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Minnesota Session Laws - 2003, Regular Session
Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
CHAPTER 129-H.F.No. 302
An act relating to education; repealing and replacing
the profile of learning; providing for rulemaking;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 120B.02;
120B.30, subdivision 1, by adding a subdivision;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 120B; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2002,
section 120B.031; Minnesota Rules, parts 3501.0300;
3501.0310; 3501.0320; 3501.0330; 3501.0340; 3501.0350;
3501.0370; 3501.0380; 3501.0390; 3501.0400; 3501.0410;
3501.0420; 3501.0440; 3501.0441; 3501.0442; 3501.0443;
3501.0444; 3501.0445; 3501.0446; 3501.0447; 3501.0448;
3501.0449; 3501.0450; 3501.0460; 3501.0461; 3501.0462;
3501.0463; 3501.0464; 3501.0465; 3501.0466; 3501.0467;
3501.0468; 3501.0469.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
ARTICLE 1
REPLACING PROFILE OF LEARNING STANDARDS
AND GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Section 1. [120B.019] [REPEALING PROFILE OF LEARNING
STATUTES AND RULES.]
Notwithstanding sections 120B.02, 120B.30, 120B.31, and
120B.35, or other law to the contrary, the commissioner of
children, families, and learning must not implement the profile
of learning portion of the state's results-oriented graduation
rule.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment and applies to the 2003-2004 school
year and later.
Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 120B.02, is
amended to read:
120B.02 [RESULTS-ORIENTED GRADUATION RULE; BASIC SKILLS
REQUIREMENTS; PROFILE OF LEARNING EDUCATIONAL EXPECTATIONS FOR
MINNESOTA'S STUDENTS.]
(a) The legislature is committed to establishing a rigorous
, results-oriented graduation rule academic standards for
Minnesota's public school students. To that end, the
commissioner shall use its rulemaking authority under section
127A.05, subdivision 4, to adopt a in rule statewide,
results-oriented graduation rule to be implemented starting with
students beginning ninth grade in the 1996-1997 school
year academic standards. The commissioner shall not prescribe
in rule or otherwise the delivery system, classroom assessments,
or form of instruction that school sites must use to meet the
requirements contained in this rule. For purposes of this
chapter, a school site is a separate facility, or a separate
program within a facility that a local school board recognizes
as a school site for funding purposes.
(b) To successfully accomplish paragraph (a), the
commissioner shall set in rule high academic standards for all
students. The standards must contain the foundational skills in
the three core curricular areas of reading, writing, and
mathematics while meeting requirements for high school
graduation. The standards must also provide an opportunity for
students to excel by meeting higher academic standards through a
profile of learning that uses curricular requirements to allow
students to expand their knowledge and skills beyond the
foundational skills. All commissioner actions regarding the
rule must be premised on the following:
(1) the rule is intended to raise academic expectations for
students, teachers, and schools;
(2) any state action regarding the rule must evidence
consideration of school district autonomy; and
(3) the department of children, families, and learning,
with the assistance of school districts, must make available
information about all state initiatives related to the rule to
students and parents, teachers, and the general public in a
timely format that is appropriate, comprehensive, and readily
understandable.
(c) For purposes of adopting the rule, the commissioner, in
consultation with the department, recognized psychometric
experts in assessment, and other interested and knowledgeable
educators, using the most current version of professional
standards for educational testing, shall evaluate the
alternative approaches to assessment.
(d) The content of the graduation rule must differentiate
between minimum competencies reflected in the basic requirements
assessment and rigorous profile of learning standards. When
fully implemented, the requirements for high school graduation
in Minnesota must include both require students to pass the
basic skills test requirements and the required profile of
learning. The profile of learning must measure student
performance using performance-based assessments compiled over
time that integrate higher academic standards, higher order
thinking skills, and application of knowledge from a variety of
content areas. The profile of learning shall include a broad
range of academic experience and accomplishment necessary to
achieve the goal of preparing students to function effectively
as purposeful thinkers, effective communicators, self-directed
learners, productive group participants, and responsible
citizens satisfactorily complete, as determined by the school
district, the course credit requirements under section 120B.024.
(e) The profile of learning contains the following learning
areas:
(1) read, listen, and view;
(2) write and speak;
(3) arts and literature;
(4) mathematical concepts and applications;
(5) inquiry and research;
(6) scientific concepts and applications;
(7) social studies;
(8) physical education and lifetime fitness;
(9) economics and business;
(10) world languages; and
(11) technical and vocational education.
