1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; providing for the comparison of 
  1.3             the third and fifth grade tests in the comprehensive 
  1.4             assessment system; amending Minnesota Statutes 2001 
  1.5             Supplement, section 120B.30, subdivision 1. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2001 Supplement, section 
  1.8   120B.30, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [STATEWIDE TESTING.] (a) The commissioner, 
  1.10  with advice from experts with appropriate technical 
  1.11  qualifications and experience and stakeholders, shall include in 
  1.12  the comprehensive assessment system, for each grade level to be 
  1.13  tested, a test, which shall be aligned with the state's 
  1.14  graduation standards and administered annually to all students 
  1.15  in the third, fifth, seventh, and eighth grades.  The 
  1.16  commissioner shall establish one or more months during which 
  1.17  schools shall administer the tests to students each school 
  1.18  year.  Only Minnesota basic skills tests in reading, 
  1.19  mathematics, and writing shall fulfill students' basic skills 
  1.20  testing requirements for a passing state notation.  The passing 
  1.21  scores of the state tests in reading and mathematics are the 
  1.22  equivalent of:  
  1.23     (1) 70 percent correct for students entering grade 9 in 
  1.24  1996; and 
  1.25     (2) 75 percent correct for students entering grade 9 in 
  2.1   1997 and thereafter, as based on the first uniform test 
  2.2   administration of February 1998.  
  2.3      (b) Third, fifth, and seventh grade test results including, 
  2.4   but not limited to, third and fifth grade test scores scaled for 
  2.5   comparison, shall be available to districts for diagnostic 
  2.6   purposes affecting student learning and district instruction and 
  2.7   curriculum, and for establishing educational accountability.  
  2.8   The commissioner must disseminate to the public the third, 
  2.9   fifth, and seventh grade test results upon receiving those 
  2.10  results. 
  2.11     (c) In addition, at the high school level, districts shall 
  2.12  assess student performance in all required learning areas and 
  2.13  selected required standards within each area of the profile of 
  2.14  learning.  The testing instruments, the testing process, and the 
  2.15  order of administration shall be determined by the 
  2.16  commissioner.  The results shall be aggregated at the site and 
  2.17  district level.  
  2.18     (d) The commissioner shall report school site and school 
  2.19  district student academic achievement levels of the current and 
  2.20  two immediately preceding school years.  The report shall 
  2.21  include students' unweighted mean test scores in each tested 
  2.22  subject, the unweighted mean test scores of only those students 
  2.23  enrolled in the school by October 1 of the current school year, 
  2.24  and the unweighted test scores of all students except those 
  2.25  students receiving limited English proficiency instruction.  The 
  2.26  report shall include third and fifth grade test scores scaled 
  2.27  for comparison.  The report also shall record separately, in 
  2.28  proximity to the reported performance levels, the percentage of 
  2.29  students of each gender and the percentages of students who are 
  2.30  eligible to receive a free or reduced price school meal, 
  2.31  demonstrate limited English proficiency, are identified as 
  2.32  migrant students, are a member of a major ethnic or racial 
  2.33  population, or are eligible to receive special education 
  2.34  services. 
  2.35     (e) In addition to the testing and reporting requirements 
  2.36  under paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d), the commissioner shall 
  3.1   include the following components in the statewide public 
  3.2   reporting system: 
  3.3      (1) uniform statewide testing of all third, fifth, seventh, 
  3.4   eighth, and post-eighth grade students that provides exemptions, 
  3.5   only with parent or guardian approval, for those very few 
  3.6   students for whom the student's individual education plan team 
  3.7   under sections 125A.05 and 125A.06, determines that the student 
  3.8   is incapable of taking a statewide test, or for a limited 
  3.9   English proficiency student under section 124D.59, subdivision 
  3.10  2, if the student has been in the United States for fewer than 
  3.11  12 months and for whom special language barriers exist, such as 
  3.12  the student's native language does not have a written form or 
  3.13  the district does not have access to appropriate interpreter 
  3.14  services for the student's native language; 
  3.15     (2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and 
  3.16  compared across school districts and across time on a statewide 
  3.17  basis, including average daily attendance, high school 
  3.18  graduation rates, and high school drop-out rates by age and 
  3.19  grade level; 
  3.20     (3) students' scores on the American College Test; and 
  3.21     (4) participation in the National Assessment of Educational 
  3.22  Progress so that the state can benchmark its performance against 
  3.23  the nation and other states, and, where possible, against other 
  3.24  countries, and contribute to the national effort to monitor 
  3.25  achievement. 
  3.26     (f) Districts must report exemptions under paragraph (e), 
  3.27  clause (1), to the commissioner consistent with a format 
  3.28  provided by the commissioner.