HOUSE BILL No. 5061


     September 20, 2001, Introduced by Reps. Bernero, Spade, Waters, Lipsey, Rich Brown, Adamini, McConico, Plakas, Pestka, Neumann, Minore,
Gieleghem, Murphy, Bogardus, Wojno, Dennis, O'Neil, Zelenko, Jacobs, Clarke and Hansen 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:

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           Sec. 1279.  (1) The board of a school district or public

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      school academy shall administer state assessments to high school

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      pupils in the subject areas of communications skills, mathemat-

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      ics, science, and, beginning with pupils scheduled to graduate in

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      2000, social studies.  The board shall include on the pupil's

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      high school transcript all of the following:

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           (a) For each high school graduate who has completed a

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      subject area assessment under this section, the pupil's scaled

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      score on the assessment.




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           (b) If the pupil's scaled score on a subject area assessment

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      falls within the range required under subsection (2) for a

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      category established under subsection (2), an indication that the

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      pupil has achieved state endorsement for that subject area.

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           (c) The number of school days the pupil was in attendance at

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      school each school year during high school and the total number

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      of school days in session for each of those school years.

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           (2) The  department  STATE BOARD shall develop scaled scores

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      for reporting subject area assessment results for each of the

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      subject areas under this section.   Subject to approval by the

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      state board, the superintendent of public instruction  THE STATE

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      BOARD shall establish 3 categories for each subject area indicat-

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      ing basic competency, above average, and outstanding, and shall

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      establish the scaled score range required for each category.  The

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       department  STATE BOARD shall design and distribute to school

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      districts, intermediate school districts, public school acade-

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      mies, and nonpublic schools a simple and concise document that

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      describes these categories in each subject area and indicates the

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      scaled score ranges for each category in each subject area.  A

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      school district or public school academy may award a high school

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      diploma to a pupil who successfully completes local school dis-

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      trict or public school academy requirements established in

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      accordance with state law for high school graduation, regardless

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      of whether the pupil is eligible for any state endorsement.

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           (3) The assessments administered for the purposes of this

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      section shall be administered to pupils during the last 30 school

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      days of grade 11.  The  department  STATE BOARD shall ensure that



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      the assessments are scored and the scores are returned to pupils,

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      their parents or legal guardians, and school districts or public

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      school academies not later than the beginning of the pupil's

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      first semester of grade 12.   Not later than fall 1999, the

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      department  THE STATE BOARD shall arrange for those portions of a

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      pupil's assessment that cannot be scored mechanically to be

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      scored in Michigan by persons who are Michigan teachers, retired

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      Michigan teachers, or Michigan school administrators and who have

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      been trained in scoring the assessments.  The returned scores

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      shall indicate the pupil's scaled score for each subject area

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      assessment, the range of scaled scores for each subject area, and

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      the range of scaled scores required for each category established

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      under subsection (2).  In reporting the scores to pupils, par-

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      ents, and schools, the  department  STATE BOARD shall provide

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      specific, meaningful, and timely feedback on the pupil's per-

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      formance on the assessment.

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           (4) For each pupil who does not achieve state endorsement in

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      1 or more subject areas, the board of the school district or

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      public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall pro-

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      vide that there be at least 1 meeting attended by at least the

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      pupil and a member of the school district's or public school

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      academy's staff or a local or intermediate school district con-

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      sultant who is proficient in the measurement and evaluation of

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      pupils.  The school district or public school academy may provide

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      the meeting as a group meeting for pupils in similar

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      circumstances.  If the pupil is a minor, the school district or

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      public school academy shall invite and encourage the pupil's



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      parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis to attend the

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      meeting and shall mail a notice of the meeting to the pupil's

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      parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis.  The purpose

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      of this meeting and any subsequent meeting under this subsection

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      shall be to determine an educational program for the pupil

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      designed to have the pupil achieve state endorsement in each

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      subject area in which he or she did not achieve state

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      endorsement.  In addition, a school district or public school

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      academy may provide for subsequent meetings with the pupil con-

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      ducted by a high school counselor or teacher designated by the

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      pupil's high school principal, and shall invite and encourage the

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      pupil's parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis to

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      attend the subsequent meetings.  The school district or public

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      school academy shall provide special programs for the pupil or

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      develop a program using the educational programs regularly pro-

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      vided by the district unless the board of the school district or

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      public school academy decides otherwise and publishes and

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      explains its decision in a public justification report.

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           (5) A pupil who wants to repeat an assessment administered

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      under this section may repeat the assessment, without charge to

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      the pupil, in the next school year or after graduation.  An indi-

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      vidual may repeat an assessment at any time the school district

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      or public school academy administers an applicable assessment

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      instrument or during a retesting period under subsection (7).

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           (6) The  department  STATE BOARD shall ensure that the

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      length of the assessments used for the purposes of this section

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      and the combined total time necessary to administer all of the



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      assessments, including social studies, are the shortest possible

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      that will still maintain the degree of reliability and validity

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      of the assessment results determined necessary by the

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       department  STATE BOARD.  The  department  STATE BOARD shall

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      ensure that the maximum total combined length of time that

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      schools are required to set aside for administration of all of

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      the assessments used for the purposes of this section, including

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      social studies, does not exceed 8 hours.  However, this subsec-

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      tion does not limit the amount of time that individuals may have

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      to complete the assessments.

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           (7) The  department  STATE BOARD shall establish, schedule,

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      and arrange periodic retesting periods throughout the year for

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      individuals who desire to repeat an assessment under this

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      section.  The  department  STATE BOARD shall coordinate the

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      arrangements for administering the repeat assessments and shall

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      ensure that the retesting is made available at least within each

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      intermediate school district and, to the extent possible, within

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      each school district.

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           (8) A school district or public school academy shall provide

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      accommodations to a pupil with disabilities for the assessments

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      required under this section, as provided under section 504 of

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      title V of the rehabilitation act of 1973, Public Law 93-112, 29

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      U.S.C. 794; subtitle A of title II of the Americans with disabil-

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      ities act of 1990, Public Law 101-336, 42 U.S.C. 12131 to 12134;

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      and the implementing regulations for those statutes.

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           (9) For the purposes of this section, the state board shall

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      develop or select and approve assessment instruments to measure



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      pupil performance in communications skills, mathematics, social

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      studies, and science.  The assessment instruments shall be based

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      on the state board model core academic content standards

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      objectives.

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           (10) All assessment instruments developed or selected and

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      approved by  the  THIS state under any statute or rule for a pur-

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      pose related to K to 12 education shall be objective-oriented and

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      consistent with the state board model core academic content stan-

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      dards objectives.

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           (11) A person who has graduated from high school after 1996

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      and who has not previously taken an assessment under this section

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      may take an assessment used for the purposes of this section,

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      without charge to the person, at the school district from which

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      he or she graduated from high school at any time that school dis-

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      trict administers the assessment or during a retesting period

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      scheduled under subsection (7) and have his or her scaled score

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      on the assessment included on his or her high school transcript.

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      If the person's scaled score on a subject area assessment falls

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      within the range required under subsection (2) for a category

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      established under subsection (2), the school district shall also

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      indicate on the person's high school transcript that the person

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      has achieved state endorsement for that subject area.

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           (12) Not later than July 1 of each year,  until 2000, the

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      department  THE STATE BOARD shall submit a comprehensive report

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      to the legislature on the status of the assessment program under

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      this section.  The report shall include at least all of the

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      following:



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           (a) The annual pupil assessment data.

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           (b) A description of the feedback provided to pupils, par-

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      ents, and schools.

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           (c) A description of any significant alterations made in the

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      program by the  department or  state board during the period cov-

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      ered by the report.

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           (d) Any recommendations by the  department or  state board

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      for legislative changes to the program.

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           (e) An update of the reports of the assessment advisory com-

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      mittees of the state board.

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            (13) Pupils scheduled to graduate in 1998 who took the

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      assessments used for the purposes of this section during the

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      1996-97 school year may repeat 1 or more of the assessments

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      during the 1997-98 school year.  The department, in cooperation

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      with school districts and public school academies, shall make

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      arrangements for repeat assessments to be available for these

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      pupils in each school district that operates a high school during

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      the 1997-98 school year in time for these pupils to repeat the

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      assessments before graduation.  The repeat assessments may be

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      administered at times other than regular school hours.

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           (13)  (14)  A child who is a student in a nonpublic school

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      or home school may take an assessment under this section.  To

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      take an assessment, a child who is a student in a home school

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      shall contact the school district in which the child resides, and

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      that school district shall administer the assessment, or the

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      child may take the assessment at a nonpublic school if allowed by

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      the nonpublic school.  Upon request from a nonpublic school, the



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       department  STATE BOARD shall supply assessments and the

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      nonpublic school may administer the assessment.

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           (14)  (15)  The purpose of the assessment under this section

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      is to assess pupil performance in mathematics, science, social

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      studies, and communication arts for the purpose of improving aca-

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      demic achievement and establishing a statewide standard of

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      competency.  The assessment under this section provides a common

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      measure of data that will contribute to the improvement of

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      Michigan schools' curriculum and instruction by encouraging

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      alignment with Michigan's curriculum framework standards.  These

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      standards are based upon the expectations of what pupils should

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      know and be able to do by the end of grade 11.

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           (15)  (16) Not later than 90 days after the effective date

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      of this subsection, the  THE state board shall  appoint 
   MAINTAIN

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      an 11-member assessment administration advisory committee to

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      advise the state board on Michigan education assessment program

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      (MEAP) tests and on the assessments used for state endorsements

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      under this section.  This advisory committee shall be composed of

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      representatives of school districts, intermediate school dis-

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      tricts, school administrators, teachers, and parents, with the

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      appointments reflecting the geographic and population diversity

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      of school districts in this state.  The representatives of school

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      districts and intermediate school districts shall be persons who

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      are expert in testing or test administration.  This advisory com-

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      mittee shall evaluate these tests and assessments and make recom-

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      mendations to the state board  and department  on issues related

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      to administration, scoring, and reporting and use of results of



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      these tests and assessments, including, but not limited to,

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      length of the tests and assessments; the time of the testing

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      period during the school year; feedback provided to pupils, par-

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      ents, and schools; accurate and relevant reporting of results to

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      the general public; the selection of a retesting period and pro-

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      cedures and arrangements for repeating tests or assessments;

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      local scoring and other general issues regarding scoring of tests

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      and assessments; categories of scoring on the MEAP tests and cat-

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      egories of state endorsement under this section; and professional

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      development for teachers to assist in preparing pupils to have

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      the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed on the tests and

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      assessments.

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           (16)  (17)  As used in this section:

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           (a) "Communications skills" means reading and writing.

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           (b) "Social studies" means geography, history, economics,

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      and American government.

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           Enacting section 1.  This amendatory act does not take

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      effect unless all of the following bills of the 91st Legislature

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      are enacted into law:

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           (a) Senate Bill No. _____ or House Bill No. 5060 (request

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      no. 04812'01).

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           (b) Senate Bill No. _____ or House Bill No. 5062 (request

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      no. 04812'01 b).

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           (c) Senate Bill No. _____ or House Bill No. 5063 (request

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      no. 04812'01 c).







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