Bill Text: FL S0224 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Student Statewide Assessments/Religious Holidays [SPSC]
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Education Pre-K - 12 [S0224 Detail]
Download: Florida-2010-S0224-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2010 SB 224 By Senator Ring 32-00296-10 2010224__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to statewide assessments; amending s. 3 1008.22, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the 4 schedule for administering comprehensive statewide 5 assessments; providing that a comprehensive statewide 6 assessment may be administered the week before the 7 week of April 15 if a religious holiday occurs during 8 that week; providing an effective date. 9 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11 12 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 13 1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 14 1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools.— 15 (3) STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.—The commissioner shall 16 design and implement a statewide program of educational 17 assessment that provides information for the improvement of the 18 operation and management of the public schools, including 19 schools operating for the purpose of providing educational 20 services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice programs. 21 The commissioner may enter into contracts for the continued 22 administration of the assessment, testing, and evaluation 23 programs authorized and funded by the Legislature. Contracts may 24 be initiated in 1 fiscal year and continue into the next and may 25 be paid from the appropriations of either or both fiscal years. 26 The commissioner is authorized to negotiate for the sale or 27 lease of tests, scoring protocols, test scoring services, and 28 related materials developed pursuant to law. Pursuant to the 29 statewide assessment program, the commissioner shall: 30 (c) Develop and implement a student achievement testing 31 program known as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test 32 (FCAT) as part of the statewide assessment program to measure a 33 student’s content knowledge and skills in reading, writing, 34 science, and mathematics. Other content areas may be included as 35 directed by the commissioner. Comprehensive assessments of 36 reading and mathematics shall be administered annually in grades 37 3 through 10. Comprehensive assessments of writing and science 38 shall be administered at least once at the elementary, middle, 39 and high school levels. End-of-course assessments for a subject 40 may be administered in addition to the comprehensive assessments 41 required for that subject under this paragraph. An end-of-course 42 assessment must be rigorous, statewide, standardized, and 43 developed or approved by the department. The content knowledge 44 and skills assessed by comprehensive and end-of-course 45 assessments must be aligned to the core curricular content 46 established in the Sunshine State Standards. The commissioner 47 may select one or more nationally developed comprehensive 48 examinations, which may include, but need not be limited to, 49 examinations for a College Board Advanced Placement course, 50 International Baccalaureate course, or Advanced International 51 Certificate of Education course or industry-approved 52 examinations to earn national industry certifications as defined 53 in s. 1003.492, for use as end-of-course assessments under this 54 paragraph, if the commissioner determines that the content 55 knowledge and skills assessed by the examinations meet or exceed 56 the grade level expectations for the core curricular content 57 established for the course in the Next Generation Sunshine State 58 Standards. The commissioner may collaborate with the American 59 Diploma Project in the adoption or development of rigorous end 60 of-course assessments that are aligned to the Next Generation 61 Sunshine State Standards. The testing program must be designed 62 as follows: 63 1. The tests shall measure student skills and competencies 64 adopted by the State Board of Education as specified in 65 paragraph (a). The tests must measure and report student 66 proficiency levels of all students assessed in reading, writing, 67 mathematics, and science. The commissioner shall provide for the 68 tests to be developed or obtained, as appropriate, through 69 contracts and project agreements with private vendors, public 70 vendors, public agencies, postsecondary educational 71 institutions, or school districts. The commissioner shall obtain 72 input with respect to the design and implementation of the 73 testing program from state educators, assistive technology 74 experts, and the public. 75 2. The testing program shall be composed of criterion 76 referenced tests that shall, to the extent determined by the 77 commissioner, include test items that require the student to 78 produce information or perform tasks in such a way that the core 79 content knowledge and skills he or she uses can be measured. 80 3. Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, the 81 commissioner shall discontinue administration of the selected 82 response test items on the comprehensive assessments of writing. 83 Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, the comprehensive 84 assessments of writing shall be composed of a combination of 85 selected-response test items, short-response performance tasks, 86 and extended-response performance tasks, which shall measure a 87 student’s content knowledge of writing, including, but not 88 limited to, paragraph and sentence structure, sentence 89 construction, grammar and usage, punctuation, capitalization, 90 spelling, parts of speech, verb tense, irregular verbs, subject 91 verb agreement, and noun-pronoun agreement. 92 4. A score shall be designated for each subject area 93 tested, below which score a student’s performance is deemed 94 inadequate. The school districts shall provide appropriate 95 remedial instruction to students who score below these levels. 