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90_SB1480
105 ILCS 5/2-3.64 from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64
Amends the School Code. In provisions concerning State
goals and assessments, replaces certain references concerning
assessment with references concerning tests and defines
"academically based" Illinois Goals and Assessment Program
tests as tests consisting of questions and answers that are
objective, measurable, and quantifiable to measure the
knowledge, skill, and ability of students in specified
subjects. Provides that IGAP tests shall not include
subjective assessments, assessments or evaluations of
attitudes, values, and beliefs, or testing of personality,
self esteem, or self concept. Effective immediately.
SRS90S0071KSaw
SRS90S0071KSaw
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 test assess the performance of: (i) all pupils
23 enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 10th grades in English
24 language arts (reading and writing) and mathematics; and (ii)
25 all 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 tests assessment under
31 this Section beginning with the 1998-1999 school year.
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1 However, the State Board of Education shall not establish any
2 such standards in final form without first providing
3 opportunities for public participation and local input in the
4 development of the final academic standards. Those
5 opportunities shall include a well-publicized period of
6 public comment, public hearings throughout the State, and
7 opportunities to file written comments. Beginning with the
8 1998-99 school year and thereafter, the State tests
9 assessment will identify pupils in the 3rd grade or 5th grade
10 who do not meet the State standards. If, by performance on
11 the State tests assessment or local assessments or by teacher
12 judgment, a student's performance is determined to be 2 or
13 more grades below current placement, the student shall be
14 provided a remediation program developed by the district in
15 consultation with a parent or guardian. Such remediation
16 programs may include, but shall not be limited to, increased
17 or concentrated instructional time, a remedial summer school
18 program of not less than 90 hours, improved instructional
19 approaches, tutorial sessions, retention in grade, and
20 modifications to instructional materials. Each pupil for whom
21 a remediation program is developed under this subsection
22 shall be required to enroll in and attend whatever program
23 the district determines is appropriate for the pupil.
24 Districts may combine students in remediation programs where
25 appropriate and may cooperate with other districts in the
26 design and delivery of those programs. The parent or
27 guardian of a student required to attend a remediation
28 program under this Section shall be given written notice of
29 that requirement by the school district a reasonable time
30 prior to commencement of the remediation program that the
31 student is to attend. The State shall be responsible for
32 providing school districts with the new and additional
33 funding, under Section 2-3.51.5 or by other or additional
34 means, that is required to enable the districts to operate
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1 remediation programs for the pupils who are required to
2 enroll in and attend those programs under this Section. Every
3 individualized educational program as described in Article 14
4 shall identify if the State test or components thereof are
5 appropriate for that student. For those pupils for whom the
6 State test or components thereof are not appropriate, the
7 State Board of Education shall develop rules and regulations
8 governing the administration of alternative tests assessments
9 prescribed within each student's individualized educational
10 program which are appropriate to the disability of each
11 student. All pupils who are in a State approved transitional
12 bilingual education program or transitional program of
13 instruction shall participate in the State tests assessment.
14 Any student who has been enrolled in a State approved
15 bilingual education program less than 3 academic years shall
16 be exempted if the student's lack of English as determined by
17 an English language proficiency test would keep the student
18 from understanding the test, and that student's district
19 shall have an alternative test assessment program in place
20 for that student. The State Board of Education shall appoint
21 a task force of concerned parents, teachers, school
22 administrators and other professionals to assist in
23 identifying such alternative tests assessment programs.
24 Reasonable accommodations as prescribed by the State Board of
25 Education shall be provided for individual students in the
26 testing assessment procedure. All test assessment procedures
27 prescribed by the State Board of Education shall require: (i)
28 that each test used for State and local student assessment
29 testing under this Section identify by name the pupil taking
30 the test; (ii) that the name of the pupil taking the test be
31 placed on the test at the time the test is taken; (iii) that
32 the results or scores of each test taken under this Section
33 by a pupil of the school district be reported to that
34 district and identify by name the pupil who received the
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1 reported results or scores; and (iv) that the results or
2 scores of each test taken under this Section be made
3 available to the parents of the pupil. In addition,
4 beginning with the 1998-1999 school year and in each school
5 year thereafter, all scores received by a student on the
6 Illinois Goals and Assessment Program tests administered in
7 grades 10 and 11 by the State Board of Education under this
8 Section and, beginning with the 1999-2000 school year and in
9 each school year thereafter, the scores received by a student
10 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination administered
11 under subsection (c) of this Section shall become part of the
12 student's permanent record and shall be entered therein
13 pursuant to regulations that the State Board of Education
14 shall promulgate for that purpose in accordance with Section
15 3 and subsection (e) of Section 2 of the Illinois School
16 Student Records Act. Scores received by students on the
17 Illinois Goals and Assessment Program tests administered in
18 other grades shall be placed into students' temporary
19 records. Except as provided in subsection (c) of this
20 Section, the State Board of Education shall establish a
21 common month in each school year for which State testing
22 shall occur to meet the objectives of this Section. However,
23 if the schools of a district are closed and classes are not
24 scheduled during any week that is established by the State
25 Board of Education as the week of the month when State
26 testing under this Section shall occur, the school district
27 may administer the required State testing at any time up to 2
28 weeks following the week established by the State Board of
29 Education for the testing, so long as the school district
30 gives the State Board of Education written notice of its
31 intention to deviate from the established schedule by January
32 2 of the year in which falls the week established by the
33 State Board of Education for the testing. The maximum time
34 allowed for all actual testing required under this subsection
-5- SRS90S0071KSaw
1 during the school year shall not exceed 25 hours as allocated
2 among the required tests by the State Board of Education.
