House File 312 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 312 BY SALMON , WATTS , FISHER , MAXWELL , HOLT , HEARTSILL , SHEETS , GASSMAN , LANDON , WILLS , and KOOIKER A BILL FOR An Act relating to statewide assessments of student progress 1 administered by school districts for purposes of the core 2 academic indicators. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1963YH (6) 86 kh/rj

H.F. 312 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, 1 subparagraph (1), Code 2015, is amended to read as follows: 2 (1) Annually, the department shall report state data 3 for each indicator in the condition of education report. 4 Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection shall specify that 5 the approved district-wide assessment of student progress 6 administered for purposes of the core academic indicators shall 7 be the assessment utilized by school districts statewide in the 8 school year beginning July 1, 2011, or a successor assessment 9 administered by the same assessment provider Iowa assessments 10 developed by Iowa testing programs . The state board and the 11 department are prohibited from adopting, administering, or 12 approving the administration of assessments developed by the 13 smarter balanced assessment consortium. 14 Sec. 2. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, 15 subparagraphs (2), (3), and (4), Code 2015, are amended by 16 striking the subparagraphs. 17 EXPLANATION 18 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 19 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 20 This bill relates to statewide assessments approved by 21 the state board of education and administered to students by 22 Iowa’s school districts and requires that the state board of 23 education’s rules specify that the Iowa assessments developed 24 by Iowa testing programs are the approved district-wide 25 assessments of student progress administered for purposes of 26 the core academic indicators. Iowa testing programs is a 27 research, development, and outreach unit in the college of 28 education at the university of Iowa, which has been responsible 29 for creating and administering the Iowa test of basic skills 30 and the Iowa test of educational development to Iowa’s students 31 for several decades. In recent years, Iowa testing programs 32 modified the tests and renamed them the Iowa assessments. The 33 Iowa assessments have been used by school districts statewide 34 since the 2011-2012 academic year, as directed in the Code. 35 -1- LSB 1963YH (6) 86 kh/rj 1/ 2

H.F. 312 The department uses the results from the Iowa assessments for 1 federal annual yearly progress and annual progress reporting 2 purposes. 3 The bill prohibits the state board and the department of 4 education from adopting, administering, or approving the 5 administration of assessments developed by the smarter balanced 6 assessment consortium. Initiated by the council of chief state 7 school officers and the national governors association center 8 for best practices, the smarter balanced assessment consortium 9 is a state-led consortium working collaboratively to develop 10 assessments aligned to the common core state standards that 11 accurately measure student progress toward college and career 12 readiness. 13 The bill strikes a Code provision that directs the state 14 board’s rules to require that all students enrolled in school 15 districts in grades 3 through 11 be administered an assessment 16 during the last quarter of the school year that at a minimum 17 assesses the core academic indicators identified in the Code; 18 is aligned with the Iowa common core standards in both content 19 and rigor; accurately describes student achievement and growth 20 for purposes of the school, the school district, and state 21 accountability systems; and provides valid, reliable, and 22 fair measures of student progress toward college or career 23 readiness. 24 The bill also strikes a Code provision that provides for 25 the establishment of an assessment task force to review and 26 make recommendations for a statewide assessment of student 27 progress on the core academic indicators, and a Code provision 28 that directs the state board to submit to the general assembly 29 recommendations for modifications of assessments of student 30 progress. The task force and the state board submitted their 31 recommendations during the 2014-2015 fiscal year. 32 -2- LSB 1963YH (6) 86 kh/rj 2/ 2