Bill Text: MI SB0945 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Education; other; oversight for statewide assessments; transfer to department of treasury. Amends secs. 1278, 1279a, 1279c & 1279g of 1976 PA 451 (MCL 380.1278 et seq.); adds sec. 1279f & repeals 1970 PA 38 (MCL 388.1081 - 388.1086) & secs. 1279 & 1279d of 1976 PA 451 (MCL 380.1279 & 380.1279d).

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-22 - Referred To Committee Of The Whole [SB0945 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2013-SB0945-Introduced.html

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SENATE BILL No. 945

 

 

May 20, 2014, Introduced by Senators CASWELL, ANANICH, HUNE and PAVLOV and referred to the Committee on Education.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled

 

"The revised school code,"

 

by amending sections 1278, 1279a, 1279c, and 1279g (MCL 380.1278,

 

380.1279a, 380.1279c, and 380.1279g), sections 1278, 1279a, and

 

1279c as amended by 2004 PA 596 and section 1279g as amended by

 

2008 PA 349, and by adding section 1279f; and to repeal acts and

 

parts of acts.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1278. (1) In addition to the requirements for

 

accreditation under section 1280 specified in that section, if the

 

board of a school district wants all of the schools of the school

 

district to be accredited under section 1280, the board shall

 

provide to all pupils attending public school in the district a

 

core academic curriculum in compliance with subsection (3) in each

 

of the curricular areas specified in the state board recommended

 

model core academic curriculum content standards developed under

 

subsection (2). The state board model core academic curriculum

 

content standards shall encompass academic and cognitive

 

instruction only. For purposes of this section, the state board

 

model core academic curriculum content standards shall not include

 

attitudes, beliefs, or value systems that are not essential in the

 

legal, economic, and social structure of our society and to the

 

personal and social responsibility of citizens of our society.

 

     (2) Recommended model core academic curriculum content

 

standards shall be developed and periodically updated by the state

 

board, shall be in the form of knowledge and skill content

 

standards that are recommended as state standards for adoption by

 

public schools in local curriculum formulation and adoption, and

 

shall be distributed to each school district in the state. The

 

recommended model core academic curriculum content standards shall

 

set forth desired learning objectives in math, science, reading,

 

history, geography, economics, American government, and writing for

 

all children at each stage of schooling and be based upon the

 

"Michigan K-12 program standards of quality" to ensure that high

 

academic standards, academic skills, and academic subject matters

 

are built into the instructional goals of all school districts for

 

all children. The state board also department of treasury shall

 

ensure that the Michigan educational assessment program and the

 

Michigan merit examination are based on the state recommended model

 

core curriculum content standards, are testing only for proficiency

 

in basic and advanced academic skills and academic subject matter,

 

and are not used to measure pupils' values or attitudes.

 

     (3) The board of each school district, considering academic

 

curricular objectives defined and recommended pursuant to

 

subsection (2), shall do both of the following:

 

     (a) Establish a core academic curriculum for its pupils at the

 

elementary, middle, and secondary school levels. The core academic

 

curriculum shall define academic objectives to be achieved by all

 

pupils and shall be based upon the school district's educational

 

mission, long-range pupil goals, and pupil performance objectives.

 

The core academic curriculum may vary from the model core academic

 

curriculum content standards recommended by the state board

 

pursuant to subsection (2).

 

     (b) After consulting with teachers and school building

 

administrators, determine the aligned instructional program for

 

delivering the core academic curriculum and identify the courses

 

and programs in which the core academic curriculum will be taught.

 

     (4) The board may supplement the core academic curriculum by

 

providing instruction through additional classes and programs.

 

     (5) For all pupils, the subjects or courses, and the delivery

 

of those including special assistance, that constitute the

 

curriculum the pupils engage in shall assure the pupils have a

 

realistic opportunity to learn all subjects and courses required by

 

the district's core academic curriculum. A subject or course

 

required by the core academic curriculum pursuant to subsection (3)

 

shall be provided to all pupils in the school district by a school

 

district, a consortium of school districts, or a consortium of 1 or

 

more school districts and 1 or more intermediate school districts.

 

     (6) To the extent practicable, the state board may adopt or

 

develop academic objective-oriented high standards for knowledge

 

and life skills, and a recommended core academic curriculum, for

 

special education pupils for whom it may not be realistic or

 

desirable to expect achievement of initial mastery of the state

 

board recommended model core academic content standards objectives

 

or of a high school diploma.

 

     (7) The state board shall make available to all nonpublic

 

schools in this state, as a resource for their consideration, the

 

model core academic curriculum content standards developed for

 

public schools pursuant to subsection (2) for the purpose of

 

assisting the governing body of a nonpublic school in developing

 

its core academic curriculum.

 

     (8) Excluding special education pupils, pupils having a

 

learning disability, and pupils with extenuating circumstances as

 

determined by school officials, a pupil who does not score

 

satisfactorily on the 4th or 7th grade Michigan educational

 

assessment program reading test shall be provided special

 

assistance reasonably expected to enable the pupil to bring his or

 

her reading skills to grade level within 12 months.

 

     (9) Any course that would have been considered a nonessential

 

elective course under Snyder v Charlotte School Dist, 421 Mich 517

 

(1984), on April 13, 1990 shall continue to be offered to resident

 

pupils of nonpublic schools on a shared time basis.

 

     Sec. 1279a. If the superintendent of public instruction

 

department of treasury has reason to suspect that there are

 

irregularities in a school district's or public school academy's

 

administration of, or preparation of pupils for, a Michigan

 

educational assessment program (MEAP) test or the Michigan merit

 

examination, the superintendent of public instruction department of

 

treasury shall not report the suspected irregularities to any

 

person or entity not involved in the scoring or administration of

 

the test before notifying the school district or public school

 

academy of the suspected irregularities and allowing at least 5

 

business days for school officials to respond.

 

     Sec. 1279c. The state board, the superintendent of public

 

instruction, department of treasury, the board of each school

 

district, and each public school academy shall ensure that the

 

Michigan educational assessment program (MEAP) tests and the

 

Michigan merit examination are not used to measure pupils' values

 

or attitudes.

 

     Sec. 1279f. (1) To continue the assessment program under

 

former 1970 PA 38, the department of treasury shall maintain a

 

statewide program of assessment of educational progress in the

 

basic skills as provided under this section. The program may be

 

known as the Michigan educational assessment program (MEAP) and

 

shall assess basic skills in reading, mathematics, language arts,

 

science, and other general subject areas identified by the

 

department of treasury. The program shall do all of the following:

 

     (a) Establish meaningful achievement goals in the basic skills

 

for students and identify those students with the greatest

 

educational need in these skills.

 

     (b) Provide the state with the information needed to allocate

 

state funds and professional services in a manner best calculated

 

to equalize educational opportunities for students to achieve

 

competence in these basic skills.

 

     (c) Provide school systems with strong incentives to introduce

 

educational programs to improve the education of students in these

 

basic skills and model programs to raise the level of achievement

 

of students.

 

     (d) Develop a system for educational self-renewal that would

 

continuously evaluate the programs and by this means help each

 

school to discover and introduce program changes that are most

 

likely to improve the quality of education.

 

     (e) Provide the public periodically with information

 

concerning the progress of the state system of education. The

 

programs shall extend current state efforts to conduct periodic and

 

comprehensive assessment of educational progress.

 

     (2) The assessment program under subsection (1) shall cover

 

all public school pupils annually in all of grades 3 to 10, as

 

required under the no child left behind act of 2001, Public Law

 

107-110. If the federal government requires assessments at

 

additional grade levels under the no child left behind act of 2001,

 

Public Law 107-110, the department of treasury shall ensure that

 

this state complies with those requirements.

