GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 927

Short Title:  Refocus Sch. Testing on Basics.	(Public)

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: Representatives Russell; Allred, Cansler, Capps, Clary, Cocklereece, Cummings, Davis, Edwards, Kiser, McMahan, Preston, Rayfield, Sharpe, Shubert, and Snowden.

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Education.

─────────────────────────────────────── 

April 12, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REFOCUS THE SCHOOL TESTING PROGRAM ON THE BASICS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Part 1 of Article 10A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is repealed.
Sec. 2.  G.S. 115C-174.10 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-174.10.  Purposes of the Statewide Testing Program.
The three testing programs in this Article have three purposes: (i)	to assure that all high school graduates possess those minimum skills and that knowledge thought necessary to function as a member of society; (ii) to provide a means of identifying strengths and weaknesses in the education process in order to improve instructional delivery; and (iii) to establish additional means for making the education system at the State, local, and school levels accountable to the public for results."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 115C-174.11 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-174.11.  Components of the testing program.
(a)	Assessment instruments for first and second grades. – The State Board of Education shall adopt and provide to the local school administrative units developmentally appropriate individualized assessment instruments consistent with the Basic Education Program for the first and second grades, rather than standardized tests.  Local school administrative units may use these assessment instruments provided to them by the State Board for first and second grade students, and shall not use standardized tests.  
(b)	Competency Testing Program.
(1)	The State Board of Education shall adopt tests or other measurement devices which may be used to assure that graduates of the public high schools and graduates of nonpublic schools supervised by the State Board of Education pursuant to the provisions of Part 1 of Article 39 of this Chapter possess the skills and knowledge necessary to function independently and successfully in assuming the responsibilities of citizenship.
(2)	The tests shall be administered annually to all tenth grade students in the public schools. Students who fail to attain the required minimum standard for graduation in the tenth grade shall be given remedial instruction and additional opportunities to take the test up to and including the last month of the twelfth grade. Students who fail to pass parts of the test shall be retested on only those parts they fail. Students in the tenth grade who are enrolled in special education programs or who have been officially designated as eligible for participation in such programs may be excluded from the testing programs.
(3)	The State Board of Education may develop and validate alternate means and standards for demonstrating minimum competence. These standards, which must be more difficult than the tests adopted pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, may be passed by students in lieu of the testing requirement of subdivision (2) of this subsection.
(4)	Funds appropriated for the purpose of remediation support for students who fail the high school competency test shall be distributed in accordance with rules promulgated by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall allocate remediation funds to institutions administered by the Department of Human Resources on the same basis as funds allocated to other local education agencies.
(c)	Annual Testing Program.
(1)	The State Board of Education shall adopt a system of annual testing for grades three through 12.  These tests shall be designed to measure progress toward reading, communication skills, and mathematics for grades three through eight, and toward competencies designated by the State Board for grades nine through twelve. 
(2)	If the State Board of Education finds that additional testing in grades three through twelve is desirable to allow comparisons with national indicators of student achievement, that testing shall be conducted with the smallest size sample of students necessary to assure valid comparisons with other states."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 115C-174.12 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-174.12.  Responsibilities of agencies.
(a)	The State Board of Education shall review the tests being administered through State and local testing programs and shall select the tests that it believes are necessary to provide the best measures of the levels of academic achievement attained by students in various subject areas.  The State Board of Education shall also establish policies and guidelines necessary for minimizing the time students spend taking tests administered through State and local testing programs and for otherwise carrying out the provisions of this Article.
The State Board of Education may appoint an Advisory Council on Testing to assist in carrying out its responsibilities under this Article.
(b)	The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be responsible, under policies adopted by the State Board of Education, for the statewide administration of the testing program provided by this Article.
(c)	Local boards of education shall cooperate with the State Board of Education in implementing the provisions of this Article, including the regulations and policies established by the State Board of Education. Local school administrative units shall use the annual and competency testing programs to fulfill the purposes set out in this Article.  Local school administrative units are encouraged to continue to develop local testing programs designed to diagnose student needs further."
Sec. 5.  G.S. 143A-48 is repealed.
Sec. 6.  This act is effective upon ratification.