1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; formulating statewide testing 
  1.3             and reporting system; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 121. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [121.1113] [STATEWIDE TESTING AND REPORTING 
  1.7   SYSTEM.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [STATEWIDE TESTING.] (a) The commissioner, 
  1.9   with advice from experts and stakeholders with appropriate 
  1.10  technical qualifications and experience, shall adopt a 
  1.11  comprehensive assessment system with, 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, and 
  1.17  eighth grades.  The commissioner shall establish one or more 
  1.18  months during which schools shall administer the tests to 
  1.19  students each school year.  The Minnesota basic skills tests in 
  1.20  reading and mathematics shall be used to fulfill students' 
  1.21  eighth grade testing requirements.  
  1.22     (b) The comprehensive assessment system shall include an 
  1.23  evaluation of school site and school district performance levels 
  1.24  during the 1997-1998 school year and thereafter using an 
  1.25  established performance baseline developed from students' test 
  2.1   scores under this section that records, at a minimum, students' 
  2.2   unweighted mean test scores in each tested subject, a second 
  2.3   performance baseline that reports, at a minimum, the same 
  2.4   unweighted mean test scores of only those students enrolled in 
  2.5   the school by January 1 of the previous school year, and a third 
  2.6   performance baseline that reports the same unweighted test 
  2.7   scores of all students except those students receiving limited 
  2.8   English proficiency instruction.  The evaluation also shall 
  2.9   record separately, in proximity to the performance baselines, 
  2.10  the percentages of students who are eligible to receive a free 
  2.11  or reduced price school meal, demonstrate limited English 
  2.12  proficiency, or are eligible to receive special education 
  2.13  services. 
  2.14     (c) In addition to the testing and reporting requirements 
  2.15  under paragraphs (a) and (b), the commissioner, in consultation 
  2.16  with the state board of education, shall include the following 
  2.17  components in the statewide educational accountability and 
  2.18  public reporting system: 
  2.19     (1) uniform statewide testing of all third, fifth, and 
  2.20  eighth grade students with exemptions, only with parent or 
  2.21  guardian approval, from the testing requirement only for those 
  2.22  students for whom the student's individual education plan team 
  2.23  under section 120.17, subdivision 2, determines that the student 
  2.24  is incapable of taking a statewide test, or a limited English 
  2.25  proficiency student, if the student has been in the United 
  2.26  States for less than one year and for whom special language 
  2.27  barriers exist, such as the student's native language does not 
  2.28  have a written form or the district does not have access to 
  2.29  interpreter services for the student's language; 
  2.30     (2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and 
  2.31  compared across school districts and across time on a statewide 
  2.32  basis; 
  2.33     (3) students' scores on the American College Test; 
  2.34     (4) participation in the National Assessment of Educational 
  2.35  Progress so that the state can benchmark its performance against 
  2.36  the nation and other states, and, where possible, against other 
  3.1   countries, and contribute to the national effort to monitor 
  3.2   achievement; and 
  3.3      (5) basic skills and advanced competencies connecting 
  3.4   teaching and learning to high academic standards, assessment, 
  3.5   and transitions to citizenship and employment. 
  3.6      (d) Districts must report exemptions under paragraph (c), 
  3.7   clause (1), to the commissioner consistent with a format 
  3.8   provided by the commissioner. 
  3.9      Subd. 2.  [REPORTING.] The commissioner shall report test 
  3.10  data publicly and to stakeholders, including performance 
  3.11  baselines developed from students' unweighted mean test scores 
  3.12  in each tested subject and a listing of demographic factors that 
  3.13  strongly correlate with student performance.  The commissioner 
  3.14  shall also report data that compares performance results among 
  3.15  school sites, school districts, Minnesota and other states, and 
  3.16  Minnesota and other nations.  The commissioner shall disseminate 
  3.17  to schools and school districts a more comprehensive report 
  3.18  containing testing information that meets local needs for 
  3.19  evaluating instruction and curriculum. 
  3.20     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.21     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.