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90_HB0453
105 ILCS 5/2-3.64 from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64
Amends the School Code. Supplies the effective date of
an amendatory Act referred to in the provisions relating to
the Illinois goals and assessment program.
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1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Section
2 2-3.64.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing
6 Section 2-3.64 as follows:
7 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64)
8 Sec. 2-3.64. State goals and assessment.
9 (a) Beginning in the 1992-93 school year, the State
10 Board of Education shall establish standards and annually,
11 through the 1997-1998 school year, assess the performance
12 of: (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, and 10th
13 grades in language arts (reading and writing) and
14 mathematics; and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th, 7th,
15 and 11th grades in the biological, physical, and social
16 sciences. Beginning in the 1995-96 school year, the State
17 Board of Education shall establish standards and periodically
18 conduct, through the 1997-1998 school year, studies of
19 student performance in the learning areas of fine arts and
20 physical development/health. Beginning with the 1998-1999
21 school year, the State Board of Education shall annually
22 assess the performance of all pupils enrolled in the 3rd and
23 5th grades in the basic subjects of reading, writing, and
24 mathematics. The State Board of Education shall establish, in
25 final form and within one year after August 6, 1996 (the
26 effective date of P.A. 89-610) this amendatory Act of 1996,
27 the academic standards that are to be applicable to pupils
28 who are subject to State assessment under this Section
29 beginning with the 1998-1999 school year. However, the State
30 Board of Education shall not establish any such standards in
31 final form without first providing opportunities for public
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1 participation and local input in the development of the final
2 academic standards. Those opportunities shall include a
3 well-publicized period of public comment, public hearings
4 throughout the State, and opportunities to file written
5 comments. Beginning with the 1998-99 school year and
6 thereafter, pupils in the 3rd grade or 5th grade who, by
7 performance on the State assessment tests or by teacher
8 judgement, demonstrate a proficiency level comparable to the
9 average pupil performance 2 or more grades below current
10 placement shall be provided a remediation program developed
11 by the district in consultation with a parent or guardian.
12 Such remediation programs may include, but shall not be
13 limited to, increased or concentrated instructional time, a
14 remedial summer school program of not less than 90 hours,
15 improved instructional approaches, tutorial sessions,
16 retention in grade, and modifications to instructional
17 materials. Each pupil for whom a remediation program is
18 developed under this subsection shall be required to enroll
19 in and attend whatever program the district determines is
20 appropriate for the pupil. Districts may combine students in
21 remediation programs where appropriate and may cooperate with
22 other districts in the design and delivery of those programs.
23 The parent or guardian of a student required to attend a
24 remediation program under this Section shall be given written
25 notice of that requirement by the school district a
26 reasonable time prior to commencement of the remediation
27 program that the student is to attend. The State shall be
28 responsible for providing school districts with the new and
29 additional funding, under Section 2-3.51.5 or by other or
30 additional means, that is required to enable the districts to
31 operate remediation programs for the pupils who are required
32 to enroll in and attend those programs under this Section.
33 Every individualized educational program as described in
34 Article 14 shall identify if the State test or components
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1 thereof are appropriate for that student. For those pupils
2 for whom the State test or components thereof are not
3 appropriate, the State Board of Education shall develop rules
4 and regulations governing the administration of alternative
5 assessments prescribed within each student's individualized
6 educational program which are appropriate to the disability
7 of each student. All pupils who are in a State approved
8 transitional bilingual education program or transitional
9 program of instruction shall participate in the State
10 assessment. Any student who has been enrolled in a State
11 approved bilingual education program less than 3 academic
12 years shall be exempted if the student's lack of English as
13 determined by an English language proficiency test would keep
14 the student from understanding the test, and that student's
15 district shall have an alternative assessment program in
16 place for that student. The State Board of Education shall
17 appoint a task force of concerned parents, teachers, school
18 administrators and other professionals to assist in
19 identifying such alternative assessment programs. Reasonable
20 accommodations as prescribed by the State Board of Education
21 shall be provided for individual students in the assessment
22 procedure. All assessment procedures prescribed by the State
23 Board of Education shall require: (i) that each test used for
24 State and local student assessment testing under this Section
25 identify by name the pupil taking the test; (ii) that the
26 name of the pupil taking the test be placed on the test at
27 the time the test is taken; (iii) that the results or scores
28 of each test taken under this Section by a pupil of the
29 school district be reported to that district and identify by
30 name the pupil who received the reported results of scores;
31 and (iv) that the results or scores of each test taken under
32 this Section be made available to the parents of the pupil.
