HCS SB 319 -- ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS

SPONSOR:  Carter (Johnson, 61)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on
Education-Elementary and Secondary by a vote of 22 to 1.

This substitute prohibits counting the performance of students
for whom English is a second language on the statewide
assessment tests until the student has been educated in an
English-speaking state for 3 full school years.  The provisions
that require students scoring at the lowest level of proficiency
on the statewide tests to retake the test the next year are
repealed.

The substitute also completely revises a section that currently
prohibits promoting a student if the student's reading ability
is more than a grade level lower than the student's grade.  Each
school district will give its chosen assessment to any
third-grade student or any student who transfers into a district
in grades 4, 5, or 6 who has not been determined to be reading
at grade level during the current school year.  The substitute
exempts students receiving special education, students with
limited English proficiency, and certain students receiving
services under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

With the 2002-2003 school year, each student whose third-grade
assessment shows the student reading below second-grade level
will be provided with a reading improvement plan to contain a
minimum of 30 hours of additional reading instruction during the
fourth-grade year.  The students will be assessed again near the
end of fourth grade and, if necessary, provided with a plan for
the fifth-grade year.  Districts may be reimbursed for the costs
of running the reading improvement programs that exceed the
additional funds they receive from the additional average daily
attendance generated by the reading program.  School districts
are required to offer summer school reading instruction to
students with reading improvement plans and may fulfill this
obligation through cooperative arrangements with neighboring
districts.

The substitute also defines key terms, prohibits the Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education from using information
about the number of students receiving reading improvement
instruction in accreditation matters, and requires districts to
make an effort to inform parents about their methods and
materials for teaching reading.  Districts are required to make
available statistical information about numbers and percentages
of students undergoing reading remediation pursuant to the
substitute.

The substitute contains an emergency clause.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Net Savings to General Revenue Fund of
Less Than $934,000 in FY 2002, Less Than $984,000 in FY 2003,
and Less Than $984,000 in FY 2004.  Estimated Net Effect on
State School Moneys Fund of $0 in FY 2002, FY 2003, and FY 2004.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that many areas of Missouri have
experienced a significant increase in the number of non-native
English speakers.  When immigration results in large numbers of
non-native English speaking students, it can have an effect on a
school district's performance on the Missouri Assessment Program
tests.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Stoll (for Senator Carter);
St. Louis Public Schools; Missouri Council of School
Administrators; Missouri State Teachers Association; Missouri
National Education Association; and Missouri School Boards
Association.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Becky DeNeve, Senior Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated November 26, 2001 at 11:47 am