HF 3302

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 02/13/2020 12:38pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; requiring assessments for graduation; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2018, sections 120B.02, subdivision 2; 120B.30, subdivision 1a, by adding
a subdivision; Minnesota Statutes 2019 Supplement, section 120B.30, subdivision
1.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 120B.02, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Graduation requirements.

(a) To graduate from high school, students must
demonstrate to their enrolling school district or school their satisfactory completion of the
credit requirements under section 120B.024 and their understanding of academic standards new text begin ,
and for students in grade 8 in the 2020-2021 school year and later, must pass the assessments
required for graduation under section 120B.30 new text end . A school district must adopt graduation
requirements that meet or exceed state graduation requirements established in law or rule.

(b) Students ages 19 to 21 who have not yet graduated from a Minnesota high school
and, but for their age, are otherwise eligible to participate in an adult basic education program
may be admitted to an adult high school diploma program under section 124D.52,
subdivisions 8 and 9.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2020.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2019 Supplement, 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, must include in the comprehensive assessment system, for each grade level
to be tested, state-constructed tests developed as computer-adaptive reading and mathematics
assessments for students that are aligned with the state's required academic standards under
section 120B.021, include multiple choice questions, and are administered annually to all
students in grades 3 through 8. State-developed high school tests aligned with the state's
required academic standards under section 120B.021 and administered to all high school
students in a subject other than writing must include multiple choice questions. The
commissioner must establish a testing period as late as possible each school year during
which schools must administer the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments to students. The
commissioner must publish the testing schedule at least two years before the beginning of
the testing period.

(b) The state assessment system must be aligned to the most recent revision of academic
standards as described in section 120B.023 in the following manner:

(1) mathematics;

(i) grades 3 through 8 beginning in the 2010-2011 school year; and

(ii) high school level beginning in the 2013-2014 school year;

(2) science; grades 5 and 8 and at the high school level beginning in the 2011-2012
school year; and

(3) language arts and reading; grades 3 through 8 and high school level beginning in the
2012-2013 school year.

(c) For students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2012-2013 school year and later, students'
state graduation requirements, based on a longitudinal, systematic approach to student
education and career planning, assessment, instructional support, and evaluation, include
the following:

(1) achievement and career and college readiness in mathematics, reading, and writing,
consistent with paragraph (k) and to the extent available, to monitor students' continuous
development of and growth in requisite knowledge and skills; analyze students' progress
and performance levels, identifying students' academic strengths and diagnosing areas where
students require curriculum or instructional adjustments, targeted interventions, or
remediation; and, based on analysis of students' progress and performance data, determine
students' learning and instructional needs and the instructional tools and best practices that
support academic rigor for the student; and

(2) consistent with this paragraph and section 120B.125, age-appropriate exploration
and planning activities and career assessments to encourage students to identify personally
relevant career interests and aptitudes and help students and their families develop a regularly
reexamined transition plan for postsecondary education or employment without need for
postsecondary remediation.

Based on appropriate state guidelines, students with an individualized education program
may satisfy state graduation requirements by achieving an individual score on the
state-identified alternative assessments.

(d) Expectations of schools, districts, and the state for career or college readiness under
this subdivision must be comparable in rigor, clarity of purpose, and rates of student
completion.

A student under paragraph (c), clause (1), must receive targeted, relevant, academically
rigorous, and resourced instruction, which may include a targeted instruction and intervention
plan focused on improving the student's knowledge and skills in core subjects so that the
student has a reasonable chance to succeed in a career or college without need for
postsecondary remediation. Consistent with sections 120B.13, 124D.09, 124D.091, 124D.49,
and related sections, an enrolling school or district must actively encourage a student in
grade 11 or 12 who is identified as academically ready for a career or college to participate
in courses and programs awarding college credit to high school students. Students are not
required to achieve a specified score or level of proficiency on an assessment under this
subdivision to graduate from high school.

(e) Though not a high school graduation requirement, students are encouraged to
participate in a nationally recognized college entrance exam. To the extent state funding
for college entrance exam fees is available, a district must pay the cost, one time, for an
interested student in grade 11 or 12 who is eligible for a free or reduced-price meal, to take
a nationally recognized college entrance exam before graduating. A student must be able
to take the exam under this paragraph at the student's high school during the school day and
at any one of the multiple exam administrations available to students in the district. A district
may administer the ACT or SAT or both the ACT and SAT to comply with this paragraph.
If the district administers only one of these two tests and a free or reduced-price meal eligible
student opts not to take that test and chooses instead to take the other of the two tests, the
student may take the other test at a different time or location and remains eligible for the
examination fee reimbursement. Notwithstanding sections 123B.34 to 123B.39, a school
district may require a student that is not eligible for a free or reduced-price meal to pay the
cost of taking a nationally recognized college entrance exam. The district must waive the
cost for a student unable to pay.

