September 24, 2007, Introduced by Senators SWITALSKI, JELINEK, CHERRY, PAPPAGEORGE and KAHN and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
A bill to amend 1979 PA 94, entitled
"The state school aid act of 1979,"
by amending section 104b (MCL 388.1704b), as added by 2004 PA 593.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
104b. (1) Beginning in the 2006 calendar year, in In
order to receive state aid under this act, a district shall comply
with
this section and shall administer the state assessments under
section
1279 or the Michigan merit examination to pupils in grade
11
as provided in this section. , as follows:
(a)
For pupils in grade 11 in the 2005-2006 school year, the
provisions
concerning state assessments under section 104a apply to
all
pupils in grade 11 and the Michigan merit examination shall be
administered
to a sample of pupils in grade 11 statewide, as
identified
by the department. The pupils to be included in this
sample
shall be determined by the department as the department
determines
necessary to seek the approval of the United States
department
of education to use the Michigan merit examination for
the
purposes of the federal no child left behind act of 2001,
Public
Law 107-110.
(b)
Subject to subdivision (c), for pupils in grade 11 in the
2006-2007
school year and subsequent school years, the Michigan
merit
examination shall be offered to all pupils in grade 11.
(c)
If the United States department of education has not
approved
the use of the Michigan merit examination for the purposes
of
the federal no child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-
110,
by December 31, 2006, all of the following apply:
(i) The provisions concerning state assessments under
section
104a
shall continue to apply to all pupils in grade 11 until the
next
calendar year that begins after that approval occurs.
(ii) The Michigan merit examination shall be offered to all
pupils
in grade 11 beginning in the next calendar year that begins
after
that approval occurs.
(iii) If it is necessary as part of the process of
continuing to
seek
the approval of the United
States department of education
to
use
the Michigan merit examination for the purposes of the federal
no
child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110, the
department
may again provide for the administration of both the
state
assessments under section 104a and the Michigan merit
examination
to a sample of pupils in grade 11 statewide as
described
in subdivision (a).
(2)
The department shall take all steps necessary, including,
but
not limited to, conducting a content alignment study and
statistical
analyses, to obtain the approval of the United States
department
of education to use the Michigan merit examination for
the
purposes of the federal no child left behind act of 2001,
Public
Law 107-110, by not later than December 31, 2006 or as soon
thereafter
as possible.
(2) (3)
For the purposes of this section,
the department of
management and budget shall contract with 1 or more providers to
develop, supply, and score the Michigan merit examination. The
Michigan merit examination shall consist of all of the following:
(a) Assessment instruments that measure English language arts,
mathematics, reading, and science and are used by colleges and
universities in this state for entrance or placement purposes.
(b) One or more tests from 1 or more test developers that
assess a pupil's ability to apply reading and mathematics skills in
a manner that is intended to allow employers to use the results in
making employment decisions.
(c)
A social studies component.
(c) (d)
Any other component that is
necessary to obtain the
approval of the United States department of education to use the
Michigan merit examination for the purposes of the federal
no child
left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110.
(3) (4)
In addition to all other
requirements of this section,
all of the following apply to the Michigan merit examination:
(a) The department of management and budget and the
superintendent shall ensure that any contractor used for scoring
the Michigan merit examination supplies an individual report for
each pupil that will identify for the pupil's parents and teachers
whether the pupil met expectations or failed to meet expectations
for each standard, to allow the pupil's parents and teachers to
assess and remedy problems before the pupil moves to the next
grade.
(b) The department of management and budget and the
superintendent shall ensure that any contractor used for scoring,
developing, or processing the Michigan merit examination meets
quality management standards commonly used in the assessment
industry, including at least meeting level 2 of the capability
maturity model developed by the software engineering institute of
Carnegie Mellon university for the first year the Michigan merit
examination is offered to all grade 11 pupils and at least meeting
level 3 of the capability maturity model for subsequent years.
(c) The department of management and budget and the
superintendent shall ensure that any contract for scoring,
administering, or developing the Michigan merit examination
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.
(d) The superintendent shall ensure that the Michigan merit
examination meets all of the following:
(i) Is designed to test pupils on grade level content
expectations or course content expectations, as appropriate, in all
subjects tested.
(ii) Complies with requirements of the no child left behind act
of 2001, Public Law 107-110.
(iii) Is consistent with the code of fair testing practices in
education prepared by the joint committee on testing practices of
the American psychological association.
(iv) Is factually accurate. If the superintendent 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.
(4) (5)
Beginning with pupils completing grade 11 in 2006, a A
district shall include on each pupil's high school transcript all
of the following:
(a) For each high school graduate who has completed the
Michigan merit examination under this section, the pupil's scaled
score on each subject area component of the Michigan merit
examination.
