HF 1719

2nd Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to education; providing for high school
reform; providing for an educational planning and
assessment program, advanced placement and
international baccalaureate examination fees and
teacher stipends, and a college-level examination
program; replacing the basic skills tests with the
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments; appropriating
money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections
120B.02; 120B.13, subdivisions 1, 3, by adding
subdivisions; 120B.30, subdivisions 1, 1a; 124D.66,
subdivision 3; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 120B.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 120B.02, is
amended to read:

120B.02 EDUCATIONAL EXPECTATIONS FOR MINNESOTA'S
STUDENTS.

(a) The legislature is committed to establishing rigorous
academic standards for Minnesota's public school students. To
that end, the commissioner shall adopt in rule statewide
academic standards. The commissioner shall not prescribe in
rule or otherwise the delivery system, classroom assessments, or
form of instruction that school sites must use. For purposes of
this chapter, a school site is a separate facility, or a
separate program within a facility that a local school board
recognizes as a school site for funding purposes.

(b) All commissioner actions regarding the rule must be
premised on the following:

(1) the rule is intended to raise academic expectations for
students, teachers, and schools;

(2) any state action regarding the rule must evidence
consideration of school district autonomy; and

(3) the Department of Education, with the assistance of
school districts, must make available information about all
state initiatives related to the rule to students and parents,
teachers, and the general public in a timely format that is
appropriate, comprehensive, and readily understandable.

(c) When fully implemented, the requirements for high
school graduation in Minnesota must require students to deleted text begin pass the
basic skills test requirements and deleted text end satisfactorily complete, as
determined by the school district, the course credit
requirements under section 120B.024 new text begin and:
new text end

new text begin (1) for students enrolled in grade 8 before the 2005-2006
school year, to pass the basic skills test requirements; and
new text end

new text begin (2) for students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006
school year and later, to pass the Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessments Second Edition (MCA-IIs) new text end .

(d) The commissioner shall periodically review and report
on the state's assessment process.

(e) School districts are not required to adopt specific
provisions of deleted text begin the Goals 2000 and deleted text end the federal School-to-Work
programs.

Sec. 2.

new text begin [120B.128] EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT
SYSTEM (EPAS) PROGRAM.
new text end

new text begin (a) School districts and charter schools may elect to
participate in the Educational Planning and Assessment System
(EPAS) program offered by ACT, Inc. to provide a longitudinal,
systematic approach to student educational and career planning,
assessment, instructional support, and evaluation. The EPAS
achievement tests include English, reading, mathematics,
science, and components on planning for high school and
postsecondary education, interest inventory, needs assessments,
and student education plans. These tests are linked to the ACT
assessment for college admission and allow students, parents,
teachers, and schools to determine the student's college
readiness before grades 11 and 12.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner of education shall provide ACT Explore
tests for students in grade 8 and the ACT Plan test for students
in grade 10 to assess individual student academic strengths and
weaknesses, academic achievement and progress, higher order
thinking skills, and college readiness. The state shall pay the
test costs for school districts and charter schools that choose
to participate in the EPAS program. The commissioner shall
establish an application procedure and a process for state
payment of costs.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 120B.13,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Program structure; training programs for
teachers.

(a) The advanced placement and international
baccalaureate programs are well-established academic programs
for mature, academically directed high school students. These
programs, in addition to providing academic rigor, offer sound
curricular design, accountability, comprehensive external
assessment, feedback to students and teachers, and the
opportunity for high school students to compete academically on
a global level. Advanced placement and international
baccalaureate programs allow students to leave high school with
the academic skills and self-confidence to succeed in college
and beyond. The advanced placement and international
baccalaureate programs help provide Minnesota students with
world-class educational opportunity.

(b) Critical to schools' educational success is ongoing
advanced placement/international baccalaureate-approved teacher
training. A secondary teacher assigned by a district to teach
an advanced placement or international baccalaureate course or
other interested educator may participate in a training program
offered by The College Board or International Baccalaureate
North America, Inc. The state may pay a portion of the tuition,
room, deleted text begin and deleted text end board new text begin , and out-of-state travel new text end costs a teacher or
other interested educator incurs in participating in a training
program. The commissioner shall determine application
procedures and deadlines, deleted text begin and deleted text end select teachers and other
interested educators to participate in the training program new text begin , and
determine the payment process and amount of the subsidy new text end . The
procedures determined by the commissioner shall, to the extent
possible, ensure that advanced placement and international
baccalaureate courses become available in all parts of the state
and that a variety of course offerings are available in school
districts. This subdivision does not prevent teacher or other
interested educator participation in training programs offered
by The College Board or International Baccalaureate North
America, Inc., when tuition is paid by a source other than the
state.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 120B.13,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Subsidy for examination fees.

The state may pay
all or part of the fee for advanced placement or international
baccalaureate examinations deleted text begin for pupils of low-income families in
public and nonpublic schools deleted text end . The commissioner shall deleted text begin adopt a
schedule for fee subsidies that may allow payment of the entire
fee for deleted text end new text begin pay all examination fees for all public and nonpublic
students of new text end low-income families, as defined by the commissioner new text begin ,
and to the limit of the available appropriation, shall also pay
a portion or all of the examination fees for other public and
nonpublic students sitting for an advanced placement
examination, international baccalaureate examination, or both new text end .
The commissioner shall determine procedures for state payments
of fees.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 120B.13, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 3a. new text end

new text begin Teacher stipends. new text end

new text begin A teacher who teaches an
advanced placement or international baccalaureate course shall
receive a stipend for each student in the teacher's course who
receives a three or higher on the advanced placement examination
or a four or higher on the international baccalaureate
examination that covers the subject matter of the course. The
commissioner shall determine the payment process and the amount
of teacher stipends.
new text end

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 120B.13, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 3b. new text end

new text begin College credit. new text end

new text begin The colleges and universities
of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system must
award, and the University of Minnesota and private postsecondary
institutions are encouraged to award, college credit to high
school students who receive a score of three or higher on an
advanced placement or four or higher on the International
Baccalaureate program examination.
new text end

Sec. 7.

new text begin [120B.131] COLLEGE-LEVEL EXAMINATION PROGRAM
(CLEP).
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Program structure. new text end

new text begin The College-Level
Examination Program (CLEP) offered by The College Board provides
students with the opportunity to demonstrate college-level
achievement and receive college credit or advanced standing
through a program of examinations in undergraduate college
courses. Schools must provide information about CLEP and the
opportunity to receive college credit from a Minnesota
postsecondary institution to students successfully completing a
college-level course.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Reimbursement for examination fees. new text end

new text begin The state
may reimburse CLEP examination fees for a Minnesota public high
school student who has successfully completed one or more
college-level courses in high school and earned a satisfactory
score on one or more CLEP examinations in the following subjects:
composition and literature, mathematics and science, social
sciences and history, foreign languages, and business and
humanities. The state may reimburse each successful student for
up to six examination fees. The commissioner shall establish
application procedures and a process and schedule for fee
reimbursements. The commissioner must give priority to
reimburse the CLEP examination fees of students of low-income
families.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin College credit. new text end

new text begin The colleges and universities
of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system must
award, and the University of Minnesota and private postsecondary
institutions are encouraged to award, college credit to high
school students who receive a satisfactory score on a CLEP
examination under this section. The commissioner, in
consultation with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities,
shall set a passing score for college credits.
new text end

Sec. 8.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 120B.30,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Statewide testing.

(a) The commissioner,
with advice from experts with appropriate technical
qualifications and experience and stakeholders, consistent with
subdivision 1a, shall include in the comprehensive assessment
system, for each grade level to be tested, state-constructed
tests developed from and aligned with the state's required
academic standards under section 120B.021 and administered
annually to all students in grades 3 through 8 and at the high
school level. A state-developed test in a subject other than
writing, developed after the 2002-2003 school year, must include
both multiple choice and constructed response questions. The
commissioner shall establish one or more months during which
schools shall administer the tests to students each school
year. new text begin For students enrolled in grade 8 before the 2005-2006
school year, new text end only Minnesota basic skills tests in reading,
mathematics, and writing shall fulfill students' basic skills
testing requirements for a passing state notation. The passing
scores of the state tests in reading and mathematics are the
equivalent of:

(1) 70 percent correct for students entering grade 9 in
1996; and

(2) 75 percent correct for students entering grade 9 in
1997 and thereafter, as based on the first uniform test
administration of February 1998.

new text begin For students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006 school
year and later, only the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments
Second Edition (MCA-IIs) in reading, mathematics, and writing
shall fulfill students' academic standard requirements.
new text end

(b) The third through 8th grade and high school level test
results shall be available to districts for diagnostic purposes
affecting student learning and district instruction and
curriculum, and for establishing educational accountability.
The commissioner must disseminate to the public the test results
upon receiving those results.

(c) State tests must be constructed and aligned with state
academic standards. The testing process and the order of
administration shall be determined by the commissioner. The
statewide results shall be aggregated at the site and district
level, consistent with subdivision 1a.

(d) In addition to the testing and reporting requirements
under this section, the commissioner shall include the following
components in the statewide public reporting system:

(1) uniform statewide testing of all students in grades 3
through 8 and at the high school level that provides exemptions,
only with parent or guardian approval, for those very few
students for whom the student's individual education plan team
under sections 125A.05 and 125A.06, determines that the student
is incapable of taking a statewide test, or for a limited
English proficiency student under section 124D.59, subdivision
2, if the student has been in the United States for fewer than
three years;

(2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and
compared across school districts and across time on a statewide
basis, including average daily attendance, high school
graduation rates, and high school drop-out rates by age and
grade level;

(3) students' scores on the American College Test; and

(4) state results from participation in the National
Assessment of Educational Progress so that the state can
benchmark its performance against the nation and other states,
and, where possible, against other countries, and contribute to
the national effort to monitor achievement.

(e) Districts must report exemptions under paragraph (d),
clause (1), to the commissioner consistent with a format
provided by the commissioner.

Sec. 9.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 120B.30,
subdivision 1a, is amended to read:

Subd. 1a.

Statewide and local assessments; results.

(a)
The commissioner must develop deleted text begin language arts deleted text end new text begin reading new text end ,
mathematics, and science assessments aligned with state academic
standards that districts and sites must use to monitor student
growth toward achieving those standards. The commissioner must
not develop statewide assessments for academic standards in
social studies and the arts. The commissioner must require:

(1) annual deleted text begin language arts deleted text end new text begin reading new text end and mathematics
assessments in grades 3 through 8 and at the high school level
for the 2005-2006 school year and later; and

(2) annual science assessments in one grade in the grades 3
through 5 span, the grades 6 through 9 span, and a life sciences
assessment in the grades 10 through 12 span for the 2007-2008
school year and later.

(b) The commissioner must ensure that all statewide tests
administered to elementary and secondary students measure
students' academic knowledge and skills and not students'
values, attitudes, and beliefs.

(c) Reporting of assessment results must:

(1) provide timely, useful, and understandable information
on the performance of individual students, schools, school
districts, and the state;

(2) include, by the 2006-2007 school year, a value-added
component to measure student achievement growth over time; and

(3) new text begin for students enrolled in grade 8 before the 2005-2006
school year, new text end determine whether students have met the state's
basic skills requirements new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (4) for students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006
school year and later, determine whether students have met the
state's academic standards new text end .

(d) Consistent with applicable federal law and subdivision
1, paragraph (d), clause (1), the commissioner must include
alternative assessments for the very few students with
disabilities for whom statewide assessments are inappropriate
and for students with limited English proficiency.

(e) A school, school district, and charter school must
administer statewide assessments under this section, as the
assessments become available, to evaluate student progress in
achieving the academic standards. If a state assessment is not
available, a school, school district, and charter school must
determine locally if a student has met the required academic
standards. A school, school district, or charter school may use
a student's performance on a statewide assessment as one of
multiple criteria to determine grade promotion or retention. A
school, school district, or charter school may use a high school
student's performance on a statewide assessment as a percentage
of the student's final grade in a course, or place a student's
assessment score on the student's transcript.

Sec. 10.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 124D.66,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Eligible services.

(a) Assurance of mastery
programs may provide direct instructional services to an
eligible pupil, or a group of eligible pupils, under the
following conditions in paragraphs (b) to (d).

(b) Instruction may be provided at one or more grade levels
from kindergarten to grade 8 and for students in grades 9
through 12 who new text begin were enrolled in grade 8 before the 2005-2006
school year and new text end have failed the basic skills tests new text begin , or were
enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006 school year and later and
who have failed the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments
(MCA-IIs) in reading, mathematics, or writing as required for
high school graduation under section 120B.02 new text end . If an assessment
of pupils' needs within a district demonstrates that the
eligible pupils in grades kindergarten to grade 8 are being
appropriately served, a district may serve eligible pupils in
grades 9 to 12.

(c) Instruction must be provided under the supervision of
the eligible pupil's regular classroom teacher. Instruction may
be provided by the eligible pupil's classroom teacher, by
another teacher, by a team of teachers, or by an education
assistant or aide. A special education teacher may provide
instruction, but instruction that is provided under this section
is not eligible for aid under section 125A.76.

(d) The instruction that is provided must differ from the
initial instruction the pupil received in the regular classroom
setting. The instruction may differ by presenting different
curriculum than was initially presented in the regular classroom
or by presenting the same curriculum:

(1) at a different rate or in a different sequence than it
was initially presented;

(2) using different teaching methods or techniques than
were used initially; or

(3) using different instructional materials than were used
initially.

Sec. 11. new text begin MINNESOTA COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENTS; RULES.
new text end

new text begin The commissioner of education shall adopt rules on or
before January 1, 2006, to implement the Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessments Second Edition (MCA-IIs) in reading, mathematics,
and writing.
new text end

Sec. 12. new text begin APPROPRIATIONS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Department. new text end

new text begin The sums indicated in this
section are appropriated from the general fund to the Department
of Education for the fiscal years designated.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Education planning and assessment program. new text end

new text begin For
the Educational Planning and Assessment (EPAS) program under
Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.128:
new text end

new text begin $ 829,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2006
new text end

new text begin $ 829,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2007
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end [COLLEGE LEVEL EXAMINATION PROGRAM (CLEP).] new text begin For
the College Level Examination program (CLEP) under Minnesota
Statutes, section 120B.131:
new text end

new text begin $ 825,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2006
new text end

new text begin $1,650,000 new text end new text begin ..... new text end new text begin 2007
new text end

new text begin This is a onetime appropriation.
new text end