SENATE BILL No. 607

July 11, 2001, Introduced by Senators PETERS, SMITH, BYRUM, DE BEAUSSAERT,

DINGELL, YOUNG, SCOTT, MURPHY, CHERRY, KOIVISTO, MILLER,

HART and EMERSON and referred to the Committee on Education.

A bill to amend 1970 PA 38, entitled

"An act to provide for assessment and remedial assistance pro-

grams of students in reading, mathematics and vocational

education,"

by amending sections 1, 2, and 6 (MCL 388.1081, 388.1082, and

388.1086).

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

1 Sec. 1. A statewide program of assessment of educational

2 progress and remedial assistance in the basic skills of students

3 in reading, mathematics, language arts, and/or OR other general

4 subject areas is established in the department of education.

5 which THIS program shall DO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

6 (a) Establish meaningful achievement goals in the basic

7 skills for students, and identify those students with the

8 greatest educational need in these skills.

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1 (b) Provide the state with the information needed to

2 allocate state funds and professional services in a manner best

3 calculated to equalize educational opportunities for students to

4 achieve competence in such THOSE basic skills.

5 (c) Provide school systems with strong incentives to intro-

6 duce educational programs to improve the education of students in

7 such THOSE basic skills and model programs to raise the level

8 of achievement of students.

9 (d) Develop a system for educational self-renewal that would

10 continuously evaluate the programs and by this means help each

11 school to discover and introduce program changes that are most

12 likely to improve the quality of education.

13 (e) Provide the public periodically with information con-

14 cerning the progress of the state system of education. Such

15 programs THIS PROGRAM shall extend current OTHER department of

16 education efforts to conduct periodic and comprehensive assess-

17 ment of educational progress.

18 Sec. 2. (1) The statewide assessment program of educational

19 progress shall cover all students annually at two IN AT LEAST 2

20 grade levels in public schools.

21 (2) The department of education, hereinafter referred to as

22 the department, shall develop and conduct the program, and may

23 utilize the assistance of appropriate testing organizations

24 and/or OR testing specialist SPECIALISTS. The program shall

25 expand the current basic skills testing inventory in grades 4 and

26 7 coordinated by the department.

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1 (3) The program shall assess competencies in the basic

2 skills and collect and utilize other relevant information

3 essential to the assessment program.

4 (4) Based on information from the program, students shall be

5 identified who have extraordinary need for assistance to improve

6 their competence in the basic skills.

7 (5) Information from the program shall be given to each

8 school as soon as possible to assist it in its efforts to improve

9 the achievement of students in the basic skills.

10 Sec. 6. The department shall promulgate rules necessary to

11 carry out the provisions of this act , in accordance with and

12 subject to the provisions of Act No. 306 of the Public Acts of

13 1969, being sections 24.201 to 24.313 of the Compiled Laws of

14 1948 THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES ACT OF 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL

15 24.201 TO 24.328.

16 Enacting section 1. This amendatory act is intended to

17 return to the superintendent of public instruction, the depart-

18 ment of education, and the state board of education certain func-

19 tions relating to state assessments transferred to the department

20 of treasury under Executive Reorganization Order No. 1999-7, MCL

21 388.995.

22 Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take

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

24 are enacted into law:

25 (a) Senate Bill No. 608.

26

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1 (b) Senate Bill No. 609.

2

3 (c) Senate Bill No. 610.

4

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