Senate Study Bill 1239 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON QUIRMBACH) A BILL FOR An Act relating to statewide assessments of student progress 1 utilizing core academic indicators. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2554XC (4) 86 kh/rj

S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, 1 subparagraphs (1) and (2), Code 2015, are amended to read as 2 follows: 3 (1) Annually, the department shall report state data 4 for each indicator in the condition of education report. 5 Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection shall specify that 6 the approved district-wide assessment of student progress 7 administered for purposes of the core academic indicators 8 shall be the assessment utilized by school districts statewide 9 in the school year beginning July 1, 2011, or a successor 10 assessment administered by the same assessment provider. This 11 subparagraph is repealed July 1, 2016. 12 (2) Notwithstanding subparagraph (1), for For the school 13 year beginning July 1, 2016, and each succeeding school year, 14 the rules shall provide that all students enrolled in school 15 districts in grades three through eleven shall be administered 16 an assessment the assessments developed by the smarter balanced 17 assessment consortium during the last quarter of the school 18 year that at . At a minimum assesses , the assessments shall 19 be used to assess student progress on the core academic 20 indicators identified in this paragraph “b” ; is be aligned 21 with the Iowa common core standards in both content and rigor; 22 accurately describes describe student achievement and growth 23 for purposes of the school, the school district, and state 24 accountability systems; and provides provide valid, reliable, 25 and fair measures of student progress toward college or career 26 readiness. 27 Sec. 2. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, 28 subparagraph (3), Code 2015, is amended by striking the 29 subparagraph. 30 Sec. 3. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 31 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 32 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 33 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 34 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 35 -1- LSB 2554XC (4) 86 kh/rj 1/ 3

S.F. _____ specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 1 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of 2 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding 3 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act 4 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school 5 districts. 6 EXPLANATION 7 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 8 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 9 This bill requires the state board of education’s rules 10 to provide that for the school year beginning July 1, 2016, 11 and each succeeding school year, all students enrolled in 12 school districts in grades 3 through 11 shall be administered, 13 during the last quarter of the school year in order to assess 14 student progress on the core academic indicators, assessments 15 developed by the smarter balanced assessment consortium. 16 The smarter balanced assessment consortium, initiated by 17 the council of chief state school officers and the national 18 governors association center for best practices, is a state-led 19 consortium working collaboratively to develop assessments 20 aligned to the common core state standards that measure 21 student progress toward college and career readiness. The bill 22 provides for the July 1, 2016, repeal of a provision requiring 23 that the Iowa assessments be used for this purpose. The bill 24 makes corresponding changes. 25 The bill also strikes a Code provision that provides for the 26 establishment of an assessment task force to review and make 27 recommendations for a statewide assessment of student progress 28 on the core academic indicators. The Iowa assessment task 29 force submitted its findings and recommendations in a report to 30 the general assembly on December 31, 2014. 31 Currently, the state board is required to provide in rule for 32 a set of core academic indicators in mathematics and reading in 33 grades 4, 8, and 11, and for science in grades 8 and 11. The 34 Code also currently requires that the assessment administered 35 -2- LSB 2554XC (4) 86 kh/rj 2/ 3

S.F. _____ after July 1, 2016, must at a minimum be aligned with the Iowa 1 common core (Iowa core) standards in both content and rigor; 2 accurately describe student achievement and growth for purposes 3 of the school, the school district, and state accountability 4 systems; and provide valid, reliable, and fair measures of 5 student progress toward college or career readiness. 6 Since the school year beginning July 1, 2011, school 7 districts have used the Iowa assessments developed by Iowa 8 testing programs (ITP), a research, development, and outreach 9 unit in the college of education at the university of Iowa. 10 Iowa testing programs was responsible for creating and 11 administering the Iowa test of basic skills and the Iowa test 12 of educational development. In recent years, ITP modified 13 these tests and renamed them the Iowa assessments. 14 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 15 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of 16 any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school 17 district from state school foundation aid received by the 18 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification 19 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate 20 funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The 21 inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the 22 requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state 23 mandates included in the bill. 24 -3- LSB 2554XC (4) 86 kh/rj 3/ 3