HF 698

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; repealing the profile of 
  1.3             learning; setting state standards for educational 
  1.4             excellence; requiring legislative approval; repealing 
  1.5             portions of Minnesota Rules, chapter 3501; proposing 
  1.6             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 120B.
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [120B.001] [REPEALING PROFILE OF LEARNING 
  1.9   STATUTES AND RULES.] 
  1.10     (a) Notwithstanding sections 120B.02, 120B.031, 120B.30, 
  1.11  120B.31, and 120B.35, or other law to the contrary, the 
  1.12  commissioner of children, families, and learning must not 
  1.13  implement the profile of learning portion of the state's 
  1.14  results-oriented graduation rule and all rules under Minnesota 
  1.15  Rules, chapter 3501, related to the profile of learning portion 
  1.16  of the state's results-oriented graduation rule described in 
  1.17  this chapter are repealed. 
  1.18     (b) School districts must provide all high school students 
  1.19  who entered the ninth grade in the 2004-2005 school year or 
  1.20  earlier the opportunity to earn a high school diploma under 
  1.21  locally established graduation requirements and 
  1.22  state-established basic skills requirements in effect when the 
  1.23  students entered ninth grade. 
  1.24     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  1.25  following final enactment and applies to the 2003-2004 school 
  1.26  year and later. 
  2.1      Sec. 2.  [120B.0011] [STATE STANDARDS FOR EDUCATIONAL 
  2.2   EXCELLENCE.] 
  2.3      (a) High educational standards determine educational 
  2.4   excellence and must guide curriculum and instruction.  Teachers 
  2.5   must expect students to achieve high educational standards and 
  2.6   students must understand the importance of reaching such 
  2.7   standards.  The state must hold all students to high standards 
  2.8   so as to educate its increasingly diverse citizenry and must 
  2.9   reject differential standards because they lead to inequalities 
  2.10  in educational opportunity.  High educational standards: 
  2.11     (1) are fundamental to the state's accountability system; 
  2.12     (2) state what students must know and be able to do; 
  2.13     (3) are rigorous but attainable; 
  2.14     (4) do not tell teachers how to teach; 
  2.15     (5) outline the framework of an academic program to which 
  2.16  local schools and districts add unique and specific content; and 
  2.17     (6) do not establish a statewide curriculum. 
  2.18     (b) Although high educational standards do not direct how 
  2.19  standards are taught or proficiency is demonstrated, students 
  2.20  must be able to apply their knowledge and skills in a variety of 
  2.21  settings and think critically.  The standards state the content 
  2.22  and skills that students need to pursue academic and career 
  2.23  goals, contribute as productive citizens, and lead fulfilling 
  2.24  lives.  The standards clarify the responsibilities of schools 
  2.25  and students, challenge schools and students to improve 
  2.26  educational performance, and foster educational equity 
  2.27  throughout the state. 
  2.28     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  2.29  following final enactment. 
  2.30     Sec. 3.  [120B.0012] [REQUIRED AND OPTIONAL STANDARDS AND 
  2.31  TIME LINE ESTABLISHED.] 
  2.32     (a) The commissioner, consistent with the requirements of 
  2.33  sections 120B.0011, 120B.0012, 120B.0013, and 120B.0014, must 
  2.34  adopt statewide rules under chapter 14 that establish a set of 
  2.35  required and optional educational standards.  The commissioner 
  2.36  must make available for public review a statement of the need 
  3.1   for and reasonableness of each rule, consistent with section 
  3.2   14.131.  After the rules authorized under this paragraph are 
  3.3   initially adopted, the commissioner may not amend or repeal 
  3.4   these rules nor adopt new rules on the same topic without 
  3.5   specific legislative authorization. 
  3.6      (b) At a minimum, English and mathematics standards, 
  3.7   consistent with section 120B.0013, clauses (1) and (2), must be 
  3.8   implemented for all students beginning in the 2004-2005 school 
  3.9   year.  Science standards, consistent with section 120B.0013, 
  3.10  clause (3), must be implemented for all students beginning in 
  3.11  the 2005-2006 school year.  Social studies and arts and 
  3.12  literature standards, consistent with section 120B.0013, clauses 
  3.13  (4) and (5), must be implemented for all students beginning in 
  3.14  the 2006-2007 school year. 
  3.15     (c) The required standards apply to all public school 
  3.16  students, except the very few students with extreme cognitive or 
  3.17  physical impairments for whom an individualized education plan 
  3.18  team has determined that the required standards are 
  3.19  inappropriate.  An individualized education plan team that makes 
  3.20  this determination must establish alternative standards. 
  3.21     (d) Optional standards under section 120B.0013 represent 
  3.22  what intermediate and secondary school students making elective 
  3.23  choices are expected to know and be able to do. 
  3.24     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  3.25  following final enactment. 
  3.26     Sec. 4.  [120B.0013] [REQUIRED AND OPTIONAL STANDARDS.] 
  3.27     (a) Minnesota's high educational standards encompass the 
  3.28  following five learning areas: 
  3.29     (1) English, which is composed of reading English that 
  3.30  includes, among other topics, comprehension of materials such as 
  3.31  graphs and charts, and writing English that includes, among 
  3.32  other topics, public speaking, and incorporates the standards 
  3.33  for English language arts developed by the national council of 
  3.34  teachers of English and the international reading association; 
  3.35     (2) mathematics, which emphasizes applied problem solving 
  3.36  but includes, among other topics, estimation, calculation and 
  4.1   calculator use, and incorporates the principles and standards of 
  4.2   the national council of teachers of mathematics; 
  4.3      (3) science, which includes environmental, physical, and 
  4.4   life sciences, and incorporates the national science education 
  4.5   standards; 
  4.6      (4) social studies, which includes history, geography, 
  4.7   government and civics, economics and world cultures, and 
  4.8   incorporates the standards developed by the national council for 
  4.9   social studies, the national center for history in the schools, 
  4.10  the national council on economic education, the national council 
  4.11  for geographic education and the center for civic education; and 
  4.12     (5) arts and literature, which includes, among other 
  4.13  topics, music, graphic arts, and drama, and incorporates the 
  4.14  standards of the music educators national conference and the 
  4.15  national art education association. 
  4.16     (b) For purposes of aligning state standards and 
  4.17  assessments and complying with applicable federal law, at least 
  4.18  the English, mathematics, and science standards established 
  4.19  under this section must specify what students are expected to 
  4.20  know and be able to do by the end of each grade level for which 
  4.21  a statewide assessment is administered.  
  4.22     (c) The state standards must incorporate, as optional, the 
  4.23  coursework preparation requirements of the state's public 
  4.24  four-year higher education institutions and the preparation 
  4.25  requirements that enable students to forego remedial and 
  4.26  developmental education courses in the state's two-year higher 
  4.27  education institutions. 
  4.28     (d) The state standards must include, as optional, a 
  4.29  foreign language component that encompasses both oral and 
  4.30  written fluency and incorporates the standards of the American 
  4.31  council on the teaching of foreign languages. 
  4.32     (e) The state standards must include, as optional, a 
  4.33  technical applications area for intermediate and secondary 
  4.34  students that incorporates the standards of the national 
  4.35  research center for career and technical education and the 
  4.36  standards for technological literacy of the international 
  5.1   technology education association. 
  5.2      (f) The state standards must include, as optional, a 
  5.3   physical education component. 
  5.4      (g) The state standards must be supplemented by curriculum 
  5.5   framework and test specification documents useful to state and 
  5.6   local decision makers charged with determining appropriate 
  5.7   curriculum, staff development activities, and assessment 
  5.8   programs. 
  5.9      [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  5.10  following final enactment. 
  5.11     Sec. 5.  [120B.0014] [STATEWIDE AND LOCAL ASSESSMENTS; 
  5.12  RESULTS.] 
  5.13     (a) The commissioner must develop reading, mathematics, and 
  5.14  science assessments using state constructed tests that are 
  5.15  developed from and aligned with the standards under section 
  5.16  120B.0013, paragraph (a), are designed to monitor student growth 
  5.17  toward and achievement of those standards, consistent with 
  5.18  section 120B.35, and satisfy applicable federal law.  At a 
  5.19  minimum, the commissioner must require annual reading and 
  5.20  mathematics assessments in grades three through eight and in one 
  5.21  high school grade for the 2005-2006 school year and later and 
  5.22  annual science assessments in one grade in the 3 through 5 grade 
  5.23  span, the 6 through 9 grade span and the 10 through 12 grade 
  5.24  span for the 2006-2007 school year and later. 
  5.25     (b) The assessments must: 
  5.26     (1) provide timely, useful, and understandable information 
  5.27  for and about the performance of individual students, schools, 
  5.28  school districts, and the state, and expect that educators use 
  5.29  the information, and other information, to plan instruction for 
  5.30  the next school year and to develop school improvement plans, 
  5.31  including plans required under applicable federal law; 
  5.32     (2) include a growth scale useful under sections 120B.30, 
  5.33  120B.31, and 120B.35 for analyzing value-added and student level 
  5.34  growth over time; 
  5.35     (3) include state and national percentile ranks in 
  5.36  information reported to students and parents under section 
  6.1   120B.364; and 
  6.2      (4) determine whether students have met the state's basic 
  6.3   skills requirements in reading and mathematics. 
