1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; providing for computer-based
1.3 	adaptive assessments; establishing a student portfolio
1.4 	demonstration project.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. TESTING BASED ON A GROWTH MODEL.
 1.7 	(a) For the purposes of the No Child Left Behind Act,
1.8 	Public Law 107-110, and the statewide testing and reporting
1.9 	system under Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.30, the
1.10 	commissioner of education must select computer-based adaptive
1.11 	assessments that accurately measure student achievement and
1.12 	student growth across time.  The selected assessments must be
1.13 	aligned with Minnesota standards, use a common scale score over
1.14 	multiple grades or ages, have been used by Minnesota school
1.15 	districts educating at least five percent of Minnesota
1.16 	kindergarten through grade 12 students, and be capable of being
1.17 	used for source data for a growth or value-added model of school
1.18 	evaluation.  An assessment selected under this section
1.19 	administered at the high school level must be aligned with
1.20 	college entrance requirements.  In addition to reporting
1.21 	requirements in Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.30, the
1.22 	commissioner must report assessment result data in a way that
1.23 	shows the growth trends over time for students in four groups:
1.24 	(1) performing above grade level;
1.25 	(2) performing at grade level;
2.1 	(3) approaching grade-level performance; and 
2.2 	(4) performing significantly below grade level.
2.3 	If the federal Department of Education does not approve the use
2.4 	of the computer-adaptive assessments selected under this
2.5 	section, the commissioner must notify the federal Department of
2.6 	Education that Minnesota is opting out of the provisions of the
2.7 	No Child Left Behind Act.
2.8 	(b) The Department of Education must assist school
2.9 	districts that are eligible to receive Microsoft settlement cy
2.10 	pres program vouchers in using the vouchers to acquire equipment
2.11 	and software necessary to administer the assessment selected
2.12 	under this section.

2.13 	Sec. 2. STUDENT PORTFOLIO DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.
 2.14 		Subdivision 1.Assessment. The commissioner of education
2.15 	shall select up to three school districts to participate in a
2.16 	student portfolio demonstration project.  Demonstration project
2.17 	participants must use a portfolio assessment that has
2.18 	demonstrated content validity with respect to the required
2.19 	academic standards under Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.021,
2.20 	and are aligned with appropriate benchmarks established under
2.21 	Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.023.  Districts that are part
2.22 	of the demonstration project may use the student portfolio to
2.23 	comply with the assessment portion of the No Child Left Behind
2.24 	Act.
2.25 		Subd. 2.Application. A school district must submit an
2.26 	application in the form and manner prescribed by the
2.27 	commissioner in order to participate in the demonstration
2.28 	project.  A school district's application must include a plan
2.29 	indicating the grade level and content area in which student
2.30 	portfolios will be used.
2.31 		Subd. 3.Commissioner. (a) The commissioner shall
2.32 	determine the technical soundness of the portfolio assessment
2.33 	selected by a school district.  In addition, the commissioner
2.34 	shall determine comparability of the chosen assessment to the
2.35 	state-administered tests used in other grade levels.
2.36 	(b) The commissioner shall submit a request to the federal
3.1 	Department of Education to use a local assessment model that
3.2 	uses student portfolios for compliance with the assessment
3.3 	portion of the No Child Left Behind Act.