STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 54th Legislature (2013)

HOUSE BILL 1673	By:	Blackwell

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2011, Section 1210.508, as last amended by Section 8, Chapter 354, O.S.L. 2012 (70 O.S. Supp. 2012, Section 1210.508), which relates to the Oklahoma School Testing Program; exempting students who attain a certain score on the American College Testing (ACT) test from taking certain end-of-instruction tests; amending 70 O.S. 2011, Section 1210.523, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 96, O.S.L. 2012 (70 O.S. Supp. 2012, Section 1210.523), which relates to mastery of state academic content standards; deeming certain scores on the ACT test as demonstrating mastery; providing exception from certain end-of-instruction assessments; making certain students eligible for standard diploma; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1.     AMENDATORY     70 O.S. 2011, Section 1210.508, as last amended by Section 8, Chapter 354, O.S.L. 2012 (70 O.S. Supp. 2012, Section 1210.508), is amended to read as follows:
Section 1210.508  A.  1.  The State Board of Education shall develop and administer a series of criterion-referenced tests designed to indicate whether the state academic content standards, as defined by the State Board of Education in the Priority Academic Student Skills Curriculum, which Oklahoma public school students are expected to have attained have been achieved.  The Board may develop and administer any criterion-referenced test in any subject not required by federal law, contingent upon the availability of funding.  Students who do not perform at least at the proficient level on tests shall be remediated, subject to the availability of funding.
2.  Contingent upon the availability of state and federal funds, the Board, in accordance with federal law, shall administer criterion-referenced tests for grades three and four in:
a.	reading, and
b.	mathematics.
3.  Contingent upon the availability of funds, the Board shall administer criterion-referenced tests for grade five in:
a.	reading,
b.	mathematics,
c.	science,
d.	social studies, which shall consist of the history, Constitution and government of the United States, and geography, and
e.	writing of English.
4.  Contingent upon the availability of state and federal funds, the Board, in accordance with federal law, shall administer criterion-referenced tests for grades six and seven in:
a.	reading, and
b.	mathematics.
In addition, the Board shall administer a criterion-referenced test in geography in grade seven.
5.  Contingent upon the availability of funds, the Board shall administer criterion-referenced tests for grade eight in:
a.	reading,
b.	mathematics,
c.	science,
d.	social studies, which shall consist of the history, Constitution, and government of the United States, and
e.	writing of English.
The Board shall administer the tests for grade eight in reading and mathematics online with raw score test results reported immediately and complete results reported in less than two (2) weeks beginning in the 2007-08 school year.
6.  Each student who completes the instruction for English II, English III, United States History, Biology I, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II at the secondary level shall complete an end-of-instruction test, when implemented, to measure for attainment in the appropriate state academic content standards in order to graduate from a public high school with a standard diploma.  All students shall take the tests prior to graduation, unless otherwise exempt by law.  Students who have an American College Testing (ACT) test score of eighteen (18) or above in a subject area that correlates with one of the subject areas listed above in this paragraph shall not be required to take the end-of-instruction criterion-referenced test for that subject area prior to graduation.  The State Board of Education shall administer the criterion-referenced tests.  The Board shall develop and field test the end-of-instruction tests in English III, Geometry, and Algebra II during the 2006-07 school year, implement the tests during the 2007-08 school year, and administer them each year thereafter.  The Board shall administer the multiple choice portion of the end-of-instruction tests online with raw score test results reported immediately and complete results reported in less than two (2) weeks beginning in the 2008-09 school year.
The end-of-instruction tests shall serve the purpose of the criterion-referenced tests as provided in paragraph 1 of this subsection.  The English II and English III end-of-instruction tests shall include a writing component.  Students who do not score at least at the proficient level shall be afforded the opportunity to retake each test up to three (3) times each calendar year until at least achieving at the proficient level.  In order to provide an indication of the levels of competency attained by the student in a permanent record for potential future employers and institutions of higher education, for students who enter the ninth grade in or prior to the 2007-08 school year, school districts shall report the highest-achieved state test performance level on the end-of-instruction tests on the student’s high school transcript.  Beginning with students who enter the ninth grade in the 2008-09 school year, school districts shall report the highest-achieved state test performance level on the end-of-instruction tests and any business and industry-recognized endorsements attained on the student’s high school transcript.  Any student at the middle school level who completes the instruction in a secondary course specified in this paragraph shall be administered the appropriate end-of-instruction test.
