Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 094-0642
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Public Act 094-0642


 

Public Act 0642 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 094-0642
 
HB0678 Enrolled LRB094 06607 NHT 36699 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    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
2004-2005 school year, 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). Unless the testing required to be implemented
no later than the 2005-2006 school year under this subsection
(a) is implemented for the 2004-2005 school year, for the
2004-2005 school year, the State Board of Education shall test:
(i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th grades in
English language arts (reading and English grammar) and
mathematics and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th and 7th
grades in the biological and physical sciences. 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 and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th
and 7th grades in the biological and physical sciences. After
the addition of grades and change in subjects 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.
    Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, the State Board
of Education shall not test pupils under this subsection (a) in
writing, physical development and health, fine arts, and the
social sciences (history, geography, civics, economics, and
government).
    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. 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. The time
allotted to take the State tests, however, may be extended as
determined by the State Board of Education by rule. Any student
who has been enrolled in a State approved bilingual education
program less than 3 cumulative academic years may take an
accommodated Limited English Proficient student academic
content assessment, as determined by the State Board of
Education State test, to be known as the Illinois Measure of
Annual Growth in English (IMAGE), 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 a Limited English Proficient student
academic content assessment 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 a Limited English Proficient student academic
content assessment 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.
    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, in each
school year the highest scores 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, 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, 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, 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 established by the State Board of
Education for the testing.
    (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.
    The State Board of Education shall monitor the use of short
answer questions in the math and reading assessments or in
other assessments in order to demonstrate 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.
Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, however, the State
Board of Education shall not test a student in writing and the
social sciences (history, geography, civics, economics, and
government) as part of the Prairie State Achievement
Examination unless the student is retaking the Prairie State
Achievement Examination in the fall of 2004. 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. In no case, however, shall a student receive a regular
high school diploma without taking the Prairie State
Achievement Examination, unless the student is exempted from
taking the Prairie State Achievement Examination under this
subsection (c) because the student's individualized
educational program developed under Article 14 of this Code
identifies the Prairie State Achievement Examination as
inappropriate for the student, (ii) the student is exempt due
to the student's lack of English language proficiency under
subsection (a) of this Section, or (iii) the student is
enrolled in a program of Adult and Continuing Education as
defined in the Adult Education Act.
    (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. 92-604, eff. 7-1-02; 93-426, eff. 8-5-03; 93-838,
eff. 7-30-04; 93-857, eff. 8-3-04; revised 10-25-04.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2006