SENATE, No. 310

SECTION 1. Section 1D of chapter 69 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting in line 49 after the words, “taking effect.” the following:-

Before taking effect, the standards shall be reviewed and approved by the state affiliate of the professional association representing the academic discipline, or their successors as the case may be, for each standard as follows: in mathematics by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; in English Language Arts by the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association and the National Association of Bilingual Educators; in science and technology by the National Association of Science Teachers, the National Technology Education Association and the Association for Career and Technical Education; in health by the National Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, the American School Counselors Association and the National Association of School Psychologists; in the arts by the National Art Education Association, the National Alliance for the Arts and the National Music Educators Association; in social studies by the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Council for History Education and the National Geographic Alliance; and in foreign languages by the National Foreign Language Association.

SECTION 2.   Section 1E of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following new paragraph at the end thereof:-

Before taking effect, the standards shall be reviewed and approved by the state affiliate of the professional association representing the academic discipline, or their successors as the case may be, for each standard as follows: in mathematics by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; in English Language Arts by the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association and the National Association of Bilingual Educators; in science and technology by the National Association of Science Teachers, the National Technology Education Association and the Association for Career and Technical Education; in health by the National Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, the American School Counselors Association and the National Association of School Psychologists; in the arts by the National Art Education Association, the National Alliance for the Arts and the National Music Educators Association; in social studies by the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Council for History Education and the National Geographic Alliance; and in foreign languages by the National Foreign Language Association.

SECTION 3. Section 1D of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding after the word “determination” in line 54 the following words:-

 , according to the evaluation system established by the district or Commonwealth charter school according to section one I of this chapter,

SECTION 4.  Section 1D of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding after the word “graduation” in line 59 the following words:-

; provided however, that the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (“MCAS”) tests, so called, or other state standardized tests, shall not be used to measure whether a student has met the competency determination.

SECTION 5. Section 1I of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking the first through third paragraphs, and inserting in place thereof the following eight paragraphs:-

Each school district shall develop and adopt a system for evaluating on an annual basis the performance of both the district and individual public schools within the district, including Horace Mann charter schools. Each Commonwealth charter school shall develop and adopt a system for evaluating on an annual basis the performance of the school.  With respect to individual schools, the system shall include instruments designed to assess the extent to which the school and district have succeeded in improving or have failed to improve student performance, as defined by student acquisition of the skills, competencies and knowledge called for by the academic standards and embodied in the curriculum frameworks established by the board pursuant to sections one D and one E in the areas of mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, English, foreign languages and the arts, as well as by other gauges of student learning judged by the district to be relevant and meaningful to students, parents, teachers, administrators, and taxpayers.

Each system shall be designed both to measure outcomes and results regarding student performance, and to improve the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction.  In its design and application, each system shall strike a balance among considerations of accuracy, fairness, expense and administration.  Each system shall employ a variety of assessment instruments on either a comprehensive or statistically valid sampling basis.  Such instruments shall be criterion referenced, assessing whether students are meeting the academic standards described in this chapter. As much as is practicable, especially in the case of students whose performance is difficult to assess using conventional methods, such instruments shall include consideration of work samples, projects and portfolios, and shall facilitate authentic and direct gauges of student performance. Each system shall be approved by the school committee, or by the governing board of any school not under the direction and control of a school committee, and shall meet the NEASC standards on assessment.  Every school district must submit a written summary of its proposed assessment system to the Department of Education for review prior to the implementation of said system.

In addition, each district or Commonwealth charter school shall, under procedures and guidelines established by the department, administer the following tests as part of its assessment system: the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in Reading in Grade 3; a standardized statewide test, established by the department, in English language arts every two years beginning in grade 5; a standardized statewide test, established by the department, in mathematics every two years beginning in grade 4; standardized end-of-course assessments, established by the department, in history and social studies in grades 9 and 10;  standardized end-of-course assessments, established by the department, in science in grades 9 and 10;  and local assessments in foreign languages, arts and health. Said tests and assessments shall be used only for purposes of diagnosis, remediation, and assessment of the extent to which the school’s students have acquired the skills, competencies and knowledge called for by the academic standards and embodied in the curriculum frameworks established by the board pursuant to sections one D and one E, and shall not be used to deny any student graduation or any other benefit of public education. Test scores shall be reported to each student and to his or her parents or guardians and shall be reported in the aggregate at the school and district level.

Prior to the use of any state tests described in the previous paragraph, the tests shall be reviewed and approved by the state affiliate of the professional association representing the academic discipline, or their successors as the case may be, for each test as follows:  mathematics by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; English Language Arts by the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association and the National Association of Bilingual Educators; science and technology by the National Association of Science Teachers, the National Technology Education Association and the Association for Career and Technical Education; health by the National Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, the American School Counselors Association and the National Association of School Psychologists; arts by the National Art Education Association, the National Alliance for the Arts and the National Music Educators Association; social studies by the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Council for History Education and the National Geographic Alliance; and foreign languages by the National Foreign Language Association.  

Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, reporting by the department of performance levels of the MCAS tests, so called, shall be by numerical categories and shall not be by any qualitative description, such as “advanced”, “proficient”, “needs improvement” or “failing”.

The department shall provide technical assistance to schools and school districts to achieve the accreditation and implement the evaluation systems required by this section, including the development of models for local evaluation systems.  The department shall fund all costs associated with achieving and maintaining accreditation by the NEASC, including teacher reassign time, substitute teachers and other staff participation costs associated with the accreditation process, as well as all costs associated with the performance evaluation systems required by this section.

SECTION 6.   The Commissioner of Education shall select a panel of three experts from out-of-state from a list of nationally qualified experts in educational testing provided by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, and two educators, one an elementary teacher and the other a secondary school teacher, from a list of experienced teachers provided by the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the American Federation of Teachers/Massachusetts, to perform a study of the validity, reliability, quality and age and language appropriateness of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests as used in the public schools.

The Commissioner of Education shall enter into a contract on behalf of the Department of Education, with the selected panel of experts to conduct such a study.  Said contract shall require that the study be completed no later than December 31, 2008.  The Commissioner and the Department of Education shall assist the panel in obtaining all information, documents or other evidence necessary to conduct the study. 

The findings, conclusions and recommendations of the Commission shall be presented to the Board of Education and to the house chair and senate chair of the Joint Committee on Education no later than March 1, 2009.