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92_HB1895
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
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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
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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
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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 Any student who has been enrolled in a State approved
22 bilingual education program less than 3 academic years shall
23 be exempted if the student's lack of English as determined by
24 an English language proficiency test would keep the student
25 from understanding the test, and that student's district
26 shall have an alternative test program in place for that
27 student. The State Board of Education shall appoint a task
28 force of concerned parents, teachers, school administrators
29 and other professionals to assist in identifying such
30 alternative tests. Reasonable accommodations as prescribed
31 by the State Board of Education shall be provided for
32 individual students in the testing procedure. All test
33 procedures prescribed by the State Board of Education shall
34 require: (i) that each test used for State and local student
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1 testing under this Section identify by name the pupil taking
2 the test; (ii) that the name of the pupil taking the test be
3 placed on the test at the time the test is taken; (iii) that
4 the results or scores of each test taken under this Section
5 by a pupil of the school district be reported to that
6 district and identify by name the pupil who received the
7 reported results or scores; and (iv) that the results or
8 scores of each test taken under this Section be made
9 available to the parents of the pupil. In addition,
10 beginning with the 2000-2001 school year and in each school
11 year thereafter, the highest scores and performance levels
12 attained by a student on the Prairie State Achievement
13 Examination administered under subsection (c) of this Section
14 shall become part of the student's permanent record and shall
15 be entered on the student's transcript pursuant to
16 regulations that the State Board of Education shall
17 promulgate for that purpose in accordance with Section 3 and
18 subsection (e) of Section 2 of the Illinois School Student
19 Records Act. Beginning with the 1998-1999 school year and in
20 every school year thereafter, scores received by students on
21 the State assessment tests administered in grades 3 through 8
22 shall be placed into students' temporary records. The State
23 Board of Education shall establish a common month in each
24 school year for which State testing shall occur to meet the
25 objectives of this Section. However, if the schools of a
26 district are closed and classes are not scheduled during any
27 week that is established by the State Board of Education as
28 the week of the month when State testing under this Section
29 shall occur, the school district may administer the required
30 State testing at any time up to 2 weeks following the week
31 established by the State Board of Education for the testing,
32 so long as the school district gives the State Board of
33 Education written notice of its intention to deviate from the
34 established schedule by December 1 of the school year in
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1 which falls the week established by the State Board of
2 Education for the testing. Mandatory make-up testing must
3 occur on designated make-up testing dates for State
4 assessments. A school district shall maintain a file that
5 contains the names of students who were not tested and
6 statements for these students that explain why they were not
7 tested. The maximum time allowed for all actual testing
8 required under this subsection during the school year shall
9 not exceed 25 hours as allocated among the required tests by
10 the State Board of Education.
11 (a-5) All tests administered pursuant to this Section
12 shall be academically based. For the purposes of this
13 Section "academically based tests" shall mean tests
14 consisting of questions and answers that are measurable and
15 quantifiable to measure the knowledge, skill, and ability of
16 students in the subject matters covered by tests. The
17 scoring of academically based tests shall be reliable, valid,
18 unbiased and shall meet the guidelines for test development
19 and use prescribed by the American Psychological Association,
20 the National Council of Measurement and Evaluation, and the
21 American Educational Research Association. Academically based
22 tests shall not include assessments or evaluations of
23 attitudes, values, or beliefs, or testing of personality,
24 self-esteem, or self-concept. Nothing in this amendatory Act
25 is intended, nor shall it be construed, to nullify,
26 supersede, or contradict the legislative intent on academic
27 testing expressed during the passage of HB 1005/P.A. 90-296.
28 Beginning in the 1998-1999 school year, the State Board
29 of Education may, on a pilot basis, include in the State
30 assessments in reading and math at each grade level tested no
31 more than 2 short answer questions, where students have to
32 respond in brief to questions or prompts or show
33 computations, rather than select from alternatives that are
34 presented. In the first year that such questions are used,
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1 scores on the short answer questions shall not be reported on
2 an individual student basis but shall be aggregated for each
3 school building in which the tests are given. State-level,
4 school, and district scores shall be reported both with and
5 without the results of the short answer questions so that the
6 effect of short answer questions is clearly discernible.
