1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; repealing the profile of 
  1.3             learning portion of the high school graduation rule; 
  1.4             amending graduation rule testing requirements; 
  1.5             amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 120B.02; 
  1.6             120B.30, subdivision 1; 120B.31, subdivision 4; 
  1.7             136A.233, subdivision 4; repealing Minnesota Statutes 
  1.8             2000, section 120B.031; Minnesota Rules, chapter 3501. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 120B.02, is 
  1.11  amended to read: 
  1.12     120B.02 [RESULTS-ORIENTED GRADUATION RULE; BASIC SKILLS 
  1.13  REQUIREMENTS; PROFILE OF LEARNING.] 
  1.14     (a) The legislature is committed to establishing a 
  1.15  rigorous, results-oriented graduation rule for Minnesota's 
  1.16  public school students.  To that end, the commissioner shall use 
  1.17  its rulemaking authority under section 127A.05, subdivision 4, 
  1.18  to adopt a statewide, results-oriented graduation rule to be 
  1.19  implemented starting with students beginning ninth grade in the 
  1.20  1996-1997 school year.  The commissioner shall not prescribe in 
  1.21  rule or otherwise the delivery system or form of instruction 
  1.22  that school sites must use to meet the requirements contained in 
  1.23  this rule.  For purposes of this chapter, a school site is a 
  1.24  separate facility, or a separate program within a facility that 
  1.25  a local school board recognizes as a school site.  
  1.26     (b) To successfully accomplish paragraph (a), the 
  1.27  commissioner shall set in rule high academic standards for all 
  2.1   students.  The standards must contain the foundational skills in 
  2.2   the three core curricular areas of reading, writing, and 
  2.3   mathematics while meeting requirements for high school 
  2.4   graduation.  The standards must also provide an opportunity for 
  2.5   students to excel by meeting higher academic standards through a 
  2.6   profile of learning that uses curricular requirements to allow 
  2.7   students to expand their knowledge and skills beyond the 
  2.8   foundational skills.  All commissioner actions regarding the 
  2.9   rule must be premised on the following:  
  2.10     (1) the rule is intended to raise academic expectations for 
  2.11  students, teachers, and schools; 
  2.12     (2) any state action regarding the rule must evidence 
  2.13  consideration of school district autonomy; and 
  2.14     (3) the department of children, families, and learning, 
  2.15  with the assistance of school districts, must make available 
  2.16  information about all state initiatives related to the rule to 
  2.17  students and parents, teachers, and the general public in a 
  2.18  timely format that is appropriate, comprehensive, and readily 
  2.19  understandable. 
  2.20     (c) For purposes of adopting the rule, the commissioner, in 
  2.21  consultation with the department, recognized psychometric 
  2.22  experts in assessment, and other interested and knowledgeable 
  2.23  educators, using the most current version of professional 
  2.24  standards for educational testing, shall evaluate the 
  2.25  alternative approaches to assessment.  
  2.26     (d) The content of the graduation rule must differentiate 
  2.27  between minimum competencies reflected in the basic requirements 
  2.28  assessment and rigorous profile of learning standards.  When 
  2.29  fully implemented, the requirements for high school graduation 
  2.30  in Minnesota must include both basic requirements and the 
  2.31  required profile of learning.  The profile of learning must 
  2.32  measure student performance using performance-based assessments 
  2.33  compiled over time that integrate higher academic standards, 
  2.34  higher order thinking skills, and application of knowledge from 
  2.35  a variety of content areas.  The profile of learning shall 
  2.36  include a broad range of academic experience and accomplishment 
  3.1   necessary to achieve the goal of preparing students to function 
  3.2   effectively as purposeful thinkers, effective communicators, 
  3.3   self-directed learners, productive group participants, and 
  3.4   responsible citizens.  
  3.5      (e) The profile of learning contains the following learning 
  3.6   areas: 
  3.7      (1) read, listen, and view; 
  3.8      (2) write and speak; 
  3.9      (3) arts and literature; 
  3.10     (4) mathematical concepts and applications; 
  3.11     (5) inquiry and research; 
  3.12     (6) scientific concepts and applications; 
  3.13     (7) social studies; 
  3.14     (8) physical education and lifetime fitness; 
  3.15     (9) economics and business; 
  3.16     (10) world languages; and 
  3.17     (11) technical and vocational education. 
