
7    Beginning no later than the 2017-2018 school year, the
8State Board of Education shall annually assess all students in
9science at one grade in grades 3 through 5, at one grade in
10grades 6 through 8, and at one grade in grades 9 through 12.
11    The State Board of Education shall annually assess schools
12that operate a secondary education program, as defined in
13Section 22-22 of this Code, in English language arts and
14mathematics. The State Board of Education shall administer no
15more than 3 assessments, per student, of English language arts
16and mathematics for students in a secondary education program.
17One of these assessments shall be recognized by this State's
18public institutions of higher education, as defined in the
19Board of Higher Education Act, for the purpose of student
20application or admissions consideration. The assessment
21administered by the State Board of Education for the purpose of
22student application to or admissions consideration by
23institutions of higher education must be administered on a
24school day during regular student attendance hours.
25    The State Board of Education shall develop a process for
26the State's final accountability assessment that allows a

 

 

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1school district to apply to the State Board to utilize the
2nationally recognized and locally selected assessment option
3of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. The State Board of
4Education shall adopt technical criteria as specified under 20
5U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(H) and 34 CFR 200.3 to evaluate proposed
6assessments. A nationally recognized and locally selected
7assessment adopted by another state that meets the requirements
8under Section 1111(b)(2)(H) of the federal Elementary and
9Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and
10that demonstrates, through a third-party study, alignment to
11the Illinois Learning Standards is deemed to meet the technical
12criteria and shall be approved by the State Board. The State
13Board shall reimburse a school district for costs associated
14with the administration of the nationally recognized and
15locally selected assessment option of the federal Every Student
16Succeeds Act.
17    Students who do not take the State's final accountability
18assessment or its approved alternate assessment may not receive
19a regular high school diploma unless the student is exempted
20from taking the State assessments under subsection (d) of this
21Section because the student is enrolled in a program of adult
22and continuing education, as defined in the Adult Education
23Act, or the student is identified by the State Board of
24Education, through rules, as being exempt from the assessment.
25    The State Board of Education shall not assess students
26under this Section in subjects not required by this Section.

 

 

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1    Districts shall inform their students of the timelines and
2procedures applicable to their participation in every yearly
3administration of the State assessments. The State Board of
4Education shall establish periods of time in each school year
5during which State assessments shall occur to meet the
6objectives of this Section.
7    (d) Every individualized educational program as described
8in Article 14 shall identify if the State assessment or
9components thereof require accommodation for the student. The
10State Board of Education shall develop rules governing the
11administration of an alternate assessment that may be available
12to students for whom participation in this State's regular
13assessments is not appropriate, even with accommodations as
14allowed under this Section.
15    Students receiving special education services whose
16individualized educational programs identify them as eligible
17for the alternative State assessments nevertheless shall have
18the option of also taking this State's regular final
19accountability assessment, which shall be administered in
20accordance with the eligible accommodations appropriate for
21meeting these students' respective needs.
22    All students determined to be English learners shall
23participate in the State assessments. The scores of those
24students who have been enrolled in schools in the United States
25for less than 12 months may not be used for the purposes of
26accountability. Any student determined to be an English learner

 

 

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1shall receive appropriate assessment accommodations, including
2language supports, which shall be established by rule. Approved
3assessment accommodations must be provided until the student's
4English language skills develop to the extent that the student
5is no longer considered to be an English learner, as
6demonstrated through a State-identified English language
7proficiency assessment.
8    (e) The results or scores of each assessment taken under
9this Section shall be made available to the parents of each
10student.
11    In each school year, the scores attained by a student on
12the final accountability assessment must be placed in the
13student's permanent record pursuant to rules that the State
14Board of Education shall adopt for that purpose in accordance
15with Section 3 of the Illinois School Student Records Act. In
16each school year, the scores attained by a student on the State
17assessments administered in grades 3 through 8 must be placed
18in the student's temporary record.
19    (f) All schools shall administer the State's academic
20assessment of English language proficiency to all children
21determined to be English learners.
22    (g) All schools in this State that are part of the sample
23drawn by the National Center for Education Statistics, in
24collaboration with their school districts and the State Board
25of Education, shall administer the academic assessments under
26the National Assessment of Educational Progress carried out

 

 

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1under Section 411(b)(2) of the federal National Education
2Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9010) if the U.S. Secretary
3of Education pays the costs of administering the assessments.
4    (h) (Blank).
5    (i) For the purposes of this subsection (i), "academically
6based assessments" means assessments consisting of questions
7and answers that are measurable and quantifiable to measure the
8knowledge, skills, and ability of students in the subject
9matters covered by the assessments. All assessments
10administered pursuant to this Section must be academically
11based assessments. The scoring of academically based
12assessments shall be reliable, valid, and fair and shall meet
13the guidelines for assessment development and use prescribed by
14the American Psychological Association, the National Council
15on Measurement in Education, and the American Educational
16Research Association.
17    The State Board of Education shall review the use of all
18assessment item types in order to ensure that they are valid
19and reliable indicators of student performance aligned to the
20learning standards being assessed and that the development,
21administration, and scoring of these item types are justifiable
22in terms of cost.
23    (j) The State Superintendent of Education shall appoint a
24committee of no more than 21 members, consisting of parents,
25teachers, school administrators, school board members,
26assessment experts, regional superintendents of schools, and

 

 

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1citizens, to review the State assessments administered by the
2State Board of Education. The Committee shall select one of its
3members as its chairperson. The Committee shall meet on an
4ongoing basis to review the content and design of the
5assessments (including whether the requirements of subsection
6(i) of this Section have been met), the time and money expended
7at the local and State levels to prepare for and administer the
8assessments, the collective results of the assessments as
9measured against the stated purpose of assessing student
10performance, and other issues involving the assessments
11identified by the Committee. The Committee shall make periodic
12recommendations to the State Superintendent of Education and
13the General Assembly concerning the assessments.
14    (k) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
15implement this Section.
16(Source: P.A. 99-30, eff. 7-10-15; 99-185, eff. 1-1-16; 99-642,
17eff. 7-28-16; 100-7, eff. 7-1-17; 100-222, eff. 8-18-17;
18100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 100-1046, eff. 8-23-18.)
 
19    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
20becoming law.