H. B. 2289
(By Delegates Prezioso and Nicol)
[Introduced February 25, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article two-e, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to statewide
testing of educational progress program (WV-STEP); purposes,
development and implementation of program.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article two-e, chapter eighteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2E. HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
§18-2E-2. Statewide testing of educational progress program
(WV-STEP); purposes, development and implementation
of program.
(a) The state board shall establish a program for the
statewide testing of the educational progress of public school
students in attaining a high quality education, hereinafter
referred to as the WV-STEP program.
The WV-STEP program shall provide information to:
(1) Assess the overall academic progress of students,
including (i) identifying individual students' academic
weaknesses and readiness, and (ii) identifying students who may
need remediation;
(2) Assist the teacher in determining student promotion;
(3) Compare achievement of students in West Virginia to
achievement of students on a national basis;
(4) Assess the strengths and weaknesses of school
performance;
(5) Assess the effects of state and local educational
programs;
(6) Make decisions at the state and local level with regard
to educational matters, including (i) the need for new or revised
educational programs and the need to terminate existing
educational programs, (ii) overall curriculum development and
revision activities, and (iii) teacher training and staff
development activities; and
(7) Inform the public of the overall quality of education in
individual schools and school districts.
(b) The state board shall prepare detailed design
specifications for the WV-STEP program which accomplish the
following:
(1) Take into account the state learning outcome statements
in the basic skill areas of reading, composition, mathematics and
other subject areas as determined by the state board; and
(2) Include testing of students' higher level cognitive
thinking in each subject area tested.
"Learning outcome statements" means statements developed and
adopted by the state board which for the purposes of this article
have been fully and properly field tested to ensure their
reliability and validity in indicating the knowledge base and
skills expected of students for particular subject areas and
which may be used to measure indicators of statewide standards
for student progress in attaining a high quality education.
(c) The state board shall implement the WV-STEP program as
follows:
(1) Beginning in the school year one thousand nine hundred
ninety--ninety-one, and continuing thereafter:
(i) An evaluation designed to measure student readiness to
begin the formal school curriculum shall be administered to all
kindergarten public school students. Such evaluation shall be
used solely to assist in making policy decisions at the state and
local levels with regard to educational matters as outlined in
subdivision six, subsection (a) of this section, and shall not be
used for individual diagnostic or placement purposes.
(ii) (i) An evaluation model for children in kindergarten,
first and second grades shall be developed by a committee of
teachers, parents and principals selected by each regional
educational service agency board within each regional educational
service agency. The evaluation model shall be developed using
the following criteria:
(A) The model shall be based on the fact that kindergarten
through second grade is educationally continuous;
(B) The model shall allow for variability in the achievement
of children in kindergarten through second grade;
(C) The model shall be applied continuously to reflect
assessment as a teaching tool;
(D) Information gathered by the evaluation model shall be
used to adapt curriculum and to provide feedback to parents; and
(E) The model shall include a measure of achievement of the
state learning outcomes.
The evaluation model, as developed by each regional
educational service agency committee, shall be made available to
the state board and to the legislative oversight commission on
education accountability by the first day of January, one
thousand nine hundred ninety; and
(iii) (ii) A criterion referenced test measuring
competencies based on the learning outcome statements shall be
administered to all public school students in grades one and two
to measure their academic progress in reading and mathematics;
and
(iv) (iii) A criterion referenced test measuring
competencies based on the learning outcome statements shall be
administered to all public school students in grades three and
four to measure their academic progress in reading, composition
and mathematics.
The results of the tests shall be used to identify eachstudent's deficiencies, aid in determining instruction needed by
the student in achieving the statewide standards established for
the respective grade and assist the teacher in determining
student promotion.
(2) Beginning in the school year one thousand nine hundred
ninety-one--ninety-two, and continuing thereafter:
(i) A criterion referenced test measuring competencies based
on the learning outcome statements for reading, composition and
mathematics in grade five shall be administered to all public
school students in grade five. Each year thereafter, a criterion
referenced test for these subject areas shall be administered to
students in the next higher grade through grade eight; and
(ii) Criterion referenced testing measuring competencies
based on the learning outcome statements in additional subject
areas shall be implemented as funds are available on a schedule
determined by the board.
(3) Beginning in the school year one thousand nine hundred
ninety--ninety-one, and continuing thereafter, National
Assessment of Educational Progress Program tests shall be
administered in academic areas at the various grades designated
by the National Assessment of Educational Progress officials to
provide comparisons of West Virginia students to a national
sample.
(d) The state board shall revise and update the learning
outcome statements as necessary and shall determine a schedule
for the annual administration of the WV-STEP program tests. Thestate superintendent is responsible for the overall development,
implementation and monitoring of the program. The state board
may establish a pilot program to implement the WV-STEP program
prior to the required implementation dates under subsection (c)
of this section.
(e) Any student who is unable to take any of the tests
prescribed in this section because of absence from school and
provides school authorities with a valid reason for such absence
shall be given the missed test as soon as possible following the
student's return to school. An exceptional child is subject to
testing under the WV-STEP program only to the extent specified in
that child's individualized education program (IEP).
(f) The parent or guardian of each student tested under the
WV-STEP program shall be notified in writing of the student's
test score, along with the average test score of all other
students in the same grade at the school. The state board shall
promulgate rules for the compilation of aggregate test scores by
grade in such manner as to permit the comparison of student
performance at different schools within and among the various
school districts. The test scores of all students taking the test
at each school shall be compiled by the district pursuant to such
rules, shall be made available for public inspection and shall be
included in the school and county report cards under section four
of this article. However, no individual student's WV-STEP scores
may be disclosed to the public.
(g) The department of education shall take necessaryadministrative action under section five of this article to
monitor and evaluate the curriculum and instruction methods in
each school district to ensure compliance with the standards and
purposes of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the paper
and pencil testing requirement of kindergarten students. This
does not prevent diagnostic testing or other kinds of assessments
intended to help identify barriers to the student's success in
school.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.