7.	a.	Each school district shall administer to each student in the school district in grades three through eight an assessment designed to assess the student in the fine arts area in which the student has received instruction.
b.	Each school district shall prepare an annual report for approval by the State Board of Education outlining the fine arts assessment strategies used by the district, when the assessments were administered, how many students were assessed during the previous year, and the results of the assessments.
B.  1.  All criterion-referenced tests required by this section shall measure academic competencies in correlation with the state academic content standards adopted by the Board pursuant to Section 11-103.6 of this title and known as the Priority Academic Student Skills Curriculum.  The State Board of Education shall evaluate the academic content standards to ensure the competencies reflect high standards, are specific, well-defined, measurable, challenging, and will prepare elementary students for next-grade-level course work and secondary students for postsecondary studies at institutions of higher education or technology center schools without the need for remediation in core curriculum areas.  All state academic content standards shall reflect the benchmarks of the American Diploma Project and the goal of improving the state average ACT score.
2.  The State Department of Education shall annually evaluate the results of the criterion-referenced tests.  The State Board of Education shall ensure that test results are reported to districts in a manner that yields detailed, diagnostic information for the purpose of guiding instruction and student remediation.  As improvements are made to the criterion-referenced tests required by this section, the Board shall seek to increase the depth of knowledge assessed for each subject.  The State Board of Education shall seek to ensure that data yielded from the tests required in this section are utilized at the school district level to prescribe reinforcement and/or remediation by requiring school districts to develop and implement a specific program of improvement based on the test results.
3.  The State Board of Education in coordination with the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability shall review, realign, and recalibrate, as necessary, the tests in reading and mathematics in third through eighth grade and the end-of-instruction tests.  The  Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability shall determine the cut scores for the performance levels on the end-of-instruction tests developed pursuant to paragraph 6 of subsection A of this section.  The Commission shall conduct an ongoing review to compare the end-of-instruction test content and performance descriptors with those of other states.  Upon receipt of the review, the Commission may adjust the cut scores as necessary.
4.  The State Board of Education, for the purposes of conducting reliability and validity studies, monitoring contractor adherence to professionally accepted testing standards, and providing recommendations for testing program improvement, shall retain the services of an established, independent agency or organization that is nationally recognized for its technical expertise in educational testing but is not engaged in the development of aptitude or achievement tests for elementary or secondary level grades.  These national assessment experts shall annually conduct studies of the reliability and validity of the end-of-instruction tests administered pursuant to this section.  Validity studies shall include studies of decision validity and concurrent validity.
C.  1.  The State Board of Education shall set the testing window dates for each criterion-referenced test required in paragraphs 1 through 5 of subsection A of this section for grades three through eight so that, with the exception of the writing assessments, the tests are administered to students no earlier than April 10 each year and so that the test results are reported back to school districts in a timely manner.  Each criterion-referenced test required in paragraph 6 of subsection A of this section may be administered to students at a time set by the State Board of Education as near as possible to the end of the course; provided, if a school district is unable to administer the tests online to all students taking the test for the first time and all students retaking the test during the testing window time set by the Board, the school district may elect to administer any of the tests to students retaking the test at any time not more than two (2) weeks prior to the start of the testing window time set by the Board.  All results and reports of the criterion-referenced test series required in paragraphs 1 through 5 of subsection A of this section for grades three through eight shall be returned to each school district prior to the beginning of the next school year.  The vendor shall provide a final electronic data file of all school site, school district, and state results to the State Department of Education and the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability prior to September 1 of each year.  The Department shall forward the final data files for each school district and each school site in that district to the school district.  The Board shall ensure the contract with the testing vendor includes a provision that the vendor report test results directly to the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability at the same time it is reported to the Board.
2.  State, district, and site level results of all tests required in this section shall be disaggregated by gender, race ethnicity, disability status, migrant status, English proficiency, and status as economically disadvantaged, except that such disaggregation shall not be required in a case in which the number of students in a category is insufficient to yield statistically reliable information or the results would reveal personally identifiable information about an individual student.  Each school site shall notify the student’s parents of the school’s performance levels in the Oklahoma School Testing Program as reported in the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program at the end of each school year.
