| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to student assessment; amending s. |
| 3 | 1008.22, F.S.; requiring the Department of Education to |
| 4 | conduct concordance studies to determine FCAT |
| 5 | equivalencies for high school graduation; deleting a |
| 6 | limitation on the use of alternative assessments for the |
| 7 | grade 10 FCAT; requiring the department to conduct a |
| 8 | concordance study to identify alternative examinations for |
| 9 | the grade 10 FCAT for students with limited English |
| 10 | proficiency; providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 1008.22, Florida |
| 15 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 16 | 1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools.-- |
| 17 | (9) EQUIVALENCIES FOR STANDARDIZED TESTS.-- |
| 18 | (a) The Department of Education shall conduct concordance |
| 19 | studies, as necessary, to determine scores on the SAT and the |
| 20 | ACT equivalent to those required on the FCAT for high school |
| 21 | graduation pursuant to s. 1003.429(6)(a) or s. 1003.43(5)(a). |
| 22 | (b)1.(a) The Commissioner of Education shall approve the |
| 23 | use of the SAT and ACT tests as alternative assessments to the |
| 24 | grade 10 FCAT for the 2003-2004 school year. Students who attain |
| 25 | scores on the SAT or ACT which equate to the passing scores on |
| 26 | the grade 10 FCAT for purposes of high school graduation shall |
| 27 | satisfy the assessment requirement for a standard high school |
| 28 | diploma as provided in s. 1003.429(6)(a) or s. 1003.43(5)(a) for |
| 29 | the 2003-2004 school year if the students meet the requirement |
| 30 | in subparagraph 2 paragraph (b). |
| 31 | 2.(b) A student shall be required to take the grade 10 |
| 32 | FCAT a total of three times without earning a passing score in |
| 33 | order to use the scores on an alternative assessment pursuant to |
| 34 | subparagraph 1 paragraph (a). This requirement shall not apply |
| 35 | to a student who is a new student to the public school system in |
| 36 | grade 12. |
| 37 | (c) The Department of Education shall conduct a |
| 38 | concordance study to identify alternative examinations for the |
| 39 | grade 10 FCAT for students with limited English proficiency. |
| 40 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |