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| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] |
92_HB1895eng HB1895 Engrossed LRB9205325NTsb 1 AN ACT relating to education. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing 5 Sections 2-3.25d, 2-3.64, and 10-17a as follows: 6 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.25d) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.25d) 7 Sec. 2-3.25d. Academic watch list. Those schools that 8 are not meeting the standards of academic performance 9 measured by the State assessment of student performance as 10 specified by the State Board of Education may be placed on an 11 academic watch list established by the State Superintendent 12 of Education after serving for 2 years on the State Board of 13 Education Early Academic Warning List and shall be subject to 14 an on-site visitation to determine whether extenuating 15 circumstances exist as to why a school or schools should not 16 be placed on an academic watch list by the State 17 Superintendent of Education. However, only scores on State 18 assessments of students enrolled in a school on or before 19 November 1 of the school year in which a State assessment is 20 given shall be used in determining whether a school is placed 21 on the Early Academic Warning List or an academic watch list. 22 A school district that has one or more schools on the 23 academic watch list shall submit a revised School Improvement 24 Plan or amendments thereto setting forth the district's 25 expectations for removing each school in the district from 26 the academic watch list and for improving student performance 27 in that school. Districts operating under Article 34 of The 28 School Code may submit the School Improvement Plan required 29 under Section 34-2.4. If any district submits a School 30 Improvement Plan which exceeds 2 years in duration, the Plan 31 shall contain provisions for evaluation and determination as HB1895 Engrossed -2- LRB9205325NTsb 1 to the improvement of student performance or school 2 improvement after no later than 2 years. The revised School 3 Improvement Plan or amendments thereto shall be developed in 4 consultation with the staff of the affected school and must 5 be approved by the local board of education and the school's 6 local school council for districts operating under Article 34 7 of the School Code. Revised School Improvement Plans must be 8 submitted for approval to the State Superintendent of 9 Education pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by 10 the State Board of Education. The revised School Improvement 11 Plan shall address specific, measurable outcomes for 12 improving student performance so that such performance equals 13 or exceeds standards set for the school by the State Board of 14 Education. 15 A school or schools shall remain on the academic watch 16 list for at least one full academic year. During each 17 academic year for which a school is on the academic watch 18 list it shall continue to be evaluated and assessed by the 19 State Board of Education as to whether it is meeting outcomes 20 identified in its revised School Improvement Plan. 21 The provisions of this Section are subject to the 22 provisions of Section 2-3.25k. 23 (Source: P.A. 89-398, eff. 8-20-95; 89-698, eff. 1-14-97.) 24 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64) 25 Sec. 2-3.64. State goals and assessment. 26 (a) Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State 27 Board of Education shall establish standards and 28 periodically, in collaboration with local school districts, 29 conduct studies of student performance in the learning areas 30 of fine arts and physical development/health. Beginning with 31 the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board of Education shall 32 annually test: (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, and 33 8th grades in English language arts (reading, writing, and HB1895 Engrossed -3- LRB9205325NTsb 1 English grammar) and mathematics; and (ii) all pupils 2 enrolled in the 4th and 7th grades in the biological and 3 physical sciences and the social sciences (history, 4 geography, civics, economics, and government). The State 5 Board of Education shall establish the academic standards 6 that are to be applicable to pupils who are subject to State 7 tests under this Section beginning with the 1998-1999 school 8 year. However, the State Board of Education shall not 9 establish any such standards in final form without first 10 providing opportunities for public participation and local 11 input in the development of the final academic standards. 