HF 139 (LSB 1131YH (5) 87)

HOUSE FILE 139

BY  SALMON, WHEELER, HAGER, SHEETS, WATTS, GASSMAN, FISHER, HOLT, GUSTAFSON, BAXTER, and HEARTSILL

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the 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 2017, 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 Iowa assessments developed by the Iowa testing programs, or a successor assessment administered by the same assessment provider Iowa testing programs.
    Sec. 2.  Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, subparagraph (2), Code 2017, is amended by striking the subparagraph and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   (2)  If the state board proposes rules providing for a statewide assessment other than the assessment required under subparagraph (1), the state board shall submit its proposed rules to the general assembly and shall not adopt such rules unless the proposed rules are specifically authorized by a constitutional majority of each house of the general assembly and approved by the governor. The state board and the department are prohibited from adopting, administering, or approving the administration of assessments developed either by the smarter balanced assessment consortium or by the partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers.
    Sec. 3.  Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, subparagraphs (3) and (4), Code 2017, 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’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 of education uses the results from the Iowa assessments for federal annual yearly progress and annual progress reporting purposes. 
   If the state board proposes rules providing for a statewide assessment other than the Iowa assessments, the state board must submit its proposed rules to the general assembly and shall not adopt such rules unless the proposed rules are specifically authorized by a constitutional majority of each house of the general assembly and approved by the governor.
   The bill prohibits the state board and the department of education from adopting, administering, or approving the administration of assessments developed either by the smarter balanced assessment consortium or by the partnership for assessment readiness for college and careers. 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. Like the smarter balanced assessment consortium, the partnership for assessment of readiness for college and careers is a group of states working together to develop an assessment to replace member states’ standardized tests.
   The bill strikes a Code provision that directs the state board’s rules to require, for the school year beginning July 1, 2017, and each succeeding school year, 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.