1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; amending graduation standards; 
  1.3             amending implementation of the profile of learning; 
  1.4             amending graduation rules; adjusting length of school 
  1.5             year; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 
  1.6             120B.03, subdivision 2, and by adding subdivisions; 
  1.7             repealing Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 120A.41; 
  1.8             and 120B.03, subdivision 1. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.03, is 
  1.11  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 1a.  [CONTENT STANDARDS; REQUIREMENTS.] (a) 
  1.13  Notwithstanding any rule or law to the contrary, students 
  1.14  entering grades 9 and 10 in the 1999-2000 school year and later 
  1.15  must complete a minimum of 19 of the high school content 
  1.16  standards to graduate.  
  1.17     (b) For the primary and intermediate levels, a district 
  1.18  must implement the profile of learning as follows: 
  1.19     (1) for the 1999-2000 school year and later, the district 
  1.20  must implement, at a minimum, the read, listen, view; write and 
  1.21  speak; mathematics; and inquiry learning areas; 
  1.22     (2) for the 2000-2001 school year and later, the district 
  1.23  must implement three additional learning areas according to the 
  1.24  local district implementation plan submitted to the 
  1.25  commissioner; and 
  1.26     (3) for the 2001-2002 school year and later, the district 
  1.27  must implement the three remaining learning areas according to 
  2.1   the local district plan submitted to the commissioner. 
  2.2      (c) A district must submit a local district plan for 
  2.3   implementation of the profile of learning to the commissioner in 
  2.4   the time and manner specified by the commissioner. 
  2.5      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.03, 
  2.6   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.7      Subd. 2.  [PERFORMANCE PACKAGES; LOCAL ASSESSMENTS.] 
  2.8   Teachers are not required to use a state model performance 
  2.9   package.  Teachers are encouraged to develop and use 
  2.10  a performance package that equals or exceeds the difficulty of 
  2.11  the state model performance package local collection of 
  2.12  assignments and applications activities to assess student 
  2.13  achievement of a content standard. 
  2.14     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.03, is 
  2.15  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.16     Subd. 2a.  [PRIMARY CONTENT STANDARDS.] Districts are 
  2.17  required to assess student performance of the primary content 
  2.18  standards only in the read, listen, view; write and speak; and 
  2.19  mathematics learning areas. 
  2.20     Sec. 4.  [GRADUATION RULE AMENDMENTS.] 
  2.21     Beginning no later than July 1, 2000, the commissioner 
  2.22  shall amend Minnesota Rules, chapter 3501, for state graduation 
  2.23  requirements using the expedited process under Minnesota 
  2.24  Statutes, section 14.389.  In addition to technical changes, 
  2.25  corrections, clarifications, and similarly needed revisions, 
  2.26  specific rules shall be modified as indicated below: 
  2.27     (1) amend Minnesota Rules, part 3501.0330, subparts 2 and 
  2.28  3, to reduce the number of content standards for graduation to a 
  2.29  minimum of 18 required standards, plus one elective, and amend 
  2.30  the required content standards in the learning areas indicated: 
  2.31     (i) require themes in United States history, United States 
  2.32  citizenship, and diverse perspectives content standards in 
  2.33  learning area seven, people and cultures, and make the remaining 
  2.34  content standards optional; 
  2.35     (ii) require individual and community health and physical 
  2.36  education and fitness content standards in learning area eight, 
  3.1   decision making, and make the remaining content standards 
  3.2   optional; and 
  3.3      (iii) require the economic systems content standard in 
  3.4   learning area nine, resource management, and make the remaining 
  3.5   content standards optional; 
  3.6      (2) amend Minnesota Rules, part 3501.0370, subpart 3, to 
  3.7   phase in the "1" to "4" scoring criteria using scoring criteria 
  3.8   of "pass" or "no pass" on student transcripts until the 
  3.9   2003-2004 school year; 
  3.10     (3) amend Minnesota Rules, part 3501.0460, to make 
  3.11  technical reading an optional middle level content standard; 
  3.12     (4) amend Minnesota Rules, part 3501.0462, to make artistic 
  3.13  interpretation an optional middle level content standard; 
  3.14     (5) amend Minnesota Rules, part 3501.0464, to make 
  3.15  accessing information and controlled experiments optional middle 
  3.16  level content standards; 
  3.17     (6) amend Minnesota Rules, part 3501.0467, to make career 
  3.18  exploration an optional middle level content standard; and 
  3.19     (7) amend Minnesota Rules, part 3501.0468, to make personal 
  3.20  resources and group resources optional middle level content 
  3.21  standards. 
  3.22     Sec. 5.  [REPEALER.] 
  3.23     Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 120A.41; and 120B.03, 
  3.24  subdivision 1, are repealed. 
  3.25     Sec. 6.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.26     Sections 1 to 4 are effective the day following final 
  3.27  enactment.  Section 5 is effective July 1, 2000.