12 Those opportunities shall include a well-publicized period of 13 public comment, public hearings throughout the State, and 14 opportunities to file written comments. Beginning with the 15 1998-99 school year and thereafter, the State tests will 16 identify pupils in the 3rd grade or 5th grade who do not meet 17 the State standards. If, by performance on the State tests 18 or local assessments or by teacher judgment, a student's 19 performance is determined to be 2 or more grades below 20 current placement, the student shall be provided a 21 remediation program developed by the district in consultation 22 with a parent or guardian. Such remediation programs may 23 include, but shall not be limited to, increased or 24 concentrated instructional time, a remedial summer school 25 program of not less than 90 hours, improved instructional 26 approaches, tutorial sessions, retention in grade, and 27 modifications to instructional materials. Each pupil for 28 whom a remediation program is developed under this subsection 29 shall be required to enroll in and attend whatever program 30 the district determines is appropriate for the pupil. 31 Districts may combine students in remediation programs where 32 appropriate and may cooperate with other districts in the 33 design and delivery of those programs. The parent or 34 guardian of a student required to attend a remediation HB1895 Engrossed -4- LRB9205325NTsb 1 program under this Section shall be given written notice of 2 that requirement by the school district a reasonable time 3 prior to commencement of the remediation program that the 4 student is to attend. The State shall be responsible for 5 providing school districts with the new and additional 6 funding, under Section 2-3.51.5 or by other or additional 7 means, that is required to enable the districts to operate 8 remediation programs for the pupils who are required to 9 enroll in and attend those programs under this Section. 10 Every individualized educational program as described in 11 Article 14 shall identify if the State test or components 12 thereof are appropriate for that student. For those pupils 13 for whom the State tests or components thereof are not 14 appropriate, the State Board of Education shall develop rules 15 and regulations governing the administration of alternative 16 tests prescribed within each student's individualized 17 educational program which are appropriate to the disability 18 of each student. All pupils who are in a State approved 19 transitional bilingual education program or transitional 20 program of instruction shall participate in the State tests. 21 School personnel may consider not giving the Illinois 22 Standards Achievement Test or the Prairie State Achievement 23 Examination to any student who has been enrolled in a State 24 approved bilingual education program less than 3 cumulative 25 academic yearsshall be exemptedif the student's lack of 26 English as determined by an English language proficiency test 27 would keep the student from understanding the test., and28 That studentstudent's districtshall participate in State 29 assessments developed for students with limited English 30 proficiency, unless the student was enrolled in a district 31 after September 30 and therefore has not attended school in 32 that district for a full academic yearhave an alternative33test program in place for that student. The State Board of34Education shall appoint a task force of concerned parents,HB1895 Engrossed -5- LRB9205325NTsb 1teachers, school administrators and other professionals to2assist in identifying such alternative tests. Reasonable 3 accommodations as prescribed by the State Board of Education 4 shall be provided for individual students in the testing 5 procedure. All test procedures prescribed by the State Board 6 of Education shall require: (i) that each test used for State 7 and local student testing under this Section identify by name 8 the pupil taking the test; (ii) that the name of the pupil 9 taking the test be placed on the test at the time the test is 10 taken; (iii) that the results or scores of each test taken 11 under this Section by a pupil of the school district be 12 reported to that district and identify by name the pupil who 13 received the reported results or scores; and (iv) that the 14 results or scores of each test taken under this Section be 15 made available to the parents of the pupil. In addition, 16 beginning with the 2000-2001 school year and in each school 17 year thereafter, the highest scores and any Prairie State 18 Achievement Awardsperformance levelsattained by a student 19 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination administered 20 under subsection (c) of this Section shall become part of the 21 student's permanent record and shall be entered on the 22 student's transcript pursuant to regulations that the State 23 Board of Education shall promulgate for that purpose in 24 accordance with Section 3 and subsection (e) of Section 2 of 25 the Illinois School Student Records Act. Beginning with the 26 1998-1999 school year and in every school year thereafter, 27 scores received by students on the State assessment tests 28 administered in grades 3 through 8 shall be placed into 29 students' temporary records. The State Board of Education 30 shall establish a common month in each school year for which 31 State testing shall occur to meet the objectives of this 32 Section. However, if the schools of a district are closed 33 and classes are not scheduled during any week that is 34 established by the State Board of Education as the week of HB1895 Engrossed -6- LRB9205325NTsb 1 the month when State testing under this Section shall occur, 2 the school district may administer the required State testing 3 at any time up to 2 weeks following the week established by 4 the State Board of Education for the testing, so long as the 5 school district gives the State Board of Education written 6 notice of its intention to deviate from the established 7 schedule by December 1 of the school year in which falls the 8 week established by the State Board of Education for the 9 testing. Mandatory make-up testing must occur on designated 10 make-up testing dates for State assessments. A school 11 district shall maintain a file that contains the names of 12 students who were not tested and statements for these 13 students that explain why they were not tested. The maximum 14 time allowed for all actual testing required under this 15 subsection during the school year shall not exceed 25 hours 16 as allocated among the required tests by the State Board of 17 Education. 18 (a-5) All tests administered pursuant to this Section 19 shall be academically based. For the purposes of this 20 Section "academically based tests" shall mean tests 21 consisting of questions and answers that are measurable and 22 quantifiable to measure the knowledge, skill, and ability of 23 students in the subject matters covered by tests. The 24 scoring of academically based tests shall be reliable, valid, 25 unbiased and shall meet the guidelines for test development 26 and use prescribed by the American Psychological Association, 27 the National Council of Measurement and Evaluation, and the 28 American Educational Research Association. Academically based 29 tests shall not include assessments or evaluations of 30 attitudes, values, or beliefs, or testing of personality, 31 self-esteem, or self-concept. Nothing in this amendatory Act 32 is intended, nor shall it be construed, to nullify, 33 supersede, or contradict the legislative intent on academic 34 testing expressed during the passage of HB 1005/P.A. 90-296. HB1895 Engrossed -7- LRB9205325NTsb 1 Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board 2 of Education may, on a pilot basis, include in the State 3 assessments in reading and math at each grade level tested no 4 more than 2 short answer questions, where students have to 5 respond in brief to questions or prompts or show 6 computations, rather than select from alternatives that are 7 presented. In the first year that such questions are used, 8 scores on the short answer questions shall not be reported on 9 an individual student basis but shall be aggregated for each 10 school building in which the tests are given. State-level, 11 school, and district scores shall be reported both with and 12 without the results of the short answer questions so that the 13 effect of short answer questions is clearly discernible. 14 Beginning in the second year of this pilot program, scores on 15 the short answer questions shall be reported both on an 16 individual student basis and on a school building basis in 17 order to monitor the effects of teacher training and 18 curriculum improvements on score results. 19 The State Board of Education shall not continue the use 20 of short answer questions in the math and reading 21 assessments, or extend the use of such questions to other 22 State assessments, unless this pilot project demonstrates 23 that the use of short answer questions results in a 24 statistically significant improvement in student achievement 25 as measured on the State assessments for math and reading and 26 is justifiable in terms of cost and student performance. 27 Beginning in the 2001-2002 school year, the State Board 28 of Education shall not make significant changes in the design 29 of State assessments, other than changing test items as 30 needed to maintain the validity and security of an 31 assessment, for a minimum of 5 school years in order to 32 ensure a continuous, comparable record of student 33 performance. 34 (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage HB1895 Engrossed -8- LRB9205325NTsb 1 school districts to continuously test pupil proficiency in 2 the fundamental learning areas in order to: (i) provide 3 timely information on individual students' performance 4 relative to State standards that is adequate to guide 5 instructional strategies; (ii) improve future instruction; 6 and (iii) complement the information provided by the State 7 testing system described in this Section. Each district's 8 school improvement plan must address specific activities the 9 district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher 10 judgment and test results as prescribed in subsection (a) of 11 this Section demonstrate that they are not meeting State 12 standards or local objectives. Such activities may include, 13 but shall not be limited to, summer school, extended school 14 day, special homework, tutorial sessions, modified 15 instructional materials, other modifications in the 16 instructional program, reduced class size or retention in 17 grade. To assist school districts in testing pupil 18 proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board 19 shall make optional reading inventories for diagnostic 20 purposes available to each school district that requests such 21 assistance. Districts that administer the reading 22 inventories may develop remediation programs for students who 23 perform in the bottom half of the student population. Those 24 remediation programs may be funded by moneys provided under 25 the School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant 26 Program established under Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this 27 Section shall prevent school districts from implementing 28 testing and remediation policies for grades not required 29 under this Section. 30 (c) Beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, each 31 school district that operates a high school program for 32 students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the 33 Prairie State Achievement Examination established under this 34 subsection to its students as set forth below. The Prairie HB1895 Engrossed -9- LRB9205325NTsb 1 State Achievement Examination shall be developed by the State 2 Board of Education to measure student performance in the 3 academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and 4 social sciences. The State Board of Education shall 5 establish the academic standards that are to apply in 6 measuring student performance on the Prairie State 7 Achievement Examination including the minimum examination 8 score in each area that will qualify a student to receive a 9 Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition 10 of the student's excellent performance. Each school district 11 that is subject to the requirements of this subsection (c) 12 shall afford all students 2 opportunities to take the Prairie 13 State Achievement Examination beginning as late as practical 14 during the second semester of grade 11, but in no event 15 before March 1. The State Board of Education shall annually 16 notify districts of the specific dates onweeks duringwhich 17 these test administrations shall be required to occur. 18 Mandatory make-up testing must occur on designated make-up 19 testing dates. A school district shall maintain a file that 20 contains the names of students who were not tested and 21 statements for these students that explain why they were not 22 tested. Every individualized educational program as described 23 in Article 14 shall identify if the Prairie State Achievement 24 Examination or components thereof are appropriate for that 25 student. Each student, exclusive of a student whose 26 individualized educational program developed under Article 14 27 identifies the Prairie State Achievement Examination as 28 inappropriate for the student or a student in a 29 State-approved transitional bilingual education program or a 30 transitional program of instruction who is administered a 31 State assessment developed for students with limited English 32 proficiency in accordance with the requirements of subsection 33 (a) of this Section, shall be required to take the 34 examination in grade 11. For each academic area the State HB1895 Engrossed -10- LRB9205325NTsb 1 Board of Education shall establish the score that qualifies 2 for the Prairie State Achievement Award on that portion of 3 the examination. Any student who fails to earn a qualifying 4 score for a Prairie State Achievement Award in any one or 5 more of the academic areas on the initial test administration 6 or who wishes to improve his or her score on any portion of 7 the examination shall be permitted to retake such portion or 8 portions of the examination during grade 12. Districts shall 9 inform their students of the timelines and procedures 10 applicable to their participation in every yearly 11 administration of the Prairie State Achievement Examination. 12 Students receiving special education services whose 13 individualized educational programs identify the Prairie 14 State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for them 15 nevertheless shall have the option of taking the examination, 16 which shall be administered to those students in accordance 17 with standards adopted by the State Board of Education to 18 accommodate the respective disabilities of those students. 19 All pupils who are enrolled in a State-approved transitional 20 bilingual education program or transitional program of 21 instruction and whose lack of English as determined by an 22 English language proficiency test would keep them from 23 understanding the Prairie State Achievement Examination 24 nevertheless shall have the option of taking the examination. 25 A student who successfully completes all other applicable 26 high school graduation requirements but fails to receive a 27 score on the Prairie State Achievement Examination that 28 qualifies the student for receipt of a Prairie State 29 Achievement Award shall nevertheless qualify for the receipt 30 of a regular high school diploma. 31 (Source: P.A. 