96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB2871

 

Introduced 2/24/2009, by Rep. Tom Cross

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/2-3.64   from Ch. 122, par. 2-3.64

    Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning State goals and assessment.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning 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 Section
5 2-3.64 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 Board
9 of Education shall establish standards and periodically, in
10 collaboration with local school districts, conduct studies of
11 student performance in the learning areas of fine arts and
12 physical development/health.
13     Beginning with the the 1998-1999 school year until the
14 2004-2005 school year, the State Board of Education shall
15 annually test: (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th
16 grades in English language arts (reading, writing, and English
17 grammar) and mathematics; and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the
18 4th and 7th grades in the biological and physical sciences and
19 the social sciences (history, geography, civics, economics,
20 and government). Unless the testing required to be implemented
21 no later than the 2005-2006 school year under this subsection
22 (a) is implemented for the 2004-2005 school year, for the
23 2004-2005 school year, the State Board of Education shall test:

 

 

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1 (i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th grades in
2 English language arts (reading and English grammar) and
3 mathematics and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th and 7th
4 grades in the biological and physical sciences. The maximum
5 time allowed for all actual testing required under this
6 paragraph shall not exceed 25 hours, as allocated among the
7 required tests by the State Board of Education, across all
8 grades tested.
9     Beginning no later than the 2005-2006 school year, the
10 State Board of Education shall annually test: (i) all pupils
11 enrolled in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades in
12 reading and mathematics and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th
13 and 7th grades in the biological and physical sciences. In
14 addition, the State Board of Education shall test (1) all
15 pupils enrolled in the 5th and 8th grades in writing during the
16 2006-2007 school year; (2) all pupils enrolled in the 5th, 6th,
17 and 8th grades in writing during the 2007-2008 school year; and
18 (3) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th grades in
19 writing during the 2008-2009 school year and each school year
20 thereafter. After the addition of grades and change in subjects
21 as delineated in this paragraph and including whatever other
22 tests that may be approved from time to time no later than the
23 2005-2006 school year, the maximum time allowed for all State
24 testing in grades 3 through 8 shall not exceed 38 hours across
25 those grades.
26     Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, the State Board

 

 

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1 of Education shall not test pupils under this subsection (a) in
2 physical development and health, fine arts, and the social
3 sciences (history, geography, civics, economics, and
4 government). The State Board of Education shall not test pupils
5 under this subsection (a) in writing during the 2005-2006
6 school year.
7     The State Board of Education shall establish the academic
8 standards that are to be applicable to pupils who are subject
9 to State tests under this Section beginning with the 1998-1999
10 school year. However, the State Board of Education shall not
11 establish any such standards in final form without first
12 providing opportunities for public participation and local
13 input in the development of the final academic standards. Those
14 opportunities shall include a well-publicized period of public
15 comment, public hearings throughout the State, and
16 opportunities to file written comments. Beginning with the
17 1998-99 school year and thereafter, the State tests will
18 identify pupils in the 3rd grade or 5th grade who do not meet
19 the State standards.
20     If, by performance on the State tests or local assessments
21 or by teacher judgment, a student's performance is determined
22 to be 2 or more grades below current placement, the student
23 shall be provided a remediation program developed by the
24 district in consultation with a parent or guardian. Such
25 remediation programs may include, but shall not be limited to,
26 increased or concentrated instructional time, a remedial

 

 

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1 summer school program of not less than 90 hours, improved
2 instructional approaches, tutorial sessions, retention in
3 grade, and modifications to instructional materials. Each
4 pupil for whom a remediation program is developed under this
5 subsection shall be required to enroll in and attend whatever
6 program the district determines is appropriate for the pupil.
7 Districts may combine students in remediation programs where
8 appropriate and may cooperate with other districts in the
9 design and delivery of those programs. The parent or guardian
10 of a student required to attend a remediation program under
11 this Section shall be given written notice of that requirement
12 by the school district a reasonable time prior to commencement
13 of the remediation program that the student is to attend. The
14 State shall be responsible for providing school districts with
15 the new and additional funding, under Section 2-3.51.5 or by
16 other or additional means, that is required to enable the
17 districts to operate remediation programs for the pupils who
18 are required to enroll in and attend those programs under this
19 Section. Every individualized educational program as described
20 in Article 14 shall identify if the State test or components
21 thereof are appropriate for that student. The State Board of
22 Education shall develop rules and regulations governing the
23 administration of alternative tests prescribed within each
24 student's individualized educational program which are
25 appropriate to the disability of each student.
26     All pupils who are in a State approved transitional

 

 