(f) (d) The commissioner shall periodically review and
report on the state's assessment process and student achievement
with the expectation of raising the standards and expanding high
school graduation requirements.
(g) Beginning August 31, 2000, the commissioner must
publish, including in electronic format for the Internet, a
report, by school site, area learning center, and charter
school, of:
(1) the required preparatory content standards;
(2) the high school content standards required for
graduation; and
(3) the number of student waivers the district, area
learning center, or charter school approves under section
120B.031, subdivisions 4, 5, and 6, based on information each
district, area learning center, and charter school provides.
(h) School districts must integrate required and elective
content standards in the scope and sequence of the district
curriculum.
(i) (e) School districts are not required to adopt specific
provisions of the Goals 2000 and the federal School-to-Work
programs.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
Sec. 3. [120B.021] [REQUIRED ACADEMIC STANDARDS.]
Subdivision 1. [REQUIRED ACADEMIC STANDARDS.] The
following subject areas are required for statewide
accountability:
(1) language arts;
(2) mathematics;
(3) science;
(4) social studies, including history, geography,
economics, and government and citizenship; and
(5) the arts, for which statewide or locally developed
academic standards apply, as determined by the school district.
Public elementary and middle schools must offer at least three
and require at least two of the following four arts areas:
dance; music; theater; and visual arts. Public high schools
must offer at least three and require at least one of the
following five arts areas: media arts; dance; music; theater;
and visual arts.
The commissioner must submit proposed standards in science
and social studies to the legislature by February 1, 2004.
For purposes of applicable federal law, the academic standards
for language arts, mathematics and science apply to all public
school students, except the very few students with extreme
cognitive or physical impairments for whom an individualized
education plan team has determined that the required academic
standards are inappropriate. An individualized education plan
team that makes this determination must establish alternative
standards.
A school district, no later than the 2007-2008 school year,
must adopt graduation requirements that meet or exceed state
graduation requirements established in law or rule. A school
district that incorporates these state graduation requirements
before the 2007-2008 school year must provide students who enter
the ninth grade in or before the 2003-2004 school year the
opportunity to earn a diploma based on existing locally
established graduation requirements in effect when the students
entered the ninth grade. District efforts to develop,
implement, or improve instruction or curriculum as a result of
the provisions of this section must be consistent with sections
120B.10, 120B.11, and 120B.20.
Subd. 2. [STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT.] (a) The commissioner
must consider advice from at least the following stakeholders in
developing statewide rigorous core academic standards in
language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, including
history, geography, economics, government and citizenship, and
the arts:
(1) parents of school-age children and members of the
public throughout the state;
(2) teachers throughout the state currently licensed and
providing instruction in language arts, mathematics, science,
social studies, or the arts and licensed elementary and
secondary school principals throughout the state currently
administering a school site;
(3) currently serving members of local school boards and
charter school boards throughout the state;
(4) faculty teaching core subjects at postsecondary
institutions in Minnesota; and
(5) representatives of the Minnesota business community.
(b) Academic standards must:
(1) be clear, concise, objective, measurable, and
grade-level appropriate;
(2) not require a specific teaching methodology or
curriculum; and
(3) be consistent with the constitutions of the United
States and the state of Minnesota.
Subd. 3. [RULEMAKING.] (a) The commissioner, consistent
with the requirements of this section and section 120B.022, must
adopt statewide rules under section 14.389 for implementing
statewide rigorous core academic standards in language arts,
mathematics and the arts. After the rules authorized under this
paragraph are initially adopted, the commissioner may not amend
or repeal these rules nor adopt new rules on the same topic
without specific legislative authorization. These academic
standards must be implemented for all students beginning in the
2003-2004 school year.
(b) The rules authorized under this section are not subject
to section 14.127.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
Sec. 4. [120B.022] [ELECTIVE STANDARDS.]
Subdivision 1. [ELECTIVE STANDARDS.] A district must
establish its own standards in the following subject areas:
(1) health and physical education;
(2) vocational and technical education; and
(3) world languages.
A school district must offer courses in all elective
subject areas.
Subd. 2. [LOCAL ASSESSMENTS.] A district must use a
locally selected assessment to determine if a student has
achieved an elective standard.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
Sec. 5. [120B.023] [BENCHMARKS.]
(a) The commissioner must supplement required state
academic standards with grade-level benchmarks. High school
benchmarks may cover more than one grade. The benchmarks must
implement statewide academic standards by specifying the
academic knowledge and skills that schools must offer and
students must achieve to satisfactorily complete a state
standard. Benchmarks are published to inform and guide parents,
teachers, school districts and other interested persons and for
use in developing tests consistent with the benchmarks.