  3.18     (f) The commissioner shall periodically review and report 
  3.19  on the assessment process and student achievement with the 
  3.20  expectation of raising the standards and expanding high school 
  3.21  graduation requirements. 
  3.22     (g) Beginning August 31, 2000, the commissioner must 
  3.23  publish, including in electronic format for the Internet, a 
  3.24  report, by school site, area learning center, and charter 
  3.25  school, of: 
  3.26     (1) the required preparatory content standards; 
  3.27     (2) the high school content standards required for 
  3.28  graduation; and 
  3.29     (3) the number of student waivers the district, area 
  3.30  learning center, or charter school approves under section 
  3.31  120B.031, subdivisions 4, 5, and 6, based on information each 
  3.32  district, area learning center, and charter school provides. 
  3.33     (h) School districts must integrate required and elective 
  3.34  content standards in the scope and sequence of the district 
  3.35  curriculum. 
  3.36     (i) (d) School districts are not required to adopt specific 
  4.1   provisions of the Goals 2000 and the federal School-to-Work 
  4.2   programs. 
  4.3      <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  4.4   following final enactment.  
  4.5      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 120B.30, 
  4.6   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.7      Subdivision 1.  [STATEWIDE TESTING; DISTRICT-SELECTED 
  4.8   NATIONALLY NORM-REFERENCED STANDARDIZED ACHIEVEMENT EXAM.] (a) 
  4.9   The commissioner, with advice from experts with appropriate 
  4.10  technical qualifications and experience and stakeholders, shall 
  4.11  include in the comprehensive assessment system, for each grade 
  4.12  level to be tested, a test, which shall be aligned with the 
  4.13  state's graduation standards and administered annually shall 
  4.14  oversee the administering of a district-selected nationally 
  4.15  norm-referenced standardized achievement exam to all students in 
  4.16  the third, fifth, and eighth grades.  The commissioner shall 
  4.17  establish one or more months during which schools shall 
  4.18  administer the district-selected tests to students each school 
  4.19  year.  Only Minnesota basic skills tests in reading, 
  4.20  mathematics, and writing shall fulfill students' basic skills 
  4.21  testing requirements for a passing state notation.  The passing 
  4.22  scores of the state tests in reading and mathematics are the 
  4.23  equivalent of:  
  4.24     (1) 70 percent correct for students entering grade 9 in 
  4.25  1996; and 
  4.26     (2) 75 percent correct for students entering grade 9 in 
  4.27  1997 and thereafter, as based on the first uniform test 
  4.28  administration of February 1998.  
  4.29     Notwithstanding Minnesota Rules, part 3501.0050, subpart 2, 
  4.30  at the written request of a parent or guardian, and with the 
  4.31  recommendation of the student's teacher, a district may offer 
  4.32  the test of basic requirements in reading, math, or writing to 
  4.33  an individual student beginning in grade 5.  The student must 
  4.34  take the same test on the same date as administered to students 
  4.35  in eighth grade or higher.  Third and, fifth, and eighth grade 
  4.36  test results shall be available to districts for diagnostic 
  5.1   purposes affecting student learning and district instruction and 
  5.2   curriculum, and for establishing educational accountability.  
  5.3   The commissioner must disseminate to the public the third and, 
  5.4   fifth, and eighth grade test results upon receiving those 
  5.5   results. 
  5.6      (b) In addition, at the secondary level, districts shall 
  5.7   assess student performance in all required learning areas and 
  5.8   selected required standards within each area of the profile of 
  5.9   learning.  The testing instruments and testing process shall be 
  5.10  determined by the commissioner.  The results shall be aggregated 
  5.11  at the site and district level.  The testing shall be 
  5.12  administered beginning in the 1999-2000 school year and 
  5.13  thereafter. 
