Bill Text: NJ A4197 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits the administration of State assessments via the Internet prior to 2016-2017 school year.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-06-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A4197 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A4197-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CONNIE WAGNER
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits the administration of State assessments via the Internet prior to 2016-2017 school year.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the administration of State assessments and supplementing chapter 7C of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Prior to the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year, the Department of Education shall not require a school district to administer any component of any required State assessment via the Internet. The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to any assessment administered via the Internet on a pilot basis, provided that the assessment does not affect a student's ability to receive a diploma pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1979, c.241 (C.18A:7C-1), and is not used in the evaluation rubric submitted by a school district to the Commissioner of Education for approval pursuant to section 16 of P.L.2012, c.26 (C.18A:6-122).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill specifies that the Department of Education may not require a school district to administer a State assessment via the Internet prior to the 2016-2017 school year. New Jersey is a governing member of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a consortium of states that is developing assessments in language arts and mathematics that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. As part of the State's participation in PARCC, the department has stated its intent to administer State assessments via the Internet, starting in the 2014-2015 school year.
Various reports have indicated that many New Jersey school districts will need to incur significant costs to upgrade hardware and software to meet the minimum capacity outlined by PARCC to administer assessments via the Internet. Additionally, a number of states that have transitioned to online assessments experienced significant disruptions during testing due to the testing vendors' lack of hardware capacity to accommodate the significant number of simultaneous test takers. Delaying the transition to Internet-based testing will provide schools with sufficient time to make the necessary equipment and software upgrades, and allow potential assessment vendors to develop the necessary capacity.