(b) The commissioner shall publish benchmarks in the State
Register and transmit the benchmarks in any other manner that
makes them accessible to the general public. The commissioner
may charge a reasonable fee for publications.
(c) Once established, the commissioner may change the
benchmarks only with specific legislative authorization and
after completing a review under paragraph (d).
(d) The commissioner must develop and implement a system
for reviewing on a four-year cycle each of the required academic
standards and related benchmarks and elective standards
beginning in the 2006-2007 school year.
(e) The benchmarks are not subject to chapter 14 and
section 14.386 does not apply.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
Sec. 6. [120B.024] [GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS; COURSE
CREDITS.]
Students beginning ninth grade in the 2004-2005 school year
and later must successfully complete the following high school
level course credits for graduation:
(1) four credits of language arts;
(2) three credits of mathematics, encompassing at least
algebra, geometry, statistics and probability sufficient to
satisfy the academic standard;
(3) three credits of science, including at least one credit
in biology;
(4) three and one-half credits of social studies, including
at least one credit of United States history, one credit of
geography, 0.5 credits of government and citizenship, 0.5
credits of world history, and 0.5 credits of economics; and
(5) a minimum of eight elective course credits, including
at least one credit in the arts.
A course credit is equivalent to a student's successful
completion of an academic year of study or a student's mastery
of the applicable subject matter, as determined by the local
school district.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 120B.30,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [STATEWIDE TESTING.] (a) The commissioner,
with advice from experts with appropriate technical
qualifications and experience and stakeholders, consistent with
subdivision 1a, shall include in the comprehensive assessment
system, for each grade level to be tested, a test, which shall
be state-constructed tests developed from and aligned with the
state's graduation required academic standards under section
120B.021 and administered annually to all students in the third,
fifth, seventh, and eighth grades 3 through 8 and at the high
school level. A state-developed test in a subject other than
writing, developed after the 2002-2003 school year, must include
both multiple choice and constructed response questions. The
commissioner shall establish one or more months during which
schools shall administer the tests to students each school
year. Only Minnesota basic skills tests in reading,
mathematics, and writing shall fulfill students' basic skills
testing requirements for a passing state notation. The passing
scores of the state tests in reading and mathematics are the
equivalent of:
(1) 70 percent correct for students entering grade 9 in
1996; and
(2) 75 percent correct for students entering grade 9 in
1997 and thereafter, as based on the first uniform test
administration of February 1998.
(b) The third, fifth, and seventh through eighth grade and
high school level test results shall be available to districts
for diagnostic purposes affecting student learning and district
instruction and curriculum, and for establishing educational
accountability. The commissioner must disseminate to the public
the third, fifth, and seventh grade test results upon receiving
those results.
(c) In addition, at the high school level, districts shall
assess student performance in all required learning areas and
selected required standards within each area of the profile of
learning. The testing instruments, State tests must be
constructed and aligned with state academic standards. The
testing process, and the order of administration shall be
determined by the commissioner. The statewide results shall be
aggregated at the site and district level, consistent with
subdivision 1a.
(d) The commissioner shall report school site and school
district student academic achievement levels of the current and
two immediately preceding school years. The report shall
include students' unweighted mean test scores in each tested
subject, the unweighted mean test scores of only those students
enrolled in the school by October 1 of the current school year,
and the unweighted test scores of all students except those
students receiving limited English proficiency instruction. The
report also shall record separately, in proximity to the
reported performance levels, the percentage of students of each
gender and the percentages of students who are eligible to
receive a free or reduced price school meal, demonstrate limited
English proficiency, are identified as migrant students, are a
member of a major ethnic or racial population, or are eligible
to receive special education services.
(e) In addition to the testing and reporting requirements
under paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) this section, the
commissioner shall include the following components in the
statewide public reporting system:
(1) uniform statewide testing of all third, fifth, seventh,
eighth, and post-eighth grade students in grades 3 through 8 and
at the high school level that provides exemptions, only with
parent or guardian approval, for those very few students for
whom the student's individual education plan team under sections
125A.05 and 125A.06, determines that the student is incapable of
taking a statewide test, or for a limited English proficiency
student under section 124D.59, subdivision 2, if the student has
been in the United States for fewer than 12 months and for whom
special language barriers exist, such as the student's native
language does not have a written form or the district does not
have access to appropriate interpreter services for the
student's native language three years;
(2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and
compared across school districts and across time on a statewide
basis, including average daily attendance, high school
graduation rates, and high school drop-out rates by age and
grade level;
(3) students' scores on the American College Test; and
(4) state results from participation in the National
Assessment of Educational Progress so that the state can
benchmark its performance against the nation and other states,
and, where possible, against other countries, and contribute to
the national effort to monitor achievement.
