(REPRINTED WITH ADOPTED AMENDMENTS) SECOND REPRINT
Assembly Bill No. 523-Committee on Ways and Means
(On Behalf of the Department of Education)
May 22, 1997
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Referred to Committee on Ways and Means
SUMMARY--Revises provisions governing achievement and proficiency examinations and extends period of authorized expenditure and revises prospective date of reversion of appropriations made during previous legislative session to pay costs relating to examinations. (BDR 34-370)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to education; revising provisions governing the administration and reporting of the achievement and proficiency examinations administered in the public schools; extending the period during which the department of education may expend certain money appropriated during the previous legislative session to pay for costs relating to standard examinations of achievement and proficiency of pupils; revising the date of the prospective reversion of that money; establishing certain requirements for the administration of those examinations; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1 NRS 389.015 is hereby amended to read as follows:
389.0151. The board of trustees of each school district shall administer examinations in all public schools within its district to determine the achievement and proficiency of pupils in:
(a) Reading;
(b) Writing; and
(c) Mathematics.
2. The examinations required by subsection 1 must be:
(a) Administered before the completion of grades 4, 8 and 11.
(b) Administered in each school district at the same time. The time for the administration of the examinations must be prescribed by the state board.
(c) Administered in each school in accordance with uniform procedures adopted by the state board. The department shall monitor the compliance of school districts and individual schools with the uniform procedures.
(d) Scored by the department or a single private entity that has contracted with the state board to score the examinations. [The] If a private entity scores the examinations, it shall report the results of the examinations in the form and by the date required by the department.
3. Not more than 14 working days after the results of the examinations are reported to the department by a private entity that scored the examinations or the department completes the scoring of the examinations, the superintendent of public instruction shall certify that the results of the examinations have been transmitted to each school district. Not more than 10 working days after a school district receives the results of the examinations, the superintendent of public instruction shall certify that the results of the examinations have been transmitted to each school within the school district. Not more than 10 working days after each school receives the results of the examinations, the principal of each school shall certify that the results for each pupil have been provided to the parent or legal guardian of the pupil:
(a) During a conference between the teacher of the pupil or administrator of the school and the parent or legal guardian of the pupil; or
(b) By mailing the results of the examinations to the last known address of the parent or legal guardian of the pupil.
4. Different standards of proficiency may be adopted for pupils with diagnosed learning disabilities.
[4.] If different standards of proficiency are adopted or other modifications or accommodations are made in the administration of the examinations for a pupil who is enrolled in a program of special education pursuant to NRS 388.440 to 388.520, inclusive, other than a gifted and talented pupil, the different standards adopted or other modifications or accommodations must be set forth in the pupil's program of special education developed in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq., and the standards prescribed by the state board.
5. If a pupil fails to demonstrate adequate achievement on the examination administered before the completion of grade 4 or 8, he may be promoted to the next higher grade, but the results of his examination must be evaluated to determine what remedial study is appropriate. If a pupil fails to pass the proficiency examination administered before the completion of grade 11, he must not be graduated until he is able, through remedial study, to pass the proficiency examination, but he may be given a certificate of attendance, in place of a diploma, if he has reached the age of 17 years.
[5.] 6. The state board shall prescribe standard examinations of achievement and proficiency to be administered pursuant to subsection 1. The examinations on reading and mathematics prescribed for grades 4 and 8 must be selected from examinations created by private entities and administered to a national reference group, and must allow for a comparison of the achievement and proficiency of pupils in grades 4 and 8 in this state to that of a national reference group of pupils in grades 4 and 8. The questions contained in the examinations and the approved answers used for grading them are confidential, and disclosure is unlawful except:
(a) To the extent necessary for administering and evaluating the examinations.
(b) That a disclosure may be made to a state officer who is a member of the executive or legislative branch to the extent that it is related to the performance of that officer's duties.
(c) That specific questions and answers may be disclosed if the superintendent of public instruction determines that the content of the questions and answers is not being used in a current examination and making the content available to the public poses no threat to the security of the current examination process.
Sec. 2 NRS 389.017 is hereby amended to read as follows:
389.0171. The state board [of education] shall prescribe regulations requiring that each board of trustees of a school district submit to the superintendent of public instruction, in the form and manner prescribed by the superintendent, the results of achievement and proficiency examinations given in the 4th, 8th and 11th grades of public school pupils in the district. The state board shall not include in the regulations any provision which would violate the confidentiality of the test scores of any individual pupil.
2. The results of examinations administered to all pupils must be reported for each school, school district and this state as follows:
(a) The average score of pupils with disabilities for whom different standards of achievement are adopted or other modifications or accommodations are made if such reporting does not violate the confidentiality of the test scores of any individual pupil;
(b) The average score of pupils for whom different standards of achievement were not adopted or other modifications or accommodations were not made; and
(c) The average score of all pupils who were tested.
3. On or before November 1 of each year, each school district shall report to the department the following information for each examination administered in the public schools in the school district:
(a) The examination administered;
(b) The grade level or levels of pupils to whom the examination was administered;
(c) The costs incurred by the school district in administering each examination; and
(d) The purpose, if any, for which the results of the examination are used by the school district.
On or before December 1 of each year, the department shall transmit to the budget division of the department of administration and the fiscal analysis division of the legislative counsel bureau the information submitted to the department pursuant to this subsection.
4. The superintendent of schools of each school district shall certify that the number of pupils who took the examinations required pursuant to NRS 389.015 is equal to the number of pupils who are enrolled in each school in the school district who are required to take the examinations except for those pupils who are exempt from taking the examinations. A pupil may be exempt from taking the examinations if:
(a) His proficiency in the English language is below the average proficiency of pupils at the same grade level; or
(b) He is enrolled in a program of special education pursuant to NRS 388.440 to 388.520, inclusive, and his program of special education specifies that he is exempt from taking the examinations.
5. In addition to the information required by subsection 3, the superintendent of public instruction shall:
(a) Report the number of pupils who were not exempt from taking the examinations but were absent from school on the day that the examinations were administered; and
(b) Reconcile the number of pupils who were required to take the examinations with the number of pupils who were exempt from taking the examinations or absent from school on the day that the examinations were administered.
Sec. 3 Section 6 of chapter 525, Statutes of Nevada 1995, at page 1745, is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 6. 1. There is hereby appropriated from the state general fund to the department of education the sum of $670,030 to pay for costs incurred by the department during the fiscal years [1995-97] 1995-99 relating to the standard examinations of achievement and proficiency of pupils administered pursuant to NRS 389.015.
2. Any remaining balance of the appropriation made by subsection 1 must not be committed for expenditure after June 30, [1997,] 1999, and reverts to the state general fund as soon as all payments of money committed have been made.
Sec. 4. Section 1 of chapter 477, Statutes of Nevada 1995, at page 1529, is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 1. There is hereby appropriated from the state general fund to the department of education the sum of $511,677 to develop and carry out a new high school proficiency examination . [:
For the fiscal year 1995-96 $295,606
For the fiscal year 1996-97 $216,071]
Sec. 5. Section 2 of chapter 477, Statutes of Nevada 1995, at page 1529, is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2. [The sums appropriated] Any remaining balance of the appropriation made by section 1 of this act [are available for either fiscal year. Any balance of those sums] must not be committed for expenditure after June 30, [1997,] 1999, and reverts to the state general fund as soon as all payments of money committed have been made.
Sec. 6. 1. The high school proficiency examination developed with the money appropriated pursuant to section 1 of chapter 477, Statutes of Nevada 1995, at page 1529, must be administered to all pupils enrolled in grade 11 during the school year that begins in 1997.
2. The score required to pass that examination must be:
(a) Set at a moderate level for pupils to whom the examination is administered during the school year that begins in 1997; and
(b) Increased to a higher level for pupils to whom the examination is administered during subsequent school years, except that the score required to pass the examination must not be increased for pupils who failed to pass the examination administered during the school year that begins in 1997 and to whom the examination is again administered during a subsequent school year.
Sec. 7. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval or on June 29, 1997, whichever occurs earlier.