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1 bilingual education program or transitional program of
2 instruction shall participate in the State tests. The time
3 allotted to take the State tests, however, may be extended as
4 determined by the State Board of Education by rule. Any student
5 who has been enrolled in a State approved bilingual education
6 program less than 3 cumulative academic years may take an
7 accommodated Limited English Proficient student academic
8 content assessment, as determined by the State Board of
9 Education, if the student's lack of English as determined by an
10 English language proficiency test would keep the student from
11 understanding the regular State test. If the school district
12 determines, on a case-by-case individual basis, that a Limited
13 English Proficient student academic content assessment would
14 likely yield more accurate and reliable information on what the
15 student knows and can do, the school district may make a
16 determination to assess the student using a Limited English
17 Proficient student academic content assessment for a period
18 that does not exceed 2 additional consecutive years, provided
19 that the student has not yet reached a level of English
20 language proficiency sufficient to yield valid and reliable
21 information on what the student knows and can do on the regular
22 State test.
23     Reasonable accommodations as prescribed by the State Board
24 of Education shall be provided for individual students in the
25 testing procedure. All test procedures prescribed by the State
26 Board of Education shall require: (i) that each test used for

 

 

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1 State and local student testing under this Section identify by
2 name the pupil taking the test; (ii) that the name of the pupil
3 taking the test be placed on the test at the time the test is
4 taken; (iii) that the results or scores of each test taken
5 under this Section by a pupil of the school district be
6 reported to that district and identify by name the pupil who
7 received the reported results or scores; and (iv) that the
8 results or scores of each test taken under this Section be made
9 available to the parents of the pupil. In addition, in each
10 school year the highest scores attained by a student on the
11 Prairie State Achievement Examination administered under
12 subsection (c) of this Section and any Prairie State
13 Achievement Awards received by the student shall become part of
14 the student's permanent record and shall be entered on the
15 student's transcript pursuant to regulations that the State
16 Board of Education shall promulgate for that purpose in
17 accordance with Section 3 and subsection (e) of Section 2 of
18 the Illinois School Student Records Act. Beginning with the
19 1998-1999 school year and in every school year thereafter,
20 scores received by students on the State assessment tests
21 administered in grades 3 through 8 shall be placed into
22 students' temporary records.
23     The State Board of Education shall establish a period of
24 time, to be referred to as the State test window, in each
25 school year for which State testing shall occur to meet the
26 objectives of this Section. However, if the schools of a

 

 

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1 district are closed and classes are not scheduled during any
2 week that is established by the State Board of Education as the
3 State test window, the school district may (at the discretion
4 of the State Board of Education) move its State test window one
5 week earlier or one week later than the established State test
6 window, so long as the school district gives the State Board of
7 Education written notice of its intention to deviate from the
8 established schedule by December 1 of the school year in which
9 falls the State test window established by the State Board of
10 Education for the testing.
11     (a-5) All tests administered pursuant to this Section shall
12 be academically based. For the purposes of this Section
13 "academically based tests" shall mean tests consisting of
14 questions and answers that are measurable and quantifiable to
15 measure the knowledge, skill, and ability of students in the
16 subject matters covered by tests. The scoring of academically
17 based tests shall be reliable, valid, unbiased and shall meet
18 the guidelines for test development and use prescribed by the
19 American Psychological Association, the National Council of
20 Measurement and Evaluation, and the American Educational
21 Research Association. Academically based tests shall not
22 include assessments or evaluations of attitudes, values, or
23 beliefs, or testing of personality, self-esteem, or
24 self-concept. Nothing in this amendatory Act is intended, nor
25 shall it be construed, to nullify, supersede, or contradict the
26 legislative intent on academic testing expressed during the

 

 

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1 passage of HB 1005/P.A. 90-296. Nothing in this Section is
2 intended, nor shall it be construed, to nullify, supersede, or
3 contradict the legislative intent on academic testing
4 expressed in the preamble of this amendatory Act of the 93rd
5 General Assembly.
6     The State Board of Education shall monitor the use of short
7 answer questions in the math and reading assessments or in
8 other assessments in order to demonstrate that the use of short
9 answer questions results in a statistically significant
10 improvement in student achievement as measured on the State
11 assessments for math and reading or on other State assessments
12 and is justifiable in terms of cost and student performance.
13     (b) It shall be the policy of the State to encourage school
14 districts to continuously test pupil proficiency in the
15 fundamental learning areas in order to: (i) provide timely
16 information on individual students' performance relative to
17 State standards that is adequate to guide instructional
18 strategies; (ii) improve future instruction; and (iii)
19 complement the information provided by the State testing system
20 described in this Section. To assist school districts in
21 testing pupil proficiency in reading in the primary grades, the
22 State Board shall make optional reading inventories for
23 diagnostic purposes available to each school district that
24 requests such assistance. Districts that administer the
25 reading inventories may develop remediation programs for
26 students who perform in the bottom half of the student

 

 

