HB4955 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 38902 RJT 69039 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB4955

Introduced 2/7/2024, by Rep. Sue Scherer

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/2-3.64a-5

Amends the School Code. Provides that the State Board of Education shall administer no more than one assessment (instead of 3 assessments), per student, of English language arts and mathematics for students in a secondary education program. Removes a provision that specifies that students who do not take the State's final accountability assessment or its approved alternate assessment may not receive a regular high school diploma unless otherwise exempted. Provides that the State Board of Education may not assess students in any manner beyond that required for compliance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Provides that the State Board shall also explore any flexibility afforded to states through waivers under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

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) The 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.

The 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 one assessment 3 assessments, per student, of English language arts and mathematics for students in a secondary education program. This assessment must One of these assessments shall be recognized by this State's public institutions of higher education, as defined in the Board of Higher Education Act, for the purpose of student application or admissions consideration. The assessment administered by the State Board of Education for the purpose of student application to or admissions consideration by institutions of higher education must be administered on a school day during regular student attendance hours, and student profile information collected by the assessment shall be made available to the State's public institutions of higher education in a timely manner.

Students who do not take the State's final accountability assessment or its approved alternate assessment may not receive a regular high school diploma unless the student is exempted from taking the State assessments under subsection (d) of this Section because the student is enrolled in a program of adult and continuing education, as defined in the Adult Education Act, or the student is 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. The State Board of Education may not assess students in any manner beyond that required for compliance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. The State Board of Education shall also explore any flexibility afforded to states through waivers under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

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.

The requirements of this subsection do not apply if the State Board of Education has received a waiver from the administration of assessments from the U.S. Department of Education.

(d) Every individualized educational program as described in Article 14 shall identify if the State assessment or components thereof require accommodation 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 also taking this State's regular final accountability assessment, which shall be administered in accordance with the eligible accommodations appropriate for meeting these students' respective needs.

All students determined to be English learners shall participate in the State assessments. The scores of those students who have been enrolled in schools in the United States for less than 12 months may not be used for the purposes of accountability. Any student determined to be an English learner 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 learner, 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 final accountability assessment must be placed in the student's permanent record 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 the State's academic assessment of English language proficiency to all children determined to be English learners.

(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 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) (Blank).

(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. 103-204, eff. 1-1-24.)

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