  6.4      (c) Consistent with applicable federal law and section 
  6.5   120B.30, subdivision 1, paragraph (e), clause (1), the 
  6.6   commissioner must include alternative assessments for the very 
  6.7   few students with disabilities for whom statewide assessments 
  6.8   are inappropriate and for students with limited English 
  6.9   proficiency. 
  6.10     (d) Schools, school districts, and charter schools must 
  6.11  administer statewide assessments under this section that use 
  6.12  student performance to evaluate student progress in achieving 
  6.13  high standards in English, mathematics, and science.  Schools, 
  6.14  school districts, and charter schools may base grade promotions 
  6.15  and the awarding of high school course credits on students' 
  6.16  success in achieving high standards. 
  6.17     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  6.18  following final enactment. 
  6.19     Sec. 6.  [RECOMMENDATIONS ON HIGH EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS.] 
  6.20     (a) The commissioner of children, families, and learning, 
  6.21  after consulting with stakeholders under paragraph (b), must 
  6.22  provide written recommendations to the legislature by February 
  6.23  1, 2004, that indicate: 
  6.24     (1) whether to include high school assessment results on 
  6.25  student transcripts; 
  6.26     (2) what cut-scores on high school reading and mathematics 
  6.27  assessments indicate that remedial instruction in the state's 
  6.28  two-year higher education institutions is unneeded; 
  6.29     (3) the extent to which successful district programs 
  6.30  developed under the profile of learning may be incorporated into 
  6.31  state standards developed under this act; 
  6.32     (4) how best to integrate content with application, 
  6.33  critical reasoning and higher-order thinking into state 
  6.34  standards developed under this act; 
  6.35     (5) how to effectively assist teachers in formulating 
  6.36  curriculum for classroom instruction consistent with state 
  7.1   standards developed under this act; and 
  7.2      (6) what local assessments might best measure student 
  7.3   learning consistent with teachers' classroom instruction and 
  7.4   state standards developed under this act. 
  7.5      (b) The commissioner must consult with at least the 
  7.6   following stakeholders when developing recommendations under 
  7.7   paragraph (a): 
  7.8      (1) parents of school-age children and members of the 
  7.9   public throughout the state; 
  7.10     (2) teachers throughout the state currently licensed and 
  7.11  providing instruction in one of the five learning areas under 
  7.12  Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.0013, and secondary school 
  7.13  administrators throughout the state currently administrating a 
  7.14  school site; 
  7.15     (3) currently serving members of local school boards and 
  7.16  charter school boards throughout the state; 
  7.17     (4) faculty at Minnesota's post secondary institutions 
  7.18  providing instruction related to one of the five learning areas 
  7.19  under Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.0013; 
  7.20     (5) representatives of Minnesota's business community; and 
  7.21     (6) nationally recognized experts on state development of 
  7.22  high educational standards. 
  7.23     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  7.24  following final enactment. 
  7.25     Sec. 7.  [LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL OF PROPOSED RULES 
  7.26  ESTABLISHING REQUIRED AND OPTIONAL STATE STANDARDS; INTERIM 
  7.27  STANDARDS.] 
  7.28     (a) To fulfill the obligation of the legislature to pursue 
  7.29  educational excellence for all Minnesota citizens, the 
  7.30  commissioner of children, families, and learning must present to 
  7.31  the committees of the legislature charged with oversight of 
  7.32  kindergarten through grade 12 education policy and kindergarten 
  7.33  through grade 12 education funding all proposed rules and all 
  7.34  proposed amendments to or repeals of existing rules under 
  7.35  Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.0112.  The commissioner may not 
  7.36  adopt new rules nor amend or repeal existing rules under 
  8.1   Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.0012, without specific 
  8.2   legislative authorization. 
  8.3      (b) To the extent that state standards in English, 
  8.4   mathematics, science, social studies, or arts and literature are 
  8.5   not fully implemented according to the terms of this act, 
  8.6   schools, school districts, and charter schools must continue to 
  8.7   provide the instruction required under Minnesota Statutes 2002, 
  8.8   section 120A.22, subdivision 9, and applicable federal law until 
  8.9   these standards are fully implemented. 
  8.10     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day 
  8.11  following final enactment.