Revision: Jan. 5, 2023, 3:32 p.m.
2023 SESSION
23-0942.0
10/04
SENATE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT relative to the statewide education improvement and assessment program.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
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ANALYSIS
This bill modifies the administration of and criteria for the statewide education improvement and assessment program of the department of education.
This bill is a request of the department of education.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23-0942.0
10/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
AN ACT relative to the statewide education improvement and assessment program.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Statewide Education Improvement and Assessment Program; Definitions. RSA 193-C:2, IV and V are repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
IV. “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. RSA 193-C:3, II(c) is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
(c) Other item types identified by the department and testing entity, as necessary, to appropriately measure student learning.
3 Program Goals; Criteria. RSA 193-C:3, III(a) is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
(a) Statewide academic standards established by the department, in consultation with educators and stakeholders, which shall be used to identify grade level expectations and standardized cut scores.
4 Program Goals; Data. Amend RSA 193-C:3, IV to read as follows:
IV. The assessment system shall generate data which may be used:
(a) At the student level, by students, parents, and teachers, to determine what the student knows and is able to do in relationship to the state-established academic standards.
(b) At the classroom and school building levels, to monitor student progress [and], to enhance learning, and to improve instruction.
(c) At the district level, to measure school and district-wide progress toward meeting goals and outcomes, to revise curriculum, and to design in-service education programs[, and to improve instruction].
(d) At the state level, to measure what students know and are able to do in relation to the attainment of goals and outcomes from the assessment frameworks, and to report the results to the citizens of New Hampshire.
(e) At the state level, to target services to schools, improve existing programs, develop new initiatives, and revise standards for school improvement, teacher certification, etc.
(f) At the college level, to integrate into teacher preparation programs instruction in state-established standards, techniques for enhancing student learning in these areas, and the use of assessment results to improve instruction.
(g) At all levels, to correlate, to the extent possible, with national goals and international standards.
(h) At all levels, to provide a basis for accountability.
(i) [At the end of grade 3, to determine if pupils are at grade level in reading and mathematics on a standardized test to be developed by the department or an authorized, locally-administered assessment developed in consultation with the department, as part of a statewide assessment program, and to provide differentiated aid to schools pursuant to RSA 198:40-a for pupils not proficient on the reading component of the statewide or locally-administered assessment.
(j) At the school, district, and state levels, to provide performance reports on specific subgroups of pupils as required by federal law.
(k) At the high school level, to serve as one indicator of a student's postsecondary education readiness.] At the school, district and state levels, to provide performance reports on specific subgroups of pupils as required by federal law.
(j) At the high school level, to serve as one indicator of a student's college and career readiness.
5 Assessment Required. RSA 193-C:6 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
193-C:6 Assessment Required.
I. A statewide assessment shall be administered in all chartered and district public schools in the state in grades 3 through 8 and one grade in high school. 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.
II. 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.
III. Home educated students may contact their local school districts if they wish to participate in the statewide assessment. Nonpublic schools may contact the department of education to participate in the statewide assessment.
IV. The department shall select one or more vendors through the statewide contracting process, pursuant to RSA 4:15, to deliver the statewide assessment program.
V. The department shall provide the testing entity with individual pupil names and unique pupil identifiers, and other student demographic or statistical information necessary to comply with reporting requirements. The testing entity shall maintain the results, scores, or other evaluative materials for the purpose of measuring and reporting individual student growth. 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. 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. 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. The testing entity shall destroy all student data on a schedule as determined by the state contract.
VI. 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.
VII. 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.
VIII. A school district shall develop a form to be signed by the parent or legal guardian of any student exempted from the assessment. 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.
IX. After the assessment results are released by the department, a pupil's parent or legal guardian shall have the right to inspect and review the pupil's assessment, including the individual items, the pupil's answers, instructions or directions to the pupil, and other supplementary materials related or used to administer the pupil's assessment. A parent or legal guardian shall direct a request for inspection or review to the pupil's school, and the school shall comply with such request within 45 days of its receipt. The department of education shall make available released assessment items on the department's website as soon as possible after the statewide assessment results are released. The department may adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, to implement procedures for the review and inspection of assessment materials. These rules shall provide parents and legal guardians with no fewer rights accorded to them under the Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act, 20 U.S.C. 1232g.
