September 9, 2008, Introduced by Rep. Gillard and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
by amending section 1279g (MCL 380.1279g), as added by 2004 PA 596.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
1279g. (1) Beginning in the 2006 calendar year, the The
board of a school district or board of directors of a public school
academy
shall comply with this section and shall administer the
state
assessments under section 1279 or the
Michigan merit
examination to pupils in grade 11, and to pupils in grade 12 who
did not take the complete Michigan merit examination in grade 11,
as
provided in this section. , as follows:
(a)
For pupils in grade 11 in the 2005-2006 school year, the
provisions
concerning state assessments under section 1279 apply to
all
pupils in grade 11 and the Michigan merit examination shall be
administered
to a sample of pupils in grade 11 statewide, as
identified
by the department. The pupils to be included in this
sample
shall be determined by the department as the department
determines
necessary to seek the approval of the United States
department
of education to use the Michigan merit examination for
the
purposes of the federal no child left behind act of 2001,
Public
Law 107-110.
(b)
Subject to subdivision (c), for pupils in grade 11 in the
2006-2007
school year and subsequent school years, the Michigan
merit
examination shall be offered to all pupils in grade 11.
(c)
If the United States department of education has not
approved
the use of the Michigan merit examination for the purposes
of
the federal no child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-
110,
by December 31, 2006, all of the following apply:
(i) The provisions concerning state assessments under
section
1279
shall continue to apply to all pupils in grade 11 until the
next
calendar year that begins after that approval occurs.
(ii) The Michigan merit examination shall be offered to all
pupils
in grade 11 beginning in the next calendar year that begins
after
that approval occurs.
(iii) If it is necessary as part of the process of
continuing to
seek
the approval of the United
States department of education
to
use
the Michigan merit examination for the purposes of the federal
no
child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110, the
department
may again provide for the administration of both the
state
assessments under section 1279 and the Michigan merit
examination
to a sample of pupils in grade 11 statewide as
described
in subdivision (a).
(2)
The department shall take all steps necessary, including,
but
not limited to, conducting a content alignment study and
statistical
analyses, to obtain the approval of the United States
department
of education to use the Michigan merit examination for
the
purposes of the federal no child left behind act of 2001,
Public
Law 107-110, by not later than December 31, 2006 or as soon
thereafter
as possible.
(2) (3)
For the purposes of this section,
the department of
management and budget shall contract with 1 or more providers to
develop, supply, and score the Michigan merit examination. The
Michigan merit examination shall consist of all of the following:
(a) Assessment instruments that measure English language arts,
mathematics, reading, and science and are used by colleges and
universities in this state for entrance or placement purposes. This
shall include a writing component in which the pupil produces an
extended writing sample. The Michigan merit examination shall not
require any other extended writing sample.
(b) One or more tests from 1 or more test developers that
assess a pupil's ability to apply at least reading and mathematics
skills in a manner that is intended to allow employers to use the
results in making employment decisions. The department of
management and budget and the superintendent of public instruction
shall ensure that any test or tests selected under this subdivision
have all the components necessary to allow a pupil to be eligible
to receive the results of a nationally recognized evaluation of
workforce readiness if the pupil's test performance is adequate.
(c) A social studies component.
(d) Any other component that is necessary to obtain the
approval of the United States department of education to use the
Michigan merit examination for the purposes of the federal
no child
left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110.
(3) (4)
In addition to all other
requirements of this section,
all of the following apply to the Michigan merit examination:
(a) The department of management and budget and the
superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that any
contractor used for scoring the Michigan merit examination supplies
an individual report for each pupil that will identify for the
pupil's parents and teachers whether the pupil met expectations or
failed to meet expectations for each standard, to allow the pupil's
parents and teachers to assess and remedy problems before the pupil
moves to the next grade.
(b) The department of management and budget and the
superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that any
contractor used for scoring, developing, or processing the Michigan
merit examination meets quality management standards commonly used
in the assessment industry, including at least meeting level 2 of
the capability maturity model developed by the software engineering
institute of Carnegie Mellon university for the first year the
Michigan merit examination is offered to all grade 11 pupils and at
least meeting level 3 of the capability maturity model for
subsequent years.
(c) The department of management and budget and the
superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that any contract
for scoring, administering, or developing the Michigan merit
examination includes specific deadlines for all steps of the
assessment process, including, but not limited to, deadlines for
the correct testing materials to be supplied to schools and for the
correct results to be returned to schools, and includes penalties
for noncompliance with these deadlines.
(d) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that
the Michigan merit examination meets all of the following:
(i) Is designed to test pupils on grade level content
expectations or course content expectations, as appropriate, in all
subjects tested.
(ii) Complies with requirements of the no child left behind act
of 2001, Public Law 107-110.
(iii) Is consistent with the code of fair testing practices in
education prepared by the joint committee on testing practices of
the American psychological association.
(iv) Is factually accurate. If the superintendent of public
instruction determines that a question is not factually accurate
and
should be removed excluded
from an assessment instrument
scoring, the state board and the superintendent of public
instruction
shall ensure that the question is removed excluded from
the
assessment instrument scoring.
(4) (5)
Beginning with pupils completing grade 11 in 2006, a A
school district or public school academy that operates a high
school shall include on each pupil's high school transcript all of
the following:
(a) For each high school graduate who has completed the
Michigan merit examination under this section, the pupil's scaled
score on each subject area component of the Michigan merit
examination.
(b) The number of school days the pupil was in attendance at
school each school year during high school and the total number of
school days in session for each of those school years.
