1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; prohibiting enrollment in 
  1.3             fourth grade for students unable to read by the end of 
  1.4             third grade; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, 
  1.5             sections 120B.30, subdivision 1; and 126C.05, 
  1.6             subdivision 1. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120B.30, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [STATEWIDE TESTING.] (a) The commissioner, 
  1.11  with advice from experts with appropriate technical 
  1.12  qualifications and experience and stakeholders, shall include in 
  1.13  the comprehensive assessment system, for each grade level to be 
  1.14  tested, a single statewide norm-referenced or 
  1.15  criterion-referenced test, or a combination of a norm-referenced 
  1.16  and a criterion-referenced test, which shall be highly 
  1.17  correlated with the state's graduation standards and 
  1.18  administered annually to all students in the third, fifth, and 
  1.19  eighth grades.  The commissioner shall establish one or more 
  1.20  months during which schools shall administer the tests to 
  1.21  students each school year.  Only Minnesota basic skills tests in 
  1.22  reading, mathematics, and writing shall fulfill students' 
  1.23  testing requirements for a passing state notation.  A district 
  1.24  must not enroll a student in the fourth grade until the student 
  1.25  receives an achievement level II or above on the reading portion 
  1.26  of the uniform statewide test taken in third grade. 
  2.1      (b) In addition, at the secondary level, districts shall 
  2.2   assess student performance in all required learning areas and 
  2.3   selected required standards within each area of the profile of 
  2.4   learning.  The testing instruments and testing process shall be 
  2.5   determined by the commissioner.  The results shall be aggregated 
  2.6   at the site and district level.  The testing shall be 
  2.7   administered beginning in the 1999-2000 school year and 
  2.8   thereafter. 
  2.9      (c) The comprehensive assessment system shall include an 
  2.10  evaluation of school site and school district performance levels 
  2.11  during the 1997-1998 school year and thereafter using an 
  2.12  established performance baseline developed from students' test 
  2.13  scores under this section that records, at a minimum, students' 
  2.14  unweighted mean test scores in each tested subject, a second 
  2.15  performance baseline that reports, at a minimum, the same 
  2.16  unweighted mean test scores of only those students enrolled in 
  2.17  the school by January 1 of the previous school year, and a third 
  2.18  performance baseline that reports the same unweighted test 
  2.19  scores of all students except those students receiving limited 
  2.20  English proficiency instruction.  The evaluation also shall 
  2.21  record separately, in proximity to the performance baselines, 
  2.22  the percentages of students who are eligible to receive a free 
  2.23  or reduced price school meal, demonstrate limited English 
  2.24  proficiency, or are eligible to receive special education 
  2.25  services. 
  2.26     (d) In addition to the testing and reporting requirements 
  2.27  under paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), the commissioner, in 
  2.28  consultation with the state board of education, shall include 
  2.29  the following components in the statewide educational 
  2.30  accountability and public reporting system: 
  2.31     (1) uniform statewide testing of all third, fifth, eighth, 
  2.32  and post-eighth grade students with exemptions, only with parent 
  2.33  or guardian approval, from the testing requirement only for 
  2.34  those very few students for whom the student's individual 
  2.35  education plan team under sections 125A.05 and 125A.06, 
  2.36  determines that the student is incapable of taking a statewide 
  3.1   test, or a limited English proficiency student under section 
  3.2   124D.59, subdivision 2, if the student has been in the United 
  3.3   States for fewer than 12 months and for whom special language 
  3.4   barriers exist, such as the student's native language does not 
  3.5   have a written form or the district does not have access to 
  3.6   appropriate interpreter services for the student's native 
  3.7   language; 
  3.8      (2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and 
  3.9   compared across school districts and across time on a statewide 
  3.10  basis; 
  3.11     (3) students' scores on the American College Test; 
  3.12     (4) participation in the National Assessment of Educational 
  3.13  Progress so that the state can benchmark its performance against 
  3.14  the nation and other states, and, where possible, against other 
  3.15  countries, and contribute to the national effort to monitor 
  3.16  achievement; and 
  3.17     (5) basic skills and advanced competencies connecting 
  3.18  teaching and learning to high academic standards, assessment, 
  3.19  and transitions to citizenship and employment. 
  3.20     (e) Districts must report exemptions under paragraph (d), 
  3.21  clause (1), to the commissioner consistent with a format 
  3.22  provided by the commissioner. 
  3.23     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 126C.05, 
  3.24  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.25     Subdivision 1.  [PUPIL UNIT.] Pupil units for each 
  3.26  Minnesota resident pupil in average daily membership enrolled in 
  3.27  the district of residence, in another district under sections 
  3.28  123A.05 to 123A.08, 124D.03, 124D.06, 124D.07, 124D.08, or 
  3.29  124D.68; in a charter school under section 124D.10; or for whom 
  3.30  the resident district pays tuition under section 123A.18, 
  3.31  123A.22, 123A.30, 123A.32, 123A.44, 123A.488, 123B.88, 
  3.32  subdivision 4, 124D.04, 124D.05, 125A.03 to 125A.24, 125A.51, or 
  3.33  125A.65, shall be counted according to this subdivision.  
  3.34     (a) A prekindergarten pupil with a disability who is 
  3.35  enrolled in a program approved by the commissioner and has an 
  3.36  individual education plan is counted as the ratio of the number 
  4.1   of hours of assessment and education service to 825 with a 
  4.2   minimum of 0.28, but not more than one. 
  4.3      (b) A prekindergarten pupil who is assessed but determined 
  4.4   not to be handicapped is counted as the ratio of the number of 
  4.5   hours of assessment service to 825.  
  4.6      (c) A kindergarten pupil with a disability who is enrolled 
  4.7   in a program approved by the commissioner is counted as the 
  4.8   ratio of the number of hours of assessment and education 
  4.9   services required in the fiscal year by the pupil's individual 
  4.10  education program plan to 875, but not more than one. 
  4.11     (d) A kindergarten pupil who is not included in paragraph 
  4.12  (c) is counted as .53 of a pupil unit for fiscal year 1995 and 
  4.13  thereafter. 
  4.14     (e) A pupil who is in any of grades 1 to 3 is counted as 
  4.15  1.13 pupil units.  A pupil who is in grade 3 after being 
  4.16  enrolled in grade 3 the prior year is counted as .99 of a pupil 
  4.17  unit.  A pupil who is in any of grades 4 to 6 is counted as 1.06 
  4.18  pupil units ~~for fiscal year 1995 and thereafter~~. 
  4.19     (f) A pupil who is in any of grades 7 to 12 is counted as 
  4.20  1.3 pupil units.  
  4.21     (g) A pupil who is in the post-secondary enrollment options 
  4.22  program is counted as 1.3 pupil units.  
  4.23     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.24     Section 1 is effective for the 1999-2000 school year and 
  4.25  thereafter.  Section 2 is effective for fiscal year 2000.