33 In addition, beginning with the 1998-1999 school year and in
34 each school year thereafter, all scores received by a student
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1 on the Illinois Goals and Assessment Program tests
2 administered by the State Board of Education under this
3 Section and, beginning with the 1999-2000 school year and in
4 each school year thereafter, on the Prairie State Achievement
5 Examination administered under subsection (c) of this Section
6 shall become part of the student's permanent record and shall
7 be entered therein pursuant to regulations that the State
8 Board of Education shall promulgate for that purpose in
9 accordance with Section 3 and subsection (e) of Section 2 of
10 the Illinois School Student Records Act. The State Board of
11 Education shall establish a common month in each school year
12 for which State testing shall occur to meet the objectives of
13 this Section. However, if the schools of a district are
14 closed and classes are not scheduled during any week that is
15 established by the State Board of Education as the week of
16 the month when State testing under this Section shall occur,
17 the school district may administer the required State testing
18 at any time up to 2 weeks following the week established by
19 the State Board of Education for the testing, so long as the
20 school district gives the State Board of Education written
21 notice of its intention to deviate from the established
22 schedule by January 2 of the year in which falls the week
23 established by the State Board of Education for the testing.
24 The maximum time allowed for all actual testing required
25 under this subsection during the school year shall not exceed
26 25 hours as allocated among the required tests by the State
27 Board of Education.
28 (a-5) The State Board of Education shall review the
29 current assessment testing schedule applicable under
30 subsection (a) on the effective date of this amendatory Act
31 of 1996 and submit a plan to the General Assembly, on or
32 before December 31, 1996, to increase the effectiveness of
33 the State assessment tests administered under that subsection
34 with respect to student diagnosis and to reduce the amount of
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1 classroom time spent administering those tests. The General
2 Assembly may enact the recommendations made by the State
3 Board of Education to maximize effectiveness and minimize the
4 hours and grade levels of testing.
5 (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage
6 school districts to continuously assess pupil proficiency.
7 Each district's school improvement plan must address specific
8 activities the district intends to implement to assist pupils
9 who by teacher judgement and assessment results as prescribed
10 in subsection (a) of this Section demonstrate that they are
11 not meeting State goals or local objectives. Such activities
12 may include, but shall not be limited to, summer school,
13 extended school day, special homework, tutorial sessions,
14 modified instructional materials, other modifications in the
15 instructional program, reduced class size or retention in
16 grade. To assist school districts in assessing pupil
17 proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board
18 shall make optional reading inventories for diagnostic
19 purposes available to each school district that requests such
20 assistance. Districts that administer the reading
21 inventories may develop remediation programs for students who
22 perform in the bottom half of the student population. Those
23 remediation programs may be funded by moneys provided under
24 the School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant
25 Program established under Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this
26 Section shall prevent school districts from implementing
27 testing and remediation policies for grades not required
28 under this Section.
29 (c) Beginning with the 1999-2000 school year, each
30 school district that operates a high school program for
31 students in grades 9 through 12 shall administer a Prairie
32 State Achievement Examination each year to its 12th grade
33 students. The Prairie State Achievement Examination shall
34 measure student performance in the 5 fundamental academic
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1 areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social
2 studies. The State Board of Education shall establish the
3 academic standards that are to apply in measuring student
4 performance on the Prairie State Achievement Examination in
5 those 5 fundamental academic areas, including the minimum
6 examination score that will qualify for purposes of this
7 Section as a score that is excellent. A student whose score
8 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination is determined to
9 be excellent by the State Board of Education shall receive
10 the Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in
11 recognition of the student's excellent performance. Each 12th
12 grade student, exclusive of a student whose individualized
13 educational program developed under Article 14 does not
14 identify the Prairie State Achievement Examination as
15 appropriate for the student, shall be required to take the
16 examination, which each school district shall administer to
17 its 12th grade students in January of each school year. The
18 Prairie State Achievement Examination shall be administered
19 by each school district a second time, in March of each
20 school year, for those 12th grade students who fail to
21 receive a score on the January examination that would qualify
22 them to receive the Prairie State Achievement Award and who
23 elect to take the March examination for the purpose of
24 attempting to earn a score that will qualify them to receive
25 that award. Students who will graduate from high school
26 before entering grade 12 shall take the Prairie State
27 Achievement Examination during the school year in which they
28 will graduate from high school. Students receiving special
29 education services whose individualized educational programs
30 do not identify the Prairie State Achievement Examination as
31 appropriate for them nevertheless shall have the option of
32 taking the examination, which shall be administered to those
33 students in accordance with standards adopted by the State
34 Board of Education to accommodate the respective disabilities
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1 of those students. A student who successfully completes all
2 other applicable high school graduation requirements but
3 fails to receive a score on the Prairie State Achievement
4 Examination that qualifies the student for receipt of the
5 Prairie State Achievement Award shall nevertheless qualify
6 for the receipt of a regular high school diploma.
7 (Source: P.A. 88-192; 88-227; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 88-686,
8 eff. 1-24-95; 89-610, eff. 8-6-96.)