Senate Bill sb1592e1
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SB 1592 First Engrossed
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to education assessment
3 instruments; amending s. 1008.23, F.S.;
4 authorizing a student's parent and the
5 accompanying student to review the questions
6 and the student's answers to those questions on
7 the criterion-referenced portion of the Florida
8 Comprehensive Assessment Test; providing
9 restrictions on the review; requiring the
10 Department of Education to honor the requests
11 within a certain time period; requiring that
12 district school boards notify eligible parents;
13 requiring the State Board of Education to adopt
14 rules; authorizing reasonable attorney's fees
15 and costs under certain circumstances; amending
16 s. 1008.22, F.S.; delaying the date by which
17 the Commissioner of Education must approve the
18 use of specified standardized tests as an
19 alternative to the grade 10 Florida
20 Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT); allowing
21 passage of the alternative tests to satisfy the
22 assessment requirement for students graduating
23 from high school in the 2003-2004 school year,
24 subject to certain conditions; amending s.
25 1003.433, F.S.; allowing passage of alternate
26 assessments in lieu of the grade 10 FCAT for
27 certain transfer students subject to certain
28 conditions beginning in the 2004-2005 school
29 year; repealing s. 1008.301, F.S., relating to
30 concordance studies by the State Board of
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SB 1592 First Engrossed
1 Education; providing for applicability;
2 providing an effective date.
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4 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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6 Section 1. Section 1008.23, Florida Statutes, is
7 amended to read:
8 1008.23 Confidentiality of assessment
9 instruments.--All examination and assessment instruments,
10 including developmental materials and workpapers directly
11 related thereto, which are prepared, prescribed, or
12 administered pursuant to ss. 1003.43, 1008.22, and 1008.25
13 shall be confidential and exempt from the provisions of s.
14 119.07(1) and from s. 1001.52. Provisions governing access,
15 maintenance, and destruction of such instruments and related
16 materials shall be prescribed by rules of the State Board of
17 Education. However, a student's parent, accompanied by the
18 student, may review, at the student's school at which the
19 student was enrolled when the student was administered the
20 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the questions on each
21 section of the criterion-referenced portion of the Florida
22 Comprehensive Assessment Test as well as the student's answers
23 to those questions, under the following conditions:
24 (1) The student must have failed to earn a passing
25 score on the grade 10 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test or
26 failed to score at Level 2 or higher on the Florida
27 Comprehensive Assessment Test in reading for grade 3.
28 (2) No recording or copying of the assessment may be
29 made.
30 (3) A school administrator, as defined in s.
31 1012.01(3)(c), or a representative of the Department of
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SB 1592 First Engrossed
1 Education must be present at all times when the assessment is
2 reviewed.
3 (4) The student or student's parent may not review the
4 assessment more than one time.
5 (5) No other individual is authorized to attend the
6 review.
7 (6) The assessment was not administered to the student
8 more than 2 years before the review.
9 (7) The student or student's parent may not remove the
10 assessment from the reviewing location.
11 (8) The student, the student's parent, or the school
12 administrator may not take any notes during the review.
13 (9) The parent requests the review subsequent to the
14 determination of the student's score and within 14 days
15 following the determination of the student's score.
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17 The Department of Education shall ensure that the assessment
18 questions and the student's answers are provided for the
19 requested review within 30 days following the complete scoring
20 of the assessment upon proper request by the parent. The
21 district school boards shall notify eligible parents of the
22 review option and the procedures for the review. The State
23 Board of Education shall adopt rules pursuant to ss.
24 120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer this section. If the
25 review request is not met in accordance with this section, the
26 parent is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and costs
27 incurred by the parent in obtaining compliance with this
28 section.
29 Section 2. Subsection (9) of section 1008.22, Florida
30 Statutes, is amended to read:
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SB 1592 First Engrossed
1 1008.22 Student assessment program for public
2 schools.--
3 (9) EQUIVALENCIES FOR STANDARDIZED TESTS.--
4 (a) The Commissioner of Education shall determine the
5 comparable validity of other available standardized tests,
6 including the SAT, ACT, College Placement Test, PSAT, PLAN,
7 and tests used for entry into the military. If such tests are
8 deemed to be valid and reliable measures, the commissioner
9 shall approve the use of the SAT and ACT such tests as
10 alternative alternate assessments to the grade 10 FCAT for the
11 2003-2004 2002-2003 school year. Students who attain scores on
12 the SAT or ACT which that equate to the passing scores on the
13 grade 10 FCAT for purposes of high school graduation on any of
14 the approved alternative assessments shall satisfy the
15 assessment requirement for a standard high school diploma as
16 provided in s. 1003.43(5)(a) for the 2003-2004 2002-2003
17 school year graduating class if the students meet the
18 requirement in paragraph (b). Prior to the application of
19 these alternative assessments in subsequent school years, the
20 Legislature shall review the continued use of these
21 alternative tests.
22 (b) A student must take the grade 10 FCAT for a total
23 of three times without earning a passing score in order to use
24 the scores on the alternative assessments in paragraph (a).
25 Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 1003.433, Florida
26 Statutes, is amended to read:
27 1003.433 Learning opportunities for out-of-state and
28 out-of-country transfer students and students needing
29 additional instruction to meet high school graduation
30 requirements.--
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SB 1592 First Engrossed
1 (1) Students who enter a Florida public school at the
2 eleventh or twelfth grade from out of state or from a foreign
3 country shall not be required to spend additional time in a
4 Florida public school in order to meet the high school course
5 requirements if the student has met all requirements of the
6 school district, state, or country from which he or she is
7 transferring. Such students who are not proficient in English
8 should receive immediate and intensive instruction in English
9 language acquisition. However, to receive a standard high
10 school diploma, a transfer student must:
11 (a) Earn a 2.0 grade point average; and
12 (b) Pass the grade 10 FCAT required in s. 1008.22(3),
13 if the student is an eleventh grade student; or
14 (c) Beginning in the 2004-2005 school year, attain
15 scores on the SAT or ACT which equate to the passing scores on
16 the grade 10 FCAT, if the student is a twelfth grade student
17 an alternate assessment as described in s. 1008.22(9).
18 Section 4. Section 1008.301, Florida Statutes, as
19 created by section 2 of chapter 2003-80, Laws of Florida, is
20 repealed.
21 Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
22 law, except that section 1 of this act shall take effect July
23 1, 2004, and shall apply to each Florida Comprehensive
24 Assessment Test administered after July 1, 2004.
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