HF 312 (LSB 1963YH (6) 86)

HOUSE FILE 312

BY  SALMON, WATTS, FISHER, MAXWELL, HOLT, HEARTSILL, SHEETS, GASSMAN, LANDON, WILLS, and KOOIKER

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to statewide assessments of student progress administered by school districts for purposes of the core academic indicators.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, subparagraph (1), Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  Annually, the department shall report state data for each indicator in the condition of education report. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection shall specify that the approved district-wide assessment of student progress administered for purposes of the core academic indicators shall be the assessment utilized by school districts statewide in the school year beginning July 1, 2011, or a successor assessment administered by the same assessment provider Iowa assessments developed by Iowa testing programs.  The state board and the department are prohibited from adopting, administering, or approving the administration of assessments developed by the smarter balanced assessment consortium.
    Sec. 2.  Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, subparagraphs (2), (3), and (4), Code 2015, are amended by striking the subparagraphs.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to statewide assessments approved by the state board of education and administered to students by Iowa’s school districts and requires that the state board of education’s rules specify that the Iowa assessments developed by Iowa testing programs are the approved district-wide assessments of student progress administered for purposes of the core academic indicators. Iowa testing programs is a research, development, and outreach unit in the college of education at the university of Iowa, which has been responsible for creating and administering the Iowa test of basic skills and the Iowa test of educational development to Iowa’s students for several decades. In recent years, Iowa testing programs modified the tests and renamed them the Iowa assessments. The Iowa assessments have been used by school districts statewide since the 2011-2012 academic year, as directed in the Code. The department uses the results from the Iowa assessments for federal annual yearly progress and annual progress reporting purposes. 
   The bill prohibits the state board and the department of education from adopting, administering, or approving the administration of assessments developed by the smarter balanced assessment consortium. Initiated by the council of chief state school officers and the national governors association center for best practices, the smarter balanced assessment consortium is a state-led consortium working collaboratively to develop assessments aligned to the common core state standards that accurately measure student progress toward college and career readiness.
   The bill strikes a Code provision that directs the state board’s rules to require that all students enrolled in school districts in grades 3 through 11 be administered an assessment during the last quarter of the school year that at a minimum assesses the core academic indicators identified in the Code; is aligned with the Iowa common core standards in both content and rigor; accurately describes student achievement and growth for purposes of the school, the school district, and state accountability systems; and provides valid, reliable, and fair measures of student progress toward college or career readiness.
   The bill also strikes a Code provision that provides for the establishment of an assessment task force to review and make recommendations for a statewide assessment of student progress on the core academic indicators, and a Code provision that directs the state board to submit to the general assembly recommendations for modifications of assessments of student progress. The task force and the state board submitted their recommendations during the 2014-2015 fiscal year.