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 90-789, eff. 8-14-98; 32 91-283, eff. 7-29-99.) 33 (105 ILCS 5/10-17a) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-17a) HB1895 Engrossed -11- LRB9205325NTsb 1 Sec. 10-17a. Better schools accountability. 2 (1) Policy and Purpose. It shall be the policy of the 3 State of Illinois that each school district in this State, 4 including special charter districts and districts subject to 5 the provisions of Article 34, shall submit to parents, 6 taxpayers of such district, the Governor, the General 7 Assembly, and the State Board of Education a school report 8 card assessing the performance of its schools and students. 9 The report card shall be an index of school performance 10 measured against statewide and local standards and will 11 provide information to make prior year comparisons and to set 12 future year targets through the school improvement plan. 13 (2) Reporting Requirements. Each school district shall 14 prepare a report card in accordance with the guidelines set 15 forth in this Section which describes the performance of its 16 students by school attendance centers and by district and the 17 district's use of financial resources. Such report card 18 shall be presented at a regular school board meeting subject 19 to applicable notice requirements, and such report cards 20 shall be made available to a newspaper of general circulation 21 serving the district and shall be sent home to parents. In 22 addition, each school district shall submit the completed 23 report card to the office of the district's Regional 24 Superintendent which shall make copies available to any 25 individuals requesting them. 26 The report card shall be completed and disseminated prior 27 to October 31 in each school year. The report card shall 28 contain, but not be limited to, actual local school 29 attendance center, school district and statewide data 30 indicating the present performance of the school, the State 31 norms and the areas for planned improvement for the school 32 and school district. 33 (3) (a) The report card shall include the following 34 applicable indicators of attendance center, district, and HB1895 Engrossed -12- LRB9205325NTsb 1 statewide student performance: percentagepercentof students 2 who exceed, meet, or do not meet standards established by the 3 State Board of Education pursuant to Section 2-3.25a; 4 composite and subtest means on nationally normed achievement 5 tests for college bound students; student attendance rates; 6 chronic truancy rate; dropout rate; graduation rate; and 7 student mobility, turnover shown as a percent of transfers 8 out and a percent of transfers in. Beginning with the 2002 9 report card, the indicator for an attendance center and for a 10 district of the percentage of students who exceed, meet, or 11 do not meet standards shall be only for students enrolled in 12 the school or district on or before November 1 of the school 13 year in which a State assessment is given. 14 (b) The report card shall include the following 15 descriptions for the school, district, and State: average 16 class size; amount of time per day devoted to mathematics, 17 science, English and social science at primary, middle and 18 junior high school grade levels; percentage of students 19 taking required State assessments; number of students taking 20 the Prairie State Achievement Examination under subsection 21 (c) of Section 2-3.64, the number of those students who 22 received a score of excellent, and the average score by 23 school of students taking the examination; pupil-teacher 24 ratio; pupil-administrator ratio; operating expenditure per 25 pupil; district expenditure by fund; average administrator 26 salary; and average teacher salary. Beginning with the 2002 27 report card, the Prairie State Achievement Examination 28 descriptions for a school and for a district shall be only 29 for students enrolled in the school or district on or before 30 November 1 of the school year in which the examination is 31 given. 32 (c) The report card shall include applicable indicators 33 of parental involvement in each attendance center. The 34 parental involvement component of the report card shall HB1895 Engrossed -13- LRB9205325NTsb 1 include the percentage of students whose parents or guardians 2 have had one or more personal contacts with the students' 3 teachers during the school year concerning the students' 4 education, and such other information, commentary, and 5 suggestions as the school district desires. For the purposes 6 of this paragraph, "personal contact" includes, but is not 7 limited to, parent-teacher conferences, parental visits to 8 school, school visits to home, telephone conversations, and 9 written correspondence. The parental involvement component 10 shall not single out or identify individual students, 11 parents, or guardians by name. 12 (d) The report card form shall be prepared by the State 13 Board of Education and provided to school districts. 14 (Source: P.A. 89-610, eff. 8-6-96.) 15 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 16 becoming law.