Sec. 1279.
(1) Subject to subsection (13) and section 1279g, until the end of the 2005-2006 school year, the board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy shall administer state assessments to high school pupils in the subject areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The board shall include on the pupil's high school transcript all of the following:
(a) For each high school graduate who has completed a subject area assessment under this section, the pupil's scaled score on the assessment.
(b) If the pupil's scaled score on a subject area assessment falls within the range required under subsection (2) for "exceeds expectations", "meets expectations", or "basic", an indication that the pupil has achieved state endorsement for that subject area.
(c) The number of school days the pupil was in attendance at school each school year during high school and the total number of school days in session for each of those school years.
(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop scaled scores for reporting subject area assessment results for each of the subject areas under this section. The superintendent of public instruction shall establish 4 categories for each subject area indicating exceeds expectations, meets expectations, basic, and below basic, and shall establish the scaled score range required for each category. The superintendent of public instruction shall design and distribute to school districts, intermediate school districts, public school academies, and nonpublic schools a simple and concise document that describes these categories in each subject area and indicates the scaled score ranges for each category in each subject area. A school district or public school academy may award a high school diploma to a pupil who successfully completes local school district or public school academy requirements established in accordance with state law for high school graduation, regardless of whether the pupil is eligible for any state endorsement.
(3) The assessments administered for the purposes of this section shall be administered to pupils during the last 90 school days of grade 11. The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that the assessments are scored and the scores are returned to pupils, their parents or legal guardians, and school districts or public school academies not later than the beginning of the pupil's first semester of grade 12. The returned scores shall indicate the pupil's scaled score for each subject area assessment, the range of scaled scores for each subject area, and the range of scaled scores required for each category established under subsection (2). In reporting the scores to pupils, parents, and schools, the superintendent of public instruction shall provide specific, meaningful, and timely feedback on the pupil's performance on the assessment.
(4) Beginning with assessments conducted in the 2005-2006 school year, all of the following apply to the assessments under this section:
(a) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that any contractor used for scoring the assessment supplies an individual report for each pupil that will identify for the pupil's parents and teachers whether the pupil met expectations or failed to meet expectations for each standard, to allow the pupil's parents and teachers to assess and remedy problems before the pupil moves to the next grade.
(b) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that any contractor used for scoring, developing, or processing an assessment instrument meets quality management standards commonly used in the assessment industry, including at least meeting level 2 of the capability maturity model developed by the software engineering institute of Carnegie Mellon university for the 2005-2006 school year assessments and at least meeting level 3 of the capability maturity model for subsequent assessments.
(c) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that any contract it enters into for scoring, administering, or developing an assessment instrument includes specific deadlines for all steps of the assessment process, including, but not limited to, deadlines for the correct testing materials to be supplied to schools and for the correct results to be returned to schools, and includes penalties for noncompliance with these deadlines.
(d) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that the assessment instruments meet all of the following:
(i) Are designed to test pupils on grade level content expectations or course content expectations, as appropriate, in all subjects tested.
(ii) Comply with requirements of the no child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110.
(iii) Are consistent with the code of fair testing practices in education prepared by the joint committee on testing practices of the American psychological association.
(iv) Are factually accurate. If the superintendent of public instruction determines that a question is not factually accurate and should be removed from an assessment instrument, the state board and the superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that the question is removed from the assessment instrument.
(5) For each pupil who does not achieve proficiency in 1 or more subject areas, the board of the school district or public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled shall provide that there be at least 1 meeting attended by at least the pupil and a member of the school district's or public school academy's staff or a local or intermediate school district consultant who is proficient in the measurement and evaluation of pupils. The school district or public school academy may provide the meeting as a group meeting for pupils in similar circumstances. If the pupil is a minor, the school district or public school academy shall invite and encourage the pupil's parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis to attend the meeting and shall mail a notice of the meeting to the pupil's parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis. The purpose of this meeting and any subsequent meeting under this subsection shall be to determine an educational program for the pupil designed to have the pupil achieve state endorsement in each subject area in which he or she did not achieve state endorsement. In addition, a school district or public school academy may provide for subsequent meetings with the pupil conducted by a high school counselor or teacher designated by the pupil's high school principal, and shall invite and encourage the pupil's parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis to attend the subsequent meetings. The school district or public school academy shall provide special programs for the pupil or develop a program using the educational programs regularly provided by the district unless the board of the school district or public school academy decides otherwise and publishes and explains its decision in a public justification report.
(6) A pupil who wants to repeat an assessment administered under this section may repeat the assessment, without charge to the pupil, in the next school year or after graduation. An individual may repeat an assessment at any time the school district or public school academy administers an applicable assessment instrument or during a retesting period under subsection (8).
(7) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that the length of the assessments used for the purposes of this section and the combined total time necessary to administer all of the assessments are the shortest possible that will still maintain the degree of reliability and validity of the assessment results determined necessary by the superintendent of public instruction. The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that the maximum total combined length of time that schools are required to set aside for administration of all of the assessments used for the purposes of this section does not exceed 8 hours. However, this subsection does not limit the amount of time that individuals may have to complete the assessments.
(8) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish, schedule, and arrange periodic retesting periods throughout the year until the end of the 2006-2007 school year for individuals who desire to repeat an assessment under this section. The superintendent of public instruction shall coordinate the arrangements for administering the repeat assessments and shall ensure that the retesting is made available at least within each intermediate school district and, to the extent possible, within each school district.
(9) A school district or public school academy shall provide accommodations to a pupil with disabilities for the assessments required under this section, as provided under section 504 of title V of the rehabilitation act of 1973, 29 USC 794; subtitle A of title II of the Americans with disabilities act of 1990, 42 USC 12131 to 12134; the individuals with disabilities education act amendments of 1997, Public Law 105-17; and the implementing regulations for those statutes.
(10) For the purposes of this section, the superintendent of public instruction shall develop or select and approve assessment instruments to measure pupil performance in English language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. The assessment instruments shall be based on grade level content expectations or course content expectations, as appropriate.
(11) All assessment instruments developed or selected and approved by the state under any statute or rule for a purpose related to K to 12 education shall be objective-oriented and consistent with grade level content expectations or course content expectations, as appropriate.
(12) Until the end of the 2006-2007 school year, a person who has graduated from high school after 1996 and who has not previously taken an assessment under this section may take an assessment used for the purposes of this section, without charge to the person, at the school district from which he or she graduated from high school at any time that school district administers the assessment or during a retesting period scheduled under subsection (8) and have his or her scaled score on the assessment included on his or her high school transcript. If the person's scaled score on a subject area assessment falls within the range required under subsection (2) for a category established under subsection (2), the school district shall also indicate on the person's high school transcript that the person has achieved state endorsement for that subject area.
(13) Until the end of the 2006-2007 school year, a person who has previously taken an assessment under this section may take a retest on the assessment for the purposes of qualifying for a Michigan merit award under the Michigan merit award scholarship act, 1999 PA 94, MCL 390.1451 to 390.1459. The person may take the retest, without charge to the person, at the school district in which he or she is enrolled or resides or, if it is not available in that school district, at another location within the intermediate school district in which he or she resides, at a regular testing time scheduled for the assessment or during a retesting period scheduled under subsection (8).
(14) A child who is a student in a nonpublic school or home school may take an assessment under this section. To take an assessment, a child who is a student in a home school shall contact the school district in which the child resides, and that school district shall administer the assessment, or the child may take the assessment at a nonpublic school if allowed by the nonpublic school. Upon request from a nonpublic school, the superintendent of public instruction shall supply assessments and the nonpublic school may administer the assessment. If a school district administers an assessment under this subsection to a child who is not enrolled in the school district, the scores for that child are not considered for any purpose to be scores of a pupil of the school district.
(15) The purpose of the assessment under this section is to assess pupil performance in mathematics, science, social studies, and communication arts for the purpose of improving academic achievement and establishing a statewide standard of competency. The assessment under this section provides a common measure of data that will contribute to the improvement of Michigan schools' curriculum and instruction by encouraging alignment with Michigan's curriculum framework standards. These standards are based upon the expectations of what pupils should know and be able to do by the end of grade 11.
(16) As used in this section:
(a) "English language arts" means reading and writing.
(b) "Social studies" means United States history, world history, world geography, economics, and American government.
History: Add. 1993, Act 335, Imd. Eff. Dec. 31, 1993 ;-- Am. 1995, Act 289, Eff. July 1, 1996 ;-- Am. 1997, Act 25, Imd. Eff. June 16, 1997 ;-- Am. 1997, Act 175, Imd. Eff. Dec. 30, 1997 ;-- Am. 2004, Act 399, Imd. Eff. Oct. 15, 2004 ;-- Am. 2004, Act 596, Imd. Eff. Jan. 5, 2005
Popular Name: Act 451
Last modified: October 10, 2016