Bill Text: MI HB4310 | 2021-2022 | 101st Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Education: examinations; administration of the Michigan merit examination as requirement for state school aid funding; suspend for the 2020-2021 school year. Amends sec. 104b of 1979 PA 94 (MCL 388.1704b).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 34-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-24 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 02/23/2021 [HB4310 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2021-HB4310-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL NO. 4310
February 23, 2021, Introduced by Reps.
Koleszar, Brenda Carter, Stone, Hertel, Breen, Cambensy, Shannon, Clemente,
Young, Coleman, Camilleri, Brabec, Sowerby, Pohutsky, Bolden, Weiss,
Manoogian, Rabhi, Anthony, Aiyash, Kuppa, Tate, Thanedar, O'Neal, Brixie,
Neeley, Garza, Scott, Hope, Cavanagh, Cherry, LaGrand, Puri and Hammoud and
referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1979 PA 94, entitled
"The state school aid act of 1979,"
by amending section 104b (MCL 388.1704b), as amended by 2018 PA 265.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 104b. (1) In Except
as otherwise provided in this subsection, in order to receive
state aid under this article, a district shall
must comply with this section and
shall must
administer 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. However,
subject to federal law, a district is not required to administer the Michigan
merit examination as described in this subsection in the 2020-2021 school year
to receive state aid under this article. The Michigan merit
examination consists of a college entrance test, work skills test, and the
summative assessment known as the Michigan student test of educational progress
(M-STEP).
(2) For the purposes of this section, the department of
technology, management, and budget shall contract with 1 or more providers to
develop, supply, and score the Michigan merit examination. The Michigan merit
examination shall must
consist of all of the following:
(a) Assessment instruments that measure English language
arts, mathematics, reading, and science, and are used by the majority of
colleges and universities in this state for entrance purposes. This may include
1 or more writing components. In selecting assessment instruments to fulfill
the requirements of this subdivision, the department may consider the degree to
which those assessment instruments are aligned to this state's content
standards.
(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 technology, management, and budget and
the superintendent 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 no child left behind act of 2001, Public
Law 107-110, or the every student succeeds act, Public Law 114-95.
(3) In addition to all other requirements of this section,
all of the following apply to the Michigan merit examination:
(a) The department of technology, management, and budget and
the superintendent 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 technology, management, and budget and
the superintendent 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 technology, management, and budget and
the superintendent 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 shall ensure that the Michigan merit
examination meets all of the following:
(i) Is designed to test
pupils on this state's content standards in all subjects tested.
(ii) Complies with requirements of the no child left behind act
of 2001, Public Law 107-110 or the every student succeeds act, Public Law
114-95.
(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 determines
that a question is not factually accurate and should be excluded from scoring,
the state board and the superintendent shall ensure that the question is
excluded from scoring.
(4) A district 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) The superintendent
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. To the extent that the
department determines that additional test items beyond those included in the
college entrance component of the Michigan merit examination are required in a
particular subject area, the department shall ensure that all test items in
that subject area are scaled and merged for the purposes of producing a
Michigan merit examination subject area score. The superintendent shall design
and distribute to districts, intermediate 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) The Except in the 2020-2021
school year, the Michigan merit examination shall
must be administered in each district
during the last 12 weeks of the district's school year. The superintendent
shall ensure that the Michigan merit examination is scored and the scores are
returned to pupils, their parents or legal guardians, and districts not later
than the beginning of the pupil's first semester of grade 12. The returned
scores shall must 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 shall provide standards-specific,
meaningful, and timely feedback on the pupil's performance on the Michigan
merit examination.
(7) A district 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 Except
in the 2020-2021 school year, if a pupil does not take the complete
Michigan merit examination in grade 11, the district 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 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.1769j.
(c) 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.
(d) 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) The superintendent
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. The superintendent shall ensure that the
maximum total combined length of time that schools are required to set aside
for pupils to answer all test questions on the Michigan merit examination does
not exceed 8 hours if the superintendent determines that sufficient alignment
to applicable Michigan merit curriculum content standards can be achieved
within that time limit.
(9) A district 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 shall mutually agree upon the accommodations to be provided
under this subsection.
(10) To the greatest
extent possible, the Michigan merit examination shall must be based on this state's content standards, as
appropriate. Annually, after each administration of the Michigan merit
examination, the department shall provide a report of the points per standard
so that teachers will know what content will be covered within the Michigan
merit examination. The department may augment the college entrance and work
skills components of the Michigan merit examination to develop the assessment,
depending on the alignment of those components to this state's content
standards. If these components do not align to these standards, the department
shall produce additional components as required by law, while minimizing the
amount of time needed for assessments.
(11) A child who is a
student in a nonpublic school or home school may take the Michigan merit
examination under this section. To Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, to take
the Michigan merit examination, a child who is a student in a home school shall
contact the district in which the child resides, and that 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. If a district is contacted by a child who is a student in a
home school as described in the immediately preceding sentence, the district is
not required to administer the Michigan merit examination to that child for the
2020-2021 school year if the district is not administering the Michigan merit
examination to pupils enrolled in the district for the 2020-2021 school year. Upon
request from a nonpublic school, the superintendent 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
district administers the Michigan merit examination under this subsection to a
child who is not enrolled in the district, the scores for that child are not
considered for any purpose to be scores of a pupil of the district.
(12) In contracting under
subsection (2), the department of technology, management, and budget shall
consider a contractor that provides electronically-scored
electronically scored essays with the
ability to score constructed response feedback in multiple languages and
provide ongoing instruction and feedback.
(13) 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) For a pupil
enrolled in a middle college program, other than a middle college operated as a
shared educational entity or a specialized shared educational entity, if the
pupil receives at least 50% of his or her instruction at the high school while
in grade 11, the Michigan merit examination shall must be administered to the pupil at the high school at
which the pupil receives high school instruction, and the department shall
include the pupil's scores on the Michigan merit examination in the scores for
that high school for all purposes for which a school's or district's results
are reported. The department shall allow the middle college program to use a
5-year graduation rate for determining adequate yearly progress. As used in
this subsection, "middle college" means a program consisting of a
series of courses and other requirements and conditions, including an early
college or other program created under a memorandum of understanding, that
allows a pupil to graduate from high school with both a high school diploma and
a certificate or degree from a community college or state public university.
(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.
(16) For each report
made by the department that includes the statewide assessment results for a
school building, the department shall include the scores for the statewide
assessment and the graduation rate for consortium pupils with the scores for
the school building in the participating district in which the consortium pupil
is enrolled or would otherwise attend. The statewide assessment for a
consortium pupil may be administered either at the consortium location or at
the school building in the participating district in which the consortium pupil
is enrolled or would otherwise attend. For the purposes of this subsection, a
consortium pupil is a pupil who is enrolled or participating in a participating
district in a school or program operated as a consortium or under a cooperative
arrangement formed by 2 or more districts or intermediate districts, including,
but not limited to, a consortium or cooperative arrangement operated as a
program, a shared educational entity, a specialized educational entity, or a
special education center program.