HB 232: "An Act relating to the duties of the Department of Education and Early Development; relating to student assessments; and prohibiting the Department of Education and Early Development from administering the Alaska Measures of Progress student assessments."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 232 01 "An Act relating to the duties of the Department of Education and Early Development; 02 relating to student assessments; and prohibiting the Department of Education and Early 03 Development from administering the Alaska Measures of Progress student 04 assessments." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 14.03.120(d) is amended to read: 07 (d) Annually, before the date set by the district under (e) of this section, each 08 public school shall deliver to the department for posting on the department's Internet 09 website and provide, in a public meeting of parents, students, and community 10 members, a report on the school's performance and the performance of the school's 11 students. The report shall be prepared on a form prescribed by the department and 12 must include 13 (1) information on accreditation; 14 (2) results of norm-referenced achievement tests;
01 (3) results of student [STATE STANDARDS-BASED] assessments in 02 language arts and mathematics; 03 (4) a description, including quantitative and qualitative measures, of 04 student, parent, community, and business involvement in student learning; 05 (5) a description of the school's attendance, retention, dropout, and 06 graduation rates as specified by the state board; 07 (6) the annual percent of enrollment change, regardless of reason, and 08 the annual percent of enrollment change due to student transfers into and out of the 09 school district; 10 (7) if Native language education is provided, a summary and 11 evaluation of the curriculum described in AS 14.30.420; 12 (8) the performance designation assigned the school under 13 AS 14.03.123 and the methodology used to assign the performance designation, 14 including the measures used and their relative weights; 15 (9) other information concerning school performance and the 16 performance of the school's students as required by the state board in regulation; and 17 (10) information on the number, attendance, and performance of 18 students enrolled in the school whose parents or guardians are on active duty in the 19 armed forces of the United States, the United States Coast Guard, the Alaska National 20 Guard, the Alaska Naval Militia, or the Alaska State Defense Force. 21 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.123(f) is amended to read: 22 (f) In the accountability system for schools and districts required by this 23 section, the department shall 24 (1) implement 20 U.S.C. 6301 - 7941 (Elementary and Secondary 25 Education Act of 1965), as amended; 26 (2) implement state criteria and priorities for accountability including 27 the use of 28 (A) measures of student performance on student 29 [STANDARDS-BASED] assessments in language arts and mathematics 30 selected by the department under AS 14.07.020(d); 31 (B) measures of student improvement; and
01 (C) other measures identified that are indicators of student 02 success and achievement; and 03 (3) to the extent practicable, minimize the administrative burden on 04 districts. 05 * Sec. 3. AS 14.07.020(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) The department shall 07 (1) exercise general supervision over the public schools of the state 08 except the University of Alaska; 09 (2) study the conditions and needs of the public schools of the state, 10 adopt or recommend plans, administer and evaluate grants to improve school 11 performance awarded under AS 14.03.125, and adopt regulations for the improvement 12 of the public schools; 13 (3) provide advisory and consultative services to all public school 14 governing bodies and personnel; 15 (4) prescribe by regulation a minimum course of study for the public 16 schools; the regulations must provide that, if a course in American Sign Language is 17 given, the course shall be given credit as a course in a foreign language; 18 (5) establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and Social 19 Services, a program for the continuing education of children who are held in detention 20 facilities in the state during the period of detention; 21 (6) accredit those public schools that meet accreditation standards 22 prescribed by regulation by the department; these regulations shall be adopted by the 23 department and presented to the legislature during the first 10 days of any regular 24 session, and become effective 45 days after presentation or at the end of the session, 25 whichever is earlier, unless disapproved by a resolution concurred in by a majority of 26 the members of each house; 27 (7) prescribe by regulation, after consultation with the state fire 28 marshal and the state sanitarian, standards that will assure healthful and safe 29 conditions in the public and private schools of the state, including a requirement of 30 physical examinations and immunizations in pre-elementary schools; the standards for 31 private schools may not be more stringent than those for public schools;
