WEST virginia legislature

2018 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 4183

By Delegates Espinosa, R. Romine, Upson, Higginbotham, Rohrbach, Kelly, Cooper, Westfall and Dean

[Introduced January 18, 2018; Referred
to the Committee on Education.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §18-28-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating generally to standardized testing requirements for nonpublic schools; removing restrictions on specific forms of nationally normed achievement tests that must be administered; requiring standardized tests to be administered to nonpublic students at same grade levels and subject areas required in public schools; requiring standardized achievement test administered to be published or normed within ten years from the date of administration; allowing additional testing at sole discretion of school; limiting accountability for composite scores to grade levels and subject areas required in public schools; removing requirement that every child be tested; and requiring minimum student participation rate on test for composite score to be valid.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 28. PRIVATE, PAROCHIAL OR CHURCH SCHOOLS, OR SCHOOLS OF A RELIGIOUS ORDER.

§18-28-3. Standardized testing requirements.

(a) Each private, parochial or church school or school of a religious order or other nonpublic school electing to operate under this statute in lieu of the approval requirements set forth as part of §18-8-1(b) of this code, exemption A shall administer on an annual basis during each school year to every child enrolled therein between the ages of seven and sixteen years either the comprehensive test of basic skills, the California achievement test, the Stanford achievement test or the Iowa tests of basic skills tests of achievement and proficiency a nationally normed standardized achievement test which test will shall be selected by the chief administrative officer of each school. in the subjects of English, grammar, reading, social studies, science and mathematics The test shall be administered to students at the same grade levels and in the same subject areas as required in the public schools of the state for administration of the state-wide summative assessment. The selected test shall be the most recent published or normed version of the test and shall be administered under standardized conditions as set forth by the published instructions of the selected test. Provided, That The student participation rate on the standardized achievement test must be the same as that required in the public schools for a composite score to be considered valid.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, any private, parochial, church school, school of a religious order or other nonpublic school that exclusively teaches special education students or children with learning disabilities shall not be required to comply with this subsection or subsection (d) of this section, but shall academically assess every child enrolled therein between the ages of seven and sixteen years on an annual basis during each school year academically assess students by one or more of the following methods: (1) A standardized group achievement test; (2) a standardized individual achievement test; (3) a written narrative of an evaluation of a portfolio of samples of a child's work; (4) an alternative academic assessment of the child's proficiency as mutually agreed by the county superintendent, parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and the school. The assessment shall be made of students at the same grade levels and in the same subject areas as required in the public schools of the state for administration of the state-wide summative assessment,

(c) Nothing in this section prohibits a private parochial, church school, school of a religious order or other nonpublic school from administering standardized achievement tests in additional subject areas or at additional grade levels as they may choose at their sole discretion.

(b) (d) Each child's testing or assessment results and the school composite test results shall be made available to such the child's parents or legal guardians. Upon request of a duly authorized representative of the West Virginia Department of Education, the school school’s composite test results shall be furnished by the school or by a parents organization composed of the parents or guardians of children enrolled in said school to the State Superintendent of Schools.

(c) (e) Each school to which this article applies shall:

(1) Establish curriculum objectives, the attainment of which will enable students to develop the potential for becoming literate citizens.

(2) Provide an instructional program that will make possible the acquisition of competencies necessary to become a literate citizen.

(d) (f) If such school the school’s composite test results for any single year for English, grammar, reading, social studies, science and mathematics fall below the fortieth percentile on the selected tests standardized achievement test or a comparable level established by the state board for assessment methods authorized pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the school as herein described shall initiate a remedial program to foster achievement above that level. If after two consecutive calendar years school composite test results are not above the fortieth percentile or comparable level, attendance at the school may does no longer satisfy the compulsory school attendance requirement exemption of exemption K of §18-8-1(k) of this code, until such time as the percentile standards herein set forth are met.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove certain restrictions on achievement tests that must be administered to nonpublic students.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.