As Introduced

129th General Assembly Regular Session 2011-2012

S. B. No. 221

Senator Sawyer 

Cosponsor: Senator Skindell 

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A BILL

To amend section 3301.0711 of the Revised Code to

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make the elementary-level achievement assessments

2

public records.

3

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That section 3301.0711 of the Revised Code be	4
amended to read as follows:	5

Sec. 3301.0711.  (A) The department of education shall:

6

(1) Annually furnish to, grade, and score all assessments	7
required by divisions (A)(1) and (B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of	8
the Revised Code to be administered by city, local, exempted	9
village, and joint vocational school districts, except that each	10
district shall score any assessment administered pursuant to	11
division (B)(10) of this section. Each assessment so furnished	12
shall include the data verification code of the student to whom	13
the assessment will be administered, as assigned pursuant to	14
division (D)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code. In	15
furnishing the practice versions of Ohio graduation tests	16
prescribed by division (D) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised	17
Code, the department shall make the tests available on its web	18
site for reproduction by districts. In awarding contracts for	19
grading assessments, the department shall give preference to	20
Ohio-based entities employing Ohio residents.	21

(2) Adopt rules for the ethical use of assessments and	22
prescribing the manner in which the assessments prescribed by	23
section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code shall be administered to	24
students.	25

(B) Except as provided in divisions (C) and (J) of this	26
section, the board of education of each city, local, and exempted	27
village school district shall, in accordance with rules adopted	28
under division (A) of this section:	29

(1) Administer the English language arts assessments	30
prescribed under division (A)(1)(a) of section 3301.0710 of the	31
Revised Code twice annually to all students in the third grade who	32
have not attained the score designated for that assessment under	33
division (A)(2)(b) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code.	34

(2) Administer the mathematics assessment prescribed under	35
division (A)(1)(a) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at	36
least once annually to all students in the third grade.	37

(3) Administer the assessments prescribed under division	38
(A)(1)(b) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once	39
annually to all students in the fourth grade.	40

(4) Administer the assessments prescribed under division	41
(A)(1)(c) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once	42
annually to all students in the fifth grade.	43

(5) Administer the assessments prescribed under division	44
(A)(1)(d) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once	45
annually to all students in the sixth grade.	46

(6) Administer the assessments prescribed under division	47
(A)(1)(e) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once	48
annually to all students in the seventh grade.	49

(7) Administer the assessments prescribed under division	50
(A)(1)(f) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least once	51
annually to all students in the eighth grade.	52

(8) Except as provided in division (B)(9) of this section,	53
administer any assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of	54
section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code as follows:	55

(a) At least once annually to all tenth grade students and at	56
least twice annually to all students in eleventh or twelfth grade	57
who have not yet attained the score on that assessment designated	58
under that division;	59

(b) To any person who has successfully completed the	60
curriculum in any high school or the individualized education	61
program developed for the person by any high school pursuant to	62
section 3323.08 of the Revised Code but has not received a high	63
school diploma and who requests to take such assessment, at any	64
time such assessment is administered in the district.	65

(9) In lieu of the board of education of any city, local, or	66
exempted village school district in which the student is also	67
enrolled, the board of a joint vocational school district shall	68
administer any assessment prescribed under division (B)(1) of	69
section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code at least twice annually to	70
any student enrolled in the joint vocational school district who	71
has not yet attained the score on that assessment designated under	72
that division. A board of a joint vocational school district may	73
also administer such an assessment to any student described in	74
division (B)(8)(b) of this section.	75

(10) If the district has been declared to be under an	76
academic watch or in a state of academic emergency pursuant to	77
section 3302.03 of the Revised Code or has a three-year average	78
graduation rate of not more than seventy-five per cent, administer	79
each assessment prescribed by division (D) of section 3301.0710 of	80
the Revised Code in September to all ninth grade students,	81
beginning in the school year that starts July 1, 2005.	82

Except as provided in section 3313.614 of the Revised Code	83
for administration of an assessment to a person who has fulfilled	84
the curriculum requirement for a high school diploma but has not	85
passed one or more of the required assessments, the assessments	86
prescribed under division (B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the	87
Revised Code and the practice assessments prescribed under	88
division (D) of that section and required to be administered under	89
divisions (B)(8), (9), and (10) of this section shall not be	90
administered after the assessment system prescribed by division	91
(B)(2) of section 3301.0710 and section 3301.0712 of the Revised	92
Code is implemented under rule of the state board adopted under	93
division (D)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code.	94

(11) Administer the assessments prescribed by division (B)(2)	95
of section 3301.0710 and section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code in	96
accordance with the timeline and plan for implementation of those	97
assessments prescribed by rule of the state board adopted under	98
division (D)(1) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code.	99

(C)(1)(a) In the case of a student receiving special	100
education services under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, the	101
individualized education program developed for the student under	102
that chapter shall specify the manner in which the student will	103
participate in the assessments administered under this section.	104
The individualized education program may excuse the student from	105
taking any particular assessment required to be administered under	106
this section if it instead specifies an alternate assessment	107
method approved by the department of education as conforming to	108
requirements of federal law for receipt of federal funds for	109
disadvantaged pupils. To the extent possible, the individualized	110
education program shall not excuse the student from taking an	111
assessment unless no reasonable accommodation can be made to	112
enable the student to take the assessment.	113

(b) Any alternate assessment approved by the department for a	114
student under this division shall produce measurable results	115
comparable to those produced by the assessment it replaces in	116
order to allow for the student's results to be included in the	117
data compiled for a school district or building under section	118
3302.03 of the Revised Code.	119

(c) Any student enrolled in a chartered nonpublic school who	120
has been identified, based on an evaluation conducted in	121
accordance with section 3323.03 of the Revised Code or section 504	122
of the "Rehabilitation Act of 1973," 87 Stat. 355, 29 U.S.C.A.	123
794, as amended, as a child with a disability shall be excused	124
from taking any particular assessment required to be administered	125
under this section if a plan developed for the student pursuant to	126
rules adopted by the state board excuses the student from taking	127
that assessment. In the case of any student so excused from taking	128
an assessment, the chartered nonpublic school shall not prohibit	129
the student from taking the assessment.	130

(2) A district board may, for medical reasons or other good	131
cause, excuse a student from taking an assessment administered	132
under this section on the date scheduled, but that assessment	133
shall be administered to the excused student not later than nine	134
days following the scheduled date. The district board shall	135
annually report the number of students who have not taken one or	136
more of the assessments required by this section to the state	137
board of education not later than the thirtieth day of June.	138

(3) As used in this division, "limited English proficient	139
student" has the same meaning as in 20 U.S.C. 7801.	140

No school district board shall excuse any limited English	141
proficient student from taking any particular assessment required	142
to be administered under this section, except that any limited	143
English proficient student who has been enrolled in United States	144
schools for less than one full school year shall not be required	145
to take any reading, writing, or English language arts assessment.	146
However, no board shall prohibit a limited English proficient	147
student who is not required to take an assessment under this	148
division from taking the assessment. A board may permit any	149
limited English proficient student to take an assessment required	150
to be administered under this section with appropriate	151
accommodations, as determined by the department. For each limited	152
English proficient student, each school district shall annually	153
assess that student's progress in learning English, in accordance	154
with procedures approved by the department.	155

The governing authority of a chartered nonpublic school may	156
excuse a limited English proficient student from taking any	157
assessment administered under this section. However, no governing	158
authority shall prohibit a limited English proficient student from	159
taking the assessment.	160

(D)(1) In the school year next succeeding the school year in	161
which the assessments prescribed by division (A)(1) or (B)(1) of	162
section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code or former division (A)(1),	163
(A)(2), or (B) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code as it	164
existed prior to September 11, 2001, are administered to any	165
student, the board of education of any school district in which	166
the student is enrolled in that year shall provide to the student	167
intervention services commensurate with the student's performance,	168
including any intensive intervention required under section	169
3313.608 of the Revised Code, in any skill in which the student	170
failed to demonstrate at least a score at the proficient level on	171
the assessment.	172

(2) Following any administration of the assessments	173
prescribed by division (D) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised	174
Code to ninth grade students, each school district that has a	175
three-year average graduation rate of not more than seventy-five	176
per cent shall determine for each high school in the district	177
whether the school shall be required to provide intervention	178
services to any students who took the assessments. In determining	179
which high schools shall provide intervention services based on	180
the resources available, the district shall consider each school's	181
graduation rate and scores on the practice assessments. The	182
district also shall consider the scores received by ninth grade	183
students on the English language arts and mathematics assessments	184
prescribed under division (A)(1)(f) of section 3301.0710 of the	185
Revised Code in the eighth grade in determining which high schools	186
shall provide intervention services.	187

Each high school selected to provide intervention services	188
under this division shall provide intervention services to any	189
student whose results indicate that the student is failing to make	190
satisfactory progress toward being able to attain scores at the	191
proficient level on the Ohio graduation tests. Intervention	192
services shall be provided in any skill in which a student	193
demonstrates unsatisfactory progress and shall be commensurate	194
with the student's performance. Schools shall provide the	195
intervention services prior to the end of the school year, during	196
the summer following the ninth grade, in the next succeeding	197
school year, or at any combination of those times.	198

