HB 231

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to statewide assessments; amending s.
3	1008.22, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the
4	schedule for administering comprehensive statewide
5	assessments; providing that a comprehensive statewide
6	assessment may be administered the week before the week of
7	April 15 if a religious holiday occurs during that week;
8	providing an effective date.
9
10	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12	Section 1.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section
13	1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
14	1008.22  Student assessment program for public schools.--
15	(3)  STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.--The commissioner shall
16	design and implement a statewide program of educational
17	assessment that provides information for the improvement of the
18	operation and management of the public schools, including
19	schools operating for the purpose of providing educational
20	services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice programs.
21	The commissioner may enter into contracts for the continued
22	administration of the assessment, testing, and evaluation
23	programs authorized and funded by the Legislature. Contracts may
24	be initiated in 1 fiscal year and continue into the next and may
25	be paid from the appropriations of either or both fiscal years.
26	The commissioner is authorized to negotiate for the sale or
27	lease of tests, scoring protocols, test scoring services, and
28	related materials developed pursuant to law. Pursuant to the
29	statewide assessment program, the commissioner shall:
30	(c)  Develop and implement a student achievement testing
31	program known as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
32	(FCAT) as part of the statewide assessment program to measure a
33	student's content knowledge and skills in reading, writing,
34	science, and mathematics. Other content areas may be included as
35	directed by the commissioner. Comprehensive assessments of
36	reading and mathematics shall be administered annually in grades
37	3 through 10. Comprehensive assessments of writing and science
38	shall be administered at least once at the elementary, middle,
39	and high school levels. End-of-course assessments for a subject
40	may be administered in addition to the comprehensive assessments
41	required for that subject under this paragraph. An end-of-course
42	assessment must be rigorous, statewide, standardized, and
43	developed or approved by the department. The content knowledge
44	and skills assessed by comprehensive and end-of-course
45	assessments must be aligned to the core curricular content
46	established in the Sunshine State Standards. The commissioner
47	may select one or more nationally developed comprehensive
48	examinations, which may include, but need not be limited to,
49	examinations for a College Board Advanced Placement course,
50	International Baccalaureate course, or Advanced International
51	Certificate of Education course or industry-approved
52	examinations to earn national industry certifications as defined
53	in s. 1003.492, for use as end-of-course assessments under this
54	paragraph, if the commissioner determines that the content
55	knowledge and skills assessed by the examinations meet or exceed
56	the grade level expectations for the core curricular content
57	established for the course in the Next Generation Sunshine State
58	Standards. The commissioner may collaborate with the American
59	Diploma Project in the adoption or development of rigorous end-
60	of-course assessments that are aligned to the Next Generation
61	Sunshine State Standards. The testing program must be designed
62	as follows:
63	1.  The tests shall measure student skills and competencies
64	adopted by the State Board of Education as specified in
65	paragraph (a). The tests must measure and report student
66	proficiency levels of all students assessed in reading, writing,
67	mathematics, and science. The commissioner shall provide for the
68	tests to be developed or obtained, as appropriate, through
69	contracts and project agreements with private vendors, public
70	vendors, public agencies, postsecondary educational
71	institutions, or school districts. The commissioner shall obtain
72	input with respect to the design and implementation of the
73	testing program from state educators, assistive technology
74	experts, and the public.
75	2.  The testing program shall be composed of criterion-
76	referenced tests that shall, to the extent determined by the
77	commissioner, include test items that require the student to
78	produce information or perform tasks in such a way that the core
79	content knowledge and skills he or she uses can be measured.
80	3.  Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, the
81	commissioner shall discontinue administration of the selected-
82	response test items on the comprehensive assessments of writing.
83	Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, the comprehensive
84	assessments of writing shall be composed of a combination of
85	selected-response test items, short-response performance tasks,
86	and extended-response performance tasks, which shall measure a
87	student's content knowledge of writing, including, but not
88	limited to, paragraph and sentence structure, sentence
89	construction, grammar and usage, punctuation, capitalization,
90	spelling, parts of speech, verb tense, irregular verbs, subject-
91	verb agreement, and noun-pronoun agreement.
92	4.  A score shall be designated for each subject area
93	tested, below which score a student's performance is deemed
94	inadequate. The school districts shall provide appropriate
95	remedial instruction to students who score below these levels.
96	5.  Except as provided in s. 1003.428(8)(b) or s.
97	1003.43(11)(b), students must earn a passing score on the grade
98	10 assessment test described in this paragraph or attain
99	concordant scores as described in subsection (10) in reading,
100	writing, and mathematics to qualify for a standard high school
101	diploma. The State Board of Education shall designate a passing
102	score for each part of the grade 10 assessment test. In
103	establishing passing scores, the state board shall consider any
104	possible negative impact of the test on minority students. The
105	State Board of Education shall adopt rules which specify the
106	passing scores for the grade 10 FCAT. Any such rules, which have
107	the effect of raising the required passing scores, shall apply
108	only to students taking the grade 10 FCAT for the first time
109	after such rules are adopted by the State Board of Education.
110	6.  Participation in the testing program is mandatory for
111	all students attending public school, including students served
112	in Department of Juvenile Justice programs, except as otherwise
113	prescribed by the commissioner. If a student does not
114	participate in the statewide assessment, the district must
115	notify the student's parent and provide the parent with
116	information regarding the implications of such nonparticipation.
117	A parent must provide signed consent for a student to receive
118	classroom instructional accommodations that would not be
119	available or permitted on the statewide assessments and must
120	acknowledge in writing that he or she understands the
121	implications of such instructional accommodations. The State
122	Board of Education shall adopt rules, based upon recommendations
123	of the commissioner, for the provision of test accommodations
124	for students in exceptional education programs and for students
125	who have limited English proficiency. Accommodations that negate
126	the validity of a statewide assessment are not allowable in the
127	administration of the FCAT. However, instructional
128	accommodations are allowable in the classroom if included in a
129	student's individual education plan. Students using
130	instructional accommodations in the classroom that are not
131	allowable as accommodations on the FCAT may have the FCAT
132	requirement waived pursuant to the requirements of s.
133	1003.428(8)(b) or s. 1003.43(11)(b).
134	7.  A student seeking an adult high school diploma must
135	meet the same testing requirements that a regular high school
136	student must meet.
137	8.  District school boards must provide instruction to
138	prepare students to demonstrate proficiency in the core
139	curricular content established in the Next Generation Sunshine
140	State Standards adopted under s. 1003.41, including the core
141	content knowledge and skills necessary for successful grade-to-
142	grade progression and high school graduation. If a student is
143	provided with instructional accommodations in the classroom that
144	are not allowable as accommodations in the statewide assessment
145	program, as described in the test manuals, the district must
146	inform the parent in writing and must provide the parent with
147	information regarding the impact on the student's ability to
148	meet expected proficiency levels in reading, writing, and
149	mathematics. The commissioner shall conduct studies as necessary
150	to verify that the required core curricular content is part of
151	the district instructional programs.
152	9.  District school boards must provide opportunities for
153	students to demonstrate an acceptable level of performance on an
154	alternative standardized assessment approved by the State Board
155	of Education following enrollment in summer academies.
156	10.  The Department of Education must develop, or select,
157	and implement a common battery of assessment tools that will be
158	used in all juvenile justice programs in the state. These tools
159	must accurately measure the core curricular content established
160	in the Sunshine State Standards.
161	11.  For students seeking a special diploma pursuant to s.
162	1003.438, the Department of Education must develop or select and
163	implement an alternate assessment tool that accurately measures
164	the core curricular content established in the Sunshine State
165	Standards for students with disabilities under s. 1003.438.
166	12.  The Commissioner of Education shall establish
167	schedules for the administration of statewide assessments and
168	the reporting of student test results. The commissioner shall,
169	by August 1 of each year, notify each school district in writing
170	and publish on the department's Internet website the testing and
171	reporting schedules for, at a minimum, the school year following
172	the upcoming school year. The testing and reporting schedules
173	shall require that:
174	a.  There is the latest possible administration of
175	statewide assessments and the earliest possible reporting to the
176	school districts of student test results which is feasible
177	within available technology and specific appropriations;
178	however, test results must be made available no later than the
179	final day of the regular school year for students.
180	b.  Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, a
181	comprehensive statewide assessment of writing is not
182	administered earlier than the week of March 1 and a
183	comprehensive statewide assessment of any other subject is not
184	administered earlier than the week of April 15. However, if any
185	religious holiday, including, but not limited to, Passover and
186	Easter, occurs during the week of April 15, the comprehensive
187	statewide assessment may be administered the week before the
188	week during which the religious holiday occurs.
189	c.  A statewide standardized end-of-course assessment is
190	administered within the last 2 weeks of the course.
191
192	The commissioner may, based on collaboration and input from
193	school districts, design and implement student testing programs,
194	for any grade level and subject area, necessary to effectively
195	monitor educational achievement in the state, including the
196	measurement of educational achievement of the Sunshine State
197	Standards for students with disabilities. Development and
198	refinement of assessments shall include universal design
199	principles and accessibility standards that will prevent any
200	unintended obstacles for students with disabilities while
201	ensuring the validity and reliability of the test. These
202	principles should be applicable to all technology platforms and
203	assistive devices available for the assessments. The field
204	testing process and psychometric analyses for the statewide
205	assessment program must include an appropriate percentage of
206	students with disabilities and an evaluation or determination of
207	the effect of test items on such students.
208	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.