Bill Text: NJ A3702 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allows parent or guardian to exclude student from administration of State assessment.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-05-19 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A3702 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A3702-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman TIM EUSTACE
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Allows parent or guardian to exclude student from administration of State assessment.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the administration of State assessments, supplementing and amending P.L.2015, c.244, amending P.L.1995, c.426, and supplementing chapter 7A of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) No later than the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year, a school district or charter school shall establish a procedure for a parent or guardian of a public school student to provide written notification that the student will not participate in the administration of a State assessment. A parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a school district or charter school shall provide written notification no later than seven days prior to the administration of a State assessment stating that the State assessment is not to be administered to the student.
2. (New section) In the case of a student who does not participate in the administration of a State assessment pursuant to the provisions of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a school district or charter school shall provide educationally appropriate ungraded alternative activities, or allow the student to engage in supervised reading or other self-directed work, during the time in which the assessment is being administered. Any such activity shall not occur in the same room in which the assessment is being administered. In the event that a student's regularly scheduled class is in session during the administration of a State assessment, then the student shall be allowed to attend that class.
3. (New section) A school district or charter school shall not take disciplinary action against a student for not participating in the administration of a State assessment if the student's parent or guardian provided written notification pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). In the case of a student who does not participate in the administration of a State assessment, a school district or charter school shall use alternative measures of student proficiency when making determinations related to academic placement or admissions.
4. (New section) Except as otherwise provided pursuant to section 6 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a school, school district, or charter school shall not be penalized for failure to meet a specified student participation rate on the State assessments.
5. (New section) A student whose parent or guardian has provided written notification to a school district or charter school that the student will not participate in the administration of a State assessment pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not be denied a diploma if the student has satisfied the standards for graduation established by a board of education pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1979, c.241 (C.18A:7C-2), other than any requirement that the student demonstrate proficiency on the State assessment.
6. (New section) No later than the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year, the commissioner shall incorporate a school district's student participation rate on the State assessments as a quality performance indicator in the instruction and program component of the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum. The quality performance indicator shall not account for more than one percent of the total quality performance indicators in that component.
7. Section 2 of P.L.2015, c.244 (C.18A:7C-6.6) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. No later than October 1 of each school year, a school district or charter school shall provide to the parents or guardians of a student enrolled in the district or charter school information on any State assessment or commercially-developed standardized assessment that will be administered to the student in that school year. If a school district or charter school elects to administer an additional commercially-developed standardized assessment after October 1, then the information shall be provided within 30 days of that determination. The information, as determined by the commissioner through regulations adopted pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall include, but need not be limited to, the following:
(1) the subject area of the assessment and grade levels covered by the assessment;
(2) the date or range of potential dates for the administration of the assessment;
(3) the time allotted for the student to take and complete the assessment;
(4) any accommodations or accessibility options available to students;
(5) information on how and when the student and his parent or guardian can access both sample questions and answers to the assessment and the student's results; [and]
(6) whether the assessment is required by the State, the federal government, or both; and
(7) information regarding a parent's or guardian's right to have a student not participate in a State assessment, and information regarding the procedure established by the school district or charter school, pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), by which the parent or guardian provides written notification that a student will not participate in a State assessment.
(cf: P.L.2015, c.244, s.2)
8. Section 16 of P.L.1995, c.426 (C.18A:36A-16) is amended to read as follows:
16. a. The commissioner shall annually assess whether each charter school is meeting the goals of its charter, and shall conduct a comprehensive review prior to granting a renewal of the charter. The executive county superintendent of schools of the county in which the charter school is located shall have on-going access to the records and facilities of the charter school to ensure that the charter school is in compliance with its charter and that State board regulations concerning assessment, testing, civil rights, and student health and safety are being met. To the extent that a charter school's student participation rate on the State assessments is a factor in this review, it shall not be given a greater amount of weight than it is given when evaluating a school district under the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum.
b. In order to facilitate the commissioner's review, each charter school shall submit an annual report to the local board of education, the executive county superintendent of schools, and the commissioner in the form prescribed by the commissioner. The report shall be received annually by the local board, the executive county superintendent, and the commissioner no later than August 1.
The report shall also be made available to the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the charter school.
c. By April 1, 2001, the commissioner shall hold public hearings in the north, central, and southern regions of the State to receive input from members of the educational community and the public on the charter school program.
d. The commissioner shall commission an independent study of the charter school program. The study shall be conducted by an individual or entity identified with expertise in the field of education and the selection shall be approved by the Joint Committee on the Public Schools. The individual or entity shall design a comprehensive study of the charter school program.
e. The commissioner shall submit to the Governor, the Legislature, and the State Board of Education by October 1, 2001 an evaluation of the charter school program based upon the public input required pursuant to subsection c. of this section and the independent study required pursuant to subsection d. of this section. The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, consideration of the following elements:
(1) the impact of the charter school program on resident districts' students, staff, parents, educational programs, and finances;
(2) the impact of the charter school program and the increased number of schools on the economics of educational services on a Statewide basis;
(3) the fairness and the impact of the reduction of available resources on the ability of resident districts to promote competitive educational offerings;
(4) the impact of the shift of pupils from nonpublic schools to charter schools;
(5) the comparative demographics of student enrollments in school districts of residence and the charter schools located within those districts. The comparison shall include, but not be limited to, race, gender, socioeconomic status, enrollment of special education students, enrollment of students of limited English proficiency, and student progress toward meeting the core curriculum content standards as measured by student results on Statewide assessment tests;
(6) the degree of involvement of private entities in the operation and financial support of charter schools, and their participation as members of charter school boards of trustees;
(7) verification of the compliance of charter schools with applicable laws and regulations;
(8) student progress toward meeting the goals of the charter schools;
(9) parent, community and student satisfaction with charter schools;
(10) the extent to which waiting lists exist for admission to charter schools and the length of those lists;
(11) the extent of any attrition among student and faculty members in charter schools; and
(12) the results of the independent study required pursuant to subsection d. of this section.
The evaluation shall include a recommendation on the advisability of the continuation, modification, expansion, or termination of the program. If the evaluation does not recommend termination, then it shall include recommendations for changes in the structure of the program which the commissioner deems advisable. The commissioner may not implement any recommended expansion, modification, or termination of the program until the Legislature acts on that recommendation.
(cf: P.L.2000, c.142, s.3)
9. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill allows a parent or guardian of a student to provide written notification to a school district or charter school that the student will not participate in the administration of a State assessment. The parent or guardian would be required to provide written notification no later than seven days before the administration of a State assessment that the assessment is not to be administered to the student.
A school district or charter school would be required to provide educationally appropriate ungraded alternative activities for a student who, under the bill, is not participating in the administration of a State assessment, or allow the student to engage in supervised reading or other self-directed work. Any such activity must occur in a room other than the room in which the assessment is being administered. In the event that a student's regularly scheduled class is in session during the administration of a State assessment, then the student would be allowed to attend that class.
A school district or charter school would not be allowed to take disciplinary action against a student who does not participate in the administration of a State assessment, and must use alternative means of assessing student proficiency when making determinations regarding academic placements. Additionally, a student whose parent or guardian provided the required written notification could not be denied a diploma if the student satisfied all other graduation requirements established by the board of education.
Finally, the bill directs the Commissioner of Education to incorporate a district's student participation rate on the State assessment as a quality performance indicator in the instruction and program component of the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability System (NJ QSAC), with that indicator accounting for no more the one percent of the total score in that component. If the commissioner uses the student participation rate to evaluate a charter school, then the participation rate would not be given a greater amount of weight than it is under NJ QSAC.
