House File 2241 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2241 BY BYRNES A BILL FOR An Act establishing requirements for school districts, 1 area education agencies, postsecondary institutions, and 2 the department of education relating to student testing 3 and remediation services at the secondary level and the 4 alignment of the secondary curricula with the curricula 5 requirements of accredited postsecondary institutions. 6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 7 TLSB 5901YH (2) 84 kh/rj

H.F. 2241 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraph a, 1 subparagraph (1), Code Supplement 2011, is amended to read as 2 follows: 3 (1) The rules establishing high school graduation 4 requirements shall authorize a school district or 5 accredited nonpublic school to consider that any student 6 who satisfactorily completes a high school-level unit of 7 English or language arts, mathematics, science, or social 8 studies has satisfactorily completed a unit of the high school 9 graduation requirements for that area as specified in this 10 lettered paragraph, and shall authorize the school district 11 or accredited nonpublic school to issue high school credit 12 for the unit to the student. By July 1, 2013, these rules 13 shall also require school districts to administer compass, a 14 computer-adaptive college placement test published by ACT, 15 inc., to all students enrolled in grade eleven. The state 16 board shall establish by rule English or language arts and 17 mathematics proficiency scoring thresholds on the placement 18 test for identifying students in need of academic remediation 19 in English and mathematics. The scoring thresholds shall also 20 be used by area education agencies and school districts to 21 design and implement curriculum alignment activities that lead 22 to better prepared high school graduates. 23 Sec. 2. Section 256.9, subsection 48, Code Supplement 2011, 24 is amended to read as follows: 25 48. a. Develop and implement a comprehensive management 26 information system designed for the purpose of establishing 27 standardized electronic data collections and reporting 28 protocols that facilitate compliance with state and federal 29 reporting requirements, improve school-to-school and 30 district-to-district information exchanges, and maintain the 31 confidentiality of individual student and staff data. The 32 system shall provide for the electronic transfer of individual 33 student records between schools, districts, postsecondary 34 institutions, and the department. The director may establish, 35 -1- LSB 5901YH (2) 84 kh/rj 1/ 8

H.F. 2241 to the extent practicable, a uniform coding and reporting 1 system, including a statewide uniform student identification 2 system. 3 b. By July 1, 2013, collect, utilizing the statewide 4 longitudinal data system and unique student identifiers, 5 test data from school districts pursuant to section 279.60, 6 subsection 2. Each institution of higher education governed 7 by the state board of regents and each accredited private 8 institution as defined in section 261.9 shall, by July 1, 2013, 9 submit student academic performance data to the department if 10 a student enrolled in the institution has a unique student 11 identifier provided by the department. Data collected shall 12 be shared with the student’s school district and the area 13 education agencies in which the school districts are located. 14 With regard to students who have unique student identifiers 15 provided by the department, the director shall collaborate with 16 the postsecondary institutions, area education agencies, and 17 school districts to reach the goal of decreasing the number of 18 students who require postsecondary remediation services in the 19 2012 academic year by twenty-five percent by the 2017 academic 20 year. 21 Sec. 3. Section 273.2, subsection 8, Code Supplement 2011, 22 is amended to read as follows: 23 8. The area education agency board shall collaborate 24 with the department of education to provide a statewide 25 infrastructure for educational data to create cost 26 efficiencies, provide storage and disaster mitigation, 27 and improve interconnectivity between schools , and school 28 districts , and, by July 1, 2013, accredited postsecondary 29 institutions. Efforts to improve interconnectivity after 30 July 1, 2013, shall include but not be limited to the 31 identification of deficiencies in school districts’ English and 32 mathematics coursework and curricula based on the assessment 33 results submitted to the department of education’s statewide 34 longitudinal data system . In addition, the area education 35 -2- LSB 5901YH (2) 84 kh/rj 2/ 8