7 Beginning in the second year of this pilot program, scores on
8 the short answer questions shall be reported both on an
9 individual student basis and on a school building basis in
10 order to monitor the effects of teacher training and
11 curriculum improvements on score results.
12 The State Board of Education shall not continue the use
13 of short answer questions in the math and reading
14 assessments, or extend the use of such questions to other
15 State assessments, unless this pilot project demonstrates
16 that the use of short answer questions results in a
17 statistically significant improvement in student achievement
18 as measured on the State assessments for math and reading and
19 is justifiable in terms of cost and student performance.
20 Beginning in the 2001-2002 school year, the State Board
21 of Education shall not make significant changes in the design
22 of State assessments, other than changing test items as
23 needed to maintain the validity and security of an
24 assessment, for a minimum of 5 school years in order to
25 ensure a continuous, comparable record of student
26 performance.
27 (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage
28 school districts to continuously test pupil proficiency in
29 the fundamental learning areas in order to: (i) provide
30 timely information on individual students' performance
31 relative to State standards that is adequate to guide
32 instructional strategies; (ii) improve future instruction;
33 and (iii) complement the information provided by the State
34 testing system described in this Section. Each district's
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1 school improvement plan must address specific activities the
2 district intends to implement to assist pupils who by teacher
3 judgment and test results as prescribed in subsection (a) of
4 this Section demonstrate that they are not meeting State
5 standards or local objectives. Such activities may include,
6 but shall not be limited to, summer school, extended school
7 day, special homework, tutorial sessions, modified
8 instructional materials, other modifications in the
9 instructional program, reduced class size or retention in
10 grade. To assist school districts in testing pupil
11 proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the State Board
12 shall make optional reading inventories for diagnostic
13 purposes available to each school district that requests such
14 assistance. Districts that administer the reading
15 inventories may develop remediation programs for students who
16 perform in the bottom half of the student population. Those
17 remediation programs may be funded by moneys provided under
18 the School Safety and Educational Improvement Block Grant
19 Program established under Section 2-3.51.5. Nothing in this
20 Section shall prevent school districts from implementing
21 testing and remediation policies for grades not required
22 under this Section.
23 (c) Beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, each
24 school district that operates a high school program for
25 students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the
26 Prairie State Achievement Examination established under this
27 subsection to its students as set forth below. The Prairie
28 State Achievement Examination shall be developed by the State
29 Board of Education to measure student performance in the
30 academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and
31 social sciences. The State Board of Education shall
32 establish the academic standards that are to apply in
33 measuring student performance on the Prairie State
34 Achievement Examination including the minimum examination
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1 score in each area that will qualify a student to receive a
2 Prairie State Achievement Award from the State in recognition
3 of the student's excellent performance. Each school district
4 that is subject to the requirements of this subsection (c)
5 shall afford all students 2 opportunities to take the Prairie
6 State Achievement Examination beginning as late as practical
7 during the second semester of grade 11, but in no event
8 before March 1. The State Board of Education shall annually
9 notify districts of the weeks during which these test
10 administrations shall be required to occur. Mandatory
11 make-up testing must occur on designated make-up testing
12 dates. A school district shall maintain a file that contains
13 the names of students who were not tested and statements for
14 these students that explain why they were not tested. Every
15 individualized educational program as described in Article 14
16 shall identify if the Prairie State Achievement Examination
17 or components thereof are appropriate for that student. Each
18 student, exclusive of a student whose individualized
19 educational program developed under Article 14 identifies the
20 Prairie State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for
21 the student, shall be required to take the examination in
22 grade 11. For each academic area the State Board of
23 Education shall establish the score that qualifies for the
24 Prairie State Achievement Award on that portion of the
25 examination. Any student who fails to earn a qualifying
26 score for a Prairie State Achievement Award in any one or
27 more of the academic areas on the initial test administration
28 or who wishes to improve his or her score on any portion of
29 the examination shall be permitted to retake such portion or
30 portions of the examination during grade 12. Districts shall
31 inform their students of the timelines and procedures
32 applicable to their participation in every yearly
33 administration of the Prairie State Achievement Examination.