  5.14     (c) The commissioner shall report school site and school 
  5.15  district student academic achievement levels of the current and 
  5.16  two immediately preceding school years.  The report shall 
  5.17  include students' unweighted mean test scores in each tested 
  5.18  subject, the unweighted mean test scores of only those students 
  5.19  enrolled in the school by January 1 of the previous school year, 
  5.20  and the unweighted test scores of all students except those 
  5.21  students receiving limited English proficiency instruction.  The 
  5.22  report also shall record separately, in proximity to the 
  5.23  reported performance levels, the percentages of students who are 
  5.24  eligible to receive a free or reduced price school meal, 
  5.25  demonstrate limited English proficiency, or are eligible to 
  5.26  receive special education services. 
  5.27     (d) (c) In addition to the testing and reporting 
  5.28  requirements under paragraphs (a), and (b), and (c), the 
  5.29  commissioner shall include the following components in the 
  5.30  statewide public reporting system: 
  5.31     (1) uniform statewide testing of all third, fifth, and 
  5.32  eighth, and post-eighth grade students using a district-selected 
  5.33  nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement exam that 
  5.34  provides exemptions, only with parent or guardian approval, for 
  5.35  those very few students for whom the student's individual 
  5.36  education plan team under sections 125A.05 and 125A.06, 
  6.1   determines that the student is incapable of taking a statewide 
  6.2   test, or for a limited English proficiency student under section 
  6.3   124D.59, subdivision 2, if the student has been in the United 
  6.4   States for fewer than 12 months and for whom special language 
  6.5   barriers exist, such as the student's native language does not 
  6.6   have a written form or the district does not have access to 
  6.7   appropriate interpreter services for the student's native 
  6.8   language; 
  6.9      (2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and 
  6.10  compared across school districts and across time on a statewide 
  6.11  basis, including average daily attendance, high school 
  6.12  graduation rates, and high school drop-out rates by age and 
  6.13  grade level; 
  6.14     (3) students' scores on the American College Test; and 
  6.15     (4) participation in the National Assessment of Educational 
  6.16  Progress so that the state can benchmark its performance against 
  6.17  the nation and other states, and, where possible, against other 
  6.18  countries, and contribute to the national effort to monitor 
  6.19  achievement. 
  6.20     (e) (d) Districts must report exemptions under paragraph 
  6.21  (d) (c), clause (1), to the commissioner consistent with a 
  6.22  format provided by the commissioner. 
  6.23     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  6.24  following final enactment.  
  6.25     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 120B.31, 
  6.26  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  6.27     Subd. 4.  [STATISTICAL ADJUSTMENTS.] In developing policies 
  6.28  and assessment processes to hold schools and districts 
  6.29  accountable for high levels of academic standards, including the 
  6.30  profile of learning under section 120B.02, the commissioner 
  6.31  shall aggregate student data over time to report student 
  6.32  performance levels measured at the school district, regional, or 
  6.33  statewide level.  When collecting and reporting the data, the 
  6.34  commissioner shall:  (1) acknowledge the impact of significant 
  6.35  demographic factors such as residential instability, the number 
  6.36  of single parent families, parents' level of education, and 
  7.1   parents' income level on school outcomes; and (2) organize and 
  7.2   report the data so that state and local policymakers can 
  7.3   understand the educational implications of changes in districts' 
  7.4   demographic profiles over time.  Any report the commissioner 
  7.5   disseminates containing summary data on student performance must 
  7.6   integrate student performance and the demographic factors that 
  7.7   strongly correlate with that performance.  
  7.8      <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  7.9   following final enactment.  
  7.10     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 136A.233, 
  7.11  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  7.12     Subd. 4.  [COOPERATION WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS.] Each campus 
  7.13  using the state work study program is encouraged to cooperate 
  7.14  with its local public elementary and secondary schools to place 
  7.15  college work study students in activities in the schools, such 
  7.16  as tutoring.  Students must be placed in meaningful activities 
  7.17  that directly assist students in kindergarten through grade 12 
  7.18  in meeting graduation standards including the profiles of 
  7.19  learning.  College students shall work under direct supervision; 
  7.20  therefore, school hiring authorities are not required to request 
  7.21  criminal background checks on these students under section 
  7.22  123B.03. 
  7.23     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  7.24  following final enactment.  
  7.25     Sec. 5.  [REPEALER.] 
  7.26     (a) Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 120B.031, is repealed. 
  7.27     (b) Minnesota Rules, chapter 3501, is repealed.  
  7.28     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  7.29  following final enactment.