01 (8) exercise general supervision over pre-elementary schools that 02 receive direct state or federal funding; 03 (9) exercise general supervision over elementary and secondary 04 correspondence study programs offered by municipal school districts or regional 05 educational attendance areas; the department may also offer and make available to any 06 Alaskan through a centralized office a correspondence study program; 07 (10) accredit private schools that request accreditation and that meet 08 accreditation standards prescribed by regulation by the department; nothing in this 09 paragraph authorizes the department to require religious or other private schools to be 10 licensed; 11 (11) review plans for construction of new public elementary and 12 secondary schools and for additions to and major rehabilitation of existing public 13 elementary and secondary schools and, in accordance with regulations adopted by the 14 department, determine and approve the extent of eligibility for state aid of a school 15 construction or major maintenance project; for the purposes of this paragraph, "plans" 16 include educational specifications, schematic designs, projected energy consumption 17 and costs, and final contract documents; 18 (12) provide educational opportunities in the areas of vocational 19 education and training, and basic education to individuals over 16 years of age who 20 are no longer attending school; 21 (13) administer the grants awarded under AS 14.11; 22 (14) establish, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, a 23 school bus driver training course; 24 (15) require the reporting of information relating to school disciplinary 25 and safety programs under AS 14.33.120 and of incidents of disruptive or violent 26 behavior; 27 (16) establish by regulation criteria, based on low student performance, 28 under which the department may intervene in a school district to improve instructional 29 practices, as described in AS 14.07.030(14) or (15); the regulations must include 30 (A) a notice provision that alerts the district to the deficiencies 31 and the instructional practice changes proposed by the department;
01 (B) an end date for departmental intervention, as described in 02 AS 14.07.030(14)(A) and (B) and (15), after the district demonstrates three 03 consecutive years of improvement consisting of not less than two percent 04 increases in student proficiency on student [STANDARDS-BASED] 05 assessments in language arts and mathematics, as provided in 06 AS 14.03.123(f)(2)(A); and 07 (C) a process for districts to petition the department for 08 continuing or discontinuing the department's intervention; 09 (17) notify the legislative committees having jurisdiction over 10 education before intervening in a school district under AS 14.07.030(14) or redirecting 11 public school funding under AS 14.07.030(15). 12 (18) [REPEALED]. 13 * Sec. 4. AS 14.07.020(b) is amended to read: 14 (b) In implementing its duties under (a)(2) of this section, the department may 15 not expend any money to implement the set of educational curriculum standards for 16 grades kindergarten through 12 established by the Common Core Standards Initiative 17 and shall develop 18 [(1)] performance standards in language arts and mathematics to be 19 met at designated age levels by each student in public schools in the state [; AND 20 (2) A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF STUDENT 21 ASSESSMENTS, COMPOSED OF MULTIPLE INDICATORS OF PROFICIENCY 22 IN LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS; THIS COMPREHENSIVE 23 SYSTEM MUST 24 (A) BE MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL DISTRICTS AND 25 REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL ATTENDANCE AREAS; 26 (B) INCLUDE A DEVELOPMENTAL PROFILE FOR 27 STUDENTS ENTERING KINDERGARTEN OR FIRST GRADE; AND 28 (C) INCLUDE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS IN 29 LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATHEMATICS FOR STUDENTS IN AGE 30 GROUPS FIVE THROUGH SEVEN, EIGHT THROUGH 10, AND 11 - 14]. 31 * Sec. 5. AS 14.07.020 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
01 (d) In meeting its duties under (a)(2) and (b) of this section, the department 02 shall select a comprehensive system of student assessments composed of multiple 03 indicators of proficiency in language arts and mathematics. The department may not 04 develop or provide for the development of student assessments for use in the state. 05 Under this subsection, the department shall select student assessments that 06 (1) are developed by a national or regional organization that 07 specializes in the development of student assessments; 08 (2) are research-based; 09 (3) are norm-referenced; 10 (4) provide results that can be compared to national student 11 performance; and 12 (5) provide results that teachers can use to inform individual student 13 instruction. 14 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 15 read: 16 STUDENT ASSESSMENTS. The Department of Education and Early Development 17 may not administer the Alaska Measures of Progress student assessments that the department 18 developed in partnership with the Achievement and Assessment Institute at the University of 19 Kansas and first administered in 2015. The student assessments selected by the Department of 20 Education and Early Development under sec. 5 of this Act must be the Measures of Academic 21 Progress student assessments offered by the Northwest Evaluation Association or a 22 substantially similar system of assessments.