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1 population. Those remediation programs may be funded by moneys
2 provided under the School Safety and Educational Improvement
3 Block Grant Program established under Section 2-3.51.5.
4     (c) Beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, each school
5 district that operates a high school program for students in
6 grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the Prairie State
7 Achievement Examination established under this subsection to
8 its students as set forth below. The Prairie State Achievement
9 Examination shall be developed by the State Board of Education
10 to measure student performance in the academic areas of
11 reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social sciences.
12 Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, however, the State
13 Board of Education shall not test a student in the social
14 sciences (history, geography, civics, economics, and
15 government) as part of the Prairie State Achievement
16 Examination unless the student is retaking the Prairie State
17 Achievement Examination in the fall of 2004. In addition, the
18 State Board of Education shall not test a student in writing as
19 part of the Prairie State Achievement Examination during the
20 2005-2006 school year. The State Board of Education shall
21 establish the academic standards that are to apply in measuring
22 student performance on the Prairie State Achievement
23 Examination including the minimum examination score in each
24 area that will qualify a student to receive a Prairie State
25 Achievement Award from the State in recognition of the
26 student's excellent performance. Each school district that is

 

 

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1 subject to the requirements of this subsection (c) shall afford
2 all students 2 opportunities to take the Prairie State
3 Achievement Examination beginning as late as practical during
4 the second semester of grade 11, but in no event before March
5 1. The State Board of Education shall annually notify districts
6 of the weeks during which these test administrations shall be
7 required to occur. Every individualized educational program as
8 described in Article 14 shall identify if the Prairie State
9 Achievement Examination or components thereof are appropriate
10 for that student. Each student, exclusive of a student whose
11 individualized educational program developed under Article 14
12 identifies the Prairie State Achievement Examination as
13 inappropriate for the student, shall be required to take the
14 examination in grade 11. For each academic area the State Board
15 of Education shall establish the score that qualifies for the
16 Prairie State Achievement Award on that portion of the
17 examination. Any student who fails to earn a qualifying score
18 for a Prairie State Achievement Award in any one or more of the
19 academic areas on the initial test administration or who wishes
20 to improve his or her score on any portion of the examination
21 shall be permitted to retake such portion or portions of the
22 examination during grade 12. Districts shall inform their
23 students of the timelines and procedures applicable to their
24 participation in every yearly administration of the Prairie
25 State Achievement Examination. Students receiving special
26 education services whose individualized educational programs

 

 

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1 identify the Prairie State Achievement Examination as
2 inappropriate for them nevertheless shall have the option of
3 taking the examination, which shall be administered to those
4 students in accordance with standards adopted by the State
5 Board of Education to accommodate the respective disabilities
6 of those students. A student who successfully completes all
7 other applicable high school graduation requirements but fails
8 to receive a score on the Prairie State Achievement Examination
9 that qualifies the student for receipt of a Prairie State
10 Achievement Award shall nevertheless qualify for the receipt of
11 a regular high school diploma. In no case, however, shall a
12 student receive a regular high school diploma without taking
13 the Prairie State Achievement Examination, unless the student
14 is exempted from taking the Prairie State Achievement
15 Examination under this subsection (c) because (i) the student's
16 individualized educational program developed under Article 14
17 of this Code identifies the Prairie State Achievement
18 Examination as inappropriate for the student, (ii) the student
19 is exempt due to the student's lack of English language
20 proficiency under subsection (a) of this Section, or (iii) the
21 student is enrolled in a program of Adult and Continuing
22 Education as defined in the Adult Education Act.
23     (d) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, all schools
24 in this State that are part of the sample drawn by the National
25 Center for Education Statistics, in collaboration with their
26 school districts and the State Board of Education, shall

 

 

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1 administer the biennial State academic assessments of 4th and
2 8th grade reading and mathematics under the National Assessment
3 of Educational Progress carried out under Section m11(b)(2) of
4 the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9010)
5 if the Secretary of Education pays the costs of administering
6 the assessments.
7     (e) Beginning no later than the 2005-2006 school year,
8 subject to available federal funds to this State for the
9 purpose of student assessment, the State Board of Education
10 shall provide additional tests and assessment resources that
11 may be used by school districts for local diagnostic purposes.
12 These tests and resources shall include without limitation
13 additional high school writing, physical development and
14 health, and fine arts assessments. The State Board of Education
15 shall annually distribute a listing of these additional tests
16 and resources, using funds available from appropriations made
17 for student assessment purposes.
18     (f) For the assessment and accountability purposes of this
19 Section, "all pupils" includes those pupils enrolled in a
20 public or State-operated elementary school, secondary school,
21 or cooperative or joint agreement with a governing body or
22 board of control, a charter school operating in compliance with
23 the Charter Schools Law, a school operated by a regional office
24 of education under Section 13A-3 of this Code, or a public
25 school administered by a local public agency or the Department
26 of Human Services.

 

 

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1 (Source: P.A. 93-426, eff. 8-5-03; 93-838, eff. 7-30-04;
2 93-857, eff. 8-3-04; 94-69, eff. 7-1-05; 94-642, eff. 1-1-06;
3 94-875, eff. 7-1-06.)