Senate Bill sb2280

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2280

    By Senator Siplin





    19-822B-05                                          See HB 379

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to student assessment

  3         instruments; amending s. 1008.23, F.S.;

  4         authorizing a student's parent and the student

  5         to review the questions and the student's

  6         answers to questions on the

  7         criterion-referenced portion of the Florida

  8         Comprehensive Assessment Test; providing

  9         restrictions on the review; requiring the

10         Department of Education to honor requests

11         within a certain time period; requiring that

12         district school boards notify eligible parents;

13         requiring the State Board of Education to adopt

14         rules; authorizing reasonable attorney's fees

15         and costs under certain circumstances; amending

16         s. 1003.433, F.S.; revising requirements for

17         receipt of a standard high school diploma for

18         certain transfer students; providing an

19         effective date.

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21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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23         Section 1.  Section 1008.23, Florida Statutes, is

24  amended to read:

25         1008.23  Confidentiality of assessment instruments.--

26         (1)  All examination and assessment instruments,

27  including developmental materials and workpapers directly

28  related thereto, which are prepared, prescribed, or

29  administered pursuant to ss. 1003.43, 1008.22, and 1008.25

30  shall be confidential and exempt from the provisions of s.

31  119.07(1) and from s. 1001.52. Provisions governing access,

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2280
    19-822B-05                                          See HB 379




 1  maintenance, and destruction of such instruments and related

 2  materials shall be prescribed by rules of the State Board of

 3  Education.

 4         (2)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), a student's

 5  parent, accompanied by the student, may review, at the school

 6  at which the student was enrolled when the student was

 7  administered the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the

 8  questions on each section of the criterion-referenced portion

 9  of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, as well as the

10  student's answers to those questions, under the following

11  conditions:

12         (a)  The student must have failed to earn a passing

13  score on the grade 10 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test or

14  failed to score at Level 2 or higher on the Florida

15  Comprehensive Assessment Test in reading for grade 3.

16         (b)  No recording or copying of the assessment may be

17  made.

18         (c)  A school administrator, as defined in s.

19  1012.01(3)(c), or a representative of the Department of

20  Education must be present at all times when the assessment is

21  reviewed.

22         (d)  The student or student's parent may not review the

23  assessment more than one time.

24         (e)  No other individual is authorized to attend the

25  review.

26         (f)  The assessment was not administered to the student

27  more than 2 years before the review.

28         (g)  The student or student's parent may not remove the

29  assessment from the reviewing location.

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2280
    19-822B-05                                          See HB 379




 1         (h)  The student, the student's parent, the school

 2  administrator, or the department representative may not take

 3  any notes during the review.

 4         (i)  The parent must request the review within 14 days

 5  after receipt of the student's score.

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 7  The Department of Education shall provide for review of the

 8  assessment questions and the student's answers to the

 9  questions within 30 days after receiving the request for

10  review. Each district school board shall notify eligible

11  parents of the review option and the procedures for the

12  review. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules

13  pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer this

14  subsection. If the review request is not met in accordance

15  with this subsection, the parent is entitled to reasonable

16  attorney's fees and costs incurred by the parent in obtaining

17  compliance with this subsection.

18         Section 2.  Subsection (1) of section 1003.433, Florida

19  Statutes, is amended to read:

20         1003.433  Learning opportunities for out-of-state and

21  out-of-country transfer students and students needing

22  additional instruction to meet high school graduation

23  requirements.--

24         (1)  Students who enter a Florida public school at the

25  eleventh or twelfth grade from out of state or from a foreign

26  country shall not be required to spend additional time in a

27  Florida public school in order to meet the high school course

28  requirements if the student has met all requirements of the

29  school district, state, or country from which he or she is

30  transferring. Such students who are not proficient in English

31  should receive immediate and intensive instruction in English

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2280
    19-822B-05                                          See HB 379




 1  language acquisition. However, to receive a standard high

 2  school diploma, a transfer student must earn a 2.0 grade point

 3  average and pass the grade 10 FCAT required in s. 1008.22(3)

 4  or an alternate assessment as described in s. 1008.22(9).

 5  Beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, to receive a

 6  standard high school diploma, a transfer student who is in the

 7  eleventh grade at the time of the transfer must earn a 2.0

 8  grade point average and must pass the grade 10 FCAT required

 9  in s. 1008.22(3), and a transfer student who is in the twelfth

10  grade at the time of the transfer must earn a 2.0 grade point

11  average and must earn scores on the SAT or the ACT that equate

12  to the passing scores on the grade 10 FCAT.

13         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

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