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90_SB0560
Amends the School Code. Prohibits the State Board of
Education from promulgating, distributing, or basing any
Board action on any list of State education goals or any
final academic standards until such goals and standards have
been reviewed and ratified by the General Assembly.
Effective immediately.
SRS90S0028KSsa
SRS90S0028KSsa
1 AN ACT to amend the School Code in relation to State
2 goals for education and academic standards.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. The School Code is amended by adding Section
6 2-3.63a and changing Section 2-3.64 as follows:
7 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.63a new)
8 Sec. 2-3.63a. State education goals. After the
9 effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, the State
10 Board of Education shall be prohibited from promulgating,
11 distributing, or basing any Board action on any list or
12 compilation of State goals for education, by whatever name
13 called, unless such list has first been reviewed and ratified
14 by the General Assembly with the passage of a joint
15 resolution.
16 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64)
17 Sec. 2-3.64. State standards goals and assessment.
18 (a) Beginning in the 1992-93 school year, the State
19 Board of Education shall establish standards and annually,
20 through the 1997-1998 school year, assess the performance
21 of: (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, and 10th
22 grades in language arts (reading and writing) and
23 mathematics; and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th, 7th,
24 and 11th grades in the biological, physical, and social
25 sciences. Beginning in the 1995-96 school year, the State
26 Board of Education shall establish standards and periodically
27 conduct, through the 1997-1998 school year, studies of
28 student performance in the learning areas of fine arts and
29 physical development/health. Beginning with the 1998-1999
30 school year, the State Board of Education shall annually
-2- SRS90S0028KSsa
1 assess the performance of all pupils enrolled in the 3rd and
2 5th grades in the basic subjects of reading, writing, and
3 mathematics. The State Board of Education shall recommend to
4 the General Assembly establish, in final form by August 6,
5 1997 and within one year after the effective date of this
6 amendatory Act of 1996, the academic standards that are to be
7 applicable to pupils who are subject to State assessment
8 under this Section beginning with the 1998-1999 school year.
9 However, The State Board of Education shall not recommend
10 establish any such standards in final form without first
11 providing opportunities for public participation and local
12 input in the development of the final academic standards.
13 Those opportunities shall include a well-publicized period of
14 public comment, public hearings throughout the State, and
15 opportunities to file written comments. Upon receipt of the
16 academic standards recommended by the State Board of
17 Education, the General Assembly shall review the standards,
18 conduct public hearings, and ratify the standards, either in
19 whole, in part, or as amended, with the passage of a joint
20 resolution by no later than December 31, 1997. No academic
21 standards may be promulgated or distributed as final academic
22 standards, nor shall the State Board of Education take any
23 action to implement such standards as final until such time
24 as the standards have been ratified by the General Assembly.
25 Beginning with the 1998-99 school year and thereafter, pupils
26 in the 3rd grade or 5th grade who, by performance on the
27 State assessment tests or by teacher judgement, demonstrate a
28 proficiency level comparable to the average pupil performance
29 2 or more grades below current placement shall be provided a
30 remediation program developed by the district in consultation
31 with a parent or guardian. Such remediation programs may
32 include, but shall not be limited to, increased or
33 concentrated instructional time, a remedial summer school
34 program of not less than 90 hours, improved instructional
-3- SRS90S0028KSsa
1 approaches, tutorial sessions, retention in grade, and
2 modifications to instructional materials. Each pupil for whom
3 a remediation program is developed under this subsection
4 shall be required to enroll in and attend whatever program
5 the district determines is appropriate for the pupil.
6 Districts may combine students in remediation programs where
7 appropriate and may cooperate with other districts in the
8 design and delivery of those programs. The parent or
9 guardian of a student required to attend a remediation
10 program under this Section shall be given written notice of
11 that requirement by the school district a reasonable time
12 prior to commencement of the remediation program that the
13 student is to attend. The State shall be responsible for
14 providing school districts with the new and additional
15 funding, under Section 2-3.51.5 or by other or additional
16 means, that is required to enable the districts to operate
17 remediation programs for the pupils who are required to
18 enroll in and attend those programs under this Section. Every
19 individualized educational program as described in Article 14
20 shall identify if the State test or components thereof are
21 appropriate for that student. For those pupils for whom the
22 State test or components thereof are not appropriate, the
23 State Board of Education shall develop rules and regulations
24 governing the administration of alternative assessments
25 prescribed within each student's individualized educational
26 program which are appropriate to the disability of each
27 student. All pupils who are in a State approved transitional
28 bilingual education program or transitional program of
29 instruction shall participate in the State assessment. Any
30 student who has been enrolled in a State approved bilingual
31 education program less than 3 academic years shall be
32 exempted if the student's lack of English as determined by an
33 English language proficiency test would keep the student from
34 understanding the test, and that student's district shall
-4- SRS90S0028KSsa
1 have an alternative assessment program in place for that
2 student. The State Board of Education shall appoint a task
3 force of concerned parents, teachers, school administrators
4 and other professionals to assist in identifying such
5 alternative assessment programs. Reasonable accommodations as
6 prescribed by the State Board of Education shall be provided
7 for individual students in the assessment procedure. All
8 assessment procedures prescribed by the State Board of
9 Education shall require: (i) that each test used for State
10 and local student assessment testing under this Section
11 identify by name the pupil taking the test; (ii) that the
12 name of the pupil taking the test be placed on the test at
13 the time the test is taken; (iii) that the results or scores
14 of each test taken under this Section by a pupil of the
15 school district be reported to that district and identify by
16 name the pupil who received the reported results of scores;
17 and (iv) that the results or scores of each test taken under
18 this Section be made available to the parents of the pupil.
19 In addition, beginning with the 1998-1999 school year and in
20 each school year thereafter, all scores received by a student
21 on the Illinois Goals and Assessment Program tests
22 administered by the State Board of Education under this
23 Section and, beginning with the 1999-2000 school year and in
24 each school year thereafter, on the Prairie State Achievement
25 Examination administered under subsection (c) of this Section
26 shall become part of the student's permanent record and shall
27 be entered therein pursuant to regulations that the State
28 Board of Education shall promulgate for that purpose in
29 accordance with Section 3 and subsection (e) of Section 2 of
30 the Illinois School Student Records Act. The State Board of
31 Education shall establish a common month in each school year
32 for which State testing shall occur to meet the objectives of
33 this Section. However, if the schools of a district are
34 closed and classes are not scheduled during any week that is
-5- SRS90S0028KSsa
1 established by the State Board of Education as the week of
2 the month when State testing under this Section shall occur,
3 the school district may administer the required State testing
4 at any time up to 2 weeks following the week established by
5 the State Board of Education for the testing, so long as the
6 school district gives the State Board of Education written
7 notice of its intention to deviate from the established
8 schedule by January 2 of the year in which falls the week
9 established by the State Board of Education for the testing.
10 The maximum time allowed for all actual testing required
11 under this subsection during the school year shall not exceed
12 25 hours as allocated among the required tests by the State
13 Board of Education.
14 (a-5) The State Board of Education shall review the
15 current assessment testing schedule applicable under
16 subsection (a) on the effective date of this amendatory Act
17 of 1996 and submit a plan to the General Assembly, on or
18 before December 31, 1996, to increase the effectiveness of
19 the State assessment tests administered under that subsection
20 with respect to student diagnosis and to reduce the amount of
21 classroom time spent administering those tests. The General
22 Assembly may enact the recommendations made by the State
23 Board of Education to maximize effectiveness and minimize the
24 hours and grade levels of testing.
25 (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage
26 school districts to continuously assess pupil proficiency.
27 Each district's school improvement plan must address specific
28 activities the district intends to implement to assist pupils
29 who by teacher judgement and assessment results as prescribed
30 in subsection (a) of this Section demonstrate that they are
31 not meeting State goals or local objectives. Such activities
32 may include, but shall not be limited to, summer school,
33 extended school day, special homework, tutorial sessions,
34 modified instructional materials, other modifications in the
-6- SRS90S0028KSsa
1 instructional program, reduced class size or retention in
2 grade. To assist school districts in assessing pupil
3 proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board
4 shall make optional reading inventories for diagnostic
5 purposes available to each school district that requests such
6 assistance. Districts that administer the reading
7 inventories may develop remediation programs for students who
8 perform in the bottom half of the student population. Those
9 remediation programs may be funded by moneys provided under
10 the School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant
11 Program established under Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this
12 Section shall prevent school districts from implementing
13 testing and remediation policies for grades not required
14 under this Section.
15 (c) Beginning with the 1999-2000 school year, each
16 school district that operates a high school program for
17 students in grades 9 through 12 shall administer a Prairie
18 State Achievement Examination each year to its 12th grade
19 students. The Prairie State Achievement Examination shall
20 measure student performance in the 5 fundamental academic
21 areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social
22 studies. The State Board of Education shall establish the
23 academic standards that are to apply in measuring student
24 performance on the Prairie State Achievement Examination in
25 those 5 fundamental academic areas, including the minimum
26 examination score that will qualify for purposes of this
27 Section as a score that is excellent. A student whose score
28 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination is determined to
29 be excellent by the State Board of Education shall receive
30 the Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in
31 recognition of the student's excellent performance. Each 12th
32 grade student, exclusive of a student whose individualized
33 educational program developed under Article 14 does not
34 identify the Prairie State Achievement Examination as
-7- SRS90S0028KSsa
1 appropriate for the student, shall be required to take the
2 examination, which each school district shall administer to
3 its 12th grade students in January of each school year. The
4 Prairie State Achievement Examination shall be administered
5 by each school district a second time, in March of each
6 school year, for those 12th grade students who fail to
7 receive a score on the January examination that would qualify
8 them to receive the Prairie State Achievement Award and who
9 elect to take the March examination for the purpose of
10 attempting to earn a score that will qualify them to receive
11 that award. Students who will graduate from high school
12 before entering grade 12 shall take the Prairie State
13 Achievement Examination during the school year in which they
14 will graduate from high school. Students receiving special
15 education services whose individualized educational programs
16 do not identify the Prairie State Achievement Examination as
17 appropriate for them nevertheless shall have the option of
18 taking the examination, which shall be administered to those
19 students in accordance with standards adopted by the State
20 Board of Education to accommodate the respective disabilities
21 of those students. A student who successfully completes all
22 other applicable high school graduation requirements but
23 fails to receive a score on the Prairie State Achievement
24 Examination that qualifies the student for receipt of the
25 Prairie State Achievement Award shall nevertheless qualify
26 for the receipt of a regular high school diploma.
27 (Source: P.A. 88-192; 88-227; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 88-686,
28 eff. 1-24-95; 89-610, eff. 8-6-96.)
29 Section 99. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.