HF 27

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; repealing the profile of 
  1.3             learning part of the high school graduation rule; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 120B.02; 
  1.5             120B.04; 120B.30, subdivision 1; 120B.31, subdivision 
  1.6             4; and 136A.233, subdivision 4; repealing Minnesota 
  1.7             Statutes 1998, sections 120B.03; and 120B.05. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.02, is 
  1.10  amended to read: 
  1.11     120B.02 [RESULTS-ORIENTED GRADUATION RULE; BASIC SKILLS 
  1.12  REQUIREMENTS; PROFILE OF LEARNING.] 
  1.13     (a) The legislature is committed to establishing a 
  1.14  rigorous, results-oriented graduation rule for Minnesota's 
  1.15  public school students.  To that end, the state board shall use 
  1.16  its rulemaking authority under section 127A.66, subdivision 2, 
  1.17  to adopt a statewide, results-oriented graduation rule to be 
  1.18  implemented starting with students beginning ninth grade in the 
  1.19  1996-1997 school year.  The board shall not prescribe in rule or 
  1.20  otherwise the delivery system or form of instruction that local 
  1.21  sites must use to meet the requirements contained in this rule. 
  1.22     (b) To successfully accomplish paragraph (a), the state 
  1.23  board shall set in rule high academic standards for all 
  1.24  students.  The standards must contain the foundational skills in 
  1.25  the three core curricular areas of reading, writing, and 
  1.26  mathematics while meeting requirements for high school 
  2.1   graduation.  The standards must also provide an opportunity for 
  2.2   students to excel by meeting higher academic standards through a 
  2.3   profile of learning that uses curricular requirements to allow 
  2.4   students to expand their knowledge and skills beyond the 
  2.5   foundational skills.  All state board actions regarding the rule 
  2.6   must be premised on the following:  
  2.7      (1) the rule is intended to raise academic expectations for 
  2.8   students, teachers, and schools; 
  2.9      (2) any state action regarding the rule must evidence 
  2.10  consideration of school district autonomy; and 
  2.11     (3) the department of children, families, and learning, 
  2.12  with the assistance of school districts, must make available 
  2.13  information about all state initiatives related to the rule to 
  2.14  students and parents, teachers, and the general public in a 
  2.15  timely format that is appropriate, comprehensive, and readily 
  2.16  understandable. 
  2.17     (c) For purposes of adopting the rule, the state board, in 
  2.18  consultation with the department, recognized psychometric 
  2.19  experts in assessment, and other interested and knowledgeable 
  2.20  educators, using the most current version of professional 
  2.21  standards for educational testing, shall evaluate the 
  2.22  alternative approaches to assessment.  
  2.23     (d) The content of the graduation rule must differentiate 
  2.24  between minimum competencies reflected in the basic requirements 
  2.25  assessment and rigorous profile of learning standards.  When 
  2.26  fully implemented, The requirements for high school graduation 
  2.27  in Minnesota must include both the basic requirements.  and the 
  2.28  required profile of learning.  The profile of learning must 
  2.29  measure student performance using performance-based assessments 
  2.30  compiled over time that integrate higher academic standards, 
  2.31  higher order thinking skills, and application of knowledge from 
  2.32  a variety of content areas.  The profile of learning shall 
  2.33  include a broad range of academic experience and accomplishment 
  2.34  necessary to achieve the goal of preparing students to function 
  2.35  effectively as purposeful thinkers, effective communicators, 
  2.36  self-directed learners, productive group participants, and 
  3.1   responsible citizens.  The commissioner shall develop and 
  3.2   disseminate to school districts a uniform method for reporting 
  3.3   student performance on the profile of learning. 
  3.4      (e) The state board shall periodically review and report on 
  3.5   the assessment process and student achievement with the 
  3.6   expectation of raising the standards and expanding high school 
  3.7   graduation requirements. 
  3.8      (f) The state board shall report in writing to the 
  3.9   legislature annually by January 15 on its progress in developing 
  3.10  and implementing the graduation requirements according to the 
  3.11  requirements of this subdivision and section 120B.10 until such 
  3.12  time as all the graduation requirements are implemented. 
  3.13     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.04, is 
  3.14  amended to read: 
  3.15     120B.04 [LIFEWORK DEVELOPMENT PLAN.] 
  3.16     A school district may require students to develop and 
  3.17  maintain a record of all students' lifework development 
  3.18  activities and work toward achieving the profile of learning.  
  3.19  This record includes, but is not limited to, student's goals, 
  3.20  skills, abilities, and interests, as well as information on 
  3.21  service learning experiences, out-of-school learning 
  3.22  experiences, and career-related experiences, such as job 
  3.23  shadowing, career mentoring, internships, apprenticeships, 
  3.24  entrepreneurship, and other work-based learning activities that 
  3.25  may be used to fulfill the profile of learning.  The ongoing 
  3.26  record assists students in choosing their school-based courses, 
  3.27  researching and exploring career options, and realizing their 
  3.28  role as citizens and their goals as lifelong learners.  Each 
  3.29  school year, the student, the student's parent or guardian, 
  3.30  school and career counselors, and other appropriately trained 
  3.31  school personnel shall review the student's plan to ensure that 
  3.32  the plan is updated and reflects the student's changing life 
  3.33  goals and aspirations.  The plan serves as a continuous record 
  3.34  of future education and training options necessary to achieve 
  3.35  the student's lifework goal. 
  3.36     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.30, 
  4.1   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.2      Subdivision 1.  [STATEWIDE TESTING.] (a) The commissioner, 
  4.3   with advice from experts with appropriate technical 
  4.4   qualifications and experience and stakeholders, shall include in 
  4.5   the comprehensive assessment system, for each grade level to be 
  4.6   tested, a single statewide norm-referenced or 
  4.7   criterion-referenced test, or a combination of a norm-referenced 
  4.8   and a criterion-referenced test, which shall be highly 
  4.9   correlated with the state's graduation standards and 
  4.10  administered annually to all students in the third, fifth, and 
  4.11  eighth grades.  The commissioner shall establish one or more 
  4.12  months during which schools shall administer the tests to 
  4.13  students each school year.  Only Minnesota basic skills tests in 
  4.14  reading, and mathematics first administered in grade 8 but not 
  4.15  later than grade 10, and writing first administered in grade 10 
  4.16  shall fulfill students' testing requirements for a passing state 
  4.17  notation.  
  4.18     (b) In addition, at the secondary level, districts shall 
  4.19  assess student performance in all required learning areas and 
  4.20  selected required standards within each area of the profile of 
  4.21  learning.  The testing instruments and testing process shall be 
  4.22  determined by the commissioner.  The results shall be aggregated 
  4.23  at the site and district level.  The testing shall be 
  4.24  administered beginning in the 1999-2000 school year and 
  4.25  thereafter. 
  4.26     (c) The A comprehensive assessment system shall include an 
  4.27  evaluation of school site and school district performance levels 
  4.28  during the 1997-1998 school year and thereafter using an 
  4.29  established performance baseline developed from students' test 
  4.30  scores under this section that records, at a minimum, students' 
  4.31  unweighted mean test scores in each tested subject, a second 
  4.32  performance baseline that reports, at a minimum, the same 
  4.33  unweighted mean test scores of only those students enrolled in 
  4.34  the school by January 1 of the previous school year, and a third 
  4.35  performance baseline that reports the same unweighted test 
  4.36  scores of all students except those students receiving limited 
  5.1   English proficiency instruction.  The evaluation also shall 
  5.2   record separately, in proximity to the performance baselines, 
  5.3   the percentages of students who are eligible to receive a free 
  5.4   or reduced price school meal, demonstrate limited English 
  5.5   proficiency, or are eligible to receive special education 
  5.6   services. 
  5.7      (d) (c) In addition to the testing and reporting 
  5.8   requirements under paragraphs (a), and (b), and (c), the 
  5.9   commissioner, in consultation with the state board of education, 
  5.10  shall include the following components in the statewide 
  5.11  educational accountability and public reporting system: 
  5.12     (1) uniform statewide testing of all third, fifth, eighth, 
  5.13  and post-eighth grade students with exemptions, only with parent 
  5.14  or guardian approval, from the testing requirement only for 
  5.15  those very few students for whom the student's individual 
  5.16  education plan team under sections 125A.05 and 125A.06, 
  5.17  determines that the student is incapable of taking a statewide 
  5.18  test, or a limited English proficiency student under section 
  5.19  124D.59, subdivision 2, if the student has been in the United 
  5.20  States for fewer than 12 months and for whom special language 
  5.21  barriers exist, such as the student's native language does not 
  5.22  have a written form or the district does not have access to 
  5.23  appropriate interpreter services for the student's native 
  5.24  language; 
  5.25     (2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and 
  5.26  compared across school districts and across time on a statewide 
  5.27  basis; 
  5.28     (3) students' scores on the American College Test; 
  5.29     (4) participation in the National Assessment of Educational 
  5.30  Progress so that the state can benchmark its performance against 
  5.31  the nation and other states, and, where possible, against other 
  5.32  countries, and contribute to the national effort to monitor 
  5.33  achievement; and 
  5.34     (5) basic skills and advanced competencies connecting 
  5.35  teaching and learning to high academic standards under section 
  5.36  120B.02, assessment, and transitions to citizenship and 
  6.1   employment. 
  6.2      (e) (d) Districts must report exemptions under paragraph 
  6.3   (d) (c), clause (1), to the commissioner consistent with a 
  6.4   format provided by the commissioner. 
  6.5      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.31, 
  6.6   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  6.7      Subd. 4.  [STATISTICAL ADJUSTMENTS.] In developing policies 
  6.8   and assessment processes to hold schools and districts 
  6.9   accountable for high levels of academic standards under section 
  6.10  120B.02, including the profile of learning, the commissioner 
  6.11  shall aggregate student data over time to report student 
  6.12  performance levels measured at the school district, regional, or 
  6.13  statewide level.  When collecting and reporting the data, the 
  6.14  commissioner shall:  (1) acknowledge the impact of significant 
  6.15  demographic factors such as residential instability, the number 
  6.16  of single parent families, parents' level of education, and 
  6.17  parents' income level on school outcomes; and (2) organize and 
  6.18  report the data so that state and local policymakers can 
  6.19  understand the educational implications of changes in districts' 
  6.20  demographic profiles over time.  Any report the commissioner 
  6.21  disseminates containing summary data on student performance must 
  6.22  integrate student performance and the demographic factors that 
  6.23  strongly correlate with that performance.  
  6.24     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 136A.233, 
  6.25  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  6.26     Subd. 4.  [COOPERATION WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS.] Each campus 
  6.27  using the state work study program is encouraged to cooperate 
  6.28  with its local public elementary and secondary schools to place 
  6.29  college work study students in activities in the schools, such 
  6.30  as tutoring.  Students must be placed in meaningful activities 
  6.31  that directly assist students in kindergarten through grade 12 
  6.32  in meeting graduation standards including the profiles of 
  6.33  learning.  College students shall work under direct supervision; 
  6.34  therefore, school hiring authorities are not required to request 
  6.35  criminal background checks on these students under section 
  6.36  123B.03. 
  7.1      Sec. 6.  [REPEALER.] 
  7.2      Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 120B.03; and 120B.05, are 
  7.3   repealed.