(f) The commissioner and the chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
must collaborate in aligning instruction and assessments for adult basic education students
and English learners to provide the students with diagnostic information about any targeted
interventions, accommodations, modifications, and supports they need so that assessments
and other performance measures are accessible to them and they may seek postsecondary
education or employment without need for postsecondary remediation. When administering
formative or summative assessments used to measure the academic progress, including the
oral academic development, of English learners and inform their instruction, schools must
ensure that the assessments are accessible to the students and students have the modifications
and supports they need to sufficiently understand the assessments.

(g) Districts and schools, on an annual basis, must use career exploration elements to
help students, beginning no later than grade 9, and their families explore and plan for
postsecondary education or careers based on the students' interests, aptitudes, and aspirations.
Districts and schools must use timely regional labor market information and partnerships,
among other resources, to help students and their families successfully develop, pursue,
review, and revise an individualized plan for postsecondary education or a career. This
process must help increase students' engagement in and connection to school, improve
students' knowledge and skills, and deepen students' understanding of career pathways as
a sequence of academic and career courses that lead to an industry-recognized credential,
an associate's degree, or a bachelor's degree and are available to all students, whatever their
interests and career goals.

(h) A student who demonstrates attainment of required state academic standards, which
include career and college readiness benchmarks, on high school assessments under
subdivision 1a is academically ready for a career or college and is encouraged to participate
in courses awarding college credit to high school students. Such courses and programs may
include sequential courses of study within broad career areas and technical skill assessments
that extend beyond course grades.

(i) As appropriate, students through grade 12 must continue to participate in targeted
instruction, intervention, or remediation and be encouraged to participate in courses awarding
college credit to high school students.

(j) In developing, supporting, and improving students' academic readiness for a career
or college, schools, districts, and the state must have a continuum of empirically derived,
clearly defined benchmarks focused on students' attainment of knowledge and skills so that
students, their parents, and teachers know how well students must perform to have a
reasonable chance to succeed in a career or college without need for postsecondary
remediation. The commissioner, in consultation with local school officials and educators,
and Minnesota's public postsecondary institutions must ensure that the foundational
knowledge and skills for students' successful performance in postsecondary employment
or education and an articulated series of possible targeted interventions are clearly identified
and satisfy Minnesota's postsecondary admissions requirements.

(k) For students in grade 8 in the 2012-2013 school year and later, a school, district, or
charter school must record on the high school transcript a student's progress toward career
and college readiness, and for other students as soon as practicable. new text begin For students in grade
8 in the 2020-2021 school year and later, a school, district, or charter school must record
on the high school transcript a student's current pass status for each subject that has an
assessment required for graduation.
new text end

(l) The school board granting students their diplomas may formally decide to include a
notation of high achievement on the high school diplomas of those graduating seniors who,
according to established school board criteria, demonstrate exemplary academic achievement
during high school.

(m) The 3rd through 8th grade computer-adaptive assessment results and high school
test results must be available to districts for diagnostic purposes affecting student learning
and district instruction and curriculum, and for establishing educational accountability. The
commissioner, in consultation with the chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities, must establish empirically derived benchmarks on the high school tests that
reveal a trajectory toward career and college readiness consistent with section 136F.302,
subdivision 1a. The commissioner must disseminate to the public the computer-adaptive
assessments and high school test results upon receiving those results.

(n) The grades 3 through 8 computer-adaptive assessments and high school tests must
be aligned with state academic standards. The commissioner must determine the testing
process and the order of administration. The statewide results must be aggregated at the site
and district level, consistent with subdivision 1a.

(o) The commissioner must include the following components in the statewide public
reporting system:

(1) uniform statewide computer-adaptive assessments of all students in grades 3 through
8 and testing at the high school levels new text begin required under this subdivision new text end that provides
appropriate, technically sound accommodations or alternate assessments;

(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) state results on the American College Test; deleted text begin and
deleted text end

(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 deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (5) assessments required for high school graduation and diploma.
new text end

(p) For purposes of statewide accountability, "career and college ready" means a high
school graduate has the knowledge, skills, and competencies to successfully pursue a career
pathway, including postsecondary credit leading to a degree, diploma, certificate, or
industry-recognized credential and employment. Students who are career and college ready
are able to successfully complete credit-bearing coursework at a two- or four-year college
or university or other credit-bearing postsecondary program without need for remediation.

(q) For purposes of statewide accountability, "cultural competence," "cultural
competency," or "culturally competent" means the ability of families and educators to
interact effectively with people of different cultures, native languages, and socioeconomic
backgrounds.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2020.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 120B.30, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:

Subd. 1a.

