SB 41 — SCH CD-ANNUAL TESTING-WRITING

*LRB09405166RAS35208b* SB0041 94THEngrossed GENERALLRB094 ASSEMBLY05166 StateRAS of35208 Illinoisb andAN 2006ACT SB0041concerning Martinezededucation. 1/26/2005, by Sen.

Miguel del Valle - Iris Y.

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

ILCS 5/2-3.64 from Ch.

122, par.

2-3.64 Amends the School Code.

Provides that beginning no later than the 2005-2006 school year, the State Board of Education shall annually test all pupils enrolled in 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 8th grades in writing.

Removes certain provisions prohibiting the Board from testing pupils in writing.

Effective July 1, 2005.

LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b FISCAL NOTE ACT STATE MANDATES MAY APPLY ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT A BILL FOR SB0041 LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b AN ACT concerning education.

Beginning no later than the 2005-2006 school year, the SB0041 Engrossed - 2 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b State Board of Education shall annually test:

(i) all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades in reading and mathematics;mathematics and (ii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th and 7th grades in the biological and physical sciences.

andBeginning (ii)with the 2006-2007 school year, the State Board of Education shall also annually test all pupils enrolled in the 3rd, 4th,5th, 6th, and 8th grades in writing;writing.

and (iii) all pupils enrolled in the 4th and 7th grades in the biological and physical sciences.

The State Board of Education shall not test pupils under this subsection (a) in writing during the 2005-2006 school year.

If, by performance on the State tests or local assessments or by teacher judgment, a student’s performance is determined to be 2 or more grades below current placement, the student shall be provided a remediation program developed by the SB0041 Engrossed - 3 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b district in consultation with a parent or guardian.

Such remediation programs may include, but shall not be limited to, increased or concentrated instructional time, a remedial SB0041 - 3 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b summer school program of not less than 90 hours, improved instructional approaches, tutorial sessions, retention in grade, and modifications to instructional materials.

Any student who has been enrolled in a State approved bilingual education program less than 3 cumulative academic years may take an accommodated State test, to be known as the Illinois Measure of Annual Growth in English (IMAGE), if the student’s lack of English as determined by an English language proficiency test SB0041 Engrossed - 4 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b would keep the student from understanding the regular State test.

If the school district determines, on a case-by-case individual basis, that IMAGE would likely yield more accurate SB0041 - 4 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b and reliable information on what the student knows and can do, the school district may make a determination to assess the student using IMAGE for a period that does not exceed 2 additional consecutive years, provided that the student has not yet reached a level of English language proficiency sufficient to yield valid and reliable information on what the student knows and can do on the regular State test.

SB0041 Engrossed - 5 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b The State Board of Education shall establish a period of time, to be referred to as the State test window, in each school year for which State testing shall occur to meet the SB0041 - 5 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b objectives of this Section.

The State Board of Education shall monitor the use of short SB0041 Engrossed - 6 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b answer questions in the math and reading assessments or in other assessments in order to demonstrate that the use of short answer questions results in a statistically significant SB0041 - 6 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b improvement in student achievement as measured on the State assessments for math and reading or on other State assessments and is justifiable in terms of cost and student performance.

(c) Beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, each school SB0041 Engrossed - 7 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b district that operates a high school program for students in grades 9 through 12 shall annually administer the Prairie State Achievement Examination established under this subsection to SB0041 - 7 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b its students as set forth below.

In addition, the State Board of Education shall not test a student in writing as part of the Prairie State Achievement Examination during the 2005-2006 school year.

For each academic area the State Board SB0041 Engrossed - 8 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b of Education shall establish the score that qualifies for the Prairie State Achievement Award on that portion of the examination.

Any student who fails to earn a qualifying score for a Prairie State Achievement Award in any one or more of the academic areas on the initial test administration or who wishes to improve his or her score on any SB0041 - 8 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b portion of the examination shall be permitted to retake such portion or portions of the examination during grade 12.

(d) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, all schools in this State that are part of the sample drawn by the National SB0041 Engrossed - 9 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b Center for Education Statistics, in collaboration with their school districts and the State Board of Education, shall administer the biennial State academic assessments of 4th and 8th grade reading and mathematics under the National Assessment of Educational Progress carried out under Section m11(b)(2) of SB0041 - 9 - LRB094 05166 RAS 35208 b the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C.