(E) Except as provided in section 3313.608 of the Revised	199
Code and division (M) of this section, no school district board of	200
education shall utilize any student's failure to attain a	201
specified score on an assessment administered under this section	202
as a factor in any decision to deny the student promotion to a	203
higher grade level. However, a district board may choose not to	204
promote to the next grade level any student who does not take an	205
assessment administered under this section or make up an	206
assessment as provided by division (C)(2) of this section and who	207
is not exempt from the requirement to take the assessment under	208
division (C)(3) of this section.	209

(F) No person shall be charged a fee for taking any	210
assessment administered under this section.	211

(G)(1) Each school district board shall designate one	212
location for the collection of assessments administered in the	213
spring under division (B)(1) of this section and those	214
administered under divisions (B)(2) to (7) of this section. Each	215
district board shall submit the assessments to the entity with	216
which the department contracts for the scoring of the assessments	217
as follows:	218

(a) If the district's total enrollment in grades kindergarten	219
through twelve during the first full school week of October was	220
less than two thousand five hundred, not later than the Friday	221
after all of the assessments have been administered;	222

(b) If the district's total enrollment in grades kindergarten	223
through twelve during the first full school week of October was	224
two thousand five hundred or more, but less than seven thousand,	225
not later than the Monday after all of the assessments have been	226
administered;	227

(c) If the district's total enrollment in grades kindergarten	228
through twelve during the first full school week of October was	229
seven thousand or more, not later than the Tuesday after all of	230
the assessments have been administered.	231

However, any assessment that a student takes during the	232
make-up period described in division (C)(2) of this section shall	233
be submitted not later than the Friday following the day the	234
student takes the assessment.	235

(2) The department or an entity with which the department	236
contracts for the scoring of the assessment shall send to each	237
school district board a list of the individual scores of all	238
persons taking an assessment prescribed by division (A)(1) or	239
(B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code within sixty days	240
after its administration, but in no case shall the scores be	241
returned later than the fifteenth day of June following the	242
administration. For assessments administered under this section by	243
a joint vocational school district, the department or entity shall	244
also send to each city, local, or exempted village school district	245
a list of the individual scores of any students of such city,	246
local, or exempted village school district who are attending	247
school in the joint vocational school district.	248

(H) Individual scores on any assessments administered under	249
this section shall be released by a district board only in	250
accordance with section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the rules	251
adopted under division (A) of this section. No district board or	252
its employees shall utilize individual or aggregate results in any	253
manner that conflicts with rules for the ethical use of	254
assessments adopted pursuant to division (A) of this section.	255

(I) Except as provided in division (G) of this section, the	256
department or an entity with which the department contracts for	257
the scoring of the assessment shall not release any individual	258
scores on any assessment administered under this section. The	259
state board of education shall adopt rules to ensure the	260
protection of student confidentiality at all times. The rules may	261
require the use of the data verification codes assigned to	262
students pursuant to division (D)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the	263
Revised Code to protect the confidentiality of student scores.	264

(J) Notwithstanding division (D) of section 3311.52 of the	265
Revised Code, this section does not apply to the board of	266
education of any cooperative education school district except as	267
provided under rules adopted pursuant to this division.	268

(1) In accordance with rules that the state board of	269
education shall adopt, the board of education of any city,	270
exempted village, or local school district with territory in a	271
cooperative education school district established pursuant to	272
divisions (A) to (C) of section 3311.52 of the Revised Code may	273
enter into an agreement with the board of education of the	274
cooperative education school district for administering any	275
assessment prescribed under this section to students of the city,	276
exempted village, or local school district who are attending	277
school in the cooperative education school district.	278

(2) In accordance with rules that the state board of	279
education shall adopt, the board of education of any city,	280
exempted village, or local school district with territory in a	281
cooperative education school district established pursuant to	282
section 3311.521 of the Revised Code shall enter into an agreement	283
with the cooperative district that provides for the administration	284
of any assessment prescribed under this section to both of the	285
following:	286

(a) Students who are attending school in the cooperative	287
district and who, if the cooperative district were not	288
established, would be entitled to attend school in the city,	289
local, or exempted village school district pursuant to section	290
3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code;	291

(b) Persons described in division (B)(8)(b) of this section.

292

Any assessment of students pursuant to such an agreement	293
shall be in lieu of any assessment of such students or persons	294
pursuant to this section.	295

(K)(1) As a condition of compliance with section 3313.612 of	296
the Revised Code, each chartered nonpublic school that educates	297
students in grades nine through twelve shall administer the	298
assessments prescribed by divisions (B)(1) and (2) of section	299
3301.0710 of the Revised Code. Any chartered nonpublic school may	300
participate in the assessment program by administering any of the	301
assessments prescribed by division (A) of section 3301.0710 of the	302
Revised Code. The chief administrator of the school shall specify	303
which assessments the school will administer. Such specification	304
shall be made in writing to the superintendent of public	305
instruction prior to the first day of August of any school year in	306
which assessments are administered and shall include a pledge that	307
the nonpublic school will administer the specified assessments in	308
the same manner as public schools are required to do under this	309
section and rules adopted by the department.	310

(2) The department of education shall furnish the assessments	311
prescribed by section 3301.0710 or 3301.0712 of the Revised Code	312
to each chartered nonpublic school that participates under this	313
division.	314

(L)(1) The superintendent of the state school for the blind	315
and the superintendent of the state school for the deaf shall	316
administer the assessments described by sections 3301.0710 and	317
3301.0712 of the Revised Code. Each superintendent shall	318
administer the assessments in the same manner as district boards	319
are required to do under this section and rules adopted by the	320
department of education and in conformity with division (C)(1)(a)	321
of this section.	322

(2) The department of education shall furnish the assessments	323
described by sections 3301.0710 and 3301.0712 of the Revised Code	324
to each superintendent.	325

(M) Notwithstanding division (E) of this section, a school	326
district may use a student's failure to attain a score in at least	327
the proficient range on the mathematics assessment described by	328
division (A)(1)(a) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code or on	329
an assessment described by division (A)(1)(b), (c), (d), (e), or	330
(f) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code as a factor in	331
retaining that student in the current grade level.	332

(N)(1) In the manner specified in divisions (N)(3) and (4) of	333
this section, the assessments required by division (A)(1) of	334
section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code shall become public records	335
pursuant to section 149.43 of the Revised Code on the first day of	336
July following the school year that the assessments were	337
administered.	338

(2) The department may field test proposed questions with	339
samples of students to determine the validity, reliability, or	340
appropriateness of questions for possible inclusion in a future	341
year's assessment. The department also may use anchor questions on	342
assessments to ensure that different versions of the same	343
assessment are of comparable difficulty.	344

Field test questions and anchor questions shall not be	345
considered in computing scores for individual students. Field test	346
questions and anchor questions may be included as part of the	347
administration of any assessment required by division (A)(1) or	348
(B)(1) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code.	349

(3) Any field test question or anchor question administered	350
under division (N)(2) of this section shall not be a public	351
record. Such field test questions and anchor questions shall be	352
redacted from any assessments which are released as a public	353
record pursuant to division (N)(1) of this section.	354

(4) This division applies to the assessments prescribed by	355
division (A) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code.	356

(a) The first administration of each assessment, as specified	357
in former section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code, shall be a public	358
record.	359

(b) For subsequent administrations of each assessment prior	360
to the 2011-2012 school year, not less than forty per cent of the	361
questions on the assessment that are used to compute a student's	362
score shall be a public record. The department shall determine	363
which questions will be needed for reuse on a future assessment	364
and those questions shall not be public records and shall be	365
redacted from the assessment prior to its release as a public	366
record. However, for each redacted question, the department shall	367
inform each city, local, and exempted village school district of	368
the statewide academic standard adopted by the state board of	369
education under section 3301.079 of the Revised Code and the	370
corresponding benchmark to which the question relates. The	371
preceding sentence does not apply to field test questions that are	372
redacted under division (N)(3) of this section.	373

(c) The administrations of each assessment in the 2011-2012	374
school year and later shall not be a public record.	375

(5) Each assessment prescribed by division (B)(1) of section	376
3301.0710 of the Revised Code shall not be a public record.	377

(O) As used in this section:

378

(1) "Three-year average" means the average of the most recent	379
consecutive three school years of data.	380

(2) "Dropout" means a student who withdraws from school	381
before completing course requirements for graduation and who is	382
not enrolled in an education program approved by the state board	383
of education or an education program outside the state. "Dropout"	384
does not include a student who has departed the country.	385

(3) "Graduation rate" means the ratio of students receiving a	386
diploma to the number of students who entered ninth grade four	387
years earlier. Students who transfer into the district are added	388
to the calculation. Students who transfer out of the district for	389
reasons other than dropout are subtracted from the calculation. If	390
a student who was a dropout in any previous year returns to the	391
same school district, that student shall be entered into the	392
calculation as if the student had entered ninth grade four years	393
before the graduation year of the graduating class that the	394
student joins.	395

Section 2. That existing section 3301.0711 of the Revised	396
Code is hereby repealed.	397