Public Act 93-0426

HB2352 Enrolled                      LRB093 03343 NHT 03361 b

    AN ACT to implement the federal No Child Left Behind  Act
of 2001.

    WHEREAS, The General Assembly supports enhancement of the
current  State  assessment  system  in  order  to  develop an
appropriate, high-quality, statewide K-12 assessment  system,
based on the Illinois Learning Standards; and

    WHEREAS,  This  enhanced statewide assessment system must
have a high level of credibility, reliability,  and  validity
and  must  provide  continuity  with the assessment system in
place prior to the changes made by this amendatory Act of the
93rd General Assembly; and

    WHEREAS,  A  credible,  reliable,  and  valid  assessment
system  should  allow  school  districts  to   reduce   local
assessments;  once  the  State  assessment  system  is  fully
implemented  in  the  2005-2006 school year, school districts
are encouraged and expected to reduce the  local  assessments
of students in the grades and subjects assessed by the State;
and

    WHEREAS,  The  changes  in  the assessment system made by
this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly are a direct
result of the federal  No  Child  Left  Behind  Act  of  2001
(Public  Law  107-110),  which  requires  the  testing of all
students as well as enhancements to the system  in  order  to
provide  timely results that are meaningful and educationally
useful for educators, parents,  and  the  broader  community;
therefore

    Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section 5.   The  School  Code  is  amended  by  changing
Section 2-3.64 as follows:
    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.64) (from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64)
    Sec. 2-3.64.  State goals and assessment.
    (a)  Beginning  in  the  1998-1999 school year, the State
Board   of   Education   shall   establish   standards    and
periodically,  in  collaboration with local school districts,
conduct studies of student performance in the learning  areas
of fine arts and physical development/health.
    Beginning  with  the  1998-1999  school  year  until  the
2005-2006  school  year  at  the  latest,  the State Board of
Education shall annually test: (i) all pupils enrolled in the
3rd, 5th, and 8th grades in English language  arts  (reading,
writing,  and  English grammar) and mathematics; and (ii) all
pupils enrolled in the 4th and 7th grades in  the  biological
and  physical  sciences  and  the  social  sciences (history,
geography, civics, economics, and  government).  The  maximum
time  allowed  for  all  actual  testing  required under this
paragraph shall not exceed 25 hours, as allocated  among  the
required  tests  by  the State Board of Education, across all
grades tested.
    Beginning no later than the 2005-2006  school  year,  the
State  Board of Education shall annually test: (i) all pupils
enrolled in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and  8th  grades  in
reading  and  mathematics;  (ii)  all pupils enrolled in 3rd,
4th, 6th,  and  8th  grades  in  writing;  (iii)  all  pupils
enrolled  in  the  4th  and  7th grades in the biological and
physical sciences; and (iv) all pupils enrolled  in  5th  and
8th  grades  in  the  social  sciences  (history,  geography,
economics,  civics,  and  government).  The  State  Board  of
Education  shall  sample  student performance in the learning
area of physical development and health in  grades  4  and  7
through  the  science  tests and in the learning area of fine
arts in grades 5 and 8 through  the  social  sciences  tests.
After  the  addition  of subjects and grades as delineated in
this paragraph and including whatever other tests that may be
approved from time to time no later than the 2005-2006 school
year, the maximum time  allowed  for  all  State  testing  in
grades  3  through  8  shall not exceed 38 hours across those
grades.
    The State Board of Education shall establish the academic
standards that are to be applicable to pupils who are subject
to  State  tests  under  this  Section  beginning  with   the
1998-1999 school year.  However, the State Board of Education
shall  not establish any such standards in final form without
first providing opportunities for  public  participation  and
local   input  in  the  development  of  the  final  academic
standards.    Those    opportunities    shall    include    a
well-publicized  period  of  public  comment, public hearings
throughout the  State,  and  opportunities  to  file  written
comments.    Beginning  with  the  1998-99  school  year  and
thereafter, the State tests will identify pupils in  the  3rd
grade or 5th grade who do not meet the State standards.
    If,   by   performance   on  the  State  tests  or  local
assessments or by teacher judgment, a  student's  performance
is determined to be 2 or more grades below current placement,
the student shall be provided a remediation program developed
by  the  district  in consultation with a parent or guardian.
Such remediation programs  may  include,  but  shall  not  be
limited  to,  increased or concentrated instructional time, a
remedial summer school program of not  less  than  90  hours,
improved   instructional   approaches,   tutorial   sessions,
retention   in  grade,  and  modifications  to  instructional
materials.  Each pupil for  whom  a  remediation  program  is
developed  under  this subsection shall be required to enroll
in and attend whatever program  the  district  determines  is
appropriate for the pupil.  Districts may combine students in
remediation programs where appropriate and may cooperate with
other districts in the design and delivery of those programs.
The  parent  or  guardian  of  a student required to attend a
remediation program under this Section shall be given written
notice  of  that  requirement  by  the  school   district   a
reasonable  time  prior  to  commencement  of the remediation
program that the student is to attend.  The  State  shall  be
responsible  for  providing school districts with the new and
additional funding, under Section 2-3.51.5  or  by  other  or
additional means, that is required to enable the districts to
operate  remediation programs for the pupils who are required
to enroll in and attend those programs  under  this  Section.
Every  individualized  educational  program  as  described in
Article 14 shall identify if the  State  test  or  components
thereof  are  appropriate  for that student. For those pupils
for whom the  State  tests  or  components  thereof  are  not
appropriate, The State Board of Education shall develop rules
and  regulations  governing the administration of alternative
tests  prescribed  within   each   student's   individualized
educational  program  which are appropriate to the disability
of each student.
    All pupils who  are  in  a  State  approved  transitional
bilingual   education  program  or  transitional  program  of
instruction  shall  participate  in  the  State  tests.   Any
student who has been enrolled in a State  approved  bilingual
education  program  less than 3 cumulative academic years may
take an accommodated State test, to be known as the  Illinois
Measure  of  Annual  Growth  in  English  (IMAGE),  shall  be
exempted if the student's lack of English as determined by an
English language proficiency test would keep the student from
understanding  the regular State test. If the school district
determines, on a case-by-case individual  basis,  that  IMAGE
would  likely yield more accurate and reliable information on
what the student knows and can do, the  school  district  may
make  a determination to assess the student using IMAGE for a
period that does not exceed 2 additional  consecutive  years,
provided  that  the  student  has  not yet reached a level of
English language proficiency sufficient to  yield  valid  and
reliable  information on what the student knows and can do on
the regular State test., and that  student's  district  shall
have  an  alternative test program in place for that student.
The State Board of Education shall appoint a  task  force  of