34 Students receiving special education services whose
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1 individualized educational programs identify the Prairie
2 State Achievement Examination as inappropriate for them
3 nevertheless shall have the option of taking the examination,
4 which shall be administered to those students in accordance
5 with standards adopted by the State Board of Education to
6 accommodate the respective disabilities of those students. A
7 student who successfully completes all other applicable high
8 school graduation requirements but fails to receive a score
9 on the Prairie State Achievement Examination that qualifies
10 the student for receipt of a Prairie State Achievement Award
11 shall nevertheless qualify for the receipt of a regular high
12 school diploma.
13 (Source: P.A. 90-566, eff. 1-2-98; 90-789, eff. 8-14-98;
14 91-283, eff. 7-29-99.)
15 (105 ILCS 5/10-17a) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-17a)
16 Sec. 10-17a. Better schools accountability.
17 (1) Policy and Purpose. It shall be the policy of the
18 State of Illinois that each school district in this State,
19 including special charter districts and districts subject to
20 the provisions of Article 34, shall submit to parents,
21 taxpayers of such district, the Governor, the General
22 Assembly, and the State Board of Education a school report
23 card assessing the performance of its schools and students.
24 The report card shall be an index of school performance
25 measured against statewide and local standards and will
26 provide information to make prior year comparisons and to set
27 future year targets through the school improvement plan.
28 (2) Reporting Requirements. Each school district shall
29 prepare a report card in accordance with the guidelines set
30 forth in this Section which describes the performance of its
31 students by school attendance centers and by district and the
32 district's use of financial resources. Such report card
33 shall be presented at a regular school board meeting subject
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1 to applicable notice requirements, and such report cards
2 shall be made available to a newspaper of general circulation
3 serving the district and shall be sent home to parents. In
4 addition, each school district shall submit the completed
5 report card to the office of the district's Regional
6 Superintendent which shall make copies available to any
7 individuals requesting them.
8 The report card shall be completed and disseminated prior
9 to October 31 in each school year. The report card shall
10 contain, but not be limited to, actual local school
11 attendance center, school district and statewide data
12 indicating the present performance of the school, the State
13 norms and the areas for planned improvement for the school
14 and school district.
15 (3) (a) The report card shall include the following
16 applicable indicators of attendance center, district, and
17 statewide student performance: percentage percent of students
18 who exceed, meet, or do not meet standards established by the
19 State Board of Education pursuant to Section 2-3.25a;
20 composite and subtest means on nationally normed achievement
21 tests for college bound students; student attendance rates;
22 chronic truancy rate; dropout rate; graduation rate; and
23 student mobility, turnover shown as a percent of transfers
24 out and a percent of transfers in. Beginning with the 2002
25 report card, the indicator for an attendance center and for a
26 district of the percentage of students who exceed, meet, or
27 do not meet standards shall be only for students enrolled in
28 the school or district on or before November 1 of the school
29 year in which a State assessment is given.
30 (b) The report card shall include the following
31 descriptions for the school, district, and State: average
32 class size; amount of time per day devoted to mathematics,
33 science, English and social science at primary, middle and
34 junior high school grade levels; percentage of students
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1 taking required State assessments; number of students taking
2 the Prairie State Achievement Examination under subsection
3 (c) of Section 2-3.64, the number of those students who
4 received a score of excellent, and the average score by
5 school of students taking the examination; pupil-teacher
6 ratio; pupil-administrator ratio; operating expenditure per
7 pupil; district expenditure by fund; average administrator
8 salary; and average teacher salary. Beginning with the 2002
9 report card, the Prairie State Achievement Examination
10 descriptions for a school and for a district shall be only
11 for students enrolled in the school or district on or before
12 November 1 of the school year in which the examination is
13 given.
14 (c) The report card shall include applicable indicators
15 of parental involvement in each attendance center. The
16 parental involvement component of the report card shall
17 include the percentage of students whose parents or guardians
18 have had one or more personal contacts with the students'
19 teachers during the school year concerning the students'
20 education, and such other information, commentary, and
21 suggestions as the school district desires. For the purposes
22 of this paragraph, "personal contact" includes, but is not
23 limited to, parent-teacher conferences, parental visits to
24 school, school visits to home, telephone conversations, and
25 written correspondence. The parental involvement component
26 shall not single out or identify individual students,
27 parents, or guardians by name.
28 (d) The report card form shall be prepared by the State
29 Board of Education and provided to school districts.
30 (Source: P.A. 89-610, eff. 8-6-96.)
31 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
32 becoming law.