1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; providing for timely test 
  1.3             results; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 
  1.4             120B.30, subdivision 1. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.30, 
  1.7   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [STATEWIDE TESTING.] (a) The commissioner, 
  1.9   with advice from experts with appropriate technical 
  1.10  qualifications and experience and stakeholders, shall include in 
  1.11  the comprehensive assessment system, for each grade level to be 
  1.12  tested, a single statewide norm-referenced or 
  1.13  criterion-referenced test, or a combination of a norm-referenced 
  1.14  and a criterion-referenced test, which shall be highly 
  1.15  correlated with the state's graduation standards and 
  1.16  administered annually to all students in the third, fifth 
  1.17  fourth, sixth, and eighth grades.  Schools shall administer the 
  1.18  fourth and sixth grade tests in a designated autumn month during 
  1.19  each school year so that students' test results are available to 
  1.20  the students' current teachers in a timely fashion in the same 
  1.21  school year to assist the teachers and students in monitoring 
  1.22  student progress.  The commissioner shall establish one or more 
  1.23  months during which schools shall administer the basic skills 
  1.24  tests to students each school year.  Only Minnesota basic skills 
  1.25  tests in reading, mathematics, and writing shall fulfill 
  2.1   students' testing requirements for a passing state notation.  
  2.2      (b) In addition, at the secondary level, districts shall 
  2.3   assess student performance in all required learning areas and 
  2.4   selected required standards within each area of the profile of 
  2.5   learning.  The testing instruments and testing process shall be 
  2.6   determined by the commissioner.  The results shall be aggregated 
  2.7   at the site and district level.  The testing shall be 
  2.8   administered beginning in the 1999-2000 school year and 
  2.9   thereafter. 
  2.10     (c) The comprehensive assessment system shall include an 
  2.11  evaluation of school site and school district performance levels 
  2.12  during the 1997-1998 school year and thereafter using an 
  2.13  established performance baseline developed from students' test 
  2.14  scores under this section that records, at a minimum, students' 
  2.15  unweighted mean test scores in each tested subject, a second 
  2.16  performance baseline that reports, at a minimum, the same 
  2.17  unweighted mean test scores of only those students enrolled in 
  2.18  the school by January 1 of the previous school year, and a third 
  2.19  performance baseline that reports the same unweighted test 
  2.20  scores of all students except those students receiving limited 
  2.21  English proficiency instruction.  The evaluation also shall 
  2.22  record separately, in proximity to the performance baselines, 
  2.23  the percentages of students who are eligible to receive a free 
  2.24  or reduced price school meal, demonstrate limited English 
  2.25  proficiency, or are eligible to receive special education 
  2.26  services. 
  2.27     (d) In addition to the testing and reporting requirements 
  2.28  under paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), the commissioner, in 
  2.29  consultation with the state board of education, shall include 
  2.30  the following components in the statewide educational 
  2.31  accountability and public reporting system: 
  2.32     (1) uniform statewide testing of all third, fifth fourth, 
  2.33  sixth, eighth, and post-eighth grade students with that provides 
  2.34  testing exemptions, only with parent or guardian approval, from 
  2.35  the testing requirement only for those very few students for 
  2.36  whom the student's individual education plan team under sections 
  3.1   125A.05 and 125A.06, determines that the student is incapable of 
  3.2   taking a statewide test, or for a limited English proficiency 
  3.3   student under section 124D.59, subdivision 2, if the student has 
  3.4   been in the United States for fewer than 12 months and for whom 
  3.5   special language barriers exist, such as the student's native 
  3.6   language does not have a written form or the district does not 
  3.7   have access to appropriate interpreter services for the 
  3.8   student's native language; 
  3.9      (2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and 
  3.10  compared across school districts and across time on a statewide 
  3.11  basis; 
  3.12     (3) students' scores on the American College Test; 
  3.13     (4) participation in the National Assessment of Educational 
  3.14  Progress so that the state can benchmark its performance against 
  3.15  the nation and other states, and, where possible, against other 
  3.16  countries, and contribute to the national effort to monitor 
  3.17  achievement; and 
  3.18     (5) basic skills and advanced competencies connecting 
  3.19  teaching and learning to high academic standards, assessment, 
  3.20  and transitions to citizenship and employment. 
  3.21     (e) Districts must report exemptions under paragraph (d), 
  3.22  clause (1), to the commissioner consistent with a format 
  3.23  provided by the commissioner. 
  3.24     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.25     Section 1 is effective for the 1999-2000 school year and 
  3.26  later.