[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
92_SB0667 LRB9203182NTsbA 1 AN ACT regarding 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 2-3.64 and 2-3.64a as follows: 6 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64) 7 Sec. 2-3.64. State goals and assessment. 8 (a) Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State 9 Board of Education shall establish standards and 10 periodically, in collaboration with local school districts, 11 conduct studies of student performance in the learning areas 12 of fine arts and physical development/health. Beginning with 13 the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board of Education shall 14 annually test: (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, and 15 8th grades in English language arts (reading, writing, and 16 English grammar) and mathematics; and (ii) all pupils 17 enrolled in the 4th and 7th grades in the biological and 18 physical sciences and the social sciences (history, 19 geography, civics, economics, and government). Beginning 20 with the 2004-2005 school year, the State Board of Education 21 shall annually test all pupils enrolled in the 4th, 6th, 7th, 22 9th, and 10th grades in English language arts (reading, 23 writing, and English grammar) and mathematics. The General 24 Assembly shall appropriate sufficient funds for the 25 implementation of this testing schedule and to ensure that 26 the tests are of high quality, are aligned to the State 27 Standards, and provide educationally useful information to 28 the State, local educators, and the broader public. The 29 modifications to the State assessment system imposed by this 30 amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly are a service 31 mandate as defined under the State Mandates Act. If the -2- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 General Assembly does not appropriate sufficient funds for 2 the implementation of the modifications to the State 3 assessment system as imposed by this amendatory Act of the 4 92nd General Assembly and as described in this Section, the 5 modifications to the State assessment system shall not be 6 implemented. The State Board of Education, with funds 7 appropriated by the General Assembly, shall establish a pilot 8 program for the voluntary participation in the 2003-2004 9 school year of any school district that desires to 10 participate in the State tests not mandated until the 11 2004-2005 school year. The State Board of Education shall 12 establish the academic standards that are to be applicable to 13 pupils who are subject to State tests under this Section 14 beginning with the 1998-1999 school year. However, the State 15 Board of Education shall not establish any such standards in 16 final form without first providing opportunities for public 17 participation and local input in the development of the final 18 academic standards. Those opportunities shall include a 19 well-publicized period of public comment, public hearings 20 throughout the State, and opportunities to file written 21 comments. Beginning with the 2001-2002 school year, the State 22 Board of Education, in collaboration with the regional 23 offices of education and school districts, shall develop 24 materials and fund activities and professional development to 25 raise awareness, knowledge, and the capacity of local 26 educators to align school and classroom practices with the 27 State Standards and to use the results of the State tests to 28 improve instruction and student learning. The General 29 Assembly shall allocate sufficient funds to ensure a high 30 quality implementation of this effort. Beginning with the 31 1998-99 school year and thereafter, the State tests will 32 identify pupils in the 3rd grade or 5th grade who do not meet 33 the State Standards. If, by performance on the State tests 34 or local assessments or by teacher judgment, a student's -3- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 performance is determined to be 2 or more grades below 2 current placement, the student shall be provided a 3 remediation program developed by the district in consultation 4 with a parent or guardian. Such remediation programs may 5 include, but shall not be limited to, increased or 6 concentrated instructional time, a remedial summer school 7 program of not less than 90 hours, improved instructional 8 approaches, tutorial sessions, retention in grade, and 9 modifications to instructional materials. Each pupil for 10 whom a remediation program is developed under this subsection 11 shall be required to enroll in and attend whatever program 12 the district determines is appropriate for the pupil. 13 Districts may combine students in remediation programs where 14 appropriate and may cooperate with other districts in the 15 design and delivery of those programs. The parent or 16 guardian of a student required to attend a remediation 17 program under this Section shall be given written notice of 18 that requirement by the school district a reasonable time 19 prior to commencement of the remediation program that the 20 student is to attend. The State shall be responsible for 21 providing school districts with the new and additional 22 funding, under Section 2-3.51.5 or by other or additional 23 means, that is required to enable the districts to operate 24 remediation programs for the pupils who are required to 25 enroll in and attend those programs under this Section. 