(5) (6)
The superintendent of public
instruction shall work
with the provider or providers of the Michigan merit examination to
produce Michigan merit examination subject area scores for each
pupil participating in the Michigan merit examination, including
scaling and merging of test items for the different subject area
components. The superintendent of public instruction shall design
and distribute to school districts, public school academies,
intermediate school districts, and nonpublic schools a simple and
concise document that describes the scoring for each subject area
and indicates the scaled score ranges for each subject area.
(6) (7)
The Michigan merit examination
shall be administered
each year after March 1 and before June 1 to pupils in grade 11.
The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that the
Michigan merit examination is scored and the scores are returned to
pupils, their parents or legal guardians, and schools not later
than the beginning of the pupil's first semester of grade 12. The
returned scores shall indicate at least the pupil's scaled score
for each subject area component and the range of scaled scores for
each subject area. In reporting the scores to pupils, parents, and
schools, the superintendent of public instruction shall provide
standards-specific, meaningful, and timely feedback on the pupil's
performance on the Michigan merit examination.
(8)
A pupil who does not qualify for a Michigan merit award
scholarship
under the Michigan merit award scholarship act, 1999 PA
94,
MCL 390.1451 to 390.1459, and who wants to repeat the Michigan
merit
examination may repeat the Michigan merit examination in the
next
school year on a designated testing date. The first time a
pupil
repeats the Michigan merit examination under this subsection
shall
be without charge to the pupil, but the pupil is responsible
for
paying the cost of any subsequent repeat.
(7) A school district or public school academy shall
administer the complete Michigan merit examination to a pupil only
once and shall not administer the complete Michigan merit
examination to the same pupil more than once. If a pupil does not
take the complete Michigan merit examination in grade 11, the
school district or public school academy shall administer the
complete Michigan merit examination to the pupil in grade 12. If a
pupil chooses to retake the college entrance examination component
of the Michigan merit examination, as described in subsection
(2)(a), the pupil may do so through the provider of the college
entrance examination component and the cost of the retake is the
responsibility of the pupil unless all of the following are met:
(a) The pupil has taken the complete Michigan merit
examination.
(b) The pupil did not qualify for a Michigan promise grant
under section 6 of the Michigan promise grant act, 2006 PA 479, MCL
390.1626, based on the pupil's performance on the complete Michigan
merit examination.
(c) The pupil meets the income eligibility criteria for free
breakfast, lunch, or milk, as determined under the Richard B.
Russell national school lunch act, 42 USC 1751 to 1769i.
(d) The pupil has applied to the provider of the college
entrance examination component for a scholarship or fee waiver to
cover the cost of the retake and that application has been denied.
(e) After taking the complete Michigan merit examination, the
pupil has not already received a free retake of the college
entrance examination component paid for either by this state or
through a scholarship or fee waiver by the provider.
(8) (9)
The superintendent of public
instruction shall ensure
that the length of the Michigan merit examination and the combined
total time necessary to administer all of the components of the
Michigan merit examination are the shortest possible that will
still maintain the degree of reliability and validity of the
Michigan merit examination results determined necessary by the
superintendent of public instruction. The superintendent of public
instruction shall ensure that the maximum total combined length of
time
that schools are required to set aside for administration of
all
of the components of pupils
to answer all test questions on the
Michigan merit examination does not exceed 8 hours if the
superintendent of public instruction determines that sufficient
alignment to applicable Michigan merit curriculum content standards
can be achieved within that time limit.
(9) (10)
A school district or public school
academy shall
provide accommodations to a pupil with disabilities for the
Michigan merit examination, as provided under section 504 of title
V of the rehabilitation act of 1973, 29 USC 794; subtitle A of
title II of the Americans with disabilities act of 1990, 42 USC
12131 to 12134; the individuals with disabilities education act
amendments of 1997, Public Law 105-17; and the implementing
regulations for those statutes. The provider or providers of the
Michigan merit examination and the superintendent of public
instruction shall mutually agree upon the accommodations to be
provided under this subsection.
(10) (11)
To the greatest extent possible,
the Michigan merit
examination shall be based on grade level content expectations or
course content expectations, as appropriate. Not later than July 1,
2008, the department shall identify specific grade level content
expectations to be taught before and after the middle of grade 11,
so that teachers will know what content will be covered within the
Michigan merit examination.
(11) (12)
A child who is a student in a
nonpublic school or
home school may take the Michigan merit examination under this
section. To take the Michigan merit examination, a child who is a
student in a home school shall contact the school district in which
the child resides, and that school district shall administer the
Michigan merit examination, or the child may take the Michigan
merit examination at a nonpublic school if allowed by the nonpublic
school. Upon request from a nonpublic school, the superintendent of
public instruction shall direct the provider or providers to supply
the Michigan merit examination to the nonpublic school and the
nonpublic school may administer the Michigan merit examination. If
a school district administers the Michigan merit examination under
this subsection to a child who is not enrolled in the school
district, the scores for that child are not considered for any
purpose to be scores of a pupil of the school district.
(12) (13)
In contracting under subsection (3)
(2), the
department of management and budget shall consider a contractor
that provides electronically-scored essays with the ability to
score constructed response feedback in multiple languages and
provide ongoing instruction and feedback.
(13) (14)
The purpose of the Michigan
merit examination is to
assess pupil performance in mathematics, science, social studies,
and English language arts for the purpose of improving academic
achievement and establishing a statewide standard of competency.
The assessment under this section provides a common measure of data
that will contribute to the improvement of Michigan schools'
curriculum and instruction by encouraging alignment with Michigan's
curriculum framework standards and promotes pupil participation in
higher level mathematics, science, social studies, and English
language arts courses. These standards are based upon the
expectations of what pupils should learn through high school and
are aligned with national standards.
(14) (15)
As used in this section:
(a) "English language arts" means reading and writing.
(b) "Social studies" means United States history, world
history, world geography, economics, and American government.