Bill Text: IA HF139 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the statewide assessments of student progress administered by school districts for purposes of the core academic indicators.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 11-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-14 - Passed subcommittee. [HF139 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-HF139-Introduced.html

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House File 139 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  SALMON, WHEELER,
                                     HAGER, SHEETS, WATTS,
                                     GASSMAN, FISHER, HOLT,
                                     GUSTAFSON, BAXTER, and
                                     HEARTSILL

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the statewide assessments of student
  2    progress administered by school districts for purposes of
  3    the core academic indicators.
  4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b,
  1  2 subparagraph (1), Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    (1)  Annually, the department shall report state data
  1  4 for each indicator in the condition of education report.
  1  5 Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection shall specify that
  1  6 the approved district=wide assessment of student progress
  1  7 administered for purposes of the core academic indicators shall
  1  8 be the assessment utilized by school districts statewide in the
  1  9 school year beginning July 1, 2011 Iowa assessments developed
  1 10 by the Iowa testing programs, or a successor assessment
  1 11 administered by the same assessment provider Iowa testing
  1 12 programs.
  1 13    Sec. 2.  Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b,
  1 14 subparagraph (2), Code 2017, is amended by striking the
  1 15 subparagraph and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
  1 16    (2)  If the state board proposes rules providing for a
  1 17 statewide assessment other than the assessment required under
  1 18 subparagraph (1), the state board shall submit its proposed
  1 19 rules to the general assembly and shall not adopt such
  1 20 rules unless the proposed rules are specifically authorized
  1 21 by a constitutional majority of each house of the general
  1 22 assembly and approved by the governor. The state board and
  1 23 the department are prohibited from adopting, administering,
  1 24 or approving the administration of assessments developed
  1 25 either by the smarter balanced assessment consortium or by
  1 26 the partnership for assessment of readiness for college and
  1 27 careers.
  1 28    Sec. 3.  Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b,
  1 29 subparagraphs (3) and (4), Code 2017, are amended by striking
  1 30 the subparagraphs.
  1 31                           EXPLANATION
  1 32 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  1 33 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  1 34    This bill relates to statewide assessments approved by
  1 35 the state board of education and administered to students by
  2  1 Iowa's school districts and requires that the state board's
  2  2 rules specify that the Iowa assessments developed by Iowa
  2  3 testing programs are the approved district=wide assessments of
  2  4 student progress administered for purposes of the core academic
  2  5 indicators.
  2  6    Iowa testing programs is a research, development, and
  2  7 outreach unit in the college of education at the university of
  2  8 Iowa, which has been responsible for creating and administering
  2  9 the Iowa test of basic skills and the Iowa test of educational
  2 10 development to Iowa's students for several decades.  In recent
  2 11 years, Iowa testing programs modified the tests and renamed
  2 12 them the Iowa assessments.  The Iowa assessments have been used
  2 13 by school districts statewide since the 2011=2012 academic
  2 14 year, as directed in the Code. The department of education
  2 15 uses the results from the Iowa assessments for federal annual
  2 16 yearly progress and annual progress reporting purposes.
  2 17    If the state board proposes rules providing for a statewide
  2 18 assessment other than the Iowa assessments, the state board
  2 19 must submit its proposed rules to the general assembly and
  2 20 shall not adopt such rules unless the proposed rules are
  2 21 specifically authorized by a constitutional majority of each
  2 22 house of the general assembly and approved by the governor.
  2 23    The bill prohibits the state board and the department of
  2 24 education from adopting, administering, or approving the
  2 25 administration of assessments developed either by the smarter
  2 26 balanced assessment consortium or by the partnership for
  2 27 assessment readiness for college and careers. Initiated by
  2 28 the council of chief state school officers and the national
  2 29 governors association center for best practices, the smarter
  2 30 balanced assessment consortium is a state=led consortium
  2 31 working collaboratively to develop assessments aligned to the
  2 32 common core state standards that accurately measure student
  2 33 progress toward college and career readiness. Like the smarter
  2 34 balanced assessment consortium, the partnership for assessment
  2 35 of readiness for college and careers is a group of states
  3  1 working together to develop an assessment to replace  member
  3  2 states' standardized tests.
  3  3    The bill strikes a Code provision that directs the state
  3  4 board's rules to require, for the school year beginning
  3  5 July 1, 2017, and each succeeding school year, that all
  3  6 students enrolled in school districts in grades 3 through
  3  7 11 be administered an assessment during the last quarter of
  3  8 the school year that at a minimum assesses the core academic
  3  9 indicators identified in the Code; is aligned with the Iowa
  3 10 common core standards in both content and rigor; accurately
  3 11 describes student achievement and growth for purposes of the
  3 12 school, the school district, and state accountability systems;
  3 13 and provides valid, reliable, and fair measures of student
  3 14 progress toward college or career readiness.
  3 15    The bill also strikes a Code provision that provides for
  3 16 the establishment of an assessment task force to review and
  3 17 make recommendations for a statewide assessment of student
  3 18 progress on the core academic indicators, and a Code provision
  3 19 that directs the state board to submit to the general assembly
  3 20 recommendations for modifications of assessments of student
  3 21 progress.  The task force and the state board submitted their
  3 22 recommendations during the 2014=2015 fiscal year.
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