H.F. 2241 agency boards shall work with the department to provide 1 systemwide coordination in the implementation of the statewide 2 longitudinal data system consistent with the federal American 3 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The area education 4 agencies shall provide support to school districts’ information 5 technology infrastructure that is consistent with the statewide 6 infrastructure for the educational data collaborative. 7 Sec. 4. Section 273.7A, Code 2011, is amended to read as 8 follows: 9 273.7A Services to school districts. 10 1. The board of an area education agency may provide 11 services to school districts located in the area education 12 agency under contract with the school districts. These 13 services may include, but are not limited to, superintendency 14 services, personnel services, business management services, 15 specialized maintenance services, curricula alignment and 16 remediation services, and transportation services. In 17 addition, the board of the area education agency may provide 18 for furnishing expensive and specialized equipment for school 19 districts. School districts shall pay to area education 20 agencies the cost of providing the services. 21 2. The board of an area education agency may also provide 22 services authorized to be performed by area education agencies 23 to other area education agencies in this state and to provide a 24 method of payment for these services. 25 3. a. Beginning July 1, 2012, area education agency 267 26 shall establish a remediation services and curricula alignment 27 pilot project designed to meet the requirements of paragraph 28 “b” . The services and curricula alignment strategies developed 29 under the pilot project shall be implemented statewide by area 30 education agencies by July 1, 2013. This paragraph is repealed 31 July 1, 2015. 32 b. By July 1, 2013, the board of an area education agency 33 shall make available to school districts located in the 34 area education agency remediation services for students in 35 -3- LSB 5901YH (2) 84 kh/rj 3/ 8

H.F. 2241 grades eleven and twelve, as well as activities and services 1 designed to align school district curricula with postsecondary 2 English and mathematics requirements and decrease the need 3 for remedial coursework at the postsecondary level. The area 4 education agency shall facilitate meetings and the delivery of 5 information between the department of education, postsecondary 6 public institutions, and school districts. The area education 7 agency shall comply with all state and federal privacy laws in 8 order to ensure the confidentiality and appropriate uses of 9 information delivered pursuant to this subsection. 10 Sec. 5. Section 279.60, Code 2011, is amended to read as 11 follows: 12 279.60 Kindergarten assessment —— access to data —— reports. 13 1. Each school district shall administer the dynamic 14 indicators of basic early literacy skills kindergarten 15 benchmark assessment or other kindergarten benchmark assessment 16 adopted by the department of education in consultation with 17 the early childhood Iowa state board to every kindergarten 18 student enrolled in the district not later than the date 19 specified in section 257.6, subsection 1 . The school district 20 shall also collect information from each parent, guardian, 21 or legal custodian of a kindergarten student enrolled in the 22 district, including but not limited to whether the student 23 attended preschool, factors identified by the early childhood 24 Iowa office pursuant to section 256I.5 , and other demographic 25 factors. Each school district shall report the results of 26 the assessment and the preschool information collected to 27 the department of education in the manner prescribed by the 28 department not later than January 1 of that school year. The 29 early childhood Iowa office in the department of management 30 shall have access to the raw data. The department shall review 31 the information submitted pursuant to this section and shall 32 submit its findings and recommendations annually in a report to 33 the governor, the general assembly, the early childhood Iowa 34 state board, and the early childhood Iowa area boards. 35 -4- LSB 5901YH (2) 84 kh/rj 4/ 8

