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90_HB2714
105 ILCS 5/2-3.64 from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64
Amends the School Code. Beginning with the 1998-1999
school year, requires the State Board of Education to report
all assessment scores by May 1, except that writing
assessment scores must be reported by August 1. Effective
immediately.
LRB9009788NTmb
LRB9009788NTmb
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 1998-1999 school year, the State
17 Board of Education shall establish standards and
18 periodically, in collaboration with local school districts,
19 conduct studies of student performance in the learning areas
20 of fine arts and physical development/health. Beginning with
21 the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board of Education shall
22 annually assess the performance of: (i) all pupils enrolled
23 in the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 10th grades in English language
24 arts (reading and writing) and mathematics; and (ii) all
25 pupils enrolled in the 4th, 7th, and 11th grades in the
26 biological and physical sciences and the social sciences.
27 Beginning with the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board of
28 Education shall report all assessment scores by May 1, except
29 that writing assessment scores must be reported by August 1.
30 The State Board of Education shall establish, in final form
31 and within one year after the effective date of this
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1 amendatory Act of 1996, the academic standards that are to be
2 applicable to pupils who are subject to State assessment
3 under this Section beginning with the 1998-1999 school year.
4 However, the State Board of Education shall not establish any
5 such standards in final form without first providing
6 opportunities for public participation and local input in the
7 development of the final academic standards. Those
8 opportunities shall include a well-publicized period of
9 public comment, public hearings throughout the State, and
10 opportunities to file written comments. Beginning with the
11 1998-99 school year and thereafter, the State assessment will
12 identify pupils in the 3rd grade or 5th grade who do not meet
13 the State standards. If, by performance on the State
14 assessment or local assessments or by teacher judgment, a
15 student's performance is determined to be 2 or more grades
16 below current placement, the student shall be provided a
17 remediation program developed by the district in consultation
18 with a parent or guardian. Such remediation programs may
19 include, but shall not be limited to, increased or
20 concentrated instructional time, a remedial summer school
21 program of not less than 90 hours, improved instructional
22 approaches, tutorial sessions, retention in grade, and
23 modifications to instructional materials. Each pupil for whom
24 a remediation program is developed under this subsection
25 shall be required to enroll in and attend whatever program
26 the district determines is appropriate for the pupil.
27 Districts may combine students in remediation programs where
28 appropriate and may cooperate with other districts in the
29 design and delivery of those programs. The parent or
30 guardian of a student required to attend a remediation
31 program under this Section shall be given written notice of
32 that requirement by the school district a reasonable time
33 prior to commencement of the remediation program that the
34 student is to attend. The State shall be responsible for
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1 providing school districts with the new and additional
2 funding, under Section 2-3.51.5 or by other or additional
3 means, that is required to enable the districts to operate
4 remediation programs for the pupils who are required to
5 enroll in and attend those programs under this Section. Every
6 individualized educational program as described in Article 14
7 shall identify if the State test or components thereof are
8 appropriate for that student. For those pupils for whom the
9 State test or components thereof are not appropriate, the
10 State Board of Education shall develop rules and regulations
11 governing the administration of alternative assessments
12 prescribed within each student's individualized educational
13 program which are appropriate to the disability of each
14 student. All pupils who are in a State approved transitional
15 bilingual education program or transitional program of
16 instruction shall participate in the State assessment. Any
17 student who has been enrolled in a State approved bilingual
18 education program less than 3 academic years shall be
19 exempted if the student's lack of English as determined by an
20 English language proficiency test would keep the student from
21 understanding the test, and that student's district shall
22 have an alternative assessment program in place for that
23 student. The State Board of Education shall appoint a task
24 force of concerned parents, teachers, school administrators
25 and other professionals to assist in identifying such
26 alternative assessment programs. Reasonable accommodations as
27 prescribed by the State Board of Education shall be provided
28 for individual students in the assessment procedure. All
29 assessment procedures prescribed by the State Board of
30 Education shall require: (i) that each test used for State
31 and local student assessment testing under this Section
32 identify by name the pupil taking the test; (ii) that the
33 name of the pupil taking the test be placed on the test at
34 the time the test is taken; (iii) that the results or scores
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1 of each test taken under this Section by a pupil of the
2 school district be reported to that district and identify by
3 name the pupil who received the reported results or scores;
4 and (iv) that the results or scores of each test taken under
5 this Section be made available to the parents of the pupil.
6 In addition, beginning with the 1998-1999 school year and in
7 each school year thereafter, all scores received by a student
8 on the Illinois Goals and Assessment Program tests
9 administered in grades 10 and 11 by the State Board of
10 Education under this Section and, beginning with the
11 1999-2000 school year and in each school year thereafter, the
12 scores received by a student on the Prairie State Achievement
13 Examination administered under subsection (c) of this Section
14 shall become part of the student's permanent record and shall
15 be entered therein pursuant to regulations that the State
16 Board of Education shall promulgate for that purpose in
17 accordance with Section 3 and subsection (e) of Section 2 of
18 the Illinois School Student Records Act. Scores received by
19 students on the Illinois Goals and Assessment Program tests
20 administered in other grades shall be placed into students'
21 temporary records. Except as provided in subsection (c) of
22 this Section, the State Board of Education shall establish a
23 common month in each school year for which State testing
24 shall occur to meet the objectives of this Section. However,
25 if the schools of a district are closed and classes are not
26 scheduled during any week that is established by the State
27 Board of Education as the week of the month when State
28 testing under this Section shall occur, the school district
29 may administer the required State testing at any time up to 2
30 weeks following the week established by the State Board of
31 Education for the testing, so long as the school district
32 gives the State Board of Education written notice of its
33 intention to deviate from the established schedule by January
34 2 of the year in which falls the week established by the
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1 State Board of Education for the testing. The maximum time
2 allowed for all actual testing required under this subsection
3 during the school year shall not exceed 25 hours as allocated
4 among the required tests by the State Board of Education.
5 (a-5) Any IGAP test administered pursuant to this
6 Section shall be academically based.
7 (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage
8 school districts to continuously assess pupil proficiency in
9 the fundamental learning areas in order to: (i) provide
10 timely information on individual students' performance
11 relative to State standards that is adequate to guide
12 instructional strategies; (ii) improve future instruction;
13 and (iii) complement the information provided by the State
14 assessment system described in this Section. Each district's
15 school improvement plan must address specific activities the
16 district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher
17 judgment and assessment results as prescribed in subsection
18 (a) of this Section demonstrate that they are not meeting
19 State goals or local objectives. Such activities may include,
20 but shall not be limited to, summer school, extended school
21 day, special homework, tutorial sessions, modified
22 instructional materials, other modifications in the
23 instructional program, reduced class size or retention in
24 grade. To assist school districts in assessing pupil
25 proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board
26 shall make optional reading inventories for diagnostic
27 purposes available to each school district that requests such
28 assistance. Districts that administer the reading
29 inventories may develop remediation programs for students who
30 perform in the bottom half of the student population. Those
31 remediation programs may be funded by moneys provided under
32 the School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant
33 Program established under Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this
34 Section shall prevent school districts from implementing
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1 testing and remediation policies for grades not required
2 under this Section.
3 (c) Beginning with the 1999-2000 school year, each
4 school district that operates a high school program for
5 students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the
6 Prairie State Achievement Examination established under this
7 subsection to its 12th grade students as set forth below.
8 The Prairie State Achievement Examination shall be developed
9 by the State Board of Education to measure student
10 performance in the 5 fundamental academic areas of reading,
11 writing, mathematics, science, and social sciences. The
12 State Board of Education shall establish the academic
13 standards that are to apply in measuring student performance
14 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination in those 5
15 fundamental academic areas, including the minimum composite
16 examination score and the minimum score in each area that,
17 taken together, will qualify a student to receive the
18 Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition
19 of the student's excellent performance. Each school district
20 that is subject to the requirements of this subsection (c)
21 shall afford a graduating student 2 opportunities to take the
22 Prairie State Achievement Examination during the semester in
23 which the student will graduate. The State Board of
24 Education shall annually notify districts of the weeks during
25 which these test administrations shall be required to occur.
26 Each student, exclusive of a student whose individualized
27 educational program developed under Article 14 identifies the
28 Prairie State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for
29 the student, shall be required to take the examination in the
30 final semester before his or her graduation. Score reports
31 for each fundamental academic area shall indicate the score
32 that qualifies as an excellent score on that portion of the
33 examination. Any student who attains a satisfactory
34 composite score but who fails to earn a qualifying score in
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1 any one or more of the fundamental academic areas on the
2 initial test administration for the semester during which the
3 student will graduate from high school shall be permitted to
4 retake such portion or portions of the examination during the
5 second test of that semester. Districts shall inform their
6 students of the timelines and procedures applicable to their
7 optional participation in such additional administrations of
8 the Prairie State Achievement Examination. Students receiving
9 special education services whose individualized educational
10 programs identify the Prairie State Achievement Examination
11 as inappropriate for them nevertheless shall have the option
12 of taking the examination, which shall be administered to
13 those students in accordance with standards adopted by the
14 State Board of Education to accommodate the respective
15 disabilities of those students. A student who successfully
16 completes all other applicable high school graduation
17 requirements but fails to receive a score on the Prairie
18 State Achievement Examination that qualifies the student for
19 receipt of the Prairie State Achievement Award shall
20 nevertheless qualify for the receipt of a regular high school
21 diploma.
22 (Source: P.A.89-610, eff. 8-6-96; 90-566, eff. 1-2-98.)
23 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
24 becoming law.