1.1.................... moves to amend H.F. No. 501 as follows:
1.2Delete everything after the enacting clause and insert:

1.3    "Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 120B.30, subdivision 1, is amended to
1.4read:
1.5    Subdivision 1. Statewide testing. (a) The commissioner, with advice from experts
1.6with appropriate technical qualifications and experience and stakeholders, consistent with
1.7subdivision 1a, shall include in the comprehensive assessment system, for each grade
1.8level to be tested, state-constructed tests developed from and aligned with the state's
1.9required academic standards under section 120B.021 and administered annually to all
1.10students in grades 3 through 8 and at the high school level. A state-developed test in a
1.11subject other than writing, developed after the 2002-2003 school year, must include both
1.12machine-scoreable multiple choice and constructed response questions. The commissioner
1.13shall establish one or more months during which schools shall administer the tests to
1.14students each school year. For students enrolled in grade 8 before the 2005-2006 school
1.15year, only Minnesota basic skills tests in reading, mathematics, and writing shall fulfill
1.16students' basic skills testing requirements for a passing state notation. The passing scores
1.17of basic skills tests in reading and mathematics are the equivalent of 75 percent correct
1.18for students entering grade 9 in 1997 and thereafter, as based on the first uniform test
1.19administration of February 1998. Students who have not successfully passed a Minnesota
1.20basic skills test by the end of the 2011-2012 school year must pass the graduation-required
1.21assessments for diploma under paragraph (b).
1.22    (b) For students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006 school year and later, only the
1.23following options shall fulfill students' state graduation test requirements:
1.24    (1) for reading and mathematics:
1.25    (i) obtaining an achievement level equivalent to or greater than proficient as
1.26determined through a standard setting process on the Minnesota comprehensive
1.27assessments in grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for mathematics or achieving a passing
2.1score as determined through a standard setting process on the graduation-required
2.2assessment for diploma in grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for mathematics or
2.3subsequent retests;
2.4    (ii) achieving a passing score as determined through a standard setting process on the
2.5state-identified language proficiency test in reading and the mathematics test for English
2.6language learners or the graduation-required assessment for diploma equivalent of those
2.7assessments for students designated as English language learners;
2.8    (iii) achieving an individual passing score on the graduation-required assessment
2.9for diploma as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an individual
2.10education plan or 504 plan;
2.11    (iv) obtaining achievement level equivalent to or greater than proficient as
2.12determined through a standard setting process on the state-identified alternate assessment
2.13or assessments in grade 10 for reading and grade 11 for mathematics for students with
2.14an individual education plan; or
2.15    (v) achieving an individual passing score on the state-identified alternate assessment
2.16or assessments as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an
2.17individual education plan; and
2.18    (2) for writing:
2.19    (i) achieving a passing score on the graduation-required assessment for diploma;
2.20    (ii) achieving a passing score as determined through a standard setting process on
2.21the state-identified language proficiency test in writing for students designated as English
2.22language learners;
2.23    (iii) achieving an individual passing score on the graduation-required assessment
2.24for diploma as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an individual
2.25education plan or 504 plan; or
2.26    (iv) achieving an individual passing score on the state-identified alternate assessment
2.27or assessments as determined by appropriate state guidelines for students with an
2.28individual education plan.
2.29     (c) Students enrolled in grade 8 in any school year from the 2005-2006 school year
2.30to the 2009-2010 school year who do not pass the reading or math graduation-required
2.31assessment for diploma under paragraph (b) are eligible to receive a high school diploma
2.32with a passing state notation if they:
2.33(1) complete with a passing score or grade all coursework and credits required for
2.34graduation by the school board granting the students their diploma;
3.1(2) participate in district-prescribed academic remediation in the those subject areas
3.2of the graduation-required assessments for diploma in which they did not receive a
3.3passing score; and
3.4(3) fully participate in at least two retest attempts after the initial spring
3.5administration of the graduation-required assessment for diploma in those subject areas
3.6they have not passed.
