Revision: Nov. 17, 2023, 2:43 p.m.
Rep. Ladd, Graf. 5
October 31, 2023
2023-2390h
10/02
Amendment to SB 266
Amend the title of the bill by replacing it with the following:
AN ACT relative to administration of school assessment and accountability programs by the department of education.
Amend the bill by replacing all after the enacting clause with the following:
1 New Paragraph; Statewide Education Improvement and Assessment Program; Definitions. Amend RSA 193-C:2 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
III-a. “N-size” means the student sample size necessary to disclose or display data to ensure maximum student group visibility while protecting student privacy.
2 Program Goals; Assessment. Amend RSA 193-C:3, II to read as follows:
II. Since the program is not a minimum competency testing program, assessment instruments should be designed to reflect the range of learning exhibited by students. The assessment portion of the program shall consist of a variety of assessment tasks that measure academic standards and are objectively scored. The assessment instruments shall include, but not be limited to:
(a) Constructed response items which require students to produce answers to questions rather than to select from an array of possible answers.
(b) A writing sample.
(c) [Other] Open-ended performance tasks.
(d) Other item types identified by the department and testing entity, as necessary, to appropriately measure student learning.
3 Assessment Required. Amend RSA 193-C:6 to read as follows:
193-C:6 Assessment Required.
I. A statewide assessment of mathematics and English and language arts shall be administered in all [school districts] chartered public schools, public schools, and public academies in the state [once in an elementary school grade, once in a middle school grade] in each of the grades 3 through 8, and one grade in high school. [For those years in grades 3 through 8 in which the school district does not administer the statewide assessment, the school district, in consultation with the department and as part of the statewide education improvement and assessment program, shall develop and administer its own assessment or shall administer a standardized assessment that identifies a pupil's range of learning and yields objective data to use in improving instruction and learning.] A statewide assessment of science shall be administered in all chartered public schools, public schools, and public academies in the state once in grade 5, once in grade 8, and one grade in high school.
II. A school district may choose to participate in a locally-developed, alternative assessment program, in place of the statewide assessment, if such a program is offered by the department and approved by the United States Department of Education.
III. All public school students in the designated grades shall participate in the assessment, unless such student is exempted from taking the test by his or her parent or legal guardian, or provided that the commissioner of the department of education may, through an agreement with another state when such state and New Hampshire are parties to an interstate agreement, allow pupils to participate in that state's assessment program as an alternative to the assessment required under this chapter.
IV. Home educated students may contact their local school districts if they wish to participate in the statewide assessment. Private schools may contact the department of education to participate in the statewide assessment.
V. The department may use the College Board SAT or ACT college readiness assessment to satisfy the high school assessment requirements of this chapter.
VI. The statewide assessment results of a student or the student's school district shall not be included as part of the student's transcript unless the student, if 18 years of age or older, or the student's parent or legal guardian if the student is under 18 years of age, consents.
VII. A school district shall not penalize any exempted student nor shall the department of education or the state board of education penalize any school district for a lower participation rate. A school district shall develop a form to be signed by the parent or legal guardian of any student exempted from the assessment. The school district shall provide an appropriate alternative educational activity for the time period during which the assessment is administered. The alternative activity shall be agreed upon by the school district and the parent or legal guardian of the student. The name of the parent or legal guardian and any specific reasons disclosed to school officials for the objection to the assessment shall not be public information and shall be excluded from access under RSA 91-A.
4 Anonymity of Pupil Assessment Results. Amend RSA 193-C:11 to read as follows:
193-C:11 Anonymity of Pupil Assessment Results; Parental Authorization Required. Individual pupil names or codes contained in the statewide assessment results, scores, or other evaluative materials shall be deleted for the purposes of records maintenance and storage of such results or scores at the department of education, unless a parent or legal guardian provides written authorization otherwise, or as required under federal law. Individual pupil results shall be made available to a parent, a legal guardian, or the pupil's school in accordance with the Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act, 20 U.S.C. 1232g. For the purposes of public reporting, the state shall use a minimum n-size of 11 to maintain student data privacy.
5 Pupil Assessment Information. Amend RSA 193-C:12 to read as follows:
193-C:12 Pupil Assessment Information.
I. The department shall provide the testing entity as defined in RSA 189:65, VIII, with individual pupil names and unique pupil identifiers, and other demographic and statistical information necessary to comply with state and federal reporting. The testing entity shall maintain the results, scores, or other evaluative materials for the purpose of measuring and reporting individual student growth.