Statewide and local assessments; results.

(a) For purposes of this section,
the following definitions have the meanings given them.

(1) "Computer-adaptive assessments" means fully adaptive assessments.

(2) "Fully adaptive assessments" include test items that are on-grade level and items that
may be above or below a student's grade level.

(3) "On-grade level" test items contain subject area content that is aligned to state
academic standards for the grade level of the student taking the assessment.

(4) "Above-grade level" test items contain subject area content that is above the grade
level of the student taking the assessment and is considered aligned with state academic
standards to the extent it is aligned with content represented in state academic standards
above the grade level of the student taking the assessment. Notwithstanding the student's
grade level, administering above-grade level test items to a student does not violate the
requirement that state assessments must be aligned with state standards.

(5) "Below-grade level" test items contain subject area content that is below the grade
level of the student taking the test and is considered aligned with state academic standards
to the extent it is aligned with content represented in state academic standards below the
student's current grade level. Notwithstanding the student's grade level, administering
below-grade level test items to a student does not violate the requirement that state
assessments must be aligned with state standards.

(b) The commissioner must use fully adaptive mathematics and reading assessments for
grades 3 through 8.

(c) For purposes of conforming with existing federal educational accountability
requirements, the commissioner must develop and implement computer-adaptive reading
and mathematics assessments for grades 3 through 8, state-developed high school reading
and mathematics tests aligned with state academic standards, a high school writing test
aligned with state standards when it becomes available, and science assessments under
clause (2) 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, health and physical education, and the arts. The commissioner must require:

(1) annual computer-adaptive reading and mathematics assessments in grades 3 through
8, and high school reading, writing, and mathematics tests; and

(2) annual science assessments in one grade in the grades 3 through 5 span, the grades
6 through 8 span, and a life sciences assessment in the grades 9 through 12 span, and the
commissioner must not require students to achieve a passing score on high school science
assessments as a condition of receiving a high school diploma.

(d) The commissioner must ensure that for annual computer-adaptive assessments:

(1) individual student performance data and achievement reports are available within
three school days of when students take an assessment except in a year when an assessment
reflects new performance standards;

(2) growth information is available for each student from the student's first assessment
to each proximate assessment using a constant measurement scale;

(3) parents, teachers, and school administrators are able to use elementary and middle
school student performance data to project students' secondary and postsecondary
achievement; and

(4) useful diagnostic information about areas of students' academic strengths and
weaknesses is available to teachers and school administrators for improving student
instruction and indicating the specific skills and concepts that should be introduced and
developed for students at given performance levels, organized by strands within subject
areas, and aligned to state academic standards.

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

(f) Reporting of state assessment results must:

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

(2) include a growth indicator of student achievement; and

(3) determine whether students have met the state's academic standards.

(g) Consistent with applicable federal law, the commissioner must include appropriate,
technically sound accommodations or alternative assessments for the very few students with
disabilities for whom statewide assessments are inappropriate and for English learners.

(h) A school, school district, and charter school must administer statewide assessments
under this section, as the assessments become available, to evaluate student progress toward
career and college readiness in the context of the state's academic standards. A school,
school district, or charter school may use a student's performance on a statewide assessment
new text begin required under subdivision 1 new text end 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 new text begin required under subdivision 1 new text end as a percentage of the
student's final grade in a course, or place a student's assessment score on the student's
transcript.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2020.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 120B.30, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

new text begin Subd. 1c. new text end

new text begin Assessments required for graduation. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner must develop
a reading assessment for students in grade 10 and a mathematics assessment for students
in grade 11 that are required for high school graduation and diploma. The commissioner
must determine passing scores for reading and mathematics on the required assessments
for a high school diploma, and passing scores on the assessments for students designated
as English learners. The commissioner must develop guidelines for determining an individual
passing score on the required assessments for a student with an individualized education
program or 504 plan.
new text end

new text begin (b) A student in grade 8 in the 2020-2021 school year and later must achieve a passing
score on the assessments required for high school graduation and diploma. An English
learner must achieve the passing score determined by the commissioner for English learners.
A student with an individualized education program or 504 plan must earn a passing score
designated by the student's school in accordance with the commissioner's guidance on
passing scores for a student with an individualized education program or 504 plan.
new text end

new text begin (c) A student in grade 8 in the 2020-2021 school year and later who does not pass the
mathematics assessment required for graduation may graduate from high school if the
student:
new text end

new text begin (1) completes with a passing score or grade all state and local coursework and credits
required for graduation by the school board;
new text end

new text begin (2) participates in district-prescribed academic remediation in mathematics; and
new text end

new text begin (3) participates in at least two retests of the mathematics assessment required for
graduation.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2020.
new text end