(b) The number of school days the pupil was in attendance at
school each school year during high school and the total number of
school days in session for each of those school years.
(5) (6)
The superintendent shall work with
the provider or
providers of the Michigan merit examination to produce Michigan
merit examination subject area scores for each pupil participating
in the Michigan merit examination, including scaling and merging of
test items for the different subject area components. The
superintendent shall design and distribute to districts,
intermediate districts, and nonpublic schools a simple and concise
document that describes the scoring for each subject area and
indicates the scaled score ranges for each subject area.
(6) (7)
The Michigan merit examination
shall be administered
each year after March 1 and before June 1 to pupils in grade 11.
The superintendent shall ensure that the Michigan merit examination
is scored and the scores are returned to pupils, their parents or
legal guardians, and districts not later than the beginning of the
pupil's first semester of grade 12. The returned scores shall
indicate at least the pupil's scaled score for each subject area
component and the range of scaled scores for each subject area. In
reporting the scores to pupils, parents, and schools, the
superintendent shall provide standards-specific, meaningful, and
timely feedback on the pupil's performance on the Michigan merit
examination.
(7) (8)
A pupil who does not qualify for a Michigan
merit
award scholarship under the Michigan merit award scholarship act,
1999 PA 94, MCL 390.1451 to 390.1459, or who does not qualify for a
Michigan promise grant under section 6 of the Michigan promise
grant act, 2006 PA 479, MCL 390.1626, and who wants to repeat the
Michigan merit examination may repeat the Michigan merit
examination in the next school year on a designated testing date.
The first time a pupil repeats the Michigan merit examination under
this subsection shall be without charge to the pupil, but the pupil
is responsible for paying the cost of any subsequent repeat.
(8) (9)
The superintendent shall ensure
that the length of the
Michigan merit examination and the combined total time necessary to
administer all of the components of the Michigan merit examination
are the shortest possible that will still maintain the degree of
reliability and validity of the Michigan merit examination results
determined necessary by the superintendent. The superintendent
shall ensure that the maximum total combined length of time that
schools are required to set aside for administration of all of the
components of the Michigan merit examination does not exceed 8
hours.
(9) (10)
A district shall provide
accommodations to a pupil
with disabilities for the Michigan merit examination, as provided
under section 504 of title V of the rehabilitation act of 1973, 29
USC 794; subtitle A of title II of the Americans with disabilities
act of 1990, 42 USC 12131 to 12134; the individuals with
disabilities education act amendments of 1997, Public Law 105-17;
and the implementing regulations for those statutes. The provider
or providers of the Michigan merit examination and the
superintendent shall mutually agree upon the accommodations to be
provided under this subsection.
(10) (11)
To the greatest extent possible, the
Michigan merit
examination shall be based on grade level content expectations or
course content expectations, as appropriate.
(11) (12)
A child who is a student in a
nonpublic school or
home school may take the Michigan merit examination under this
section. To take the Michigan merit examination, a child who is a
student in a home school shall contact the district in which the
child resides, and that district shall administer the Michigan
merit examination, or the child may take the Michigan merit
examination at a nonpublic school if allowed by the nonpublic
school. Upon request from a nonpublic school, the superintendent
shall direct the provider or providers to supply the Michigan merit
examination to the nonpublic school and the nonpublic school may
administer the Michigan merit examination. If a district
administers the Michigan merit examination under this subsection to
a child who is not enrolled in the district, the scores for that
child are not considered for any purpose to be scores of a pupil of
the district.
(12) (13)
In contracting under subsection (3)
(2), the
department of management and budget shall consider a contractor
that provides electronically-scored essays with the ability to
score constructed response feedback in multiple languages and
provide ongoing instruction and feedback.
(13) (14)
The purpose of the Michigan
merit examination is to
assess
pupil performance in mathematics, science, social studies,
and English language arts for the purpose of improving academic
achievement and establishing a statewide standard of competency.
The assessment under this section provides a common measure of data
that will contribute to the improvement of Michigan schools'
curriculum and instruction by encouraging alignment with Michigan's
curriculum framework standards and promotes pupil participation in
higher
level mathematics, science, social studies, and English
language arts courses. These standards are based upon the
expectations of what pupils should learn through high school and
are aligned with national standards.
(14) (15)
As used in this section, :
(a)
"English language arts"
means reading and writing.
(b)
"Social studies" means United
States history, world
history,
world geography, economics, and American government.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless Senate Bill No. 810
of the 94th Legislature is enacted into law.