D.  The State Board of Education shall be responsible for the development, field-testing, and validation of the criterion-referenced test series required in subsection A of this section.  In the interest of economy the Board shall adapt criterion-referenced tests that have been developed by or in collaboration with other states or are otherwise commercially available, or portions of such tests, to the extent that such tests are appropriate for use in the testing program to be administered to Oklahoma students.
E.  The State Board of Education shall develop, administer, and incorporate as a part of the Oklahoma School Testing Program, other testing programs or procedures, including appropriate accommodations for the testing of students with disabilities as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 USC, Section 1400 et seq.
SECTION 2.     AMENDATORY     70 O.S. 2011, Section 1210.523, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 96, O.S.L. 2012 (70 O.S. Supp. 2012, Section 1210.523), is amended to read as follows:
Section 1210.523  A.  Except as provided in subsections D and E F of this section, beginning with students entering the ninth grade in the 2008-2009 school year, every student shall demonstrate mastery of the state academic content standards in the following subject areas in order to graduate from a public high school with a standard diploma:
1.  Algebra I;
2.  English II; and
3.  Two of the following five:
a.	Algebra II,
b.	Biology I,
c.	English III,
d.	Geometry, and
e.	United States History.
B.  To demonstrate mastery, the student shall attain at least a proficient score on the end-of-instruction criterion-referenced tests administered pursuant to Section 1210.508 of this title.
C.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, students who do not attain at least a proficient score on any end-of-instruction test shall be provided remediation or intervention and the opportunity to retake the test until at least a proficient score is attained on the tests of Algebra I, English II and two of the tests required in paragraph 3 of subsection A of this section or an approved alternative test.  Technology center schools shall be authorized to provide intervention and remediation in Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, English II, English III, United States History, and Biology I to students enrolled in technology center schools, with the approval of the independent school district board.
D.  1.  Students who do not meet the requirements of subsection A of this section may graduate from a public high school with a standard diploma by demonstrating mastery of state academic content standards by alternative methods as approved by the State Board of Education.
2.  The State Board of Education shall adopt rules providing for necessary student exceptions and exemptions to the requirements of this section.  The Board shall collect data by school site and district on the number of students provided and categories of exceptions and exemptions granted.  Beginning October 1, 2012, the Board shall provide an annual report of this data to the Governor, President Pro Tempore of the State Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
3.  Students who have an American College Testing (ACT) test score of eighteen (18) or above in a subject area that correlates with one of the subject areas listed in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of subsection A of this section shall be deemed to have satisfactorily demonstrated mastery of state academic content standards in that subject as required in subsection A of this section and shall not be required to attain a proficient or higher score on the end-of-instruction criterion-referenced test for that subject area.
E.  1.  The State Board of Education shall adopt rules establishing an appeal process for students who have been denied a standard diploma by the school district in which the student is or was enrolled for failing to meet the requirements of this section.  A student who has been denied a standard diploma by the school district in which the student is enrolled shall have thirty (30) days after denial of the standard diploma in which to file a petition for an appeal to the Board.  The Board shall take action on a petition for an appeal no later than forty-five (45) days after receiving the petition.
2.  The Board shall collect data by school site and school district on the number of students petitioning for an appeal and the number of appeals approved by the Board pursuant to this subsection.  Beginning October 1, 2012, the Board shall provide an annual report of this data to the Governor, President Pro Tempore of the State Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
F.  1.  Students who have individualized education programs pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) shall have an appropriate statement on the student’s individualized education program requiring administration of the assessment with or without accommodations or an alternate assessment.  Any accommodations normally employed for the assessment shall be approved by the State Board of Education and be provided for in the individualized education program.  All documentation for each student shall be on file in the school prior to administration of the assessment.
2.  Students identified as English language learners shall be assessed in a valid and reliable manner with the state academic assessments with acceptable accommodations as necessary or, to the extent practicable, with alternate assessments aligned to the state assessment provided by the school district in the language and form most likely to yield accurate data of the student’s knowledge of the content areas.
G.  The State Board of Education shall be authorized to contract with an entity to develop and advise on the implementation of a communications campaign to build public understanding of and support for the testing requirements of this section.
SECTION 3.  This act shall become effective July 1, 2013.
SECTION 4.  It being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage and approval.

54-1-5806	KB	01/11/13