2004 Minnesota Statutes

     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, including the 
 profile of learning, 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