96 5. Except as provided in s. 1003.428(8)(b) or s. 97 1003.43(11)(b), students must earn a passing score on the grade 98 10 assessment test described in this paragraph or attain 99 concordant scores as described in subsection (10) in reading, 100 writing, and mathematics to qualify for a standard high school 101 diploma. The State Board of Education shall designate a passing 102 score for each part of the grade 10 assessment test. In 103 establishing passing scores, the state board shall consider any 104 possible negative impact of the test on minority students. The 105 State Board of Education shall adopt rules which specify the 106 passing scores for the grade 10 FCAT. Any such rules, which have 107 the effect of raising the required passing scores, shall apply 108 only to students taking the grade 10 FCAT for the first time 109 after such rules are adopted by the State Board of Education. 110 6. Participation in the testing program is mandatory for 111 all students attending public school, including students served 112 in Department of Juvenile Justice programs, except as otherwise 113 prescribed by the commissioner. If a student does not 114 participate in the statewide assessment, the district must 115 notify the student’s parent and provide the parent with 116 information regarding the implications of such nonparticipation. 117 A parent must provide signed consent for a student to receive 118 classroom instructional accommodations that would not be 119 available or permitted on the statewide assessments and must 120 acknowledge in writing that he or she understands the 121 implications of such instructional accommodations. The State 122 Board of Education shall adopt rules, based upon recommendations 123 of the commissioner, for the provision of test accommodations 124 for students in exceptional education programs and for students 125 who have limited English proficiency. Accommodations that negate 126 the validity of a statewide assessment are not allowable in the 127 administration of the FCAT. However, instructional 128 accommodations are allowable in the classroom if included in a 129 student’s individual education plan. Students using 130 instructional accommodations in the classroom that are not 131 allowable as accommodations on the FCAT may have the FCAT 132 requirement waived pursuant to the requirements of s. 133 1003.428(8)(b) or s. 1003.43(11)(b). 134 7. A student seeking an adult high school diploma must meet 135 the same testing requirements that a regular high school student 136 must meet. 137 8. District school boards must provide instruction to 138 prepare students to demonstrate proficiency in the core 139 curricular content established in the Next Generation Sunshine 140 State Standards adopted under s. 1003.41, including the core 141 content knowledge and skills necessary for successful grade-to 142 grade progression and high school graduation. If a student is 143 provided with instructional accommodations in the classroom that 144 are not allowable as accommodations in the statewide assessment 145 program, as described in the test manuals, the district must 146 inform the parent in writing and must provide the parent with 147 information regarding the impact on the student’s ability to 148 meet expected proficiency levels in reading, writing, and 149 mathematics. The commissioner shall conduct studies as necessary 150 to verify that the required core curricular content is part of 151 the district instructional programs. 152 9. District school boards must provide opportunities for 153 students to demonstrate an acceptable level of performance on an 154 alternative standardized assessment approved by the State Board 155 of Education following enrollment in summer academies. 156 10. The Department of Education must develop, or select, 157 and implement a common battery of assessment tools that will be 158 used in all juvenile justice programs in the state. These tools 159 must accurately measure the core curricular content established 160 in the Sunshine State Standards. 161 11. For students seeking a special diploma pursuant to s. 162 1003.438, the Department of Education must develop or select and 163 implement an alternate assessment tool that accurately measures 164 the core curricular content established in the Sunshine State 165 Standards for students with disabilities under s. 1003.438. 166 12. The Commissioner of Education shall establish schedules 167 for the administration of statewide assessments and the 168 reporting of student test results. The commissioner shall, by 169 August 1 of each year, notify each school district in writing 170 and publish on the department’s Internet website the testing and 171 reporting schedules for, at a minimum, the school year following 172 the upcoming school year. The testing and reporting schedules 173 shall require that: 174 a. There is the latest possible administration of statewide 175 assessments and the earliest possible reporting to the school 176 districts of student test results which is feasible within 177 available technology and specific appropriations; however, test 178 results must be made available no later than the final day of 179 the regular school year for students. 180 b. Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, a 181 comprehensive statewide assessment of writing is not 182 administered earlier than the week of March 1 and a 183 comprehensive statewide assessment of any other subject is not 184 administered earlier than the week of April 15. However, if any 185 religious holiday, including, but not limited to, Passover and 186 Easter, occurs during the week of April 15, the comprehensive 187 statewide assessment may be administered the week before the 188 week during which the religious holiday occurs. 189 c. A statewide standardized end-of-course assessment is 190 administered within the last 2 weeks of the course. 191 192 The commissioner may, based on collaboration and input from 193 school districts, design and implement student testing programs, 194 for any grade level and subject area, necessary to effectively 195 monitor educational achievement in the state, including the 196 measurement of educational achievement of the Sunshine State 197 Standards for students with disabilities. Development and 198 refinement of assessments shall include universal design 199 principles and accessibility standards that will prevent any 200 unintended obstacles for students with disabilities while 201 ensuring the validity and reliability of the test. These 202 principles should be applicable to all technology platforms and 203 assistive devices available for the assessments. The field 204 testing process and psychometric analyses for the statewide 205 assessment program must include an appropriate percentage of 206 students with disabilities and an evaluation or determination of 207 the effect of test items on such students. 208 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.