H.F. 2241 2. By July 1, 2013, each school district shall administer 1 compass, a computer-adaptive college placement test published 2 by ACT, inc., to all students enrolled in grade eleven, and 3 shall submit student test results to the statewide longitudinal 4 data system. Each student’s test results shall be included 5 in the annual report submitted in accordance with section 6 279.61, subsection 2, and shall provide a comparison between 7 the student’s scores and the scoring thresholds established 8 by the state board of education pursuant to section 256.7, 9 subsection 26. Each school district shall use the test 10 results to identify students in need of academic remediation in 11 English and mathematics and to design and implement curriculum 12 alignment activities that lead to better prepared high school 13 graduates. 14 Sec. 6. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 15 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 16 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 17 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 18 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 19 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 20 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of 21 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding 22 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act 23 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school 24 districts. 25 EXPLANATION 26 This bill establishes requirements for school districts, 27 area education agencies (AEAs), postsecondary institutions, 28 and the department of education relating to student testing 29 and remediation at the secondary level and alignment of 30 the secondary curricula with the curricula requirements of 31 accredited postsecondary institutions. 32 The bill directs the state board of education to adopt high 33 school graduation-related rules which by July 1, 2013, require 34 school districts to administer compass, a computer-adaptive 35 -5- LSB 5901YH (2) 84 kh/rj 5/ 8

H.F. 2241 college placement test published by ACT, inc., to all students 1 enrolled in grade 11. The state board must also establish 2 by rule English or language arts and mathematics proficiency 3 scoring thresholds on the placement test for identifying 4 students in need of academic remediation in English and 5 mathematics. The scoring thresholds shall be used by AEAs and 6 school districts to design and implement curriculum alignment 7 activities that lead to better prepared high school graduates. 8 By July 1, 2013, the director of the department of education 9 must collect, utilizing the statewide longitudinal data 10 system and unique student identifiers, the compass test data 11 from school districts. Each public and private accredited 12 postsecondary institution must submit, by July 1, 2013, student 13 academic performance data to the department if a student 14 enrolled in the institution has a unique student identifier 15 provided by the department. Data collected shall be shared 16 with the student’s school district and the AEAs in which the 17 school districts are located. The director shall collaborate 18 with postsecondary institutions and school districts to reach 19 the goal of decreasing the number of students who require 20 postsecondary remediation services in the 2012 academic year by 21 25 percent by the 2017 academic year. 22 Area education agency boards are directed by statute 23 to improve interconnectivity between schools and school 24 districts, and the bill adds to this list, effective July 1, 25 2013, accredited postsecondary education institutions. Such 26 efforts, under the bill, must include but not be limited to the 27 identification of deficiencies in school districts’ English and 28 mathematics coursework and curricula based on the assessment 29 results submitted to the department’s statewide longitudinal 30 data system. The bill adds curricula alignment and remediation 31 services to the list of services which AEAs may provide to the 32 school districts located within their boundaries. 33 Beginning July 1, 2012, AEA 267 must establish a remediation 34 services and curricula alignment pilot project designed to meet 35 -6- LSB 5901YH (2) 84 kh/rj 6/ 8

H.F. 2241 the requirements of the bill. These services and curricula 1 alignment strategies developed under the pilot project shall be 2 implemented statewide by AEAs by July 1, 2013. 3 By July 1, 2013, each AEA board shall make available to 4 school districts remediation services for students in grades 5 11 and 12, as well as activities and services designed to 6 align school district curricula with postsecondary English 7 and mathematics requirements and decrease the need for 8 remedial coursework at the postsecondary level. The AEA 9 shall facilitate meetings and the delivery of information 10 between the department, postsecondary public institutions, 11 and school districts. The AEA must comply with all state and 12 federal privacy laws in order to ensure the confidentiality and 13 appropriate uses of student-related information. 14 By July 1, 2013, each school district shall include a 15 student’s compass test results in the annual report submitted 16 to the student or the student’s parent or guardian documenting 17 the student’s progress toward meeting the goal of successfully 18 completing the core curriculum and high school graduation 19 requirements, and shall provide a comparison between the 20 student’s scores and the scoring thresholds established by 21 the state board. Each school district shall use the test 22 results to identify students in need of academic remediation in 23 English and mathematics and to design and implement curriculum 24 alignment activities that lead to better prepared high school 25 graduates. 26 This bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 27 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of 28 any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school 29 district from state school foundation aid received by the 30 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification 31 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate 32 funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The 33 inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the 34 requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state 35 -7- LSB 5901YH (2) 84 kh/rj 7/ 8