3 (a-5) All tests Any IGAP test administered pursuant to
4 this Section shall be academically based. For the purposes
5 of this Section, "academically based" tests shall mean tests
6 consisting of questions and answers that are objective,
7 measurable, and, where possible, quantifiable to measure the
8 knowledge, skill, and ability of students in the traditional
9 core subjects of math, science, English grammar, literature,
10 history, geography, civics, and government. Tests
11 administered pursuant to this Section shall not be
12 performance, demonstration, or authentic tests, nor shall the
13 tests include subjective assessments, assessments or
14 evaluations of attitudes, values, and beliefs, or testing of
15 personality, self esteem, or self concept.
16 (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage
17 school districts to continuously test assess pupil
18 proficiency in the fundamental learning areas in order to:
19 (i) provide timely information on individual students'
20 performance relative to State standards that is adequate to
21 guide instructional strategies; (ii) improve future
22 instruction; and (iii) complement the information provided by
23 the State testing assessment system described in this
24 Section. Each district's school improvement plan must
25 address specific activities the district intends to implement
26 to assist pupils who by teacher judgment and test assessment
27 results as prescribed in subsection (a) of this Section
28 demonstrate that they are not meeting State goals or local
29 objectives. Such activities may include, but shall not be
30 limited to, summer school, extended school day, special
31 homework, tutorial sessions, modified instructional
32 materials, other modifications in the instructional program,
33 reduced class size or retention in grade. To assist school
34 districts in testing assessing pupil proficiency in reading
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1 in the primary grades, the State Board shall make optional
2 reading inventories for diagnostic purposes available to each
3 school district that requests such assistance. Districts
4 that administer the reading inventories may develop
5 remediation programs for students who perform in the bottom
6 half of the student population. Those remediation programs
7 may be funded by moneys provided under the School Safety and
8 Educational Improvement Block Grant Program established under
9 Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this Section shall prevent
10 school districts from implementing testing and remediation
11 policies for grades not required under this Section.
12 (c) Beginning with the 1999-2000 school year, each
13 school district that operates a high school program for
14 students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the
15 Prairie State Achievement Examination established under this
16 subsection to its 12th grade students as set forth below.
17 The Prairie State Achievement Examination shall be developed
18 by the State Board of Education to measure student
19 performance in the 5 fundamental academic areas of reading,
20 writing, mathematics, science, and social sciences. The
21 State Board of Education shall establish the academic
22 standards that are to apply in measuring student performance
23 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination in those 5
24 fundamental academic areas, including the minimum composite
25 examination score and the minimum score in each area that,
26 taken together, will qualify a student to receive the
27 Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition
28 of the student's excellent performance. Each school district
29 that is subject to the requirements of this subsection (c)
30 shall afford a graduating student 2 opportunities to take the
31 Prairie State Achievement Examination during the semester in
32 which the student will graduate. The State Board of
33 Education shall annually notify districts of the weeks during
34 which these test administrations shall be required to occur.
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1 Each student, exclusive of a student whose individualized
2 educational program developed under Article 14 identifies the
3 Prairie State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for
4 the student, shall be required to take the examination in the
5 final semester before his or her graduation. Score reports
6 for each fundamental academic area shall indicate the score
7 that qualifies as an excellent score on that portion of the
8 examination. Any student who attains a satisfactory
9 composite score but who fails to earn a qualifying score in
10 any one or more of the fundamental academic areas on the
11 initial test administration for the semester during which the
12 student will graduate from high school shall be permitted to
13 retake such portion or portions of the examination during the
14 second test of that semester. Districts shall inform their
15 students of the timelines and procedures applicable to their
16 optional participation in such additional administrations of
17 the Prairie State Achievement Examination. Students receiving
18 special education services whose individualized educational
19 programs identify the Prairie State Achievement Examination
20 as inappropriate for them nevertheless shall have the option
21 of taking the examination, which shall be administered to
22 those students in accordance with standards adopted by the
23 State Board of Education to accommodate the respective
24 disabilities of those students. A student who successfully
25 completes all other applicable high school graduation
26 requirements but fails to receive a score on the Prairie
27 State Achievement Examination that qualifies the student for
28 receipt of the Prairie State Achievement Award shall
29 nevertheless qualify for the receipt of a regular high school
30 diploma.
31 (Source: P.A.89-610, eff. 8-6-96; 90-566, eff. 1-2-98.)
32 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
33 becoming law.