120B.31 System accountability and statistical adjustments.
Subdivision 1. Educational accountability and public reporting. Consistent with the process to adopt a results-oriented graduation rule under section 120B.02, the department, in consultation with education and other system stakeholders, must establish a coordinated and comprehensive system of educational accountability and public reporting that promotes higher academic achievement.
Subd. 2. Statewide testing. Each school year, all school districts shall give a uniform statewide test to students at specified grades to provide information on the status, needs and performance of Minnesota students.
Subd. 3. Educational accountability. (a) The Independent Office of Educational Accountability, as authorized by Laws 1997, First Special Session chapter 4, article 5, section 28, subdivision 2, is established. The office shall advise the education committees of the legislature and the commissioner of education, at least on a biennial basis, on the degree to which the statewide educational accountability and reporting system includes a comprehensive assessment framework that measures school accountability for students achieving the goals described in the state's results-oriented graduation rule. The office shall consider whether the statewide system of educational accountability utilizes multiple indicators to provide valid and reliable comparative and contextual data on students, schools, districts, and the state, and if not, recommend ways to improve the accountability reporting system.
(b) When the office reviews the statewide educational accountability and reporting system, it shall also consider:
(1) the objectivity and neutrality of the state's educational accountability system; and
(2) the impact of a testing program on school curriculum and student learning.
Subd. 4. Statistical adjustments. In developing policies and assessment processes to hold schools and districts accountable for high levels of academic standards under section 120B.021, the commissioner shall aggregate student data over time to report student performance levels measured at the school district, regional, or statewide level. When collecting and reporting the data, the commissioner shall: (1) acknowledge the impact of significant demographic factors such as residential instability, the number of single parent families, parents' level of education, and parents' income level on school outcomes; and (2) organize and report the data so that state and local policy makers can understand the educational implications of changes in districts' demographic profiles over time. Any report the commissioner disseminates containing summary data on student performance must integrate student performance and the demographic factors that strongly correlate with that performance.
HIST: 1996 c 412 art 7 s 2; 1997 c 1 s 2; 1998 c 397 art 4 s 3,4,51; art 11 s 3; 1998 c 398 art 5 s 10,55; 2003 c 130 s 12; 1Sp2005 c 5 art 11 s 1
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes