1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; establishing a temporary, three-year appeals process for 
1.3 	high school seniors who do not receive a passing score on the state GRAD 
1.4 	test; directing the education commissioner to evaluate this process and make 
1.5 	recommendations;amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 120B.36, by 
1.6 	adding a subdivision.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 120B.36, is amended by adding a 
1.9 	subdivision to read:
1.10 		Subd. 1a.GRAD test appeals. (a) Consistent with this subdivision, the 
1.11 	commissioner must collaborate with high school teachers, high school administrators, 
1.12 	parents of high school students, school district assessment directors, higher education 
1.13 	faculty with expertise in kindergarten through grade 12 education and assessment, and 
1.14 	other interested experts and stakeholders to establish a timely, transparent, and data-based 
1.15 	appeals process that allows school districts, at their discretion, to grant a diploma to high 
1.16 	school seniors in the 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011 school years who do not 
1.17 	receive a passing score on the state reading or math GRAD test.
1.18 	(b) A high school student in the 2008-2009, 2009-2010, or 2010-2011 school year 
1.19 	who does not receive a passing score on the state reading or math GRAD test by April of 
1.20 	the student's senior year may appeal to the chief administrator of the high school where 
1.21 	the student is enrolled, in the form and manner the commissioner determines, requesting 
1.22 	that the school district grant the student a high school diploma without passing the reading 
1.23 	or math GRAD test. The high school administrator, in collaboration with teachers and 
1.24 	other school staff selected by the administrator, must formally decide whether or not to 
1.25 	grant the student a high school diploma based on multiple, well-understood measures of 
2.1 	student learning that measurement experts have determined to be valid and reliable and 
2.2 	that are available to the educators deciding whether or not to grant the student's request. 
2.3 	School district officials must use the data that form the bases of the student appeals under 
2.4 	this subdivision, where appropriate, to revise district curriculum to ensure that all students 
2.5 	have an equal opportunity to learn and provide appropriate academic intervention and 
2.6 	remediation to students who fail to pass the state's reading or math GRAD test.
2.7 	(c) The commissioner must evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the appeals 
2.8 	process and recommend to the legislature by February 1, 2011, whether or not to continue 
2.9 	the appeals process under this subdivision. If the commissioner recommends continuing 
2.10 	this process, the commissioner also must recommend student performance levels for the 
2.11 	state reading and math GRAD tests and the appropriate indicators for school districts to 
2.12 	consider in deciding whether or not to grant a diploma to high school seniors who do not 
2.13 	receive a passing score on the state reading or math GRAD test.

2.14 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
2.15 	and applies to the 2008-2009 through 2010-2011 school years.