 

     (3) The department of treasury shall supervise the assessment

 

program and may utilize the assistance of appropriate testing

 

organizations or testing specialists. All of the following apply to

 

the assessment program:

 

     (a) The board of a school district, or the board of directors

 

of a public school academy that operates any of the grades covered

 

by the assessment program, shall administer the assessments each

 

school year to all pupils in each of those grades. The

 

administration and grading of the assessments and reporting of the

 

results shall be as prescribed by the department of treasury.

 

     (b) The department of treasury shall ensure that any

 

contractor used for scoring an assessment instrument supplies an

 

individual report for each student that will allow the student's

 

parents and teachers to assess and remedy problems before the

 

student moves to the next grade.

 

     (c) The department of treasury shall ensure that any

 

contractor used for scoring, developing, or processing an

 

assessment instrument meets quality management standards commonly

 

used in the assessment industry, including at least meeting level 3

 

of the capability maturity model developed by the software

 

engineering institute of Carnegie Mellon university.

 

     (d) The department of treasury shall ensure that any contract

 

it enters into for scoring or administering an assessment

 

instrument 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.

 

     (e) The department of treasury shall ensure that the

 

assessment instruments meet all of the following:

 

     (i) Are designed to test students on basic skills in all

 

subjects tested for each grade level tested.

 

     (ii) Comply with requirements of the no child left behind act

 

of 2001, Public Law 107-110.

 

     (iii) Are consistent with the code of fair testing practices in

 

education prepared by the joint committee on testing practices of

 

the American psychological association.

 

     (iv) Are factually accurate. If the department of treasury

 

determines that a question is not factually accurate and should be

 

removed from an assessment instrument, the department of treasury

 

shall ensure that the question is removed from the assessment

 

instrument.

 

     (4) The assessment program shall assess competencies in the

 

basic skills and collect and utilize other relevant information

 

essential to the assessment program.

 

     (5) Based on information from the assessment program, the

 

public schools shall identify students who have extraordinary need

 

for assistance to improve their competence in the basic skills and

 

shall identify students who have demonstrated extraordinary

 

competence in multiple subject areas who should be recommended for

 

advancement.

 

     (6) The department of treasury shall ensure that information

 

from the assessment program is given to each school as soon as

 

possible to assist it in its efforts to improve the achievement of

 

students in the basic skills.

 

     Sec. 1279g. (1) The board of a school district or board of

 

directors of a public school academy shall comply with this section

 

and shall 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.

 

     (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 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

 

technology, management, and budget and the superintendent of public

 

instruction department of treasury 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.

 

     (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 of public instruction department of treasury

 

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 of public instruction department of treasury

 

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 3 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 of public instruction department of treasury

 

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 department of

 

treasury 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 department of treasury determines that a question is

 

not factually accurate and should be excluded from scoring, the

 

state board and the superintendent of public instruction department

 

of treasury shall ensure that the question is excluded from

 

scoring.

 

     (4) 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) The superintendent of public instruction department of

 

treasury 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 department of treasury 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) 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 department of treasury 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 department of treasury shall provide standards-

 

specific, meaningful, and timely feedback on the pupil's

 

performance on the Michigan merit examination.

 

     (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.

 

     (b) (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.

 

     (c) (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.

 

     (d) (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) The superintendent of public instruction department of

 

treasury 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.

 

department of treasury. The superintendent of public instruction

 

department of treasury 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 of public instruction

 

department of treasury determines that sufficient alignment to

 

applicable Michigan merit curriculum content standards can be

 

achieved within that time limit.

 

     (9) 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 department

 

of treasury shall mutually agree upon the accommodations to be

 

provided under this subsection.

 

     (10) 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) 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 department of treasury 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) In contracting under subsection (2), the department of

 

technology, 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) 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) 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.

 

     Enacting section 1. The following acts and parts of acts are

 

repealed:

 

     (a) 1970 PA 38, MCL 388.1081 to 388.1086.

 

     (b) Sections 1279 and 1279d of the revised school code, 1976

 

PA 451, MCL 380.1279 and 380.1279d.