Amend Senate File 423 as follows:
   1.  Page 46, after line 27 by inserting: 

<DIVISION ___

VALUE-ADDED ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
   Sec. ___.  NEW SECTION.  256.25  Value-added assessment system.  
   1.  A value-added assessment system shall be established and implemented by the department not later than January 31, 2014, to provide for multivariate longitudinal analysis of annual student test scores to determine the influence of a school district’s educational program on student academic growth and to guide school district improvement efforts. The department shall select a value-added assessment system provider through a request for proposals process. The system provider selected by the department shall offer a value-added assessment system to calculate annually the academic growth of each student enrolled in grade levels three through eleven and tested in accordance with this section, and shall, at a minimum, meet all of the following criteria:
   a.  Use a mixed-model statistical analysis that has the ability to use all achievement test data for each student, including the data for students with missing test scores, that does not adjust downward expectations for student progress based on race, poverty, or gender, and that will provide the best linear unbiased predictions of school or other educational entity effects to minimize the impact of random errors.
   b.  Have the ability to work with test data from a variety of sources, including data that are not vertically scaled, and to provide support for school districts utilizing the system.
   c.  Have the capacity to receive and report results electronically and provide support for districts utilizing the system.
   d.  Have the ability to create for each school district a chart that reports grade-equivalent scores for grades three through eight and gains between consecutive pairs of grades for each attendance center, and that provides for a district-wide study of grade-equivalent scores.
   2.  Annually, each school district that administers the Iowa assessments shall, within thirty days of receiving the test scores, submit the test scores for each attendance center within the school district and each grade level tested, from grades three through eleven, to the system provider selected pursuant to subsection 1. School districts may submit additional assessment data for analysis and inclusion in reports provided to school districts pursuant to subsection 3, to the extent that the assessment meets the criteria for valid academic progress interpretation specified by the system provider.
   3.  The system provider shall provide analysis to school districts submitting test scores pursuant to subsection 2, and to the department of education. The analysis shall include but not be limited to attendance-center-level test results for the Iowa assessments in the areas of reading and mathematics and other core academic areas when possible. The analysis shall also include but not be limited to the number of students tested, the number of test results used to compute the averages, the average standard score, the corresponding grade equivalent-score, the average stanine score for the group, the normal curve equivalent of average standard scores, and percentile ranks based on student norms, as well as measures of student progress. The system provider shall create a chart for each school district in accordance with the criteria set forth in subsection 1.
   4.  Each school district shall have complete access to and full utilization of its own value-added assessment reports and charts generated by the system provider at the student level for the purpose of measuring student achievement at different educational entity levels.
   5.  Student academic growth determined pursuant to this section shall not be used in teacher evaluation and shall not be published if individual teacher effects can be surmised.
   6.  Information about student academic growth may be used by the school district, including school board members, administration, and staff, for defining student and district learning goals and professional development related to student learning goals across the school district. A school district may submit its academic growth measures in the annual report submitted pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 21, and may reference in the report state level norms for purposes of demonstrating school district performance. However, unless a school district chooses to submit its academic measures in the annual report submitted pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 21, such measures are not public records for the purposes of chapter 22.
   7.  The department may use student academic progress data to determine school improvement and technical assistance needs of school districts, and to identify school districts achieving exceptional gains. Beginning January 15, 2015, and by January 15 of each succeeding year, the department shall submit an annual progress report regarding the use of student academic growth information in the school improvement processes to the general assembly and shall publish the progress report on its internet website.
   8.  The department is encouraged to advocate that the United States department of education allow reporting of student academic progress as an additional valid measure of school performance, as an alternative for meeting federal safe harbor provisions, and for establishing statewide progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, and any federal regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Act.
   9.  A school district shall use the value-added assessment system established by the department pursuant to subsection 1 not later than the school year beginning July 1, 2014. However, the director of educational services of an area education agency may grant a request made by a board of directors of a school district located within the boundaries of the area education agency stating its desire to use an alternative system to compute and report value-added scores that is statistically valid and reliable.>
   2.  By renumbering as necessary.

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AMY SINCLAIR