Bill Text: NJ S245 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits administration of standardized assessments not required under State or federal law.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-12 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S245 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S245-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
217th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2016 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits administration of standardized assessments not required under State or federal law.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act prohibiting the administration of certain standardized assessments and supplementing chapter 7C of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section, "commercially-developed standardized assessment" means an assessment that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, in the same manner, and is developed and scored by an entity under a contract with a board of education.
b. Except as otherwise provided pursuant to subsection c. of this section, a board of education shall not administer any commercially-developed standardized assessment that is not required pursuant to State or federal law. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of a classroom teacher or board of education to develop, administer, and score an assessment for an individual classroom, grade level, or group of grade levels in any subject area.
c. A board of education may submit an application to the Commissioner of Education to administer a commercially-developed standardized assessment that is not required pursuant to State or federal law. The commissioner shall not approve such an application unless the board of education demonstrates that the additional assessment would provide information that cannot be obtained through existing assessments, and would foster increased student achievement.
d. The provisions of this act shall not be applicable to any commercially-developed standardized assessment that is administered to a subset of students who elect to take the assessment.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first be applicable to the first full school year beginning after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a school district may not administer any commercially-developed standardized assessment that is not required under State or federal law. Under federal law, states are required to administer standardized assessments in language arts literacy and mathematics to students enrolled in grades three through eight, and once more during high school. The bill would prohibit a school district from creating additional standardized testing requirements, but would not prevent a teacher or board of education from developing, administering, and scoring an assessment. It also would not preclude a school from administering a standardized assessment to a subgroup of students who have elected to take the assessment, such as the Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or NOCTI job readiness examinations. A board of education would be able to apply to the Commissioner of Education to administer an additional assessment, but must demonstrate that the additional assessment would provide information that cannot be obtained from the available assessments, and would foster student achievement.
