1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; formulating statewide testing 
  1.3             and reporting system; requiring the state board of 
  1.4             education to amend certain educational testing rules; 
  1.5             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.6             chapter 121. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [121.1113] [STATEWIDE TESTING AND REPORTING 
  1.9   SYSTEM.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [STATEWIDE TESTING POLICY.] (a) The 
  1.11  commissioner, with advice from experts with appropriate 
  1.12  technical qualifications and experience, shall include in the 
  1.13  comprehensive assessment system a single statewide 
  1.14  norm-referenced or criterion-referenced test, or a combination 
  1.15  of a norm-referenced and a criterion-referenced test, which 
  1.16  shall be highly correlated with the state's graduation standards 
  1.17  and administered annually to all students in two elementary 
  1.18  grades and one secondary grade.  School districts shall annually 
  1.19  test third, fifth, and eighth grade students.  School districts 
  1.20  also shall annually test eleventh grade students using a 
  1.21  norm-referenced or criterion-referenced test or other 
  1.22  performance measure that provides nationally referenced 
  1.23  performance information.  The commissioner shall implement the 
  1.24  testing of grade 11 not later than the 1999-2000 school year.  
  1.25  The commissioner shall establish one or more months during which 
  1.26  schools shall administer the tests to students each school year. 
  2.1   The commissioner may allow students to use the Minnesota basic 
  2.2   skills tests in reading and mathematics to fulfill their eighth 
  2.3   grade testing requirements. 
  2.4      (b) The comprehensive assessment system shall include an 
  2.5   evaluation of school site and school district performance levels 
  2.6   during the 1997-1998 school year and thereafter using an 
  2.7   established performance baseline developed from students' test 
  2.8   scores under this section that records, at a minimum, students' 
  2.9   unweighted mean test scores in each tested subject, a second 
  2.10  performance baseline that reports, at a minimum, the same 
  2.11  unweighted mean test scores of only those students enrolled in 
  2.12  the school by January 1 of the previous school year, and a third 
  2.13  performance baseline that reports the same unweighted test 
  2.14  scores of all students except those students receiving limited 
  2.15  English proficiency instruction.  The evaluation also shall 
  2.16  record separately, in proximity to the performance baselines, 
  2.17  the percentages of students who are eligible to receive a free 
  2.18  or reduced price school meal, demonstrate limited English 
  2.19  proficiency, or are eligible to receive special education 
  2.20  services. 
  2.21     (c) In addition to the testing and reporting requirements 
  2.22  under paragraphs (a) and (b), the commissioner and the state 
  2.23  board of education shall include the following components in the 
  2.24  statewide educational accountability and public reporting system:
  2.25     (1) a uniform statewide testing policy that requires 
  2.26  testing all students and exempts from the testing requirement 
  2.27  only those very few students for whom the student's individual 
  2.28  education plan team determines that the student is incapable of 
  2.29  taking a statewide test, and limited English proficiency 
  2.30  students under section 126.262, subdivision 2, who have been in 
  2.31  the United States for fewer than 12 months and for whom a 
  2.32  special language barrier exists, such as the student's native 
  2.33  language has no written form or the district does not have 
  2.34  access to interpreter services in the student's native language; 
  2.35     (2) a core set of educational indicators that are 
  2.36  comparable and capable of being aggregated across school 
  3.1   districts and across time on a statewide basis; 
  3.2      (3) students' scores on the American College Test; 
  3.3      (4) participation in the National Assessment of Educational 
  3.4   Progress so that the state can benchmark its performance against 
  3.5   the nation and other states, and, where possible, against other 
  3.6   countries, and contribute to the national effort to monitor 
  3.7   achievement; and 
  3.8      (5) a continuous progress model flowing from basic skills 
  3.9   to advanced competencies that strengthens the connections 
  3.10  between high academic standards, assessment, teaching, and 
  3.11  learning. 
  3.12     (d) Districts must report exemptions under paragraph (c), 
  3.13  clause (1), to the commissioner consistent with a format the 
  3.14  commissioner provides. 
  3.15     Subd. 2.  [DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN, FAMILIES, AND LEARNING 
  3.16  ASSISTANCE.] The department of children, families, and learning 
  3.17  shall implement the statewide assessment system by: 
  3.18     (1) contracting for professional and technical services 
  3.19  according to competitive bidding procedures, under chapter 16B; 
  3.20     (2) providing technical assistance to school districts 
  3.21  implementing the statewide assessment system, at the district's 
  3.22  request; 
  3.23     (3) monitoring school districts' compliance with state 
  3.24  requirements governing the statewide assessment system; and 
  3.25     (4) providing aggregated data by which to compare 
  3.26  performance results between school sites, school districts, 
  3.27  Minnesota and other states, and Minnesota and the nation. 
  3.28     Subd. 3.  [REPORTING.] When collecting and reporting data 
  3.29  under this section, the commissioner shall report publicly and 
  3.30  to stake-holders both performance baselines developed from 
  3.31  students' unweighted mean test scores in each tested subject and 
  3.32  list the demographic factors that strongly correlate with 
  3.33  student performance.  The commissioner shall disseminate to 
  3.34  schools and school districts a second, more comprehensive report 
  3.35  that records testing information that meets local needs for 
  3.36  evaluating instruction and curriculum. 
  4.1      Sec. 2.  [PASSING SCORE.] 
  4.2      (a) By September 1, 1997, the state board of education 
  4.3   shall amend Minnesota Rules, part 3501.0180, subparts 2 and 3, 
  4.4   to adjust the passing scores for the state mathematics and 
  4.5   reading tests for students entering the ninth grade in 1998.  
  4.6   This amendment must be done in the manner specified in Minnesota 
  4.7   Statutes, section 14.386, paragraph (a). 
  4.8      (b) The state board of education may subsequently amend 
  4.9   this rule according to the provisions of Minnesota Statutes, 
  4.10  chapter 14. 
  4.11     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.12     Sections 1 and 2 are effective the day following final 
  4.13  enactment.