HOUSE BILL No. 5710

 

December 17, 2009, Introduced by Rep. Sheltrown and referred to the Committee on Education.

 

     A bill to amend 1970 PA 38, entitled

 

"An act to provide for assessment and remedial assistance programs

of students in reading, mathematics and vocational education,"

 

by amending section 2 (MCL 388.1082), as amended by 2005 PA 31.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 2. (1) The statewide assessment program of educational

 

progress shall cover all students annually in at least 2 elementary

 

and middle school grade levels in public schools. If the federal

 

government requires assessments at additional grade levels under

 

the no child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110, the

 

superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that this state

 

complies with those requirements.

 

     (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop and

 

conduct the assessment program and may utilize the assistance of

 

appropriate testing organizations or testing specialists. Beginning


 

with assessments conducted in the 2005-2006 school year, all All of

 

the following apply to the assessment program:

 

     (a) Beginning with assessments conducted during the 2010-2011

 

school year, the superintendent of public instruction shall replace

 

the current assessments used in the program that were developed by

 

the department with 1 or more nationally normed, growth model

 

assessments purchased for the purposes of the program.

 

     (b) (a) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure

 

that any contractor used for scoring an assessment instrument

 

supplies an individual report for each student that will identify

 

for the student's parents and teachers whether the student met

 

expectations or failed to meet expectations for each standard, to

 

allow the student's parents and teachers to assess and remedy

 

problems before the student moves to the next grade.

 

     (c) (b) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure

 

that any contractor used for scoring , developing, or processing an

 

assessment instrument meets quality management standards commonly

 

used in the assessment industry, including at least meeting level 2

 

3 of the capability maturity model developed by the software

 

engineering institute of Carnegie Mellon university. for the 2005-

 

2006 school year assessments and at least meeting level 3 of the

 

capability maturity model for subsequent assessments.

 

     (d) (c) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure

 

that any contract it the department enters into for scoring , or

 

administering , or developing an assessment instrument includes

 

specific deadlines for all steps of the assessment process,

 

including, but not limited to, deadlines for the correct testing


 

materials to be supplied to schools and for the correct results to

 

be returned to schools, and includes penalties for noncompliance

 

with these deadlines.

 

     (e) (d) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure

 

that the assessment instruments purchased for the purposes of the

 

program meet all of the following:

 

     (i) Are designed to test students on grade level content

 

expectations in all subjects tested for each grade level tested.

 

     (ii) Comply with requirements of the no child left behind act

 

of 2001, Public Law 107-110.

 

     (iii) Are consistent with the code of fair testing practices in

 

education prepared by the joint committee on testing practices of

 

the American psychological association.

 

     (iv) Are factually accurate. If the superintendent of public

 

instruction determines that a question is not factually accurate

 

and should be removed from an assessment instrument, the state

 

board and the superintendent shall ensure that the question is

 

removed from the assessment instrument before the assessment

 

instrument is used for the purposes of the program.

 

     (3) The program shall assess competencies in the basic skills

 

and collect and utilize other relevant information essential to the

 

assessment program.

 

     (4) Based on information from the program, the public schools

 

shall identify students who have extraordinary need for assistance

 

to improve their competence in the basic skills and shall identify

 

students who have demonstrated extraordinary competence in multiple

 

subject areas who should be recommended for advancement.


 

     (5) Information from the program shall be given to each school

 

as soon as possible to assist it in its efforts to improve the

 

achievement of students in the basic skills.