Senate Study Bill 1171

                                       SENATE FILE       
                                       BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
                                            EDUCATION BILL BY
                                            CHAIRPERSON BOETTGER)


    Passed Senate, Date               Passed House,  Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to a statewide program of educational assessment
  2    reporting for public school grades three through eleven.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 3145XC 80
  5 kh/cl/14

PAG LIN

  1  1    Section 1.  Section 256.7, subsection 21, unnumbered
  1  2 paragraph 1, Code 2003, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    Develop and adopt rules by July 1, 1999, incorporating
  1  4 accountability for, and reporting of, student achievement into
  1  5 the standards and accreditation process described in section
  1  6 256.11.  The rules shall provide for all of the following:
  1  7    Sec. 2.  Section 256.9, Code 2003, is amended by adding the
  1  8 following new subsection:
  1  9    NEW SUBSECTION.  52.  Develop and implement a statewide
  1 10 program of educational assessment reporting in consultation
  1 11 with school districts and the Iowa testing program of the
  1 12 college of education of the state university of Iowa.  The
  1 13 director shall provide information needed to improve public
  1 14 schools by collecting and disseminating data and information
  1 15 resulting from assessments made of public school students, to
  1 16 aid in the development and evaluation of educational programs
  1 17 and policies by school districts, and to inform parents of the
  1 18 educational progress of their children in the public schools.
  1 19 Information collected under the department's statewide program
  1 20 of educational assessment reporting shall be utilized as part
  1 21 of the state report card on school performance and on
  1 22 statewide progress by the state in accordance with
  1 23 implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of
  1 24 2001, Pub. L. No. 107=110.
  1 25    a.  Not later than July 1, 2004, the department shall
  1 26 maintain an internet site that reports the following:
  1 27    (1)  Iowa tests of basic skills scores for each school
  1 28 district that administers the test and for each attendance
  1 29 center within the school district for grades three through
  1 30 eight.  Each school district administering the Iowa test of
  1 31 basic skills shall provide a report to the department relating
  1 32 to each attendance center's test score averages and a
  1 33 longitudinal analysis chart.
  1 34    The report shall contain attendance=center=level test
  1 35 results for the Iowa test of basic skills in the areas of
  2  1 reading, expression, qualitative thinking, literary materials,
  2  2 social studies, and science.  The report shall include, but
  2  3 shall not be limited to the number of students tested, the
  2  4 number of test results used to compute the averages, average
  2  5 standard score, and the corresponding grade equivalent score,
  2  6 average stanine score for the group, and the average normal
  2  7 curve equivalent, percentile ranks based on student norms, and
  2  8 student norms.
  2  9    The longitudinal analysis chart shall use the growth scores
  2 10 of the same group each year using available reading,
  2 11 mathematics, and science scores.  The district shall develop a
  2 12 chart that provides grade equivalent scores for grades three
  2 13 through eight and gains between consecutive pairs of grades
  2 14 for each attendance center and provides for a districtwide
  2 15 study of grade equivalent scores.
  2 16    (2)  Iowa test of educational development scores for each
  2 17 school district that administers the test and for each
  2 18 attendance center within the school district for grades nine
  2 19 through eleven.  Each school district administering the Iowa
  2 20 test of educational development shall provide a report to the
  2 21 department relating to each attendance center's test score
  2 22 averages.
  2 23    b.  Scores required to be reported under paragraph "a",
  2 24 subparagraphs (1) and (2), shall be presented in percentiles
  2 25 that allow for comparisons between participating students.
  2 26 The internet site shall include background information
  2 27 regarding the tests, including guidance for interpreting test
  2 28 scores and the number of students that did not participate in
  2 29 the tests and the reasons the students did not participate.
  2 30    Sec. 3.  STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED.  In accordance
  2 31 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring
  2 32 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall
  2 33 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid
  2 34 received by the school district under section 257.16.  This
  2 35 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed
  3  1 to meet all the state funding=related requirements of section
  3  2 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding shall be
  3  3 necessary for the full implementation of this Act by and
  3  4 enforcement of this Act against all affected school districts.
  3  5                           EXPLANATION
  3  6    This bill requires the state board of education to
  3  7 incorporate the reporting of student achievement into the
  3  8 standards and accreditation process, requires the director of
  3  9 the department of education to develop and implement a
  3 10 statewide program of educational assessment reporting in
  3 11 consultation with school districts and the Iowa testing
  3 12 program, and requires the director to develop and maintain an
  3 13 internet site to report, by July 1, 2004, assessment reports
  3 14 and longitudinal growth analysis charts that the bill requires
  3 15 school districts to submit to the director.
  3 16    The reports required under the bill to be posted on the
  3 17 department's web page by July 1, 2004, include the Iowa tests
  3 18 of basic skills scores for grades three through eight and the
  3 19 Iowa test of educational development for grades nine through
  3 20 11.  Each school district administering the Iowa test of basic
  3 21 skills must provide a report to the department relating to
  3 22 each attendance center's test score averages and a
  3 23 longitudinal analysis chart.
  3 24    The bill specifies the information each report and
  3 25 longitudinal analysis chart must contain or use and how it
  3 26 shall be presented.  The bill requires that the internet site
  3 27 include background information regarding the tests, including
  3 28 guidance for interpreting test scores and the number of
  3 29 students that did not participate in the tests and the reasons
  3 30 the students did not participate.
  3 31    The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
  3 32 section 25B.3.  The bill requires that the state cost of any
  3 33 state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school
  3 34 district from state school foundation aid received by the
  3 35 school district under Code section 257.16.  The specification
  4  1 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state
  4  2 mandate funding=related requirements of Code section 25B.2.
  4  3 The inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate
  4  4 the requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any
  4  5 state mandates included in the bill.
  4  6 LSB 3145XC 80
  4  7 kh/cl/14