1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; establishing state measures of students' achievement 
1.3 	growth;amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, sections 120B.30; 120B.31; 
1.4 	120B.35; 120B.36; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
1.5 	120B; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 120B.362.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. [120B.299] DEFINITIONS.
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. The definitions in this section apply to this chapter.
1.9 		Subd. 2.Growth. "Growth" compares the difference in a student's achievement 
1.10 	score at two or more distinct points in time. 
1.11 		Subd. 3.Value-added. "Value-added" is the amount of achievement a student 
1.12 	demonstrates above an established baseline. The difference between the student's score 
1.13 	and the baseline defines value-added.
1.14 		Subd. 4.Growth-based value-added. "Growth-based value-added" is based on a 
1.15 	student's growth score. In a growth-based value-added system, the student's first test is 
1.16 	the baseline, and the difference between the student's first and next test scores within a 
1.17 	defined period is the measure of value-added.
1.18 		Subd. 5.Adequate yearly progress. A school or district makes "adequate yearly 
1.19 	progress" if, for every student subgroup under the federal 2001 No Child Left Behind Act 
1.20 	in the school or district, its proficiency index, based on statewide assessment scores, 
1.21 	meets or exceeds federal expectations. To make adequate yearly progress, the school or 
1.22 	district also must satisfy applicable federal requirements related to student attendance, 
1.23 	graduation, and test participation rates.
1.24 		Subd. 6.State growth target. (a) "State growth target" is the average year-two 
1.25 	assessment scores for students with similar year-one assessment scores.
2.1 	(b) Beginning in the 2008-2009 school year, the state growth target is benchmarked 
2.2 	to 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school year data until the assessment scale changes.
2.3 	(c) Each time before the assessment scale changes, a recognized Minnesota 
2.4 	assessment group composed of assessment and evaluation directors and staff and 
2.5 	researchers must recommend a new state growth target that the commissioner must 
2.6 	consider when revising standards under section 120B.023, subdivision 2. 
2.7 		Subd. 7.Low growth. "Low growth" is an assessment score one-half standard 
2.8 	deviation below the state growth target.
2.9 		Subd. 8.Medium growth. "Medium growth" is an assessment score within one-half 
2.10 	standard deviation above or below the state growth target.
2.11 		Subd. 9.High growth. "High growth" is an assessment score one-half standard 
2.12 	deviation or more above the state growth target.

2.13 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

2.14 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 120B.30, is amended to read:
2.15 	120B.30 STATEWIDE TESTING AND REPORTING SYSTEM.
2.16 		Subdivision 1.Statewide testing. (a) The commissioner, with advice from experts 
2.17 	with appropriate technical qualifications and experience and stakeholders, consistent with 
2.18 	subdivision 1a, shall include in the comprehensive assessment system, for each grade 
2.19 	level to be tested, state-constructed tests developed from and aligned with the state's 
2.20 	required academic standards under section 120B.021 and administered annually to all 
2.21 	students in grades 3 through 8 and at the high school level. A state-developed test in a 
2.22 	subject other than writing, developed after the 2002-2003 school year, must include both 
2.23 	machine-scoreable and constructed response questions. The commissioner shall establish 
2.24 	one or more months during which schools shall administer the tests to students each 
2.25 	school year. Schools that the commissioner identifies for stand-alone field testing or other 
2.26 	national sampling must participate as directed. Superintendents or charter school directors 
2.27 	may appeal in writing to the commissioner for an exemption from a field test based on 
2.28 	undue hardship. The commissioner's decision regarding the appeal is final. For students 
2.29 	enrolled in grade 8 before the 2005-2006 school year, only Minnesota basic skills tests in 
2.30 	reading, mathematics, and writing shall fulfill students' basic skills testing requirements for 
2.31 	a passing state notation. The passing scores of basic skills tests in reading and mathematics 
2.32 	are the equivalent of 75 percent correct for students entering grade 9 in 1997 and thereafter, 
2.33 	as based on the first uniform test administration of administered in February 1998.
3.1 	(b) For students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006 school year and later, only the 
3.2 	following options shall fulfill students' state graduation test requirements:
3.3 	(1) for reading and mathematics:
3.4 	(i) obtaining an achievement level equivalent to or greater than proficient as 
3.5 	determined through a standard setting process on the Minnesota comprehensive 
3.6 	assessments in grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for mathematics or achieving a passing 
3.7 	score as determined through a standard setting process on the graduation-required 
3.8 	assessment for diploma in grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for mathematics or 
3.9 	subsequent retests;
3.10 	(ii) achieving a passing score as determined through a standard setting process on the 
3.11 	state-identified language proficiency test in reading and the mathematics test for English 
3.12 	language learners or the graduation-required assessment for diploma equivalent of those 
3.13 	assessments for students designated as English language learners;
3.14 	(iii) achieving an individual passing score on the graduation-required assessment 
3.15 	for diploma as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an individual 
3.16 	education plan or 504 plan;
3.17 	(iv) obtaining achievement level equivalent to or greater than proficient as 
3.18 	determined through a standard setting process on the state-identified alternate assessment 
3.19 	or assessments in grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for mathematics for students with 
3.20 	an individual education plan; or
3.21 	(v) achieving an individual passing score on the state-identified alternate assessment 
3.22 	or assessments as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an 
3.23 	individual education plan; and
3.24 	(2) for writing:
3.25 	(i) achieving a passing score on the graduation-required assessment for diploma;
3.26 	(ii) achieving a passing score as determined through a standard setting process on 
3.27 	the state-identified language proficiency test in writing for students designated as English 
3.28 	language learners;
3.29 	(iii) achieving an individual passing score on the graduation-required assessment 
3.30 	for diploma as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an individual 
3.31 	education plan or 504 plan; or
3.32 	(iv) achieving an individual passing score on the state-identified alternate assessment 
3.33 	or assessments as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an 
3.34 	individual education plan.
3.35 	 (c) The 3rd through 8th grade and high school level test results shall be available 
3.36 	to districts for diagnostic purposes affecting student learning and district instruction and 
4.1 	curriculum, and for establishing educational accountability. The commissioner must 
4.2 	disseminate to the public the test results upon receiving those results.
4.3 	 (d) State tests must be constructed and aligned with state academic standards. The
4.4 	commissioner shall determine the testing process and the order of administration shall be 
4.5 	determined by the commissioner. The statewide results shall be aggregated at the site and 
4.6 	district level, consistent with subdivision 1a.
4.7 	 (e) In addition to the testing and reporting requirements under this section, the 
4.8 	commissioner shall include the following components in the statewide public reporting 
4.9 	system:
4.10 	(1) uniform statewide testing of all students in grades 3 through 8 and at the high 
4.11 	school level that provides appropriate, technically sound accommodations, alternate 
