HOUSE FILE 2241

BY  BYRNES

A BILL FOR

An Act establishing requirements for school districts, area education agencies, postsecondary institutions, and the department of education relating to student testing and remediation services at the secondary level and the alignment of the secondary curricula with the curricula requirements of accredited postsecondary institutions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraph a, subparagraph (1), Code Supplement 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  The rules establishing high school graduation requirements shall authorize a school district or accredited nonpublic school to consider that any student who satisfactorily completes a high school-level unit of English or language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies has satisfactorily completed a unit of the high school graduation requirements for that area as specified in this lettered paragraph, and shall authorize the school district or accredited nonpublic school to issue high school credit for the unit to the student.

By July 1, 2013, these rules shall also require school districts to administer compass, a computer-adaptive college placement test published by ACT, inc., to all students enrolled in grade eleven. The state board shall establish by rule English or language arts and mathematics proficiency scoring thresholds on the placement test for identifying students in need of academic remediation in English and mathematics. The scoring thresholds shall also be used by area education agencies and school districts to design and implement curriculum alignment activities that lead to better prepared high school graduates.
    Sec. 2.  Section 256.9, subsection 48, Code Supplement 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   48.
  a.  Develop and implement a comprehensive management information system designed for the purpose of establishing standardized electronic data collections and reporting protocols that facilitate compliance with state and federal reporting requirements, improve school-to-school and district-to-district information exchanges, and maintain the confidentiality of individual student and staff data. The system shall provide for the electronic transfer of individual student records between schools, districts, postsecondary institutions, and the department. The director may establish, to the extent practicable, a uniform coding and reporting system, including a statewide uniform student identification system.
   b.  By July 1, 2013, collect, utilizing the statewide longitudinal data system and unique student identifiers, test data from school districts pursuant to section 279.60, subsection 2. Each institution of higher education governed by the state board of regents and each accredited private institution as defined in section 261.9 shall, by July 1, 2013, submit student academic performance data to the department if a student enrolled in the institution has a unique student identifier provided by the department. Data collected shall be shared with the student’s school district and the area education agencies in which the school districts are located. With regard to students who have unique student identifiers provided by the department, the director shall collaborate with the postsecondary institutions, area education agencies, and school districts to reach the goal of decreasing the number of students who require postsecondary remediation services in the 2012 academic year by twenty-five percent by the 2017 academic year.
    Sec. 3.  Section 273.2, subsection 8, Code Supplement 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   8.  The area education agency board shall collaborate with the department of education to provide a statewide infrastructure for educational data to create cost efficiencies, provide storage and disaster mitigation, and improve interconnectivity between schools, and school districts, and, by July 1, 2013, accredited postsecondary institutions. Efforts to improve interconnectivity after July 1, 2013, shall include but not be limited to the identification of deficiencies in school districts’ English and mathematics coursework and curricula based on the assessment results submitted to the department of education’s statewide longitudinal data system. In addition, the area education agency boards shall work with the department to provide systemwide coordination in the implementation of the statewide longitudinal data system consistent with the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The area education agencies shall provide support to school districts’ information technology infrastructure that is consistent with the statewide infrastructure for the educational data collaborative.
    Sec. 4.  Section 273.7A, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   273.7A  Services to school districts.
   1.  The board of an area education agency may provide services to school districts located in the area education agency under contract with the school districts. These services may include, but are not limited to, superintendency services, personnel services, business management services, specialized maintenance services,
 
curricula alignment and remediation services, and transportation services. In addition, the board of the area education agency may provide for furnishing expensive and specialized equipment for school districts. School districts shall pay to area education agencies the cost of providing the services.
   2.  The board of an area education agency may also provide services authorized to be performed by area education agencies to other area education agencies in this state and to provide a method of payment for these services.
   3.
  a.  Beginning July 1, 2012, area education agency 267 shall establish a remediation services and curricula alignment pilot project designed to meet the requirements of paragraph “b”. The services and curricula alignment strategies developed under the pilot project shall be implemented statewide by area education agencies by July 1, 2013. This paragraph is repealed July 1, 2015.
   b.  By July 1, 2013, the board of an area education agency shall make available to school districts located in the area education agency remediation services for students in grades eleven and twelve, as well as activities and services designed to align school district curricula with postsecondary English and mathematics requirements and decrease the need for remedial coursework at the postsecondary level. The area education agency shall facilitate meetings and the delivery of information between the department of education, postsecondary public institutions, and school districts. The area education agency shall comply with all state and federal privacy laws in order to ensure the confidentiality and appropriate uses of information delivered pursuant to this subsection.
    Sec. 5.  Section 279.60, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   279.60  Kindergarten assessment —— access to data —— reports.
   1.  Each school district shall administer the dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills kindergarten benchmark assessment or other kindergarten benchmark assessment adopted by the department of education in consultation with the early childhood Iowa state board to every kindergarten student enrolled in the district not later than the date specified in section 257.6, subsection 1. The school district shall also collect information from each parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a kindergarten student enrolled in the district, including but not limited to whether the student attended preschool, factors identified by the early childhood Iowa office pursuant to section 256I.5, and other demographic factors. Each school district shall report the results of the assessment and the preschool information collected to the department of education in the manner prescribed by the department not later than January 1 of that school year. The early childhood Iowa office in the department of management shall have access to the raw data. The department shall review the information submitted pursuant to this section and shall submit its findings and recommendations annually in a report to the governor, the general assembly, the early childhood Iowa state board, and the early childhood Iowa area boards.

