Education and Law Project


Fair Testing Legislation Summary

A major victory for students in North Carolina was achieved with the passage of the once controversial Fair Testing Legislation sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Lucas (Durham County). The NC Justice Center is especially pleased with the provision in the budget that prohibits principals from determining grade placements based solely on test scores. Instead principals must use multiple indicators of performance when deciding on grade placement of students. Not only does this particular piece of the legislation clearly counter any school policy that stipulates students can be retained due to poor performance on the state's standardized tests, but it also ushers in national policy implications. To date, a number of states have attempted to emulate the high stakes accountability program of North Carolina. We hope that these states will also look to our Fair Testing Legislation as a model to be replicated.

Below is a summation of the entire legislation along with implications for improvement. Should you have any additional questions or comments, you may refer them to Sheria Reid at 919-856-3192 or sheria@ncjustice.org.

Explanation of the Legislation

1.

High School Exit Exams are still on course to be developed. You should note that presently there is no legislation that specifically states that these exams should not be the sole determinant in whether students can get a NC High School Diploma.

 

2.

State Board must present the legislature with a realistic, detailed expense report on how much it really takes to educate children under the ABCs of Education approach.

 

3.
As of December 2002, IT WILL BE AGAINST THE LAW FOR PRINCIPALS TO DETERMINE GRADE PLACEMENT BASED ON A SINGLE TEST SCORE! Though this is an excellent start, advocates of youth at-risk of failure may want to consider having this legislation modified to include the following by next year's session:
  a. consideration of number of times student has already been retained
  b.

teacher recommendation for grade promotion

 


4.
On Retaining Students: Local school boards must adopt policies that spell out what happens once a student is retained. A few things to note:
  a. No doubt, locals already do this.
  b. Parents may not necessarily be allowed to appeal a principal's decision through the Superintendent, but may have to go directly to the school board for an appeal. Preferably, parents may want to approach the Superintendent first.
  c Locals may not necessarily allow parents to bring an advocate. The language about bringing advocates to appeals process was not included in the legislation.
  d.

There are 117 LEAs. Hence, potentially 117 different ways that may call for retaining students and allowing for an appeal to such decisions.

 

5.
On the Personal Education Plans (PEPs):
  a. they must be developed for at-risk students at the beginning of the school year
  b. they are essentially intended for students in grades 3-8, though LEAs may have to expand this to grades 9-12, as the legislation speaks of remediating students who fail end-of-course tests.
  c.

Parents do not necessarily have the right to be involved in the development or implementation of PEPs.

 

6.
On Testing Students with Disabilities:
  a. A really good start!
  b. Their being promoted shall not be solely contingent upon passing the state's standardized tests.
  c.

Accommodations must be put in place for these children in order to ensure their doing well on the tests. However, what those accommodations are is unclear.

 


7.
On the Amount of Testing:
 

a.

 No more than 2 days of practicing taking tests allowed
 

b.

 Field tests cannot be given two weeks before end-of-grade or end-of-course tests, or even when schools are giving exams
 

c

It's against the law for schools to participate in more than 2 field tests, unless the school volunteers for more than that. If a school volunteers for more than two field tests, it must do so with the approval and vote of the school improvement team. It should be noted that parents on school improvement teams are not voting members.

 

8.

On the Legislature Auditing the NC Testing Program: Because legislators were aware that public support of the NC Testing Program was beginning to wane, they made a wise decision to study the way the state tests and what it tests. Observers should be aware, however, that this piece of the legislation does not necessarily call for outside auditing of our testing program.


9.
On Closing the Achievement Gap:
 

a.

 State Board must include a "closing the achievement gap" component in its measurement of educational growth. It is no longer optional for them.
 

b.

 This component may very well measure the performance of categories of race and socioeconomic status.
 

c.

 Schools must ensure k-2 students can read at grade level. Schools may use assessments to help make this happen. It is extremely important to note a few things about this legislation. First, children are still developing at that stage, and they do not all develop at the same rate. And what exactly is called "reading" at 2nd grade, any way? Second, the term "assessment" may open the door for standardized testing---eventually. Third, if it's determined that these youngsters aren't reading by second grade, what then? The legislation doesn't say. In fact, they can't even get a PEP, as legislation for that only covers students who've been tested by a state standardized test.

 
by Sheria Reid,
Education and Law Project Director