State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
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90_HB3214

      105 ILCS 5/2-3.64         from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64
          Amends the School Code.  Requires the results  or  scores
      of  each  of  the 6 component or sub-skill tests of the State
      assessment test  in  the  basic  subject  of  reading  to  be
      reported  to the school district in the name of the pupil (as
      a part of the report on which  other  State  assessment  test
      scores  are reported) and to be made available to the pupil's
      parents.  Effective July 1, 1998.
                                                     LRB9010669THpk
                                               LRB9010669THpk
 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. The
27    State Board of Education shall establish, in final  form  and
28    within  one  year after the effective date of this amendatory
29    Act of 1996, the academic standards that are to be applicable
30    to pupils who are subject  to  State  assessment  under  this
31    Section  beginning  with the 1998-1999 school year.  However,
                            -2-                LRB9010669THpk
 1    the State Board of Education shall  not  establish  any  such
 2    standards in final form without first providing opportunities
 3    for  public  participation and local input in the development
 4    of the final academic standards.  Those  opportunities  shall
 5    include  a  well-publicized  period of public comment, public
 6    hearings throughout the  State,  and  opportunities  to  file
 7    written  comments. Beginning with the 1998-99 school year and
 8    thereafter, the State assessment will identify pupils in  the
 9    3rd  grade  or 5th grade who do not meet the State standards.
10    If,  by  performance  on  the  State  assessment   or   local
11    assessments  or  by teacher judgment, a student's performance
12    is determined to be 2 or more grades below current placement,
13    the student shall be provided a remediation program developed
14    by the district in consultation with a  parent  or  guardian.
15    Such  remediation  programs  may  include,  but  shall not be
16    limited to, increased or concentrated instructional  time,  a
17    remedial  summer  school  program  of not less than 90 hours,
18    improved   instructional   approaches,   tutorial   sessions,
19    retention  in  grade,  and  modifications  to   instructional
20    materials.  Each  pupil  for  whom  a  remediation program is
21    developed under this subsection shall be required  to  enroll
22    in  and  attend  whatever  program the district determines is
23    appropriate for the pupil. Districts may combine students  in
24    remediation programs where appropriate and may cooperate with
25    other districts in the design and delivery of those programs.
26    The  parent  or  guardian  of  a student required to attend a
27    remediation program under this Section shall be given written
28    notice  of  that  requirement  by  the  school   district   a
29    reasonable  time  prior  to  commencement  of the remediation
30    program that the student is to attend.  The  State  shall  be
31    responsible  for  providing school districts with the new and
32    additional funding, under Section 2-3.51.5  or  by  other  or
33    additional means, that is required to enable the districts to
34    operate  remediation programs for the pupils who are required
                            -3-                LRB9010669THpk
 1    to enroll in and attend those programs  under  this  Section.
 2    Every  individualized  educational  program  as  described in
 3    Article 14 shall identify if the  State  test  or  components
 4    thereof  are  appropriate for that student.  For those pupils
 5    for whom  the  State  test  or  components  thereof  are  not
 6    appropriate, the State Board of Education shall develop rules
 7    and  regulations  governing the administration of alternative
 8    assessments prescribed within each  student's  individualized
 9    educational  program  which are appropriate to the disability
10    of each student.  All pupils who  are  in  a  State  approved
11    transitional  bilingual  education  program  or  transitional
12    program   of  instruction  shall  participate  in  the  State
13    assessment.  Any student who has been  enrolled  in  a  State
14    approved  bilingual  education  program  less than 3 academic
15    years shall be exempted if the student's lack of  English  as
16    determined by an English language proficiency test would keep
17    the  student  from understanding the test, and that student's
18    district shall have  an  alternative  assessment  program  in
19    place  for  that  student. The State Board of Education shall
20    appoint a task force of concerned parents,  teachers,  school
21    administrators   and   other   professionals   to  assist  in
22    identifying such alternative assessment programs.  Reasonable
23    accommodations  as prescribed by the State Board of Education
24    shall be provided for individual students in  the  assessment
25    procedure.  All assessment procedures prescribed by the State
26    Board of Education shall require: (i) that each test used for
27    State and local student assessment testing under this Section
28    identify  by  name  the  pupil taking the test; (ii) that the
29    name of the pupil taking the test be placed on  the  test  at
30    the  time the test is taken; (iii) that the results or scores
31    of each test and of each of  the  6  component  or  sub-skill
32    tests of the test in the basic subject of reading taken under
33    this Section by a pupil of the school district be reported to
34    that district and identify by name the pupil who received the
                            -4-                LRB9010669THpk
 1    reported  results  or  scores;  and  (iv) that the results or
 2    scores of each test  and  of  each  of  the  6  component  or
 3    sub-skill  tests  of the test in the basic subject of reading
 4    taken under this Section be made available to the parents  of
 5    the  pupil.  In addition, beginning with the 1998-1999 school
 6    year and in each school year thereafter, all scores  received
 7    by  a  student  on  the Illinois Goals and Assessment Program
 8    tests administered in grades 10 and 11 by the State Board  of
 9    Education   under   this  Section  and,  beginning  with  the
10    1999-2000 school year and in each school year thereafter, the
11    scores received by a student on the Prairie State Achievement
12    Examination administered under subsection (c) of this Section
13    shall become part of the student's permanent record and shall
14    be entered therein pursuant to  regulations  that  the  State
15    Board  of  Education  shall  promulgate  for  that purpose in
16    accordance with Section 3 and subsection (e) of Section 2  of
17    the  Illinois  School Student Records Act. Scores received by
18    students on the Illinois Goals and Assessment  Program  tests
19    administered  in  other grades shall be placed into students'
20    temporary records.  Except as provided in subsection  (c)  of
21    this  Section, the State Board of Education shall establish a
22    common month in each school  year  for  which  State  testing
23    shall occur to meet the objectives of this Section.  However,
24    if  the  schools of a district are closed and classes are not
25    scheduled during any week that is established  by  the  State
26    Board  of  Education  as  the  week  of  the month when State
27    testing under this Section shall occur, the  school  district
28    may administer the required State testing at any time up to 2
29    weeks  following  the  week established by the State Board of
30    Education for the testing, so long  as  the  school  district
31    gives  the  State  Board  of  Education written notice of its
32    intention to deviate from the established schedule by January
33    2 of the year in which falls  the  week  established  by  the
34    State  Board  of Education for the testing.  The maximum time
                            -5-                LRB9010669THpk
 1    allowed for all actual testing required under this subsection
 2    during the school year shall not exceed 25 hours as allocated
 3    among the required tests by the State Board of Education.
 4        (a-5)  Any  IGAP  test  administered  pursuant  to   this
 5    Section shall be academically based.
 6        (b)  It  shall  be  the  policy of the State to encourage
 7    school districts to continuously assess pupil proficiency  in
 8    the  fundamental  learning  areas  in  order to:  (i) provide
 9    timely  information  on  individual   students'   performance
10    relative  to  State  standards  that  is  adequate  to  guide
11    instructional  strategies;  (ii)  improve future instruction;
12    and (iii) complement the information provided  by  the  State
13    assessment system described in this Section.  Each district's
14    school  improvement plan must address specific activities the
15    district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher
16    judgment and assessment results as prescribed  in  subsection
17    (a)  of  this  Section  demonstrate that they are not meeting
18    State goals or local objectives. Such activities may include,
19    but shall not be limited to, summer school,  extended  school
20    day,    special   homework,   tutorial   sessions,   modified
21    instructional   materials,   other   modifications   in   the
22    instructional program, reduced class  size  or  retention  in
23    grade.     To  assist  school  districts  in  assessing pupil
24    proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board
25    shall  make  optional  reading  inventories  for   diagnostic
26    purposes available to each school district that requests such
27    assistance.     Districts   that   administer   the   reading
28    inventories may develop remediation programs for students who
29    perform in the bottom half of the student population.   Those
30    remediation  programs  may be funded by moneys provided under
31    the School Safety and  Educational  Improvement  Block  Grant
32    Program  established  under Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this
33    Section shall  prevent  school  districts  from  implementing
34    testing  and  remediation  policies  for  grades not required
                            -6-                LRB9010669THpk
 1    under this Section.
 2        (c)  Beginning  with  the  1999-2000  school  year,  each
 3    school district that  operates  a  high  school  program  for
 4    students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the
 5    Prairie  State Achievement Examination established under this
 6    subsection to its 12th grade students  as  set  forth  below.
 7    The  Prairie State Achievement Examination shall be developed
 8    by  the  State  Board  of  Education   to   measure   student
 9    performance  in  the 5 fundamental academic areas of reading,
10    writing, mathematics,  science,  and  social  sciences.   The
11    State   Board  of  Education  shall  establish  the  academic
12    standards that are to apply in measuring student  performance
13    on  the  Prairie  State  Achievement  Examination  in those 5
14    fundamental academic areas, including the  minimum  composite
15    examination  score  and  the minimum score in each area that,
16    taken together, will  qualify  a  student  to  receive    the
17    Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition
18    of  the student's excellent performance. Each school district
19    that is subject to the requirements of  this  subsection  (c)
20    shall afford a graduating student 2 opportunities to take the
21    Prairie  State Achievement Examination during the semester in
22    which  the  student  will  graduate.    The  State  Board  of
23    Education shall annually notify districts of the weeks during
24    which these test administrations shall be required to  occur.
25    Each  student,  exclusive  of  a student whose individualized
26    educational program developed under Article 14 identifies the
27    Prairie State Achievement Examination  as  inappropriate  for
28    the student, shall be required to take the examination in the
29    final  semester  before his or her graduation.  Score reports
30    for each fundamental academic area shall indicate  the  score
31    that  qualifies  as an excellent score on that portion of the
32    examination.   Any  student  who   attains   a   satisfactory
33    composite  score  but who fails to earn a qualifying score in
34    any one or more of the  fundamental  academic  areas  on  the
                            -7-                LRB9010669THpk
 1    initial test administration for the semester during which the
 2    student  will graduate from high school shall be permitted to
 3    retake such portion or portions of the examination during the
 4    second test of that semester.  Districts shall  inform  their
 5    students  of the timelines and procedures applicable to their
 6    optional participation in such additional administrations  of
 7    the Prairie State Achievement Examination. Students receiving
 8    special  education  services whose individualized educational
 9    programs identify the Prairie State  Achievement  Examination
10    as  inappropriate for them nevertheless shall have the option
11    of taking the examination, which  shall  be  administered  to
12    those  students  in accordance with standards adopted  by the
13    State  Board  of  Education  to  accommodate  the  respective
14    disabilities of those students.  A student  who  successfully
15    completes   all   other  applicable  high  school  graduation
16    requirements but fails to receive  a  score  on  the  Prairie
17    State  Achievement Examination that qualifies the student for
18    receipt  of  the  Prairie  State  Achievement   Award   shall
19    nevertheless qualify for the receipt of a regular high school
20    diploma.
21    (Source:  P.A.89-610, eff. 8-6-96; 90-566, eff. 1-2-98.)
22        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect July
23    1, 1998.

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