(f) (e) Districts must report exemptions under paragraph
(e) (d), clause (1), to the commissioner consistent with a
format provided by the commissioner.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment and applies to the 2005-2006 school
year and later.
Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 120B.30, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 1a. [STATEWIDE AND LOCAL ASSESSMENTS; RESULTS.] (a)
The commissioner must develop language arts, mathematics and
science assessments aligned with state academic standards that
districts and sites must use to monitor student growth toward
achieving those standards. The commissioner must not develop
statewide assessments for academic standards in social studies
and the arts. The commissioner must require:
(1) annual language arts and mathematics assessments in
grades 3 through 8 and at the high school level for the
2005-2006 school year and later; and
(2) annual science assessments in one grade in the grades 3
through 5 span, the grades 6 through 9 span, and the grades 10
through 12 span for the 2007-2008 school year and later.
(b) The commissioner must ensure that all statewide tests
administered to elementary and secondary students measure
students' academic knowledge and skills and not students'
values, attitudes, and beliefs.
(c) Reporting of assessment results must:
(1) provide timely, useful, and understandable information
on the performance of individual students, schools, school
districts, and the state;
(2) include, by the 2006-2007 school year, a value-added
component to measure student achievement growth over time; and
(3) determine whether students have met the state's basic
skills requirements.
(d) Consistent with applicable federal law and subdivision
1, paragraph (d), clause (1), the commissioner must include
alternative assessments for the very few students with
disabilities for whom statewide assessments are inappropriate
and for students with limited English proficiency.
(e) A school, school district, and charter school must
administer statewide assessments under this section, as the
assessments become available, to evaluate student progress in
achieving the academic standards. If a state assessment is not
available, a school, school district, and charter school must
determine locally if a student has met the required academic
standards. A school, school district or charter school may use
a student's performance on a statewide assessment as one of
multiple criteria to determine grade promotion or retention. A
school, school district, or charter school may use a high school
student's performance on a statewide assessment as a percentage
of the student's final grade in a course, or place a student's
assessment score on the student's transcript.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
Sec. 9. [120B.36] [SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY; APPEALS
PROCESS.]
(a) The commissioner shall use objective criteria based on
levels of student performance to identify four to six
designations applicable to high and low performing public
schools. The objective criteria shall include at least student
academic performance, school safety, and staff characteristics,
with a value-added growth component added by the 2006-2007
school year.
(b) The commissioner shall develop, annually update and
post on the department web site school performance report cards.
A school's designation must be clearly stated on each school
performance report card.
(c) The commissioner must make available the first school
designations and school performance report cards by November
2003, and during the beginning of each school year thereafter.
(d) A school or district may appeal in writing a
designation under this section to the commissioner within 30
days of receiving the designation. The commissioner's decision
to uphold or deny an appeal is final.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment and applies to the 2005-2006 school
year and later.
Sec. 10. [120B.363] [CREDENTIAL FOR EDUCATION
PARAPROFESSIONALS.]
Subdivision 1. [RULEMAKING.] The board of teaching must
adopt rules to implement a statewide credential for education
paraprofessionals who assist a licensed teacher in providing
student instruction. Any paraprofessional holding this
credential or working in a local school district after meeting a
state-approved local assessment is considered to be highly
qualified under federal law. Under this subdivision, the board
of teaching, in consultation with the commissioner, must adopt
qualitative criteria for approving local assessments that
include an evaluation of a paraprofessional's knowledge of
reading, writing, and math and the paraprofessional's ability to
assist in the instruction of reading, writing, and math. The
commissioner must approve or disapprove local assessments using
these criteria. The commissioner must make the criteria
available to the public.
Subd. 2. [TRAINING POSSIBILITIES.] In adopting rules under
subdivision 1, the board must consider including provisions that
provide training in: students' characteristics; teaching and
learning environment; academic instruction skills; student
behavior; and ethical practices.
