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2013 SESSION

13104031D
SENATE BILL NO. 1364
Offered January 21, 2013
A BILL to provide two-year waivers from third grade Standards of Learning assessments to certain schools.
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Patron-- Miller
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Unanimous consent to introduce
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Referred to Committee on Education and Health
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Board of Education shall grant a two-year waiver from the science or the history and social science Standards of Learning assessment requirement for third grade students to certain schools in two local school divisions in each of the eight Superintendents' Regions identified by the Board of Education. Such elementary schools shall continue to administer benchmark assessments in science and in history and social science. The Board shall ensure that selected local school divisions represent a fair cross section of students in all student subgroups identified pursuant to the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, P.L. 89-10, as amended, including the African American, Hispanic, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged student subgroups. In addition, the Board shall ensure that selected local school divisions represent a fair cross section of urban, suburban, and rural areas.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall notify the local school divisions that have been selected to receive waivers. The school boards in such local school divisions shall select at least two elementary schools in the local school division to participate in the two-year waiver program. The school boards shall also identify a peer elementary school in the local school division with similar student demographics to be paired, for control group purposes, with each elementary school granted a two-year waiver.

Elementary schools that have been granted a two-year waiver shall use the additional instruction time for study in reading and mathematics. Elementary schools that have been granted a two-year waiver shall notify the parents of all third grade students that their child will not participate in SOL assessments in science and in history and social science and will instead receive additional instruction in reading and mathematics.

At the conclusion of the two-year waiver period, the Board of Education shall compile (i) a list of the elementary schools granted a waiver, (ii) a list of the peer elementary schools in the local school division with similar student demographics paired with the waiver schools, (iii) a list of the third grade teachers at each elementary school granted a waiver, (iv) a de-identified list of the results of third grade students in each elementary school granted a waiver on SOL assessments in reading and mathematics, and (v) a de-identified list of the results of third grade students at the peer elementary schools identified pursuant to this section on SOL assessments in reading and mathematics. The Board shall ensure that the student-level data collected is identified in such a way that student performance can be tracked across multiple years while the identities of such students remain private.

2. That the Board shall grant waivers pursuant to this act beginning with the 2013-2014 school year and concluding at the end of the 2014-2015 school year.