First Regular Session
Sixty-second General Assembly
LLS NO. 99-0289.01 Julie Pelegrin HOUSE BILL 99-1200
STATE OF COLORADO
BY REPRESENTATIVES S. Williams, Keller, Bacon, Swenson, Takis,
Windels; also SENATOR Arnold.
EDUCATION
A BILL FOR AN ACT
101 CONCERNING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ON STATEWIDE ASSESSMENTS.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does
not necessarily reflect any amendments that may be subsequently
adopted.)
Requires the state board of education to adopt rules creating
categories of students for purposes of reporting the percentage of students
achieving each of the performance levels on statewide assessments.
Requires the state board to adopt rules establishing criteria for school
districts to apply in determining the category in which to include each
student. Identifies certain categories that the state board must adopt.
Instructs the department of education on how to calculate the percentages
of students achieving each of the performance levels.
1 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
2 SECTION 1. 22-7-409 (2), Colorado Revised Statutes, is
3 amended to read:
4 22-7-409. Assessments. (2) (a) The department shall prepare an
5 annual report of the results of the statewide assessments that shall be
6 submitted no later than January 1, 1998, and no later than each January
7 1 thereafter, to the education committees of the house of representatives
8 and the senate and to the governor and that shall be made available upon
9 request to members of the public. In the report, the department shall
[ ] denotes HOUSE amendment. { } denotes SENATE amendment.
Capital letters indicate new material to be added to existing statute.
Dashes through the words indicate material to be deleted from existing statute.
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1 present the percentage of students achieving each of the performance
2 levels specified by the board, calculated for the state as a whole, for each
3 district and by district size. The department shall also report the
4 percentage of students in the state achieving each of the performance
5 levels by gender, race, separate disabling condition, and ethnicity. The
6 department shall also report said percentages by school, categorizing the
7 schools by socioeconomic status determined by the number of students
8 eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch CALCULATED AS PROVIDED IN
9 PARAGRAPH (d) OF THIS SUBSECTION (2).
10 (b) THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY HEREBY FINDS THAT, IN ORDER TO
11 PROVIDE A MEANINGFUL, FAIR, AND ACCURATE PRESENTATION OF STUDENT
12 ACHIEVEMENT IN THE STATE, STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT SCORES MUST BE
13 REPORTED IN A MANNER THAT ALLOWS FOR COMPARISONS BETWEEN
14 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND THAT MEASURES ACHIEVEMENT
15 WITHIN GROUPS OF SIMILARLY SITUATED STUDENTS. THE GENERAL
16 ASSEMBLY FURTHER FINDS THAT SUCH A MEANINGFUL, FAIR, AND
17 ACCURATE PRESENTATION MAY BE ACHIEVED BY GROUPING STUDENTS
18 INTO CATEGORIES BASED ON OBSTACLES TO LEARNING THAT MAY INHIBIT
19 A STUDENT'S ABILITY TO PERFORM ON AN ASSESSMENT AND DETERMINING
20 THE PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS WITHIN EACH CATEGORY WHO ACHIEVE
21 EACH OF THE PERFORMANCE LEVELS SPECIFIED BY THE STATE BOARD.
22 CALCULATING ACHIEVEMENT PERCENTAGES FOR EACH CATEGORY OF
23 STUDENTS WILL HELP TO ENSURE THAT EACH SCHOOL AND SCHOOL
24 DISTRICT MONITORS AND ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF
25 STUDENTS WITHIN EACH CATEGORY, WILL ASSIST PARENTS AND THE STATE
26 BOARD IN UNDERSTANDING EACH SCHOOL'S AND SCHOOL DISTRICT'S LEVEL
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1 OF ACHIEVEMENT IN WORKING WITH STUDENTS IN EACH CATEGORY, AND
2 WILL FACILITATE THE EFFORTS OF PARENTS AND THE STATE BOARD TO
3 COMPARE THE SUCCESS OF DIFFERENT SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN
4 WORKING WITH STUDENTS IN EACH CATEGORY.
5 (c) THE STATE BOARD SHALL PROMULGATE RULES ESTABLISHING
6 CATEGORIES OF STUDENTS FOR PURPOSES OF REPORTING THE PERCENTAGE
7 OF STUDENTS WHO ACHIEVE EACH OF THE PERFORMANCE LEVELS
8 ESTABLISHED FOR THE STATEWIDE ASSESSMENTS. SUCH RULES SHALL
9 ALSO ESTABLISH CRITERIA TO BE USED BY SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN
10 DETERMINING THE CATEGORY IN WHICH TO INCLUDE EACH STUDENT. THE
11 STATE BOARD SHALL BASE THE CATEGORIES ON OBSTACLES TO LEARNING
12 THAT MAY INHIBIT A STUDENT'S ABILITY TO PERFORM ON AN ASSESSMENT
13 AND SHALL BE DESIGNED TO ENSURE THAT SIMILARLY SITUATED STUDENTS
14 ARE GROUPED TOGETHER. AT A MINIMUM, THE CATEGORIES ESTABLISHED
15 PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH (c) SHALL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
16 (I) STUDENTS WHO DO NOT FACE EXTRAORDINARY OBSTACLES IN
17 LEARNING AND FOR WHOM NO EXTRAORDINARY TEACHING METHODS OR
18 PROCEDURES ARE REQUIRED;
19 (II) SEVERELY, PROFOUNDLY, AND MULTIPLY DISABLED STUDENTS,
20 INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO STUDENTS WITH AUTISM AND TRAUMATIC
21 BRAIN INJURY;
22 (III) STUDENTS WITH SEVERE BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS, INCLUDING
23 BUT NOT LIMITED TO PSYCHOSIS AND THOUGHT DISORDERS;
24 (IV) STUDENTS WITH SEVERE PERCEPTUAL OR COMMUNICATIVE
25 DISORDERS;
26 (V) STUDENTS WITH MILD DISABILITIES;
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1 (VI) STUDENTS FOR WHOM ENGLISH IS A SECOND LANGUAGE AND
2 WHO ARE IN THEIR FIRST OR SECOND YEARS OF ENGLISH EDUCATION;
3 (VII) STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN ENROLLED IN A SCHOOL DISTRICT
4 FEWER THAN THREE MONTHS PRIOR TO TAKING THE ASSESSMENT;
5 (VIII) STUDENTS WHO DO NOT TAKE THE ASSESSMENT FOR
6 REASONS SPECIFIED BY RULE OF THE STATE BOARD.
7 (d) IN THE ANNUAL REPORT PREPARED PURSUANT TO THIS
8 SUBSECTION (2), FOR EACH OF THE CATEGORIES IDENTIFIED BY THE STATE
9 BOARD PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (c) OF THIS SUBSECTION (2), EXCEPT THE
10 CATEGORY OF STUDENTS WHO DO NOT TAKE THE ASSESSMENT, THE
11 DEPARTMENT SHALL CALCULATE THE PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS WITHIN
12 THE CATEGORY ACHIEVING EACH OF THE PERFORMANCE LEVELS SPECIFIED
13 BY THE STATE BOARD. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL CALCULATE THE
14 PERCENTAGES BASED ON:
15 (I) THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN EACH CATEGORY STATEWIDE;
16 (II) THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN EACH CATEGORY FOR GROUPS OF
17 SCHOOL DISTRICTS BASED ON DISTRICT SIZE;
18 (III) THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN EACH CATEGORY IN EACH
19 SCHOOL DISTRICT;
20 (IV) THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN EACH CATEGORY FOR GROUPS
21 OF SCHOOLS WITHIN EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT BASED ON SOCIOECONOMIC
22 STATUS. SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS FOR PURPOSES OF GROUPING SCHOOLS
23 SHALL BE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN EACH
24 SCHOOL WHO ARE ELIGIBLE FOR FREE OR REDUCED-COST LUNCH; AND
25 (V) THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN EACH CATEGORY IN EACH
26 SCHOOL.
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1 SECTION 2. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds,
2 determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
3 preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.