Subd. 3. [INITIAL TRAINING.] Within the first 60 days of
supervising or working with students, a district must provide
each paraprofessional with initial training in emergency
procedures, confidentiality, vulnerability, reporting
obligations, discipline policies, roles and responsibilities,
and a building orientation.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
Sec. 11. [120B.365] [ASSESSMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE.]
Subdivision 1. [ESTABLISHMENT.] An assessment advisory
committee of up to eleven members selected by the commissioner
is established. The commissioner must select members as follows:
(1) two superintendents;
(2) two teachers;
(3) two higher education faculty; and
(4) up to five members of the public, consisting of parents
and members of the business community.
The committee must review all statewide assessments. The
committee must submit its recommendations to the commissioner
and to the committees of the legislature having jurisdiction
over kindergarten through grade 12 education policy and budget
issues. The commissioner must consider the committees'
recommendations before finalizing a statewide assessment.
Subd. 2. [EXPIRATION.] Notwithstanding section 15.059,
subdivision 5, the committee expires on June 30, 2014.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective immediately and
applies to the 2005-2006 school year and later.
Sec. 12. [REPEALER.]
(a) Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 120B.031, is repealed.
(b) Minnesota Rules, parts 3501.0300; 3501.0310; 3501.0320;
3501.0330; 3501.0340; 3501.0350; 3501.0370; 3501.0380;
3501.0390; 3501.0400; 3501.0410; 3501.0420; 3501.0440;
3501.0441; 3501.0442; 3501.0443; 3501.0444; 3501.0445;
3501.0446; 3501.0447; 3501.0448; 3501.0449; 3501.0450;
3501.0460; 3501.0461; 3501.0462; 3501.0463; 3501.0464;
3501.0465; 3501.0466; 3501.0467; 3501.0468; and 3501.0469, are
repealed.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective for the
2003-2004 school year and thereafter.
ARTICLE 2
COMMISSIONER'S DUTIES
Section 1. [MINNESOTA'S HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS.]
(a) The standards adopted by the commissioner of children,
families and learning under Minnesota Statutes, section
120B.0021, must be identical to:
(1) the K-12 standards for language arts contained in the
document labeled "Minnesota Academic Standards, Language Arts
K-12, May 19, 2003, Minnesota Academic Standards Committee,
Minnesota Department of Education";
(2) the K-12 standards for mathematics contained in the
document labeled "Minnesota Academic Standards, Mathematics
K-12, May 19, 2003, Minnesota Academic Standards Committee,
Minnesota Department of Education"; and
(3) the K-12 standards for arts contained in the document
labeled "Minnesota Academic Standards, Arts K-12, May 19, 2003,
Minnesota Department of Education".
(b) The K-12 standards documents must be deposited with the
Minnesota revisor of statutes, the legislative reference
library, and the Minnesota state law library, where the
documents shall be maintained until the commissioner adopts
rules for implementing statewide rigorous core academic
standards in language arts, mathematics and the arts under
Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.021, subdivision 3. The
revisor must determine that the rules are identical to the
documents deposited with it under this section before the
revisor approves the form of the rules. In approving the form
of the rules, the revisor may make any needed grammatic and form
changes.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
Sec. 2. [RECOMMENDATIONS ON HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS.]
The commissioner of children, families, and learning, after
consulting with affected stakeholders, must provide written
recommendations to the committees of the legislature having
jurisdiction over kindergarten through grade 12 education policy
and budget issues by February 1, 2004, that:
(1) identify the cut-scores on high school reading and
mathematics assessments indicating that remedial instruction in
the state's two-year higher education institutions is unneeded;
(2) recommend alternative assessments, including student
portfolios;
(3) recommend whether students must pass state
end-of-course examinations as a requirement for high school
graduation;
(4) evaluate the feasibility of including state percentile
rankings and a national comparison; and
(5) establish a method for using the grade 8 language arts
and math tests to satisfy basic skills requirements.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment.
Sec. 3. [RULES FOR SUPPLEMENTAL SERVICE PROVIDERS.]
The commissioner of children, families, and learning may
adopt rules under Minnesota Statutes, section 14.388,
establishing criteria for identifying, annually reviewing, and
formally listing eligible supplemental education service
providers throughout Minnesota, consistent with applicable
federal requirements and Minnesota's application for
supplemental education service providers under Title 1, Part A,
of the No Child Left Behind Act.
[EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective the day
following final enactment and applies to supplemental education
service providers delivering supplemental English or math
services to eligible students in the 2003-2004 school year and
later.
Presented to the governor May 20, 2003
Signed by the governor May 21, 2003, 2:50 p.m.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes