1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; providing for an earth and space, life, and physical sciences 
1.3 	assessment in grades 10 through 12;amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 
1.4 	120B.30, subdivision 1a.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 120B.30, subdivision 1a, is amended to 
1.7 	read:
1.8 		Subd. 1a.Statewide and local assessments; results. (a) The commissioner must 
1.9 	develop reading, mathematics, and science assessments aligned with state academic 
1.10 	standards that districts and sites must use to monitor student growth toward achieving 
1.11 	those standards. The commissioner must not develop statewide assessments for academic 
1.12 	standards in social studies, health and physical education, and the arts. The commissioner 
1.13 	must require:
1.14 	(1) annual reading and mathematics assessments in grades 3 through 8 and at the 
1.15 	high school level for the 2005-2006 school year and later; and
1.16 	(2) annual science assessments in one grade in the grades 3 through 5 span, the 
1.17 	grades 6 through 9 span, and a life sciences assessment in the grades 10 through 12 span 
1.18 	for the 2007-2008 through 2010-2011 school year, and an earth and space, life, and 
1.19 	physical sciences assessment in the grades 10 through 12 span for the 2011-2012 school 
1.20 	year and later.
1.21 	(b) The commissioner must ensure that all statewide tests administered to elementary 
1.22 	and secondary students measure students' academic knowledge and skills and not students' 
1.23 	values, attitudes, and beliefs.
1.24 	(c) Reporting of assessment results must:
2.1 	(1) provide timely, useful, and understandable information on the performance of 
2.2 	individual students, schools, school districts, and the state;
2.3 	(2) include, by the 2006-2007 school year, a value-added component to measure 
2.4 	student achievement growth over time; and
2.5 	(3)(i) for students enrolled in grade 8 before the 2005-2006 school year, determine 
2.6 	whether students have met the state's basic skills requirements; and
2.7 	(ii) for students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006 school year and later, determine 
2.8 	whether students have met the state's academic standards.
2.9 	(d) Consistent with applicable federal law and subdivision 1, paragraph (d), clause 
2.10 	(1), the commissioner must include alternative assessments for the very few students 
2.11 	with disabilities for whom statewide assessments are inappropriate and for students with 
2.12 	limited English proficiency.
2.13 	(e) A school, school district, and charter school must administer statewide 
2.14 	assessments under this section, as the assessments become available, to evaluate student 
2.15 	progress in achieving the academic standards. If a state assessment is not available, a 
2.16 	school, school district, and charter school must determine locally if a student has met 
2.17 	the required academic standards. A school, school district, or charter school may use a 
2.18 	student's performance on a statewide assessment as one of multiple criteria to determine 
2.19 	grade promotion or retention. A school, school district, or charter school may use a high 
2.20 	school student's performance on a statewide assessment as a percentage of the student's 
2.21 	final grade in a course, or place a student's assessment score on the student's transcript.