HB0506enr 91st General Assembly


91_HB0506enr

 
HB0506 Enrolled                                LRB9100167NTsb

 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: (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd,  5th,  and
23    8th,  and  10th  grades  in  English language arts  (reading,
24    writing, and English grammar) and mathematics; and  (ii)  all
25    pupils  enrolled  in the 4th and, 7th, and 11th grades in the
26    biological and physical  sciences  and  the  social  sciences
27    (history,  geography, civics, economics, and government). The
28    State Board of Education shall establish, in final  form  and
29    within  one  year after the effective date of this amendatory
30    Act of 1996, the academic standards that are to be applicable
31    to pupils who are subject to State tests under  this  Section
 
HB0506 Enrolled             -2-                LRB9100167NTsb
 1    beginning with the 1998-1999 school year.  However, the State
 2    Board  of Education shall not establish any such standards in
 3    final form without first providing opportunities  for  public
 4    participation and local input in the development of the final
 5    academic  standards.   Those  opportunities  shall  include a
 6    well-publicized period of  public  comment,  public  hearings
 7    throughout  the  State,  and  opportunities  to  file written
 8    comments.  Beginning  with  the  1998-99  school   year   and
 9    thereafter,  the  State tests will identify pupils in the 3rd
10    grade or 5th grade who do not meet the State standards.   If,
11    by  performance on the State tests or local assessments or by
12    teacher judgment, a student's performance is determined to be
13    2 or more grades below current placement, the  student  shall
14    be  provided  a remediation program developed by the district
15    in 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
 
HB0506 Enrolled             -3-                LRB9100167NTsb
 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 tests test or components thereof are  not  appropriate,
 7    the   State  Board  of  Education  shall  develop  rules  and
 8    regulations governing the administration of alternative tests
 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.   Any
14    student  who  has been enrolled in a State approved bilingual
15    education  program  less  than  3  academic  years  shall  be
16    exempted if the student's lack of English as determined by an
17    English language proficiency test would keep the student from
18    understanding the test, and  that  student's  district  shall
19    have  an  alternative test program in place for that student.
20    The State Board of Education shall appoint a  task  force  of
21    concerned  parents, teachers, school administrators and other
22    professionals  to  assist  in  identifying  such  alternative
23    tests. Reasonable accommodations as prescribed by  the  State
24    Board  of Education shall be provided for individual students
25    in the testing procedure.  All test procedures prescribed  by
26    the  State  Board  of  Education shall require: (i) that each
27    test used for State and  local  student  testing  under  this
28    Section identify by name the pupil taking the test; (ii) that
29    the  name  of the pupil taking the test be placed on the test
30    at the time the test is taken;  (iii)  that  the  results  or
31    scores  of  each  test taken under this Section by a pupil of
32    the school district be reported to that district and identify
33    by name the  pupil  who  received  the  reported  results  or
34    scores;  and  (iv)  that  the  results or scores of each test
 
HB0506 Enrolled             -4-                LRB9100167NTsb
 1    taken under this Section be made available to the parents  of
 2    the  pupil.  In addition, beginning with the 1998-1999 school
 3    year and in each school year thereafter, all scores  received
 4    by  a  student  on  the Illinois Goals and Assessment Program
 5    tests administered in grades 10 and 11 by the State Board  of
 6    Education   under   this  Section  and,  beginning  with  the
 7    1999-2000-2001  school  year  and   in   each   school   year
 8    thereafter,   the   highest  scores  and  performance  levels
 9    attained  received  by  a  student  on  the   Prairie   State
10    Achievement  Examination administered under subsection (c) of
11    this Section shall become part  of  the  student's  permanent
12    record  and  shall  be  entered  on  the student's transcript
13    therein pursuant to  regulations  that  the  State  Board  of
14    Education  shall  promulgate  for  that purpose in accordance
15    with Section 3  and  subsection  (e)  of  Section  2  of  the
16    Illinois  School  Student  Records  Act.  Beginning  with the
17    1998-1999 school year and in every  school  year  thereafter,
18    scores  received by students on the State assessment Illinois
19    Goals and Assessment  Program  tests  administered  in  other
20    grades  3  through 8 shall be placed into students' temporary
21    records.  Except  as  provided  in  subsection  (c)  of  this
22    Section,  The  State  Board  of  Education  shall establish a
23    common month in each school  year  for  which  State  testing
24    shall occur to meet the objectives of this Section.  However,
25    if  the  schools of a district are closed and classes are not
26    scheduled during any week that is established  by  the  State
27    Board  of  Education  as  the  week  of  the month when State
28    testing under this Section shall occur, the  school  district
29    may administer the required State testing at any time up to 2
30    weeks  following  the  week established by the State Board of
31    Education for the testing, so long  as  the  school  district
32    gives  the  State  Board  of  Education written notice of its
33    intention  to  deviate  from  the  established  schedule   by
34    December  1  January  2 of the school year in which falls the
 
HB0506 Enrolled             -5-                LRB9100167NTsb
 1    week established by the State  Board  of  Education  for  the
 2    testing.   The  maximum  time  allowed for all actual testing
 3    required under this subsection during the school  year  shall
 4    not  exceed 25 hours as allocated among the required tests by
 5    the State Board of Education.
 6        (a-5) All tests administered  pursuant  to  this  Section
 7    shall  be  academically  based.   For  the  purposes  of this
 8    Section  "academically  based   tests"   shall   mean   tests
 9    consisting  of  questions and answers that are measurable and
10    quantifiable to measure the knowledge, skill, and ability  of
11    students in the subject matters covered by tests. The scoring
12    of   academically  based  tests  shall  be  reliable,  valid,
13    unbiased and shall meet the guidelines for  test  development
14    and use prescribed by the American Psychological Association,
15    the  National  Council of Measurement and Evaluation, and the
16    American Educational Research Association. Academically based
17    tests  shall  not  include  assessments  or  evaluations   of
18    attitudes,  values,  or  beliefs,  or testing of personality,
19    self-esteem, or self-concept. Nothing in this amendatory  Act
20    is   intended,   nor  shall  it  be  construed,  to  nullify,
21    supersede, or contradict the legislative intent  on  academic
22    testing expressed during the passage of HB 1005/P.A. 90-296.
23        Beginning  in  the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board
24    of Education may, on a pilot  basis,  include  in  the  State
25    assessments in reading and math at each grade level tested no
26    more  than  2  short answer questions, where students have to
27    respond  in  brief  to   questions   or   prompts   or   show
28    computations,  rather  than select from alternatives that are
29    presented.  In the first year that such questions  are  used,
30    scores on the short answer questions shall not be reported on
31    an  individual student basis but shall be aggregated for each
32    school building in which the tests are  given.   State-level,
33    school,  and  district scores shall be reported both with and
34    without the results of the short answer questions so that the
 
HB0506 Enrolled             -6-                LRB9100167NTsb
 1    effect of short  answer  questions  is  clearly  discernible.
 2    Beginning in the second year of this pilot program, scores on
 3    the  short  answer  questions  shall  be  reported both on an
 4    individual student basis and on a school  building  basis  in
 5    order   to  monitor  the  effects  of  teacher  training  and
 6    curriculum improvements on score results.
 7        The State Board of Education shall not continue  the  use
 8    of   short   answer   questions   in  the  math  and  reading
 9    assessments, or extend the use of  such  questions  to  other
10    State  assessments,  unless  this  pilot project demonstrates
11    that  the  use  of  short  answer  questions  results  in   a
12    statistically  significant improvement in student achievement
13    as measured on the State assessments for math and reading and
14    is justifiable in terms of cost and student performance.
15        (b)  It shall be the policy of  the  State  to  encourage
16    school  districts  to  continuously test pupil proficiency in
17    the fundamental learning areas  in  order  to:   (i)  provide
18    timely   information   on  individual  students'  performance
19    relative  to  State  standards  that  is  adequate  to  guide
20    instructional strategies; (ii)  improve  future  instruction;
21    and  (iii)  complement  the information provided by the State
22    testing system described in this  Section.   Each  district's
23    school  improvement plan must address specific activities the
24    district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher
25    judgment and test results as prescribed in subsection (a)  of
26    this  Section  demonstrate  that  they  are not meeting State
27    standards goals or  local  objectives.  Such  activities  may
28    include, but shall not be limited to, summer school, extended
29    school  day,  special  homework,  tutorial sessions, modified
30    instructional   materials,   other   modifications   in   the
31    instructional program, reduced class  size  or  retention  in
32    grade.      To  assist  school  districts  in  testing  pupil
33    proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board
34    shall  make  optional  reading  inventories  for   diagnostic
 