3.7In addition, the school board granting the students their diploma may formally
3.8decide to include a notation of high achievement on the high school diplomas of those
3.9graduating seniors who, according to established school board criteria, demonstrate
3.10exemplary academic achievement during high school. A school board that decides to
3.11include a notation of high achievement on students' diplomas must immediately report
3.12its decision to the department and must annually report by June 15 to the department
3.13the number of percent of students who received the notation of high achievement in the
3.14just-ended school year.
3.15(d) The 3rd through 8th grade and high school level test results shall be available
3.16to districts for diagnostic purposes affecting student learning and district instruction and
3.17curriculum, and for establishing educational accountability. The commissioner must
3.18disseminate to the public the test results upon receiving those results.
3.19     (d) (e) State tests must be constructed and aligned with state academic standards. The
3.20testing process and the order of administration shall be determined by the commissioner.
3.21The statewide results shall be aggregated at the site and district level, consistent with
3.22subdivision 1a.
3.23     (e) (f) In addition to the testing and reporting requirements under this section, the
3.24commissioner shall include the following components in the statewide public reporting
3.25system:
3.26    (1) uniform statewide testing of all students in grades 3 through 8 and at the high
3.27school level that provides appropriate, technically sound accommodations, or alternate
3.28assessments, or exemptions consistent with applicable federal law, only with parent or
3.29guardian approval, for those very few students for whom the student's individual education
3.30plan team under sections 125A.05 and 125A.06 determines that the general statewide test
3.31is inappropriate for a student, or for a limited English proficiency student under section
3.32124D.59, subdivision 2;
3.33    (2) educational indicators that can be aggregated and compared across school
3.34districts and across time on a statewide basis, including average daily attendance, high
3.35school graduation rates, and high school drop-out rates by age and grade level;
3.36    (3) state results on the American College Test; and
4.1    (4) state results from participation in the National Assessment of Educational
4.2Progress so that the state can benchmark its performance against the nation and other
4.3states, and, where possible, against other countries, and contribute to the national effort
4.4to monitor achievement.
4.5EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final
4.6enactment. Paragraph (c) applies to the 2009-2010 through 2013-2014 school years
4.7only. Notwithstanding other law to the contrary, requirements related to the math
4.8graduation-required assessment for diploma under this section are repealed June 30, 2014,
4.9and the education commissioner must not develop and implement any alternative to the
4.10math graduation-required assessment for diploma without specific legislative authority.

4.11    Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 120B.30, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:
4.12    Subd. 1a. Statewide and local assessments; results. (a) The commissioner must
4.13develop reading, mathematics, and science assessments aligned with state academic
4.14standards that districts and sites must use to monitor student growth toward achieving
4.15those standards. The commissioner must not develop statewide assessments for academic
4.16standards in social studies, health and physical education, and the arts. The commissioner
4.17must require:
4.18    (1) annual reading and mathematics assessments in grades 3 through 8 and at the
4.19high school level for the 2005-2006 school year and later; and
4.20    (2) annual science assessments in one grade in the grades 3 through 5 span, the
4.21grades 6 through 9 span, and a life sciences assessment in the grades 10 through 12 span
4.22for the 2007-2008 school year and later, and the commissioner must not require students
4.23to achieve a passing score on high school-level science assessments under this clause as a
4.24condition of receiving a high school diploma.
4.25    (b) The commissioner must ensure that all statewide tests administered to elementary
4.26and secondary students measure students' academic knowledge and skills and not students'
4.27values, attitudes, and beliefs.
4.28    (c) Reporting of assessment results must:
4.29    (1) provide timely, useful, and understandable information on the performance of
4.30individual students, schools, school districts, and the state;
4.31    (2) include, by no later than the 2008-2009 school year, a value-added component
4.32that is in addition to a measure for student achievement growth over time; and
4.33    (3)(i) for students enrolled in grade 8 before the 2005-2006 school year, determine
4.34whether students have met the state's basic skills requirements; and
5.1    (ii) for students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-2006 school year and later, determine
5.2whether students have met the state's academic standards.
5.3    (d) Consistent with applicable federal law and subdivision 1, paragraph (d), clause
5.4(1), the commissioner must include appropriate, technically sound accommodations or
5.5alternative assessments for the very few students with disabilities for whom statewide
5.6assessments are inappropriate and for students with limited English proficiency.
5.7    (e) A school, school district, and charter school must administer statewide
5.8assessments under this section, as the assessments become available, to evaluate student
5.9progress in achieving the academic standards. If a state assessment is not available, a
5.10school, school district, and charter school must determine locally if a student has met
5.11the required academic standards. A school, school district, or charter school may use a
5.12student's performance on a statewide assessment as one of multiple criteria to determine
5.13grade promotion or retention. A school, school district, or charter school may use a high
5.14school student's performance on a statewide assessment as a percentage of the student's
5.15final grade in a course, or place a student's assessment score on the student's transcript.
5.16EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

5.17    Sec. 3. EXAMINING THE CHARACTERISTICS AND IMPACT OF "HIGH
5.18STAKES" MATH AND SCIENCE TESTS IN THE CONTEXT OF AWARDING
5.19HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS.
5.20(a) To carefully and responsibly determine the state policy of administering "high
5.21stakes" math and science tests in the context of awarding high school diplomas, the
5.22Independent Office of Educational Accountability under Minnesota Statutes, section
5.23120B.31, subdivision 3, must convene and facilitate an advisory group that includes
5.24measurement experts selected by the State Council on Measurement in Education,
5.25three regionally diverse school district research and evaluation directors selected by the
5.26Minnesota Assessment Group, one school superintendent selected by the Minnesota
5.27Association of School Administrators, one school high school principal selected by the
5.28Minnesota Board of School Administrators, one University of Minnesota faculty member
5.29selected by the dean of the College of Education and Human Development, one licensed
5.30math teacher and one licensed science teacher selected by Education Minnesota, the
5.31director of evaluation and testing at the Minnesota Department of Education, two parents
5.32of currently enrolled high school students selected by the Minnesota Parent Teacher
5.33Association, one representative of the business community selected by the Minnesota
5.34Chamber of Commerce and one representative of the business community selected by the
5.35Minnesota Business Partnership, a representative of Minnesota's two-year postsecondary
6.1institutions selected by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and a representative
6.2of Minnesota's four-year postsecondary institutions by the University of Minnesota,
6.3an interested member of the public, and mathematicians, scientists, and workforce
6.4development experts that the Office of Educational Accountability selects to consider and
6.5recommend how best to motivate students and improve students' academic achievement in
6.6the context of "high stakes" math and science exams required for high school graduation.
6.7The advisory group at least must evaluate and make recommendations on:
6.8(1) particular kinds of math and science exams that Minnesota might use as "high
6.9stakes" exams to award or deny students a high school diploma;
6.10(2) appropriate levels of high school math and science proficiency and the
6.11educational support to help students achieve those proficiency levels;
6.12(3) the relationship between math and science proficiency levels and state definitions
6.13of college and career readiness;
6.14(4) the interrelationship between requiring students to demonstrate math and science
6.15proficiency and college or career readiness, and awarding or denying students a high
6.16school diploma;
6.17(5) the interrelationship between "high stakes" testing and other coursework and
6.18credits required for graduation or college and career readiness; and
6.19(6) appropriate accommodations for students with individualized education plans
6.20and students with limited English proficiency in some circumstances.
6.21(b) The advisory group under paragraph (a) is not subject to Minnesota Statutes,
6.22section 15.059. The Office of Educational Accountability must present the advisory
6.23group's evaluation and recommendations under paragraph (a) to the education policy
6.24and finance committees of the legislature by February 15, 2010. The advisory group
6.25expires on June 1, 2010.
6.26EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment."
6.27Amend the title accordingly