6 Repeal. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 193-C:10, relative to accessibility of assessment materials.
II. RSA 193-C:11, relative to anonymity of pupil assessment results; parental authorization required.
III. RSA 193-C:12, relative to pupil assessment information.
7 Reference Corrected. Amend RSA 21-N:4, VIII to read as follows:
VIII. With the advice of the state board of education, and in consultation with the deputy commissioner, the directors of the affected divisions, and the legislative oversight committee pursuant to RSA [193-C:8] 193-C:8-a, transferring or assigning functions, programs, or services within or between any division. When transfers or assignments are enacted within the department that may require legislative action, the commissioner shall work with the legislative oversight committee to propose legislation supporting such transfers or assignments.
8 References to Assessment Information. Amend RSA 189:67, II through III to read as follows:
II. A school or the department may disclose to a testing entity the student's name, unique pupil identifier, and birth date for the sole purpose of identifying the test taker. Except when collected in conjunction with the SAT or ACT:
(a) When such tests are used for the purpose of the state assessment as defined in RSA 193-C:6, the data shall be maintained by the testing entity in accordance with RSA [193-C:12] 193-C.
(b) The data shall not be disclosed by the testing entity to any other person, organization, entity, or government or any component thereof, other than the parent or guardian, the department, 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] 193-C.
II-a. Students taking the SAT or ACT, when such tests are used for the purpose of the state assessment as defined in RSA 193-C:6, may opt to have all personal information destroyed by the testing entity, following the completion and verification of the test.
III. Except as provided in RSA [193-C:12] 193-C or when collected in conjunction with the SAT or ACT, or when such tests are used for the purpose of the state assessment as defined in RSA 193-C:6, neither a school nor the department shall disclose or permit the disclosure of student or teacher personally-identifiable data, the unique pupil identifier, or any other data listed in RSA 189:68, I to any testing entity performing test-data analysis. The testing entity may perform the test analysis but shall not connect such data to other student data.
9 Reference Changed. Amend RSA 189:68, I to read as follows:
I. Except as provided in RSA [193-C:12] 193-C, the department shall not collect or maintain the following data in the SLDS:
10 Reference Changed. Amend RSA 193-E:5, I(a) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided in RSA [193-C:12] 193-C, no personally identifiable information about a pupil including name and social security number, shall be collected or maintained by the state in such a manner as to allow such information to be connected with the unique pupil identifier. Under no circumstances shall the department of education obtain or use a social security number as an identifier for any pupil. The department shall not use unique pupil identifiers except in connection with the data warehouse and such use shall not be accessible to the public.
11 Reference Changed. Amend RSA 193-E:5, I(l) to read as follows:
(l) Except as provided in RSA [193-C:12] 193-C, The department of education shall provide no personally identifiable information collected pursuant to this chapter, including but not limited to name, date of birth, or social security number to any person or entity, other than an early childhood program, district, chartered public school, scholarship organization, adult education program, or postsecondary institution authorized to access this data, absent a court order. Under no circumstances shall personally identifiable information or the unique pupil identifier be provided to any person or entity outside of New Hampshire. Any person who knowingly violates this provision is guilty of a class B felony and may be subject to involuntary termination of employment.
12 Reference Changed. Amend RSA 198:40-a, II(e) to read as follows:
(e) An additional $697.77 for each third grade pupil in the ADMR with a score below the proficient level on the reading component of the state assessment administered pursuant to RSA 193-C:6 or the authorized, locally-administered assessment as provided in RSA [193-C:3, IV(i)] 193-C, provided the pupil is not eligible to receive differentiated aid pursuant to subparagraphs (b)-(d). A school district receiving aid under this subparagraph shall annually provide to the department of education documentation demonstrating that the district has implemented an instructional program to improve non-proficient pupil reading.
13 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.