Bill Text: IL SB1671 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning State goals and assessment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-20 - Referred to Assignments [SB1671 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-SB1671-Introduced.html

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99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2015 and 2016 SB1671 Introduced 2/20/2015, by Sen. Sue Rezin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/2-3.64a-5
Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning State goals and assessment.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
2-3.64a-5 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/2-3.64a-5)
Sec. 2-3.64a-5. State goals and assessment.
(a) For the the assessment and accountability purposes of
this Section, "students" includes those students enrolled in a
public or State-operated elementary school, secondary school,
or cooperative or joint agreement with a governing body or
board of control, a charter school operating in compliance with
the Charter Schools Law, a school operated by a regional office
of education under Section 13A-3 of this Code, or a public
school administered by a local public agency or the Department
of Human Services.
(b) The State Board of Education shall establish the
academic standards that are to be applicable to students who
are subject to State assessments under this Section. The State
Board of Education shall not establish any such standards in
final form without first providing opportunities for public
participation and local input in the development of the final
academic standards. Those opportunities shall include a

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well-publicized period of public comment and opportunities to
file written comments.
(c) Beginning no later than the 2014-2015 school year, the
State Board of Education shall annually assess all students
enrolled in grades 3 through 8 in English language arts and
mathematics.
Beginning no later than the 2017-2018 school year, the
State Board of Education shall annually assess all students in
science at one grade in grades 3 through 5, at one grade in
grades 6 through 8, and at one grade in grades 9 through 12.
The State Board of Education shall annually assess schools
that operate a secondary education program, as defined in
Section 22-22 of this Code, in English language arts and
mathematics. The State Board of Education shall administer no
more than 3 assessments, per student, of English language arts
and mathematics for students in a secondary education program.
One of these assessments shall include a college and career
ready determination.
Students who are not assessed for college and career ready
determinations may not receive a regular high school diploma
unless the student is exempted from taking State assessments
under subsection (d) of this Section because (i) the student's
individualized educational program developed under Article 14
of this Code identifies the State assessment as inappropriate
for the student, (ii) the student is enrolled in a program of
adult and continuing education, as defined in the Adult

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Education Act, (iii) the school district is not required to
assess the individual student for purposes of accountability
under federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requirements,
(iv) the student has been determined to be an English language
learner, referred to in this Code as a student with limited
English proficiency, and has been enrolled in schools in the
United States for less than 12 months, or (v) the student is
otherwise identified by the State Board of Education, through
rules, as being exempt from the assessment.
The State Board of Education shall not assess students
under this Section in subjects not required by this Section.
Districts shall inform their students of the timelines and
procedures applicable to their participation in every yearly
administration of the State assessments. The State Board of
Education shall establish periods of time in each school year
during which State assessments shall occur to meet the
objectives of this Section.
(d) Every individualized educational program as described
in Article 14 shall identify if the State assessment or
components thereof are appropriate for the student. The State
Board of Education shall develop rules governing the
administration of an alternate assessment that may be available
to students for whom participation in this State's regular
assessments is not appropriate, even with accommodations as
allowed under this Section.
Students receiving special education services whose

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individualized educational programs identify them as eligible
for the alternative State assessments nevertheless shall have
the option of taking this State's regular assessment that
includes a college and career ready determination, which shall
be administered in accordance with the eligible accommodations
appropriate for meeting these students' respective needs.
All students determined to be an English language learner,
referred to in this Code as a student with limited English
proficiency, shall participate in the State assessments,
excepting those students who have been enrolled in schools in
the United States for less than 12 months. Such students may be
exempted from participation in one annual administration of the
English language arts assessment. Any student determined to be
an English language learner, referred to in this Code as a
student with limited English proficiency, shall receive
appropriate assessment accommodations, including language
supports, which shall be established by rule. Approved
assessment accommodations must be provided until the student's
English language skills develop to the extent that the student
is no longer considered to be an English language learner,
referred to in this Code as a student with limited English
proficiency, as demonstrated through a State-identified
English language proficiency assessment.
(e) The results or scores of each assessment taken under
this Section shall be made available to the parents of each
student.

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In each school year, the scores attained by a student on
the State assessment that includes a college and career ready
determination must be placed in the student's permanent record
and must be entered on the student's transcript pursuant to
rules that the State Board of Education shall adopt for that
purpose in accordance with Section 3 of the Illinois School
Student Records Act. In each school year, the scores attained
by a student on the State assessments administered in grades 3
through 8 must be placed in the student's temporary record.
(f) All schools shall administer an academic assessment of
English language proficiency in oral language (listening and
speaking) and reading and writing skills to all children
determined to be English language learners, referred to in
Section 14C-3 of this Code as children with limited
English-speaking ability.
(g) All schools in this State that are part of the sample
drawn by the National Center for Education Statistics, in
collaboration with their school districts and the State Board
of Education, shall administer the biennial academic
assessments under the National Assessment of Educational
Progress carried out under Section 411(b)(2) of the federal
National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9010) if
the U.S. Secretary of Education pays the costs of administering
the assessments.
(h) Subject to available funds to this State for the
purpose of student assessment, the State Board of Education

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shall provide additional assessments and assessment resources
that may be used by school districts for local assessment
purposes. The State Board of Education shall annually
distribute a listing of these additional resources.
(i) For the purposes of this subsection (i), "academically
based assessments" means assessments consisting of questions
and answers that are measurable and quantifiable to measure the
knowledge, skills, and ability of students in the subject
matters covered by the assessments. All assessments
administered pursuant to this Section must be academically
based assessments. The scoring of academically based
assessments shall be reliable, valid, and fair and shall meet
the guidelines for assessment development and use prescribed by
the American Psychological Association, the National Council
on Measurement in Education, and the American Educational
Research Association.
The State Board of Education shall review the use of all
assessment item types in order to ensure that they are valid
and reliable indicators of student performance aligned to the
learning standards being assessed and that the development,
administration, and scoring of these item types are justifiable
in terms of cost.
(j) The State Superintendent of Education shall appoint a
committee of no more than 21 members, consisting of parents,
teachers, school administrators, school board members,
assessment experts, regional superintendents of schools, and

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citizens, to review the State assessments administered by the
State Board of Education. The Committee shall select one of its
members as its chairperson. The Committee shall meet on an
ongoing basis to review the content and design of the
assessments (including whether the requirements of subsection
(i) of this Section have been met), the time and money expended
at the local and State levels to prepare for and administer the
assessments, the collective results of the assessments as
measured against the stated purpose of assessing student
performance, and other issues involving the assessments
identified by the Committee. The Committee shall make periodic
recommendations to the State Superintendent of Education and
the General Assembly concerning the assessments.
(k) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
implement this Section.
(Source: P.A. 98-972, eff. 8-15-14.)