4.12 	assessments, or exemptions consistent with applicable federal law, only with parent or 
4.13 	guardian approval, for those very few students for whom the student's individual education 
4.14 	plan team under sections 125A.05 and 125A.06 determines that the general statewide test 
4.15 	is inappropriate for a student, or for a limited English proficiency student under section 
4.16 	124D.59, subdivision 2;
4.17 	(2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and compared across school 
4.18 	districts and across time on a statewide basis, including average daily attendance, high 
4.19 	school graduation rates, and high school drop-out rates by age and grade level;
4.20 	(3) state results on the American College Test; and
4.21 	(4) state results from participation in the National Assessment of Educational 
4.22 	Progress so that the state can benchmark its performance against the nation and other 
4.23 	states, and, where possible, against other countries, and contribute to the national effort 
4.24 	to monitor achievement.
4.25 		Subd. 1a.Statewide and local assessments; results. (a) The commissioner must 
4.26 	develop reading, mathematics, and science assessments aligned with state academic 
4.27 	standards that districts and sites must use to monitor student growth toward achieving 
4.28 	those standards. The commissioner must not develop statewide assessments for academic 
4.29 	standards in social studies, health and physical education, and the arts. The commissioner 
4.30 	must require:
4.31 	(1) annual reading and mathematics assessments in grades 3 through 8 and at the 
4.32 	high school level for the 2005-2006 school year and later; and
4.33 	(2) annual science assessments in one grade in the grades 3 through 5 span, the 
4.34 	grades 6 through 98 span, and a life sciences assessment in the grades 109 through 12 
4.35 	span for the 2007-2008 school year and later.
5.1 	(b) The commissioner must ensure that all statewide tests administered to elementary 
5.2 	and secondary students measure students' academic knowledge and skills and not students' 
5.3 	values, attitudes, and beliefs.
5.4 	(c) Reporting of assessment results must:
5.5 	(1) provide timely, useful, and understandable information on the performance of 
5.6 	individual students, schools, school districts, and the state;
5.7 	(2) include, by no later than the 2008-2009 school year, a growth-based value-added 
5.8 	component that is in addition to a measure for student achievement growth over time
5.9 	indicator of student achievement under section 120B.35, subdivision 3, paragraph (b); and
5.10 	(3)(i) for students enrolled in grade 8 before the 2005-2006 school year, determine 
5.11 	whether students have met the state's basic skills requirements; and
5.12 	(ii) for students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006 school year and later, determine 
5.13 	whether students have met the state's academic standards.
5.14 	(d) Consistent with applicable federal law and subdivision 1, paragraph (d), clause 
5.15 	(1), the commissioner must include appropriate, technically sound accommodations or 
5.16 	alternative assessments for the very few students with disabilities for whom statewide 
5.17 	assessments are inappropriate and for students with limited English proficiency.
5.18 	(e) A school, school district, and charter school must administer statewide 
5.19 	assessments under this section, as the assessments become available, to evaluate student 
5.20 	progress in achieving the proficiency in the context of the state's grade level academic 
5.21 	standards. If a state assessment is not available, a school, school district, and charter 
5.22 	school must determine locally if a student has met the required academic standards. A 
5.23 	school, school district, or charter school may use a student's performance on a statewide 
5.24 	assessment as one of multiple criteria to determine grade promotion or retention. A 
5.25 	school, school district, or charter school may use a high school student's performance on a 
5.26 	statewide assessment as a percentage of the student's final grade in a course, or place a 
5.27 	student's assessment score on the student's transcript.
5.28 		Subd. 2.Department of Education assistance. The Department of Education 
5.29 	shall contract for professional and technical services according to competitive bidding 
5.30 	procedures under chapter 16C for purposes of this section.
5.31 		Subd. 3.Reporting. The commissioner shall report test data publicly and to 
5.32 	stakeholders, including the performance achievement levels developed from students' 
5.33 	unweighted test scores in each tested subject and a listing of demographic factors that 
5.34 	strongly correlate with student performance. The commissioner shall also report data that 
5.35 	compares performance results among school sites, school districts, Minnesota and other 
5.36 	states, and Minnesota and other nations. The commissioner shall disseminate to schools 
6.1 	and school districts a more comprehensive report containing testing information that 
6.2 	meets local needs for evaluating instruction and curriculum.
6.3 		Subd. 4.Access to tests. The commissioner must adopt and publish a policy 
6.4 	to provide public and parental access for review of basic skills tests, Minnesota 
6.5 	Comprehensive Assessments, or any other such statewide test and assessment. Upon 
6.6 	receiving a written request, the commissioner must make available to parents or guardians 
6.7 	a copy of their student's actual responses to the test questions to be reviewed by the 
6.8 	parent for their review.

6.9 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

6.10 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 120B.31, is amended to read:
6.11 	120B.31 SYSTEM ACCOUNTABILITY AND STATISTICAL 
6.12 	ADJUSTMENTS.
6.13 		Subdivision 1.Educational accountability and public reporting. Consistent 
6.14 	with the process direction to adopt a results-oriented graduation rule statewide academic 
6.15 	standards under section 120B.02, the department, in consultation with education and 
6.16 	other system stakeholders, must establish a coordinated and comprehensive system of 
6.17 	educational accountability and public reporting that promotes higher greater academic 
6.18 	achievement, preparation for higher academic education, preparation for the world of 
6.19 	work, citizenship under sections 120B.021, subdivision 1, clause (4), and 120B.024, 
6.20 	paragraph (a), clause (4), and the arts.  
6.21 		Subd. 2.Statewide testing. Each school year, all school districts shall give a 
6.22 	uniform statewide test to students at specified grades to provide information on the status, 
6.23 	needs and performance of Minnesota students.
6.24 		Subd. 3.Educational accountability. (a) The Independent Office of Educational 
6.25 	Accountability, as authorized by Laws 1997, First Special Session chapter 4, article 5, 
6.26 	section 28, subdivision 2, is established, and shall be funded through the Board of Regents 
6.27 	of the University of Minnesota. The office shall advise the education committees of 
6.28 	the legislature and the commissioner of education, at least on a biennial basis, on the 
6.29 	degree to which the statewide educational accountability and reporting system includes a 
6.30 	comprehensive assessment framework that measures school accountability for students 
6.31 	achieving the goals described in the state's results-oriented high school graduation 
6.32 	rule. The office shall determine and annually report to the legislature whether and how 
6.33 	effectively: 
7.1 	(1) the statewide system of educational accountability utilizes uses multiple 
7.2 	indicators to provide valid and reliable comparative and contextual data on students, 
7.3 	schools, districts, and the state, and if not, recommend ways to improve the accountability 
7.4 	reporting system;
7.5 	(2) the commissioner makes statistical adjustments when reporting student data over 
7.6 	time, consistent with clause (4);
7.7 	(3) the commissioner uses indicators of student achievement growth a growth-based 
7.8 	value-added indicator of student achievement over time and a value-added assessment 
7.9 	model that estimates the effects of the school and school district on student achievement to 
7.10 	measure and measures school performance, consistent with section 120B.36, subdivision 
7.11 	1 120B.35, subdivision 3, paragraph (b);
7.12 	(4) the commissioner makes (3) data are available on students who do not pass one 
7.13 	or more of the state's required GRAD tests and do not receive a diploma as a consequence, 
7.14 	and categorizes these data are categorized according to gender, race, eligibility for free 
7.15 	or reduced lunch, and English language proficiency; and
7.16 	(5) the commissioner fulfills (4) the requirements under section 127A.095, 
7.17 	subdivision 2, are met.
7.18 	(b) When the office reviews the statewide educational accountability and reporting 
7.19 	system, it shall also consider:
7.20 	(1) the objectivity and neutrality of the state's educational accountability system; and
7.21 	(2) the impact of a testing program on school curriculum and student learning.
7.22 		Subd. 4.Statistical adjustments; student performance data. In developing 
7.23 	policies and assessment processes to hold schools and districts accountable for high 
7.24 	levels of academic standards under section 120B.021, the commissioner shall aggregate 
7.25 	student data over time to report student performance and growth levels measured at the 
7.26 	school, school district, regional, or and statewide level. When collecting and reporting 
7.27 	the performance data, the commissioner shall: (1) acknowledge the impact of significant 
7.28 	demographic factors such as residential instability, the number of single parent families, 
7.29 	parents' level of education, and parents' income level on school outcomes; and (2) 
7.30 	organize and report the data so that state and local policy makers can understand the 
7.31 	educational implications of changes in districts' demographic profiles over time. Any 
7.32 	report the commissioner disseminates containing summary data on student performance 
7.33 	must integrate student performance and the demographic factors that strongly correlate 
7.34 	with that performance.

7.35 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

8.1 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 120B.35, is amended to read:
8.2 	120B.35 STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND PROGRESS
8.3 	GROWTH.
8.4 		Subdivision 1.Adequate yearly progress of schools and students School and 
8.5 	student indicators of growth and achievement. The commissioner must develop and 
8.6 	implement a system for measuring and reporting academic achievement and individual 
8.7 	student progress growth, consistent with the statewide educational accountability and 
8.8 	reporting system. The system components of the system must measure and separately 
8.9 	report the adequate yearly progress of schools and the growth of individual students: 
8.10 	students' current achievement in schools under subdivision 2; and individual students' 
8.11 	educational progress growth over time under subdivision 3. The system also must include 
8.12 	statewide measures of student academic achievement growth that identify schools with 
8.13 	high levels of achievement growth, and also schools with low levels of achievement
8.14 	growth that need improvement. When determining a school's effect, the data must 
8.15 	include both statewide measures of student achievement and, to the extent annual tests 
8.16 	are administered, indicators of achievement growth that take into account a student's 
8.17 	prior achievement. Indicators of achievement and prior achievement must be based on 
8.18 	highly reliable statewide or districtwide assessments. Indicators that take into account a 
8.19 	student's prior achievement must not be used to disregard a school's low achievement or to 
8.20 	exclude a school from a program to improve low achievement levels. The commissioner 
8.21 	by January 15, 2002, must submit a plan for integrating these components to the chairs of 
8.22 	the legislative committees having policy and budgetary responsibilities for elementary 
8.23 	and secondary education.
8.24 		Subd. 2.Federal expectations for student academic achievement. (a) Each school 
8.25 	year, a school district must determine if the student achievement levels at each school site 
8.26 	meet state and local federal expectations. If student achievement levels at a school site do 
8.27 	not meet state and local federal expectations and the site has not made adequate yearly 
8.28 	progress for two consecutive school years, beginning with the 2001-2002 school year, 
8.29 	the district must work with the school site to adopt a plan to raise student achievement 
8.30 	levels to meet state and local federal expectations. The commissioner of education shall 
8.31 	establish student academic achievement levels to comply with this paragraph.
8.32 	(b) School sites identified as not meeting federal expectations must develop 
8.33 	continuous improvement plans in order to meet state and local federal expectations for 
8.34 	student academic achievement. The department, at a district's request, must assist the 
8.35 	district and the school site in developing a plan to improve student achievement. The plan 
8.36 	must include parental involvement components.
9.1 	(c) The commissioner must:
9.2 	(1) provide assistance to assist school sites and districts identified as not meeting 
9.3 	federal expectations; and
9.4 	(2) provide technical assistance to schools that integrate student progress
9.5 	achievement measures under subdivision 3 in into the school continuous improvement 
9.6 	plan.
9.7 	(d) The commissioner shall establish and maintain a continuous improvement Web 
9.8 	site designed to make data on every school and district available to parents, teachers, 
9.9 	administrators, community members, and the general public.
9.10 		Subd. 3.Student progress assessment State growth target; other state measures.
 9.11 	(a) The state's educational assessment system component measuring individual students' 
9.12 	educational progress must be growth is based, to the extent annual tests are administered,
9.13 	on indicators of achievement growth that show an individual student's prior achievement. 
9.14 	Indicators of achievement and prior achievement must be based on highly reliable 
9.15 	statewide or districtwide assessments.
9.16 	(b) The commissioner, in consultation with a recognized Minnesota assessment 
9.17 	group composed of assessment and evaluation directors and staff and researchers must 
9.18 	identify effective models for measuring individual student progress that enable a school 
9.19 	district or school site to perform gains-based analysis, including evaluating the effects of 
9.20 	the teacher, school, and school district on student achievement over time. At least one 
9.21 	model must be a "value-added" assessment model that reliably estimates those effects for 
9.22 	classroom settings where a single teacher teaches multiple subjects to the same group 
9.23 	of students, for team teaching arrangements, and for other teaching circumstances.
9.24 	implement a model that uses a growth-based value-added system and includes criteria 
9.25 	for identifying schools and school districts that demonstrate medium and high growth 
9.26 	under section 120B.299. The system may be used to advance educators' professional 
9.27 	development and replicate programs that succeed in meeting students' diverse learning 
9.28 	needs. Data on individual teachers generated under the model are personnel data under 
9.29 	section 13.43. The model must allow users to:
9.30 	(1) report student growth consistent with this paragraph; and
9.31 	(2) for all student categories with a cell size of at least 20, report and compare 
9.32 	aggregated and disaggregated state growth data using the nine student categories identified 
9.33 	under the federal 2001 No Child Left Behind Act and two student gender categories 
9.34 	of male and female, respectively.
9.35 	The commissioner must report separate measures of student growth and proficiency, 
9.36 	consistent with this paragraph.
10.1 	(c) If a district has an accountability plan that includes gains-based analysis or 
10.2 	"value-added" assessment, the commissioner shall, to the extent practicable, incorporate 
10.3 	those measures in determining whether the district or school site meets expectations. The 
10.4 	department must coordinate with the district in evaluating school sites and continuous 
10.5 	improvement plans, consistent with best practices. When reporting student performance 
10.6 	under section 120B.36, subdivision 1, the commissioner annually, beginning July 1, 
10.7 	2011, must report two core measures indicating the extent to which current high school 
10.8 	graduates are being prepared for postsecondary academic and career opportunities:
10.9 	(1) a preparation measure indicating the number and percentage of high school 
10.10 	graduates in the most recent school year who completed course work important to 
10.11 	preparing them for postsecondary academic and career opportunities, consistent with 
10.12 	the core academic subjects required for admission to Minnesota's public colleges and 
10.13 	universities as determined by the Office of Higher Education under chapter 136A; and
10.14 	(2) a rigorous coursework measure indicating the number and percentage of high 
10.15 	school graduates in the most recent school year who successfully completed one or more 
10.16 	college-level advanced placement, international baccalaureate, postsecondary enrollment 
10.17 	options including concurrent enrollment, other rigorous courses of study under section 
10.18 	120B.021, subdivision 1a, or industry certification courses or programs.
10.19 	When reporting the core measures under clauses (1) and (2), the commissioner must also 
10.20 	analyze and report separate categories of information using the nine student categories 
10.21 	identified under the federal 2001 No Child Left Behind Act and two student gender 
10.22 	categories of male and female, respectively.
10.23 	(d) When reporting student performance under section 120B.36, subdivision 1, the 
10.24 	commissioner annually, beginning July 1, 2013, must report summary data on school 
10.25 	safety and students' engagement and connection at school. The summary data under this 
10.26 	paragraph are separate from and must not be used for any purpose related to measuring 
10.27 	or evaluating the performance of classroom teachers. The commissioner, in consultation 
10.28 	with qualified experts on student engagement and connection and classroom teachers, 
10.29 	must identify highly reliable variables that generate summary data under this paragraph. 
10.30 	The summary data may be used at school, district, and state levels only. Any data on 
10.31 	individuals received, collected, or created that are used to generate the summary data 
10.32 	under this paragraph are nonpublic data under section 13.02, subdivision 9.
10.33 		Subd. 4.Improving schools. Consistent with the requirements of this section, the 
10.34 	commissioner of education must establish a second achievement benchmark to identify 
10.35 	improving schools. The commissioner must recommend to annually report to the public 
10.36 	and the legislature by February 15, 2002, indicators in addition to the achievement 
11.1 	benchmark for identifying improving schools, including an indicator requiring a school 
11.2 	to demonstrate ongoing successful use of best teaching practices best practices learned 
11.3 	from those schools that demonstrate medium and high growth compared to the state 
11.4 	growth target.
11.5 		Subd. 5.Improving graduation rates for students with emotional or behavioral 
11.6 	disorders. (a) A district must develop strategies in conjunction with parents of students 
11.7 	with emotional or behavioral disorders and the county board responsible for implementing 
11.8 	sections 245.487 to 245.4889 to keep students with emotional or behavioral disorders in 
11.9 	school, when the district has a drop-out rate for students with an emotional or behavioral 
11.10 	disorder in grades 9 through 12 exceeding 25 percent. 
11.11 	(b) A district must develop a plan in conjunction with parents of students with 
11.12 	emotional or behavioral disorders and the local mental health authority to increase the 
11.13 	graduation rates of students with emotional or behavioral disorders. A district with a 
11.14 	drop-out rate for children with an emotional or behavioral disturbance in grades 9 through 
11.15 	12 that is in the top 25 percent of all districts shall submit a plan for review and oversight 
11.16 	to the commissioner.

11.17 	EFFECTIVE DATE. Subdivision 3, paragraph (b), applies to students in the 
11.18 	2008-2009 school year and later. Subdivision 3, paragraph (c), applies to students in the 
11.19 	2010-2011 school year and later. Subdivision 3, paragraph (d), applies to data that are 
11.20 	collected in the 2010-2011 school year and later and reported annually beginning July 1, 
11.21 	2013, consistent with advice the commissioner receives from recognized and qualified 
11.22 	experts on student engagement and connection and classroom teachers. Subdivision 4 
11.23 	applies in the 2011-2012 school year and later.

11.24 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 120B.36, is amended to read:
11.25 	120B.36 SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY; APPEALS PROCESS.
11.26 		Subdivision 1.School performance report cards. (a) The commissioner shall use 
11.27 	objective criteria based on levels of student performance to report at least student academic 
11.28 	performance under section 120B.35, subdivision 2, the percentages of students showing 
11.29 	low, medium, and high growth under section 120B.35, subdivision 3, paragraph (b), 
11.30 	school safety and student engagement and connection under section 120B.35, subdivision 
11.31 	3, paragraph (d), rigorous coursework under section 120B.35, subdivision 3, paragraph 
11.32 	(c), two separate student-to-teacher ratios that clearly indicate the definition of teacher 
11.33 	consistent with sections 122A.06 and 122A.15 for purposes of determining these ratios, 
11.34 	and staff characteristics excluding salaries, with a value-added component added no later 
12.1 	than the 2008-2009 school year student enrollment demographics, district mobility, and 
12.2 	extracurricular activities. The report must indicate a school's adequate yearly progress 
12.3 	status, and must not set any designations applicable to high- and low-performing schools 
12.4 	due solely to adequate yearly progress status.
12.5 	(b) The commissioner shall develop, annually update, and post on the department 
12.6 	Web site school performance report cards. 
12.7 	(c) The commissioner must make available the first performance report cards by 
12.8 	November 2003, and during the beginning of each school year thereafter.
12.9 	(d) A school or district may appeal its adequate yearly progress status in writing to 
12.10 	the commissioner within 30 days of receiving the notice of its status. The commissioner's 
12.11 	decision to uphold or deny an appeal is final.
12.12 	(e) School performance report cards card data are nonpublic data under section 
12.13 	13.02, subdivision 9, until not later than ten days after the appeal procedure described in 
12.14 	paragraph (d) concludes. The department shall annually post school performance report 
12.15 	cards to its public Web site no later than September 1. 
12.16 		Subd. 2.Adequate yearly progress data. All data the department receives, 
12.17 	collects, or creates for purposes of determining to determine adequate yearly progress 
12.18 	designations status under Public Law 107-110, section 1116, set state growth targets, and 
12.19 	determine student growth are nonpublic data under section 13.02, subdivision 9, until not 
12.20 	later than ten days after the appeal procedure described in subdivision 1, paragraph (d), 
12.21 	concludes. Districts must provide parents sufficiently detailed summary data to permit 
12.22 	parents to appeal under Public Law 107-110, section 1116(b)(2). The department shall 
12.23 	annually post federal adequate yearly progress data and state student growth data to its 
12.24 	public Web site no later than September 1. 

12.25 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

12.26 	Sec. 6. IMPLEMENTING RIGOROUS COURSEWORK MEASURES 
12.27 	RELATED TO STUDENT PERFORMANCE.
 12.28 	To implement the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.35, subdivision 
12.29 	3, paragraph (c), clauses (1) and (2), and to help parents and members of the public better 
12.30 	understand the reported data, the commissioner of education must convene a group of 
12.31 	recognized and qualified experts and interested stakeholders, including parents among 
12.32 	other stakeholders, to develop a model projecting anticipated performance of each high 
12.33 	school on preparation and rigorous coursework measures that compares the school with 
12.34 	similar schools. The model must use information about entering high school students 
12.35 	based on particular background characteristics that are predictive of differing rates of 
13.1 	college readiness. These characteristics include grade 8 achievement levels, high school 
13.2 	student mobility, high school student attendance, and the size of each entering ninth grade 
13.3 	class. The group of experts and stakeholders may examine other characteristics not part 
13.4 	of the prediction model including the nine student categories identified under the federal 
13.5 	2001 No Child Left Behind Act, and two student gender categories of male and female, 
13.6 	respectively. The commissioner annually must use the predicted level of entering students' 
13.7 	performance to provide a context for interpreting graduating students' actual performance. 
13.8 	The group convened under this section expires June 30, 2011.

13.9 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
13.10 	and applies to school report cards beginning July 1, 2011.

13.11 	Sec. 7. IMPLEMENTING MEASURES FOR ASSESSING SCHOOL SAFETY 
13.12 	AND STUDENTS' ENGAGEMENT AND CONNECTION AT SCHOOL .
 13.13 	(a) To implement the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.35, 
13.14 	subdivision 3, paragraph (d), the commissioner of education, in consultation with 
13.15 	interested stakeholders, including parents and teachers among other stakeholders, 
13.16 	must convene a group of recognized and qualified experts on student engagement and 
13.17 	connection and classroom teachers currently teaching in Minnesota schools to:
13.18 	(1) identify highly reliable variables of student engagement and connection that 
13.19 	may include student attendance, home support for learning, and student participation in 
13.20 	out-of-school activities, among other variables; and
13.21 	(2) determine how to report "safety" in order to comply with federal law.
13.22 	(b) The commissioner must submit a written report and all the group's working 
13.23 	papers to the education committees of the house of representatives and senate by February 
13.24 	15, 2010, presenting the group's responses to paragraph (a), clauses (1) and (2). The 
13.25 	commissioner must submit a second, related report to the education committees of the 
13.26 	legislature by February 15, 2013, indicating the content and analysis of and the format 
13.27 	for reporting the data collected in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years under 
13.28 	Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.35, subdivision 3, paragraph (d). The group convened 
13.29 	under this section expires December 31, 2013.

13.30 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
13.31 	and applies to school report cards beginning July 1, 2013.

13.32 	Sec. 8.  REPEALER.
 13.33 	Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 120B.362, is repealed.