   2.  By July 1, 2013, each school district shall administer compass, a computer-adaptive college placement test published by ACT, inc., to all students enrolled in grade eleven, and shall submit student test results to the statewide longitudinal data system. Each student’s test results shall be included in the annual report submitted in accordance with section 279.61, subsection 2, and shall provide a comparison between the student’s scores and the scoring thresholds established by the state board of education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26. Each school district shall use the test results to identify students in need of academic remediation in English and mathematics and to design and implement curriculum alignment activities that lead to better prepared high school graduates.
    Sec. 6.  STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED.  In accordance with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid received by the school district under section 257.16. This specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school districts.
EXPLANATION
   This bill establishes requirements for school districts, area education agencies (AEAs), postsecondary institutions, and the department of education relating to student testing and remediation at the secondary level and alignment of the secondary curricula with the curricula requirements of accredited postsecondary institutions.
   The bill directs the state board of education to adopt high school graduation-related rules which by July 1, 2013, require school districts to administer compass, a computer-adaptive college placement test published by ACT, inc., to all students enrolled in grade 11. The state board must also establish by rule English or language arts and mathematics proficiency scoring thresholds on the placement test for identifying students in need of academic remediation in English and mathematics. The scoring thresholds shall be used by AEAs and school districts to design and implement curriculum alignment activities that lead to better prepared high school graduates.
   By July 1, 2013, the director of the department of education must collect, utilizing the statewide longitudinal data system and unique student identifiers, the compass test data from school districts. Each public and private accredited postsecondary institution must submit, by July 1, 2013, student academic performance data to the department if a student enrolled in the institution has a unique student identifier provided by the department. Data collected shall be shared with the student’s school district and the AEAs in which the school districts are located. The director shall collaborate with postsecondary institutions and school districts to reach the goal of decreasing the number of students who require postsecondary remediation services in the 2012 academic year by 25 percent by the 2017 academic year.
   Area education agency boards are directed by statute to improve interconnectivity between schools and school districts, and the bill adds to this list, effective July 1, 2013, accredited postsecondary education institutions. Such efforts, under the bill, must include but not be limited to the identification of deficiencies in school districts’ English and mathematics coursework and curricula based on the assessment results submitted to the department’s statewide longitudinal data system. The bill adds curricula alignment and remediation services to the list of services which AEAs may provide to the school districts located within their boundaries.
   Beginning July 1, 2012, AEA 267 must establish a remediation services and curricula alignment pilot project designed to meet the requirements of the bill. These services and curricula alignment strategies developed under the pilot project shall be implemented statewide by AEAs by July 1, 2013. 
   By July 1, 2013, each AEA board shall make available to school districts remediation services for students in grades 11 and 12, as well as activities and services designed to align school district curricula with postsecondary English and mathematics requirements and decrease the need for remedial coursework at the postsecondary level. The AEA shall facilitate meetings and the delivery of information between the department, postsecondary public institutions, and school districts. The AEA must comply with all state and federal privacy laws in order to ensure the confidentiality and appropriate uses of student-related information.
   By July 1, 2013, each school district shall include a student’s compass test results in the annual report submitted to the student or the student’s parent or guardian documenting the student’s progress toward meeting the goal of successfully completing the core curriculum and high school graduation requirements, and shall provide a comparison between the student’s scores and the scoring thresholds established by the state board. Each school district shall use the test results to identify students in need of academic remediation in English and mathematics and to design and implement curriculum alignment activities that lead to better prepared high school graduates.
   This bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid received by the school district under Code section 257.16. The specification is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state mandates included in the bill.