26 Every individualized educational program as described in 27 Article 14 shall identify if the State test or components 28 thereof are appropriate for that student. For those pupils 29 for whom the State tests or components thereof are not 30 appropriate, the State Board of Education shall develop rules 31 and regulations governing the administration of alternative 32 tests prescribed within each student's individualized 33 educational program which are appropriate to the disability 34 of each student. All pupils who are in a State approved -4- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 transitional bilingual education program or transitional 2 program of instruction shall participate in the State tests. 3 Any student who has been enrolled in a State approved 4 bilingual education program less than 3 academic years shall 5 be exempted if the student's lack of English as determined by 6 an English language proficiency test would keep the student 7 from understanding the test, and that student's district 8 shall have an alternative test program in place for that 9 student. The State Board of Education shall appoint a task 10 force of concerned parents, teachers, school administrators 11 and other professionals to assist in identifying such 12 alternative tests. Reasonable accommodations as prescribed 13 by the State Board of Education shall be provided for 14 individual students in the testing procedure. All test 15 procedures prescribed by the State Board of Education shall 16 require: (i) that each test used for State and local student 17 testing under this Section identify by name the pupil taking 18 the test; (ii) that the name of the pupil taking the test be 19 placed on the test at the time the test is taken; (iii) that 20 the results or scores of each test taken under this Section 21 by a pupil of the school district be reported to that 22 district and identify by name the pupil who received the 23 reported results or scores;and(iv) that the results or 24 scores of each test taken under this Section be made 25 available to the parents of the pupil; and (v) that each 26 pupil taking the State tests be given an individually 27 identifiable, confidential, and consistent number that shall 28 be placed on every State test taken by that pupil for the 29 purposes of showing the pupil's learning growth made over 30 time and aiding school districts in meeting the learning 31 needs of each pupil. In addition, beginning with the 32 2000-2001 school year and in each school year thereafter, the 33 highest scores and performance levels attained by a student 34 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination administered -5- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 under subsection (c) of this Section shall become part of the 2 student's permanent record and shall be entered on the 3 student's transcript pursuant to regulations that the State 4 Board of Education shall promulgate for that purpose in 5 accordance with Section 3 and subsection (e) of Section 2 of 6 the Illinois School Student Records Act. Beginning with the 7 1998-1999 school year and in every school year thereafter, 8 scores received by students on the Stateassessmenttests 9 administered in grades 3 through 108shall be placed into 10 students' temporary records. The State Board of Education 11 shall establish a common month in each school year for which 12 State testing shall occur to meet the objectives of this 13 Section. However, if the schools of a district are closed 14 and classes are not scheduled during any week that is 15 established by the State Board of Education as the week of 16 the month when State testing under this Section shall occur, 17 the school district may administer the required State testing 18 at any time up to 2 weeks following the week established by 19 the State Board of Education for the testing, so long as the 20 school district gives the State Board of Education written 21 notice of its intention to deviate from the established 22 schedule by December 1 of the school year in which falls the 23 week established by the State Board of Education for the 24 testing. Results from all State tests shall be disseminated 25 to school districts, schools, and the broader public in a 26 format that is understandable and can be used to improve 27 instructional practices. The results from all State tests, 28 except the writing test, shall be disseminated no later than 29 45 days before the end of the State fiscal year in which the 30 tests are administered. The results from the State writing 31 test shall be disseminated before the beginning of the school 32 year following the school year in which the test is 33 administered. It shall be a goal of the committee created 34 under Section 2-3.64a of this Code to work with the State -6- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 Board of Education to identify strategies to score and 2 disseminate the results of the State writing test earlier. 3 The maximum time allowed for all actual testing required 4 under this subsection during the school year shall not exceed 5 1.525hours per subject per yearas allocated among the6required tests by the State Board of Education. 