HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1471        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 340

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Marjorie C. Decker

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to a moratorium on high stakes testing and PARCC.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1471        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 340

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act relative to a moratorium on high stakes testing and PARCC.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section 1. Chapter 69 is hereby amended by striking out section 1, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section: 

It is hereby declared to be a paramount goal of the commonwealth to provide a public education system of sufficient quality to extend to all children including a limited English proficient student as defined in section 1 of chapter 71A, and also, including a school age child with a disability as defined in section 1 of chapter 71B the opportunity to reach their full potential and to lead lives as participants in the political, social, and economic life of the commonwealth. It is therefore the intent of this title to ensure: (1) that each public school classroom provides the conditions for all pupils to engage fully in learning as an inherently meaningful and enjoyable activity without threats to their sense of security or self-esteem, (2) a consistent commitment of resources sufficient to provide a high quality public education to every child, (3) a deliberate process for establishing and achieving specific educational goals for every child, and (4) effective mechanisms for all stakeholders to monitor progress toward the stated goals and intentions in this section and to be held accountable.

Section 2. (a) Notwithstanding subsection (i) of section one D of chapter 69, during the next three full school years following the effective date of this act, the requirement that a student must demonstrate mastery of a common core of skills, competencies and knowledge as measured by MCAS or another standardized test shall not be required as a condition for high school graduation.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general law, special law, regulation, or collective bargaining agreement to the contrary, during the next three full school years following the effective date of this act, the results from student learning measures that inform the educator plan or self-assessment shall not be used, in whole or in part, in an educator’s formative or summative evaluation or in determining an educator’s impact on student learning rating.

(b) During the next three full school years following the effective date of this act, the department shall not implement or use the PARCC assessment to satisfy the provisions of section 1J of chapter 69 or for any student competency determination as a graduation requirement or school and district accountability purpose. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1J and 1K of chapter 69 or any other general or special law to the contrary, the department shall not use student achievement measures on the MCAS assessment or use student growth measures based on standardized tests for the purpose of assessing the performance of any public school or school district. 

Section 3. (a) An Education Reform Review Task Force shall be convened no later than September 1, 2015, for the purpose of (i) reviewing the use of MCAS or any mandated state assessments, the implementation of the educator evaluation framework established pursuant to section 1I of chapter 69, and the use of student data on standardized tests as a student high school graduation requirement or in evaluating educators, schools, and districts and (ii) determining whether these mechanisms advance the paramount goal of the commonwealth established by the Education Reform Act of 1993, as amended by section 1 of this Act and, if not, should be eliminated or modified.

b.The task force shall consist of the following stakeholders:

(1) the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, or the commissioner’s designee;

(2) the secretary of education, or the secretary’s designee;

(3) the Senate president or a designee, the Speaker of the House or a designee, and the two chairs of the Joint Committee on Education or their designees;

(4) one member chosen by the Governor from a list of three names submitted by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, one from a list of three names submitted by the American Federation of Teachers/Massachusetts, one from a list of three names submitted by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, one from a list of three names submitted by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, from a list of three names submitted by the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals Association, and one from a list of three names submitted from the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association, and one from a list of three names submitted by the Massachusetts Parent Teachers Association; and in addition thereto the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the president of the American Federation of Teachers/Massachusetts;

(5) three parents jointly selected by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the American Federation of Teachers/Massachusetts, and the Parent Teachers Association, one of whom is a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a public school that is in a school district in what has been designated as a “gateway city,” as defined by section 3A of chapter 23A, one of whom is a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a public school that is located in a suburban school district in the commonwealth, and one of whom is the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a public school that is located in a rural school district in the commonwealth.

(6) the initial meeting of the Task Force will be solely for the purpose of naming additional parent community representatives.  The communities to be represented will include but not be limited to, the ELL, SPED, and minority communities

(7) additionally, in accordance Section 1E of Chapter 15 one or more students from the Student Advisory Council shall serve on this task force.

c.Appointments to the task force shall be made within 60 days of the effective date of this act. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. Members of the task force shall serve without compensation.

d.The task force shall organize as soon as practicable following the appointment of its members, but no later than 60 days after the appointment of its members. There shall be two co-chairs, one elected by the members designated in sub-sections b (1), (2) and (3) and the second elected by the members in sub-sections b (4) and (5).

Section 4. The Task Force will examine the purpose and varieties of testing that are currently used in classroom, schools, and districts to determine whether, in assessing students, teachers, schools, and districts, the components of the system of assessment, individually and collectively, advance the goal set forth in section 1 of chapter 69, as amended. More specifically, the Task Force shall evaluate the use of standardized assessments, the implementation of the educator evaluation framework established pursuant to section 1I of chapter 69, and the use of student data on standardized tests for the purpose of evaluating students, educators, schools, and school districts and shall, without limitation of other relevant factors, consider and make findings regarding the following:

a.whether the system of assessments currently in use or under consideration are effectuating the goal of providing a quality public education system in which  (1) all pupils are engaged fully in learning as an inherently meaningful and enjoyable activity without threats to their sense of security or self-esteem and (2) the processes for establishing and achieving specific educational performance goals for pupils, for monitoring progress toward those goals, and for fully engaging educators in these processes are effective and do not detract from the goals set forth in section 1 of chapter 69.

b.an analysis of (1) the time and cost dedicated to federal, state, and district mandated testing in the commonwealth’s classrooms, (2) the impact of mandated testing on effective teaching and learning, and (3) the availability and feasibility of mechanisms other than such standardized assessments to assess student, teacher, school, and district progress toward achieving the goals of section 1 of chapter 69, as amended;

c.A review of the use and efficacy of technology to achieve the goals and intentions set forth in chapter 69, section 1, as amended, in relation to classroom instruction and assessment, the current capacity of school districts in relation to the use of technology in classroom instruction and assessment, and the cost of achieving a level of technology capacity in school districts sufficient to achieve the goals and intentions set forth in chapter 69, section 1, as amended;

d.a study of the validity of using student growth percentiles as a component of the educator evaluation framework, and a review of how school districts use, misuse, or plan to  use measures of student learning including standardized test scores in the evaluation framework; 

e.a study assessing the efficacy and impacts of the requirement in subsection (i) of section one D of chapter 69 that, as a condition for high school graduation.

Section 5. The Department will make all information requested by any member of the Task Force readily available in a timely manner with due diligence. The task force shall issue a final report to the general court by filing same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives no later than eighteen months after the task force organizes. Prior to issuing its final report, the task force shall hold at least six public hearings, in which members of the task force shall be present, in locations that provide opportunities for residents from all geographic regions of the commonwealth to testify. The commissioner shall provide a summary of the transcribed hearings.