concerned  parents, teachers, school administrators and other
professionals  to  assist  in  identifying  such  alternative
tests.
    Reasonable accommodations  as  prescribed  by  the  State
Board  of Education shall be provided for individual students
in the testing procedure.  All test procedures prescribed  by
the  State  Board  of  Education shall require: (i) that each
test used for State and  local  student  testing  under  this
Section identify by name the pupil taking the test; (ii) that
the  name  of the pupil taking the test be placed on the test
at the time the test is taken;  (iii)  that  the  results  or
scores  of  each  test taken under this Section by a pupil of
the school district be reported to that district and identify
by name the  pupil  who  received  the  reported  results  or
scores;  and  (iv)  that  the  results or scores of each test
taken under this Section be made available to the parents  of
the  pupil.  In addition, beginning with the 2000-2001 school
year and in each school year thereafter, the  highest  scores
and  performance  levels attained by a student on the Prairie
State Achievement Examination administered  under  subsection
(c)  of this Section and any Prairie State Achievement Awards
received by the student shall become part  of  the  student's
permanent  record  and  shall  be  entered  on  the student's
transcript pursuant to regulations that the  State  Board  of
Education  shall  promulgate  for  that purpose in accordance
with Section 3  and  subsection  (e)  of  Section  2  of  the
Illinois  School  Student  Records  Act.   Beginning with the
1998-1999 school year and in every  school  year  thereafter,
scores  received  by  students  on the State assessment tests
administered in grades 3  through  8  shall  be  placed  into
students' temporary records.
    The  State Board of Education shall establish a period of
time, to be referred to as  the  State  test  window,  common
month in each school year for which State testing shall occur
to  meet  the  objectives  of  this Section.  However, if the
schools  of  a  district  are  closed  and  classes  are  not
scheduled during any week that is established  by  the  State
Board of Education as the State test window week of the month
when State testing under this Section shall occur, the school
district  may  (at  the  discretion  of  the  State  Board of
Education) move its State test window one week earlier or one
week later than the established State test window, administer
the required  State  testing  at  any  time  up  to  2  weeks
following   the  week  established  by  the  State  Board  of
Education for the testing, so long  as  the  school  district
gives  the  State  Board  of  Education written notice of its
intention  to  deviate  from  the  established  schedule   by
December  1  of the school year in which falls the State test
window week established by the State Board of  Education  for
the testing.  The maximum time allowed for all actual testing
required  under  this subsection during the school year shall
not exceed 25 hours as allocated among the required tests  by
the State Board of Education.
    (a-5)  All  tests  administered  pursuant to this Section
shall be  academically  based.   For  the  purposes  of  this
Section   "academically   based   tests"   shall  mean  tests
consisting of questions and answers that are  measurable  and
quantifiable  to measure the knowledge, skill, and ability of
students in  the  subject  matters  covered  by  tests.   The
scoring of academically based tests shall be reliable, valid,
unbiased  and  shall meet the guidelines for test development
and use prescribed by the American Psychological Association,
the National Council of Measurement and Evaluation,  and  the
American Educational Research Association. Academically based
tests   shall  not  include  assessments  or  evaluations  of
attitudes, values, or beliefs,  or  testing  of  personality,
self-esteem,  or self-concept. Nothing in this amendatory Act
is  intended,  nor  shall  it  be  construed,   to   nullify,
supersede,  or  contradict the legislative intent on academic
testing expressed during the passage of HB 1005/P.A.  90-296.
Nothing  in  this  Section  is  intended,  nor  shall  it  be
construed,   to   nullify,   supersede,   or  contradict  the
legislative intent  on  academic  testing  expressed  in  the
preamble of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.
    Beginning  in  the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board
of Education may, on a pilot  basis,  include  in  the  State
assessments in reading and math at each grade level tested no
more  than  2  short answer questions, where students have to
respond  in  brief  to   questions   or   prompts   or   show
computations,  rather  than select from alternatives that are
presented.  In the first year that such questions  are  used,
scores on the short answer questions shall not be reported on
an  individual student basis but shall be aggregated for each
school building in which the tests are  given.   State-level,
school,  and  district scores shall be reported both with and
without the results of the short answer questions so that the
effect of short  answer  questions  is  clearly  discernible.
Beginning in the second year of this pilot program, scores on
the  short  answer  questions  shall  be  reported both on an
individual student basis and on a school  building  basis  in
order   to  monitor  the  effects  of  teacher  training  and
curriculum improvements on score results.
    The State Board of Education shall monitor  not  continue
the  use  of  short  answer questions in the math and reading
assessments or in other assessments in order to  demonstrate,
or   extend   the  use  of  such  questions  to  other  State
assessments, unless this pilot project demonstrates that  the
use  of  short  answer  questions  results in a statistically
significant improvement in student achievement as measured on
the State assessments for math and reading or on other  State
assessments  and  is justifiable in terms of cost and student
performance.
    (b)  It shall be the policy of  the  State  to  encourage
school  districts  to  continuously test pupil proficiency in
the fundamental learning areas  in  order  to:   (i)  provide
timely   information   on  individual  students'  performance
relative  to  State  standards  that  is  adequate  to  guide
instructional strategies; (ii)  improve  future  instruction;
and  (iii)  complement  the information provided by the State
