HB 128 - High school diploma; student preparedness; warranty
Georgia House of Representatives - 1995/1996 Sessions
HB 128 - High school diploma; student preparedness; warranty
Page Numbers - 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5
1. Baker 70th 2. Bordeaux 151st 3. Orrock 56th
House Comm: Ed / Senate Comm: Ed /
House Vote: Yeas 112 Nays 55 Senate Vote: Yeas 44 Nays 7
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House Action Senate
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1/10/95 Read 1st Time 2/10/95
1/11/95 Read 2nd Time 3/10/95
1/25/95 Favorably Reported 3/9/95
1/27/95 Read 3rd Time 3/14/95
2/9/95 Passed/Adopted 3/14/95
FS Comm/Floor Amend/Sub
4/5/95 Sent to Governor
4/7/95 Signed by Governor
253 Act/Veto Number
W/F/95 Effective Date
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Postponed by the House 1/27 Until 1/30/95
Postponed by the House 1/30/95
Code Sections amended: 20-2-281
HB 128 LC 14 6454-ECS
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1- 1 To amend Part 12 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of
1- 2 the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
1- 3 effectiveness of and assessment of effectiveness of
1- 4 educational programs, so as to prohibit the use of student
1- 5 assessments which attempt to reveal certain beliefs or value
1- 6 systems or judgments; to provide for issuance of a warranty
1- 7 affirming a student's preparation to each student receiving
1- 8 a high school diploma; to provide that when, under certain
1- 9 conditions, a person to whom such a warranty has been issued
1-10 is identified as deficient in certain skills, such person
1-11 may enroll free of charge in related classes offered by any
1-12 technical and adult education school; to prohibit assessment
1-13 or testing programs which reveal certain personal or family
1-14 information; to provide for related matters; to provide an
1-15 effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
1-16 purposes.
1-17 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
1-18 Part 12 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the
1-19 Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
1-20 effectiveness of and assessment of effectiveness of
1-21 educational programs, is amended by striking Code Section
1-22 20-2-281, relating to assessment of effectiveness of
1-23 educational programs, and inserting in its place a new Code
1-24 section to read as follows:
1-25 "20-2-281. (Index)
1-26 (a) The State Board of Education shall adopt a student
1-27 assessment program consisting of instruments, procedures,
1-28 and policies necessary to assess the effectiveness of the
1-29 educational programs of the state and shall fund all costs
1-30 of providing and scoring such instruments, subject to
1-31 appropriation by the General Assembly. Curriculum-based
1-32 assessments of the quality core curriculum and nationally
1-33 norm-referenced instruments in reading and mathematics
-1- (Index)
LC 14 6454-ECS
2- 1 shall be administered to students in grades three, five,
2- 2 eight, and 11. A curriculum-based assessment shall be
2- 3 administered in grade 11 for graduation purposes. Only
2- 4 the curriculum-based assessments in grades three, five,
2- 5 and eight and the eleventh grade norm-referenced
2- 6 instrument may be administered by matrix sample. Writing
2- 7 assessments shall be administered to students in grades
2- 8 three, five, eight, and 11. The writing assessments shall
2- 9 provide students and their parents with performance
2-10 outcome measures resulting from the administration of such
2-11 tests. The curriculum-based assessments that the state
2-12 board shall develop shall measure student performance
2-13 relative to the uniformly sequenced core curriculum
2-14 approved for grades three, five, eight, and 11 by the
2-15 state board pursuant to Code Section 20-2-140. The
2-16 curriculum-based assessments shall place emphasis upon
2-17 reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social
2-18 studies. All such curriculum-based assessments shall
2-19 include process and application skills as assessed in a
2-20 range of academic content, and shall exceed minimum and
2-21 essential skills by extending the assessments' range of
2-22 difficulty, and shall emphasize higher order thinking
2-23 skills; provided, however, that no assessment shall be
2-24 adopted that will attempt to reveal a student's belief or
2-25 value system or value judgment in a situation.
2-26 (b) The nationally normed assessments provided for in
2-27 subsection (a) of this Code section shall provide students
2-28 and their parents with grade equivalencies and percentile
2-29 ranks which result from the administration of such tests.
2-30 Curriculum-based assessments provided for in subsection
2-31 (a) of this Code section shall provide for results that
2-32 reflect student achievement at the classroom, school,
2-33 system, and state levels. The State Board of Education
2-34 shall participate in the National Assessment of
2-35 Educational Progress (NAEP). The results of such testing
2-36 shall be provided to the Governor, the General Assembly,
2-37 and the State Board of Education and shall be reported to
2-38 the citizens of Georgia. Further, the state board shall
2-39 adopt a school readiness assessment for students entering
2-40 first grade and shall administer such assessment pursuant
2-41 to paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of Code Section
2-42 20-2-151. The state board shall develop, subject to
2-43 appropriation by the General Assembly, a comprehensive
2-44 item bank which shall be representative of grade levels
2-45 three, five, eight, and 11 and content areas contained
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LC 14 6454-ECS
3- 1 within the uniformly sequenced core curriculum approved by
3- 2 the state board for those grades pursuant to Code Section
3- 3 20-2-140; provided, however, that the items reflecting
3- 4 each subject area at designated grade levels shall range
3- 5 proportionally from minimal competency to higher level
3- 6 achievement competencies. This item bank shall be used to
3- 7 develop assessments which reflect student achievement at
3- 8 the classroom, school, and system levels. One of the
3- 9 components in both the comprehensive evaluation pursuant
3-10 to Code Section 20-2-282 and the awarding of salary
3-11 supplements as part of a pay for performance or related
3-12 plan pursuant to Code Section 20-2-213 or other Code
3-13 sections under this article may be assessments of student
3-14 achievement.
3-15 (c) The State Board of Education shall have the authority
3-16 to condition the promotion of a student from one grade to
3-17 the next or condition the awarding of a high school
3-18 diploma to a student upon achievement of satisfactory
3-19 scores on instruments or tests adopted and administered by
3-20 the state board pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code
3-21 section. The state board is authorized and directed to
3-22 adopt regulations providing that any handicapped child, as
3-23 defined by the provisions of this article, shall be
3-24 afforded opportunities to take any test adopted by the
3-25 state board as a condition for the awarding of a high
3-26 school diploma. Said regulations shall further provide for
3-27 appropriate accommodations in the administration of such
3-28 test. Said regulations shall further provide for the
3-29 awarding of a special education diploma to any handicapped
3-30 student who is lawfully assigned to a special education
3-31 program and who does not achieve a passing score on said
3-32 test or who has not completed all of the requirements for
3-33 a high school diploma but who has nevertheless completed
3-34 his or her Individualized Education Program.
3-35 (d)(1) A warranty affirming the quality and
3-36 appropriateness of the student's preparation shall be
3-37 issued by local school systems to each student receiving
3-38 a diploma on or after January 1, 1996. Such warranty
3-39 shall be effective for two years following the student's
3-40 graduation from high school and shall guarantee
3-41 competence in reading, writing, and mathematics. After
3-42 July 1, 1996, graduates possessing a valid warranty who
3-43 have been employed full time in Georgia for at least
3-44 three months by a Georgia employer and who are
3-45 identified by their employer as: (A) deficient in the
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LC 14 6454-ECS
4- 1 areas of reading, writing, or mathematics; and (B) in
4- 2 need of retraining may enroll in classes related to the
4- 3 identified deficiencies offered by any technical and
4- 4 adult education school in Georgia. Such courses shall
4- 5 be provided at no cost to the student or employer.
4- 6 (2) This subsection shall not be construed to require
4- 7 any employer to provide leave to any employee to attend
4- 8 such classes or to require an employer to compensate any
4- 9 employee for attending such classes.
4-10 (3) This subsection shall not be construed to create any
4-11 cause of action on behalf of any person.
4-12 (d)(e)(1) Local school systems may not use state funds
4-13 to purchase or administer assessments other than those
4-14 specified in subsection (a) of this Code section.
4-15 However, local systems participating in state funded
4-16 programs which require, in part or whole, individual
4-17 student assessment data to determine eligibility or
4-18 evaluation of student success in such programs, or to
4-19 meet mandated requirements under federally authorized
4-20 funds allocated to state or local systems or both, are
4-21 authorized to expend a portion of the allocated state
4-22 program funds for such testing purposes.
4-23 (2) In addition to the provisions of paragraph (1) of
4-24 this subsection, no student shall be required, as a part
4-25 of any applicable program, to submit to a survey,
4-26 analysis, or evaluation which reveals any of the
4-27 following information about the student or his or her
4-28 parent or guardian:
4-29 (A) Political affiliations;
4-30 (B) Sexual behavior and attitudes except information
4-31 regarding sexual or physical abuse of a child;
4-32 (C) Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom
4-33 the student has close family relationships;
4-34 (D) Legally recognized privileged relationships or
4-35 analogous relationships, such as those with an
4-36 attorney, a physician, or a member of the clergy;
4-37 (E) Income, other than as required by law for
4-38 determination of eligibility for participation in a
4-39 program or for receipt of financial assistance under
4-40 such program
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LC 14 6454-ECS
5- 1 without the prior consent of the student, if the student
5- 2 is an adult or emancipated minor, or, in the case of an
5- 3 unemancipated minor, without the prior written consent
5- 4 of the parent or guardian."
SECTION 2.
5- 5 This Act shall become effective only when funds are
5- 6 specifically appropriated for the purposes of this Act in an
5- 7 appropriations Act making specific reference to this Act.
SECTION 3.
5- 8 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
5- 9 repealed.
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Office of the Clerk of the House
Robert E. Rivers, Jr., Clerk of the House
Last Updated on 01/02/97