HB0506 Enrolled             -7-                LRB9100167NTsb
 1    purposes available to each school district that requests such
 2    assistance.     Districts   that   administer   the   reading
 3    inventories may develop remediation programs for students who
 4    perform in the bottom half of the student population.   Those
 5    remediation  programs  may be funded by moneys provided under
 6    the School Safety and  Educational  Improvement  Block  Grant
 7    Program  established  under Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this
 8    Section shall  prevent  school  districts  from  implementing
 9    testing  and  remediation  policies  for  grades not required
10    under this Section.
11        (c)  Beginning with the 1999-2000-2001 school year,  each
12    school  district  that  operates  a  high  school program for
13    students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the
14    Prairie State Achievement Examination established under  this
15    subsection  to  its  12th  grade students as set forth below.
16    The Prairie State Achievement Examination shall be  developed
17    by   the   State   Board  of  Education  to  measure  student
18    performance in the 5 fundamental academic areas  of  reading,
19    writing,  mathematics,  science,  and  social  sciences.  The
20    State  Board  of  Education  shall  establish  the   academic
21    standards  that are to apply in measuring student performance
22    on the Prairie  State  Achievement  Examination  in  those  5
23    fundamental  academic  areas, including the minimum composite
24    examination score and the minimum score in  each  area  that,
25    taken  together,  will  qualify  a  student  to receive a the
26    Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition
27    of the student's excellent performance. Each school  district
28    that  is  subject  to the requirements of this subsection (c)
29    shall  afford   all   students   a   graduating   student   2
30    opportunities   to   take   the   Prairie  State  Achievement
31    Examination beginning as late as practical during the  second
32    semester  of  grade 11, but in no event before March 1 during
33    the semester in which the student will graduate.   The  State
34    Board  of  Education  shall  annually notify districts of the
 
HB0506 Enrolled             -8-                LRB9100167NTsb
 1    weeks  during  which  these  test  administrations  shall  be
 2    required to occur. Every individualized  educational  program
 3    as  described  in  Article  14  shall identify if the Prairie
 4    State  Achievement  Examination  or  components  thereof  are
 5    appropriate for that student. Each student,  exclusive  of  a
 6    student  whose  individualized  educational program developed
 7    under Article 14 identifies  the  Prairie  State  Achievement
 8    Examination  as  inappropriate  for  the  student,  shall  be
 9    required  to  take  the  examination  in  grade 11. the final
10    semester before his or her graduation.   Score  reports   For
11    each  fundamental  academic area the State Board of Education
12    shall establish indicate the score  that  qualifies  for  the
13    Prairie State Achievement Award as an excellent score on that
14    portion  of  the  examination.   Any  student  who  attains a
15    satisfactory  composite  score  but  who  fails  to  earn   a
16    qualifying score for a Prairie State Achievement Award in any
17    one  or more of the fundamental academic areas on the initial
18    test administration or who wishes to improve his or her score
19    on any portion of the examination  for  the  semester  during
20    which  the  student  will  graduate from high school shall be
21    permitted  to  retake  such  portion  or  portions   of   the
22    examination during grade 12 the second test of that semester.
23    Districts  shall  inform  their students of the timelines and
24    procedures applicable  to  their  optional  participation  in
25    every  yearly  administration such additional administrations
26    of  the  Prairie  State  Achievement  Examination.   Students
27    receiving  special  education  services  whose individualized
28    educational programs identify the Prairie  State  Achievement
29    Examination as inappropriate for them nevertheless shall have
30    the   option  of  taking  the  examination,  which  shall  be
31    administered to those students in accordance  with  standards
32    adopted   by  the State Board of Education to accommodate the
33    respective disabilities of those  students.   A  student  who
34    successfully  completes  all  other  applicable  high  school
 
HB0506 Enrolled             -9-                LRB9100167NTsb
 1    graduation  requirements  but fails to receive a score on the
 2    Prairie State  Achievement  Examination  that  qualifies  the
 3    student  for receipt of a the Prairie State Achievement Award
 4    shall nevertheless qualify for the receipt of a regular  high
 5    school diploma.
 6    (Source:  P.A.  89-610,  eff.  8-6-96;  90-566,  eff. 1-2-98;
 7    90-789, eff. 8-14-98.)

 8        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
 9    becoming law.
[ Top ]
State of Illinois 91st General Assembly Legislation

State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation
