HOUSE BILL No. 5881 June 8, 2000, Introduced by Reps. Woodward, Wojno, Jamnick, Basham, Clark, Reeves, Hardman, Gieleghem, Vaughn, Dennis, Bogardus, Lockwood, Switalski, Jacobs, Quarles and Minore and referred to the Committee on Education. A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled "The revised school code," by amending section 1279 (MCL 380.1279), as amended by 1997 PA 175. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 1279. (1) The board of a school district or public 2 school academy shall administer state assessments to high school 3 pupils in the subject areas of communications skills, mathemat- 4 ics, science, and, beginning with pupils scheduled to graduate in 5 2000, social studies. The board shall include on the pupil's 6 high school transcript all of the following: 7 (a) For each high school graduate who has completed a 8 subject area assessment under this section, the pupil's scaled 9 score on the assessment. 04372'99 TAV 2 1 (b) If the pupil's scaled score on a subject area assessment 2 falls within the range required under subsection (2) for a 3 category established under subsection (2), an indication that the 4 pupil has achieved state endorsement for that subject area. 5 (c) The number of school days the pupil was in attendance at 6 school each school year during high school and the total number 7 of school days in session for each of those school years. 8 (2) The department shall develop scaled scores for reporting 9 subject area assessment results for each of the subject areas 10 under this section.Subject to approval by the state board,11theTHE superintendent of public instruction shall establish 3 12 categories for each subject area indicating basic competency, 13 above average, and outstanding, and shall establish the scaled 14 score range required for each category. The department shall 15 design and distribute to school districts, intermediate school 16 districts, public school academies, and nonpublic schools a 17 simple and concise document that describes these categories in 18 each subject area and indicates the scaled score ranges for each 19 category in each subject area. A school district or public 20 school academy may award a high school diploma to a pupil who 21 successfully completes local school district or public school 22 academy requirements established in accordance with state law for 23 high school graduation, regardless of whether the pupil is eligi- 24 ble for any state endorsement. 25 (3) The assessments administered for the purposes of this 26 section shall be administered to pupils during the last 30 school 27 days of grade 11. The department shall ensure that the 04372'99 3 1 assessments are scored and the scores are returned to pupils, 2 their parents or legal guardians, and school districts or public 3 school academies not later than thebeginning of the pupil's4first semester of grade 12IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING JULY. Not 5 later than fall 1999, the department shall arrange for those por- 6 tions of a pupil's assessment that cannot be scored mechanically 7 to be scored in Michigan by persons who are Michigan teachers, 8 retired Michigan teachers, or Michigan school administrators and 9 who have been trained in scoring the assessments. The returned 10 scores shall indicate the pupil's scaled score for each subject 11 area assessment, the range of scaled scores for each subject 12 area, and the range of scaled scores required for each category 13 established under subsection (2). In reporting the scores to 14 pupils, parents, and schools, the department shall provide spe- 15 cific, meaningful, and timely feedback on the pupil's performance 16 on the assessment. IN ADDITION, THE REPORT TO A PUPIL'S SCHOOL 17 SHALL INCLUDE AT LEAST A COPY OF EACH ASSESSMENT TEST, A REPORT 18 OF THE PUPIL'S ANSWER ON EACH MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION, A COPY OF 19 THE PUPIL'S ANSWER ON EACH ESSAY QUESTION, AND A REPORT OF THE 20 PUPIL'S SCORE ON EACH ESSAY QUESTION. 21 (4) For each pupil who does not achieve state endorsement in 22 1 or more subject areas, the board of the school district or 23 public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall pro- 24 vide that there be at least 1 meeting attended by at least the 25 pupil and a member of the school district's or public school 26 academy's staff or a local or intermediate school district 27 consultant who is proficient in the measurement and evaluation of 04372'99 4 1 pupils. The school district or public school academy may provide 2 the meeting as a group meeting for pupils in similar 3 circumstances. If the pupil is a minor, the school district or 4 public school academy shall invite and encourage the pupil's 5 parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis to attend the 6 meeting and shall mail a notice of the meeting to the pupil's 7 parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis. The purpose 8 of this meeting and any subsequent meeting under this subsection 9 shall be to determine an educational program for the pupil 10 designed to have the pupil achieve state endorsement in each 11 subject area in which he or she did not achieve state 12 endorsement. In addition, a school district or public school 13 academy may provide for subsequent meetings with the pupil con- 14 ducted by a high school counselor or teacher designated by the 15 pupil's high school principal, and shall invite and encourage the 16 pupil's parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis to 17 attend the subsequent meetings. The school district or public 18 school academy shall provide special programs for the pupil or 19 develop a program using the educational programs regularly pro- 20 vided by the district unless the board of the school district or 21 public school academy decides otherwise and publishes and 22 explains its decision in a public justification report. 23 (5) A pupil who wants to repeat an assessment administered 24 under this section may repeat the assessment, without charge to 25 the pupil, in the next school year or after graduation. An indi- 26 vidual may repeat an assessment at any time the school district 04372'99 5 1 or public school academy administers an applicable assessment 2 instrument or during a retesting period under subsection (7). 3 (6) The department shall ensure that the length of the 4 assessments used for the purposes of this section and the com- 5 bined total time necessary to administer all of the assessments, 6 including social studies, are the shortest possible that will 7 still maintain the degree of reliability and validity of the 8 assessment results determined necessary by the department. The 9 department shall ensure that the maximum total combined length of 10 time that schools are required to set aside for administration of 11 all of the assessments used for the purposes of this section, 12 including social studies, does not exceed 8 hours. However, this 13 subsection does not limit the amount of time that individuals may 14 have to complete the assessments. 15 (7) The department shall establish, schedule, and arrange 16 periodic retesting periods throughout the year for individuals 17 who desire to repeat an assessment under this section. The 18 department shall coordinate the arrangements for administering 19 the repeat assessments and shall ensure that the retesting is 20 made available at least within each intermediate school district 21 and, to the extent possible, within each school district. 22 (8) A school district or public school academy shall provide 23 accommodations to a pupil with disabilities for the assessments 24 required under this section, as provided under section 504 of 25 title V of the rehabilitation act of 1973, Public Law 93-112, 29 26 U.S.C. 794; subtitle A of title II of the Americans with 04372'99 6 1 disabilities act of 1990, Public Law 101-336, 42 U.S.C. 12131 to 2 12134; and the implementing regulations for those statutes. 3 (9) For the purposes of this section, thestate board4 SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION shall develop or select and 5 approve assessment instruments to measure pupil performance in 6 communications skills, mathematics, social studies, and science. 7 The assessment instruments shall be based on thestate board8 model core academic content standards objectives UNDER SECTION 9 1278. 10 (10) All assessment instruments developed or selected and 11 approved by the state under any statute or rule for a purpose 12 related to K to 12 education shall be objective-oriented and con- 13 sistent with thestate boardmodel core academic content stan- 14 dards objectives UNDER SECTION 1278. 15 (11) A person who has graduated from high school after 1996 16 and who has not previously taken an assessment under this section 17 may take an assessment used for the purposes of this section, 18 without charge to the person, at the school district from which 19 he or she graduated from high school at any time that school dis- 20 trict administers the assessment or during a retesting period 21 scheduled under subsection (7) and have his or her scaled score 22 on the assessment included on his or her high school transcript. 23 If the person's scaled score on a subject area assessment falls 24 within the range required under subsection (2) for a category 25 established under subsection (2), the school district shall also 26 indicate on the person's high school transcript that the person 27 has achieved state endorsement for that subject area. 04372'99 7 1 (12) Not later than July 1 of each year until 2000, the 2 department shall submit a comprehensive report to the legislature 3 on the status of the assessment program under this section. The 4 report shall include at least all of the following: 5 (a) The annual pupil assessment data. 6 (b) A description of the feedback provided to pupils, par- 7 ents, and schools. 8 (c) A description of any significant alterations made in the 9 programby the department or state boardduring the period cov- 10 ered by the report. 11 (d) Any recommendationsby the department or state board12 for legislative changes to the program. 13 (e) An update of the reports of the assessment advisory com- 14 mittees of the state board. 15(13) Pupils scheduled to graduate in 1998 who took the16assessments used for the purposes of this section during the171996-97 school year may repeat 1 or more of the assessments18during the 1997-98 school year. The department, in cooperation19with school districts and public school academies, shall make20arrangements for repeat assessments to be available for these21pupils in each school district that operates a high school during22the 1997-98 school year in time for these pupils to repeat the23assessments before graduation. The repeat assessments may be24administered at times other than regular school hours.25 (13)(14)A child who is a student in a nonpublic school 26 or home school may take an assessment under this section. To 27 take an assessment, a child who is a student in a home school 04372'99 8 1 shall contact the school district in which the child resides, and 2 that school district shall administer the assessment, or the 3 child may take the assessment at a nonpublic school if allowed by 4 the nonpublic school. Upon request from a nonpublic school, the 5 department shall supply assessments and the nonpublic school may 6 administer the assessment. 7 (14)(15)The purpose of the assessment under this section 8 is to assess pupil performance in mathematics, science, social 9 studies, and communicationartsSKILLS for the purpose of 10 improving academic achievement and establishing a statewide stan- 11 dard of competency. The assessment under this section provides a 12 common measure of data that will contribute to the improvement of 13 Michigan schools' curriculum and instruction by encouraging 14 alignment with Michigan's curriculum framework standards. These 15 standards are based upon the expectations of what pupils should 16 know and be able to do by the end of grade 11. 17 (15)(16) Not later than 90 days after the effective date18of this subsection, theTHE state board shall appoint an 19 11-member assessment administration advisory committee to advise 20 the state board on Michigan education assessment program (MEAP) 21 tests and on the assessments used for state endorsements under 22 this section. This advisory committee shall be composed of rep- 23 resentatives of school districts, intermediate school districts, 24 school administrators, teachers, and parents, with the appoint- 25 ments reflecting the geographic and population diversity of 26 school districts in this state. The representatives of school 27 districts and intermediate school districts shall be persons who 04372'99 9 1 are expert in testing or test administration. This advisory 2 committee shall evaluate these tests and assessments and make 3 recommendations to the state board and department on issues 4 related to administration, scoring, and reporting and use of 5 results of these tests and assessments, including, but not 6 limited to, length of the tests and assessments; the time of the 7 testing period during the school year; feedback provided to 8 pupils, parents, and schools; accurate and relevant reporting of 9 results to the general public; the selection of a retesting 10 period and procedures and arrangements for repeating tests or 11 assessments; local scoring and other general issues regarding 12 scoring of tests and assessments; categories of scoring on the 13 MEAP tests and categories of state endorsement under this sec- 14 tion; and professional development for teachers to assist in pre- 15 paring pupils to have the necessary skills and knowledge to suc- 16 ceed on the tests and assessments. 17 (16)(17)As used in this section: 18 (a) "Communications skills" means reading and writing. 19 (b) "Social studies" means geography, history, economics, 20 and American government. 04372'99 Final page. 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