II. The department may provide, or may request the testing entity to provide, the assessment results and comparative data to a parent, a legal guardian, or the pupil's school as provided in RSA 193-C:11. The department may collect, and the districts shall provide, student address information from the individual school districts solely for the purpose of effectuating the distribution of assessment results and comparative data as provided in this section.
III. The report shall be provided to parents in an informative and instructional manner to help children meet challenging state academic standards and advance student learning.
IV. The testing entity shall destroy all student data [after 8 years] on a schedule determined by the state contract with the testing entity.
V. Student data shall not be disclosed by the testing entity to any person, organization, entity, or government or any component thereof, other than the parent or guardian, the department, or the school or school district, and shall not be used by the testing entity for any other purpose except as provided in RSA 193-C:12.
6 School Performance and Accountability; Comprehensive Support and Improvement School. Amend RSA 193-H:1, III to read as follows:
III.(a) "Comprehensive support and improvement school" means:
(1) Any school that accepts federal funds from Title I, Part A of ESSA and is among the 5 percent lowest performing Title I schools in the state as defined by the New Hampshire consolidated state plan required for ESSA [dated January 19, 2018].
(2) Any school that is among the lowest performing 5 percent of all schools in the state based on the same methodology used in subparagraph (1) regardless of Title I status.
(3) Any high school with a graduation rate of less than [69] 67 percent [over 2 consecutive years].
(b) The department shall produce initial determinations of comprehensive support and improvement schools in the fall of 2018, using data from the 2017-2018 school year. Subsequent determinations shall be made [every 3 years following the initial identification period] based upon a schedule set forth in the New Hampshire consolidated state plan. The purpose of the consolidated state plan is to provide parents with quality, transparent information about how the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), will be implemented in New Hampshire as submitted by the state and approved by the federal Department of Education.
(c) Those schools identified as comprehensive support and improvement schools, that also receive Title I, Part A funds through ESSA, may also receive federal Title I school improvement funds, if available, to assist in improvement activities.
(d) Any school that demonstrates and meets criteria established as a comprehensive support and improvement school pursuant to subparagraph (a) shall be identified as a school in need of corrective and technical assistance and subject to RSA 193-E:3-e.
7 School Performance and Accountability; Targeted Support and Improvement Schools. Amend RSA 193-H:1, VII to read as follows:
VII. "Targeted support and improvement schools" means:
(a)(1) Any school with at least one consistently low performing subgroup as defined by the state's methodology documented in the New Hampshire consolidated state plan required for ESSA [dated January 19, 2018]. Additional targeted support and improvement schools are those schools with subgroups of students that, on their own, would fall below the thresholds used to identify all schools for comprehensive support and improvement. The department shall produce initial determinations of targeted support and improvement schools using data from the 2017-2018 school year. Subsequent determinations shall be made[ annually following the initial identification period] based upon a schedule set forth in the New Hampshire consolidated state plan.
(2) Any school that demonstrates and meets criteria established as a targeted support and improvement school pursuant to subparagraph (a) shall be identified as a school in need of corrective and technical assistance and subject to RSA 193-E:3-e.
(b) Those schools identified for targeted support and improvement schools, that also receive Title I, Part A funds through ESSA, may also receive federal Title I school improvement funds, if available, to assist in improvement activities.
8 School Performance Targets. Amend RSA 193-H:2 to read as follows:
193-H:2 Statewide Performance Targets.
I. [On or before the 2018-2019 school year, schools shall ensure that all pupils are performing at the proficient level or above on the statewide assessment as established in RSA 193-C.
II. In addition to the requirement of paragraph I,] Schools shall meet performance based indicators under this chapter, and statewide performance targets as approved by the legislative oversight committee established in RSA 193-C and thereafter, as established in rules adopted by the state board of education pursuant to RSA 541-A.
[III.] II. Notwithstanding RSA 541-A, the state board of education shall receive approval from the legislative oversight committee established in RSA 193-C prior to the submission of any rules to the joint legislative committee on administrative rules relative to statewide performance targets and performance based indicators required under this section.
9 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
2023-2390h
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill modifies the statewide education improvement and assessment program and the school performance and accountability program as administered by the bureau of assessment and accountability in the department of education.