testing system described in this  Section.   Each  district's
school  improvement plan must address specific activities the
district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher
judgment and test results as prescribed in subsection (a)  of
this  Section  demonstrate  that  they  are not meeting State
standards or local objectives. Such activities  may  include,
but  shall  not be limited to, summer school, extended school
day,   special   homework,   tutorial   sessions,    modified
instructional   materials,   other   modifications   in   the
instructional  program,  reduced  class  size or retention in
grade.   To  assist  school  districts   in   testing   pupil
proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board
shall   make  optional  reading  inventories  for  diagnostic
purposes available to each school district that requests such
assistance.    Districts   that   administer   the    reading
inventories may develop remediation programs for students who
perform  in the bottom half of the student population.  Those
remediation programs may be funded by moneys  provided  under
the  School  Safety  and  Educational Improvement Block Grant
Program established under Section 2-3.51.5.  Nothing in  this
Section  shall  prevent  school  districts  from implementing
testing and remediation  policies  for  grades  not  required
under this Section.
    (c)  Beginning  with  the  2000-2001  school  year,  each
school  district  that  operates  a  high  school program for
students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the
Prairie State Achievement Examination established under  this
subsection  to  its students as set forth below.  The Prairie
State Achievement Examination shall be developed by the State
Board of Education to  measure  student  performance  in  the
academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and
social   sciences.    The  State  Board  of  Education  shall
establish  the  academic  standards  that  are  to  apply  in
measuring  student   performance   on   the   Prairie   State
Achievement  Examination  including  the  minimum examination
score in each area that will qualify a student to  receive  a
Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition
of the student's excellent performance.  Each school district
that  is  subject  to the requirements of this subsection (c)
shall afford all students 2 opportunities to take the Prairie
State Achievement Examination beginning as late as  practical
during  the  second  semester  of  grade  11, but in no event
before March 1.  The State Board of Education shall  annually
notify  districts  of  the  weeks  during  which  these  test
administrations   shall   be   required   to   occur.   Every
individualized educational program as described in Article 14
shall identify if the Prairie State  Achievement  Examination
or  components thereof are appropriate for that student. Each
student,  exclusive  of  a   student   whose   individualized
educational program developed under Article 14 identifies the
Prairie  State  Achievement  Examination as inappropriate for
the student, shall be required to  take  the  examination  in
grade  11.   For  each  academic  area  the  State  Board  of
Education  shall  establish  the score that qualifies for the
Prairie State  Achievement  Award  on  that  portion  of  the
examination.   Any  student  who  fails  to earn a qualifying
score for a Prairie State Achievement Award  in  any  one  or
more of the academic areas on the initial test administration
or  who  wishes to improve his or her score on any portion of
the examination shall be permitted to retake such portion  or
portions of the examination during grade 12.  Districts shall
inform   their  students  of  the  timelines  and  procedures
applicable   to   their   participation   in   every   yearly
administration of the Prairie State Achievement  Examination.
Students   receiving   special   education   services   whose
individualized  educational  programs  identify  the  Prairie
State  Achievement  Examination  as  inappropriate  for  them
nevertheless shall have the option of taking the examination,
which  shall  be administered to those students in accordance
with standards adopted  by the State Board  of  Education  to
accommodate the respective disabilities of those students.  A
student  who successfully completes all other applicable high
school graduation requirements but fails to receive  a  score
on  the  Prairie State Achievement Examination that qualifies
the student for receipt of a Prairie State Achievement  Award
shall  nevertheless qualify for the receipt of a regular high
school diploma.
    (d)  Beginning  with  the  2002-2003  school  year,   all
schools  in  this  State that are part of the sample drawn by
the   National   Center   for   Education   Statistics,    in
collaboration with their school districts and the State Board
of  Education,  shall  administer the biennial State academic
assessments of 4th and  8th  grade  reading  and  mathematics
under the National Assessment of Educational Progress carried
out   under  Section  m11(b)(2)  of  the  National  Education
Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9010) if the  Secretary  of
Education pays the costs of administering the assessments.
    (e)  Beginning  no  later than the 2005-2006 school year,
subject to available federal funds  to  this  State  for  the
purpose  of  student assessment, the State Board of Education
shall provide additional tests and assessment resources  that
may   be  used  by  school  districts  for  local  diagnostic
purposes. These tests and  resources  shall  include  without
limitation   additional   high   school   writing,   physical
development  and health, and fine arts assessments. The State
Board of Education shall annually  distribute  a  listing  of
these  additional  tests and resources, using funds available
from appropriations made for student assessment purposes.
    (f) For the assessment  and  accountability  purposes  of
this  Section, "all pupils" includes those pupils enrolled in
a  public  or  State-operated  elementary  school,  secondary
school, or cooperative or joint agreement  with  a  governing
body  or  board  of  control,  a  charter school operating in
compliance with the Charter Schools Law, a school operated by
a regional office of education under Section  13A-3  of  this
Code,  or  a  public  school  administered  by a local public
agency or the Department of Human Services.
(Source:  P.A. 91-283, eff. 7-29-99; 92-604, eff. 7-1-02.)

    Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
becoming law.