HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1293

As Reported by House Committee On:

Education

Title: An act relating to requiring school districts, with the assistance of the office of the superintendent of public instruction, to disclose information about required assessments.

Brief Description: Requiring school districts to disclose information about required assessments.

Sponsors: Representatives Hope, Dunshee, Hurst, Sells, Santos, McCoy, Walsh, Moscoso, Appleton, Bergquist, Springer, Haler, Hunt, Pollet, Fitzgibbon, Lytton, Jinkins, Roberts, Wylie, Liias, Haigh, Ryu and Fey.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Education: 2/7/13, 2/14/13, 2/21/13 [DPS].

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 13 members: Representatives Santos, Chair; Stonier, Vice Chair; Bergquist, Haigh, Hawkins, Hunt, Klippert, Lytton, Maxwell, McCoy, Orwall, Pollet and Seaquist.

Minority Report: Do not pass. Signed by 8 members: Representatives Dahlquist, Ranking Minority Member; Magendanz, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Fagan, Hargrove, Hayes, Parker, Pike and Warnick.

Staff: Luke Wickham (786-7146).

Background:

No Child Left Behind and Parent Involvement.

The No Child Left Behind law requires that state education agencies implement parental involvement programs and procedures. Each state education agency must develop a written parent involvement policy. It further indicates that state education agencies must provide assistance to parents in understanding the state's academic achievement standards, state and local assessments, and how to monitor a child's progress and improve his or her achievement.

No Child Left Behind requires that each state describe how it will support evidence-based parent involvement practices. This law requires that local school agencies produce individual student interpretive, descriptive, and diagnostic reports including information regarding achievement on academic assessments aligned with state academic achievement standards that are in a language parents can understand. It also provides that itemized score analyses be produced so that parents can interpret and address the specific academic needs of students. Annual state report cards must also be provided in a language that parents can understand.

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Summary of Substitute Bill:

School districts are required to notify parents or guardians of enrolled K-12 students with information about standardized assessments at the beginning of each year. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) must provide school districts with regularly updated information related to the subjects that the districts must report to parents and guardians.

The information that school districts must provide parents includes:

• subject areas and measurements of each assessment;

• when the assessments will occur;

• the expected time each assessment will take;

• whether students will be required to take assessments online or have a paper and pencil option;

• which assessments will be required for graduation and the options students will have if they do not pass;

• how the assessment results will affect a student's high school and beyond plan, course-taking progression leading to a timely graduation, and program placement or grade level advancement;

• when the results will be released to parents or guardians and whether there will be an opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss instructional adjustments;

• the process, forms, and time necessary to access individual student tests;

• how the assessments and results will advance student learning;

• the amount of instructional time spent administering the assessments;

• the financial cost to both the district and state of administering the assessments; and

• whether the assessments are required by the state, the federal government, or both.

Costs associated with these notification requirements must be provided from funding allocated to the OSPI for student assessments.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:

The substitute bill added language indicating that the costs related to providing districts with assessment information and school district assessment notification are provided from funding allocated to the OSPI for student assessments.

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Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Preliminary fiscal note available. New fiscal note requested on February 21, 2013.

Effective Date of Substitute Bill: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) This is not an anti-testing bill, but it does provide transparency. People have the right to know where their tax dollars are going and have a voice in where they go. Parents cannot help their children if they do not know the graduation requirements. The Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) exam results do not come back to parents until the following school year. The number of tests and the stakes related to these tests continue to rise. Parents need transparency and accountability. Even after a lot of research it is difficult to figure out how much assessments cost, if they are required by state or federal laws, and whether the results are used to promote education. There are numerous new standards that continue to change. Most of the information about these standards already exists, and it should be shared. Even teachers are confused about the graduation requirements and assessments. Children often go without a single science test until after the MSP. This bill asks the OSPI to provide answers to parents and remove the confusion. This bill will help parents understand the purpose of each test and start the dialogue about which tests are important. Providing this information in one place so that parents can be involved is critical.

(Opposed) None.

Persons Testifying: Representative Hope, prime sponsor; Erin McBrien; Michelle Puncell; Cindy Perry; Maria Spivak; and Justin Fox-Bailey, Snohomish Education Association.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.