7 (a-5) All tests administered pursuant to this Section 8 shall be academically based and aligned to the State 9 Standards. For the purposes of this Section "academically 10 based tests" shall mean tests consisting of questions and 11 answers that are measurable and quantifiable to measure the 12 knowledge, skill, and ability of students in the subject 13 matters covered by tests. The academically-based annual 14 tests administered pursuant to this Section and their scoring 15of academically based testsshall be reliable, valid, 16 unbiased and shall meet the guidelines for test development 17 and use prescribed by the American Psychological Association, 18 the National Council of Measurement and Evaluation, and the 19 American Educational Research Association. Academically based 20 tests shall not include assessments or evaluations of 21 attitudes, values, or beliefs, or testing of personality, 22 self-esteem, or self-concept. Nothing in this amendatory Act 23 is intended, nor shall it be construed, to nullify, 24 supersede, or contradict the legislative intent on academic 25 testing expressed during the passage of HB 1005/P.A. 90-296. 26 Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board 27 of Education may, on a pilot basis, include in the State 28 assessments in reading and math at each grade level tested no 29 more than 2 short answer questions, where students have to 30 respond in brief to questions or prompts or show 31 computations, rather than select from alternatives that are 32 presented. In the first year that such questions are used, 33 scores on the short answer questions shall not be reported on 34 an individual student basis but shall be aggregated for each -7- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 school building in which the tests are given. State-level, 2 school, and district scores shall be reported both with and 3 without the results of the short answer questions so that the 4 effect of short answer questions is clearly discernible. 5 Beginning in the second year of this pilot program, scores on 6 the short answer questions shall be reported both on an 7 individual student basis and on a school building basis in 8 order to monitor the effects of teacher training and 9 curriculum improvements on score results. 10 The State Board of Education shall not continue the use 11 of short answer questions in the math and reading 12 assessments, or extend the use of such questions to other 13 State assessments, unless this pilot project demonstrates 14 that the use of short answer questions results in a 15 statistically significant improvement in student achievement 16 as measured on the State assessments for math and reading and 17 is justifiable in terms of cost and student performance. 18 (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage 19 school districts to continuously assesstestpupil 20 proficiency in the fundamental learning areas in order to: 21 (i) provide timely information on individual students' 22 performance relative to State standards that is adequate to 23 guide instructional strategies; (ii) improve future 24 instruction; and (iii) complement, but not duplicate, the 25 information provided by the State assessmenttestingsystem 26 described in this Section. Each district's school 27 improvement plan must address specific activities the 28 district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher 29 judgment and test results as prescribed in subsection (a) of 30 this Section demonstrate that they are not meeting State 31 Standards or local objectives. Such activities may include, 32 but shall not be limited to, summer school, extended school 33 day, special homework, tutorial sessions, modified 34 instructional materials, other modifications in the -8- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 instructional program, reduced class size or retention in 2 grade. To assist school districts in testing 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 2000-2001 school year, each 16 school district that operates a high school program for 17 students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the 18 Prairie State Achievement Examination established under this 19 subsection to its students as set forth below. The Prairie 20 State Achievement Examination shall be developed by the State 21 Board of Education to measure student performance in the 22 academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and 23 social sciences. The State Board of Education shall 24 establish the academic standards that are to apply in 25 measuring student performance on the Prairie State 26 Achievement Examination including the minimum examination 27 score in each area that will qualify a student to receive a 28 Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition 29 of the student's excellent performance. Each school district 30 that is subject to the requirements of this subsection (c) 31 shall afford all students 2 opportunities to take the Prairie 32 State Achievement Examination beginning as late as practical 33 during the second semester of grade 11, but in no event 34 before March 1. The State Board of Education shall annually -9- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 notify districts of the weeks during which these test 2 administrations shall be required to occur. Every 3 individualized educational program as described in Article 14 4 shall identify if the Prairie State Achievement Examination 5 or components thereof are appropriate for that student. Each 6 student, exclusive of a student whose individualized 7 educational program developed under Article 14 identifies the 8 Prairie State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for 9 the student, shall be required to take the examination in 10 grade 11. For each academic area the State Board of 11 Education shall establish the score that qualifies for the 12 Prairie State Achievement Award on that portion of the 13 examination. Any student who fails to earn a qualifying 14 score for a Prairie State Achievement Award in any one or 15 more of the academic areas on the initial test administration 16 or who wishes to improve his or her score on any portion of 17 the examination shall be permitted to retake such portion or 18 portions of the examination during grade 12. Districts shall 19 inform their students of the timelines and procedures 20 applicable to their participation in every yearly 21 administration of the Prairie State Achievement Examination. 22 Students receiving special education services whose 23 individualized educational programs identify the Prairie 24 State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for them 25 nevertheless shall have the option of taking the examination, 26 which shall be administered to those students in accordance 27 with standards adopted by the State Board of Education to 28 accommodate the respective disabilities of those students. A 29 student who successfully completes all other applicable high 30 school graduation requirements but fails to receive a score 31 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination that qualifies 32 the student for receipt of a Prairie State Achievement Award 33 shall nevertheless qualify for the receipt of a regular high 34 school diploma. -10- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 (Source: P.A. 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 90-789, eff. 8-14-98; 2 91-283, eff. 7-29-99.) 3 (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64a) 4 Sec. 2-3.64a. State Assessment System Policy and 5 ImplementationTesting ReviewCommittee. The State 6 Superintendent of Education, with the advice of the Joint 7 Education Committee, shall appoint a committeeof no more8than 20consisting of one parentparents, one student, 4 9 teachers, 4 school administrators, one school district board 10 member, 2 university-based assessment experts, one 11 representative of higher education, and one representative 12 from the business community. The State Superintendent of 13 Education shall also be a member of this Committee. The 14 Committee shall be appointed by September 30, 2001. Half of 15 the appointed members on the Committee shall serve 3-year 16 terms, while the other half shall serve 2-year terms. The 17 State Superintendent of Education may reappoint any member 18 upon completion of the member's term and shall make 19 appointments in a timely manner to fill any resignation. 20 This committee shall have the responsibilityand concerned21citizensto review the State assessment system, including the 22Illinois Goals and Assessment Programtests administered by 23 the State Board of Education, and the efforts to raise 24 awareness and the capacity to implement the State Standards. 25 The Committee shall take any actions necessary to ensure the 26 assessment system, including the tests, administration, 27 reporting, and professional development described in 28 subsection (a) of Section 2-3.64 of this Code, is of high 29 quality and educationally useful and understandable. The 30 State Superintendent of Education shall appoint the 31 Committee's chairperson, from among the appointed members, to 32 serve for a 2-year term.The Committee shall select one of33the parent representatives as its chairman.The Committee -11- LRB9203182NTsbA 1 shall meet on an ongoing basis to review the quality of the 2 content,anddesign, implementation, and reporting of the 3 tests (including whether the requirements of subsection (a-5) 4 of Section 2-3.64 have been met), the time and money expended 5 at the local and state levels to prepare for and administer 6 the tests, the collective results of the tests as measured 7 against the stated purpose of testing student performance, 8 and other issues involving the tests identified by the 9 Committee. The Committee shall be jointly staffed by the 10 State Board of Education and a university selected by the 11 Committee. Funding for the staffing shall be included in the 12 State Board of Education's assessment budget. The Committee 13 shall make periodic reports and recommendations to the State 14 Board of Education, the broader public,Superintendentand 15 the General Assembly concerning the overall State assessment 16 system, including the State tests and related issues. 17 (Source: P.A. 89-184, eff. 7-19-95; 90-789, eff. 8-14-98.) 18 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on 19 July 1, 2001.