House File 139 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 139 BY SALMON , WHEELER , HAGER , SHEETS , WATTS , GASSMAN , FISHER , HOLT , GUSTAFSON , BAXTER , and HEARTSILL A BILL FOR An Act relating to the statewide assessments of student 1 progress administered by school districts for purposes of 2 the core academic indicators. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1131YH (5) 87 kh/jh/rj

H.F. 139 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, 1 subparagraph (1), Code 2017, 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 Iowa assessments developed 9 by the Iowa testing programs , or a successor assessment 10 administered by the same assessment provider Iowa testing 11 programs . 12 Sec. 2. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, 13 subparagraph (2), Code 2017, is amended by striking the 14 subparagraph and inserting in lieu thereof the following: 15 (2) If the state board proposes rules providing for a 16 statewide assessment other than the assessment required under 17 subparagraph (1), the state board shall submit its proposed 18 rules to the general assembly and shall not adopt such 19 rules unless the proposed rules are specifically authorized 20 by a constitutional majority of each house of the general 21 assembly and approved by the governor. The state board and 22 the department are prohibited from adopting, administering, 23 or approving the administration of assessments developed 24 either by the smarter balanced assessment consortium or by 25 the partnership for assessment of readiness for college and 26 careers. 27 Sec. 3. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, 28 subparagraphs (3) and (4), Code 2017, are amended by striking 29 the subparagraphs. 30 EXPLANATION 31 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 32 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 33 This bill relates to statewide assessments approved by 34 the state board of education and administered to students by 35 -1- LSB 1131YH (5) 87 kh/jh/rj 1/ 3

H.F. 139 Iowa’s school districts and requires that the state board’s 1 rules specify that the Iowa assessments developed by Iowa 2 testing programs are the approved district-wide assessments of 3 student progress administered for purposes of the core academic 4 indicators. 5 Iowa testing programs is a research, development, and 6 outreach unit in the college of education at the university of 7 Iowa, which has been responsible for creating and administering 8 the Iowa test of basic skills and the Iowa test of educational 9 development to Iowa’s students for several decades. In recent 10 years, Iowa testing programs modified the tests and renamed 11 them the Iowa assessments. The Iowa assessments have been used 12 by school districts statewide since the 2011-2012 academic 13 year, as directed in the Code. The department of education 14 uses the results from the Iowa assessments for federal annual 15 yearly progress and annual progress reporting purposes. 16 If the state board proposes rules providing for a statewide 17 assessment other than the Iowa assessments, the state board 18 must submit its proposed rules to the general assembly and 19 shall not adopt such rules unless the proposed rules are 20 specifically authorized by a constitutional majority of each 21 house of the general assembly and approved by the governor. 22 The bill prohibits the state board and the department of 23 education from adopting, administering, or approving the 24 administration of assessments developed either by the smarter 25 balanced assessment consortium or by the partnership for 26 assessment readiness for college and careers. Initiated by 27 the council of chief state school officers and the national 28 governors association center for best practices, the smarter 29 balanced assessment consortium is a state-led consortium 30 working collaboratively to develop assessments aligned to the 31 common core state standards that accurately measure student 32 progress toward college and career readiness. Like the smarter 33 balanced assessment consortium, the partnership for assessment 34 of readiness for college and careers is a group of states 35 -2- LSB 1131YH (5) 87 kh/jh/rj 2/ 3

H.F. 139 working together to develop an assessment to replace member 1 states’ standardized tests. 2 The bill strikes a Code provision that directs the state 3 board’s rules to require, for the school year beginning 4 July 1, 2017, and each succeeding school year, that all 5 students enrolled in school districts in grades 3 through 6 11 be administered an assessment during the last quarter of 7 the school year that at a minimum assesses the core academic 8 indicators identified in the Code; is aligned with the Iowa 9 common core standards in both content and rigor; accurately 10 describes student achievement and growth for purposes of the 11 school, the school district, and state accountability systems; 12 and provides valid, reliable, and fair measures of student 13 progress toward college or career readiness. 14 The bill also strikes a Code provision that provides for 15 the establishment of an assessment task force to review and 16 make recommendations for a statewide assessment of student 17 progress on the core academic indicators, and a Code provision 18 that directs the state board to submit to the general assembly 19 recommendations for modifications of assessments of student 20 progress. The task force and the state board submitted their 21 recommendations during the 2014-2015 fiscal year. 22 -3- LSB 1131YH (5) 87 kh/jh/rj 3/ 3