Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1428 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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3	3
4	4	State of Arkansas 1
5	5	94th General Assembly A Bill 2
6	6	Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1428 3
7	7	4
8	8	By: Representatives C. Cooper, McAlindon, Haak, Long 5
9	9	By: Senator M. McKee 6
10	10	7
11	11	For An Act To Be Entitled 8
12	12	AN ACT TO CREATE THE EQUAL ACCESS TO COLL EGE AND 9
13	13	CAREER READINESS ASS ESSMENTS ACT; AND FO R OTHER 10
14	14	PURPOSES. 11
15	15	12
16	16	13
17	17	Subtitle 14
18	18	TO CREATE THE EQUAL ACCESS TO COLLEGE AND 15
19	19	CAREER READINESS ASSESSMENTS ACT. 16
20	20	17
21	21	18
22	22	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
23	23	20
24	24	SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 15, is amended to add an 21
25	25	additional subchapter to read as follows: 22
26	26	Subchapter 32 — Equal Access to College and Career Readiness Assessments Act 23
27	27	24
28	28	6-15-3201. Title. 25
29	29	This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Equal Access to 26
30	30	College and Career Readiness Assessments Act". 27
31	31	28
32	32	6-15-3202. Legislative findings. 29
33	33	The General Assembly finds that: 30
34	34	(1) Access to postsecondary education can s ignificantly impact a 31
35	35	student’s personal and professional life as an adult; 32
36	36	(2) College or career readiness assessments play a vital role in 33
37	37	determining a student’s academic eligibility for admission to postsecondary 34
38	38	institutions; 35
39	39	(3) College or care er readiness assessments often are used to 36 HB1428
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43	43
44	44	determine academic eligibility for scholarships and financial aid resources 1
45	45	at postsecondary institutions; 2
46	46	(4) The State of Arkansas uses college or career readiness 3
47	47	assessments to determine academic eligibilit y for many of its publicly funded 4
48	48	scholarships; 5
49	49	(5) Scholarship eligibility may play an important role in 6
50	50	determining whether or not a student is able to afford postsecondary 7
51	51	education; 8
52	52	(6) Public schools in Arkansas often serve as test sites for the 9
53	53	administration of college or career readiness assessments outside of normal 10
54	54	school hours on specific dates throughout the year; 11
55	55	(7) Registration for college or career readiness assessments 12
56	56	often is open to students from the community regardless of whet her or not the 13
57	57	students are enrolled in that specific school; 14
58	58	(8) Not all students in Arkansas are enrolled in a public school 15
59	59	that serves as a test site for a college or career readiness assessment; and 16
60	60	(9) Arkansas law should clarify that students may access college 17
61	61	or career readiness assessments regardless of whether or not they are 18
62	62	enrolled at the public school or in the school district where the test is 19
63	63	administered. 20
64	64	21
65	65	6-15-3203. Definitions. 22
66	66	As used in this subchapter: 23
67	67	(1) "Advanced Placement test" means a test offered by the 24
68	68	College Board for advanced placement courses; 25
69	69	(2)(A) "College and career readiness assessment" means: 26
70	70	(i) A nationally recognized norm -referenced test or 27
71	71	assessment administered outside of ordinary class times or outside the scope 28
72	72	of the regular curriculum of a public school; or 29
73	73	(ii) An Advanced Placement test. 30
74	74	(B) "College and career readiness assessment" includes 31
75	75	without limitation: 32
76	76	(i) The ACT test; 33
77	77	(ii) The SAT; 34
78	78	(iii) The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test; 35
79	79	(iv) The National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test; 36 HB1428
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83	83
84	84	and 1
85	85	(v) Other assessments commonly used for college 2
86	86	admission, college scholarships, or financial aid to attend college. 3
87	87	(C) "College and career readiness as sessment" does not 4
88	88	include a: 5
89	89	(i) Norm-referenced test or assessment administered 6
90	90	in accordance with state or federal law for the purpose of gauging the 7
91	91	academic proficiency or performance of a public school student or a public 8
92	92	school; or 9
93	93	(ii) Test administered during the course of ordinary 10
94	94	class time; and 11
95	95	(3) "Test site" means the location 12
96	96	where a college and career readiness assessment is provided, proctored, or 13
97	97	otherwise administered. 14
98	98	15
99	99	6-15-3204. Equal access to college and career readines s assessments at 16
100	100	public schools. 17
101	101	(a) To ensure equal access to college and career readiness 18
102	102	assessments, a public school serving as a test site shall not: 19
103	103	(1) Impede, obstruct, or otherwise 20
104	104	prevent a student from registering for or accessing a college or career 21
105	105	readiness assessment based on the student's enrollment status at the public 22
106	106	school or in the public school district; 23
107	107	(2) Impose additional fees or 24
108	108	requirements based on a student's enrollment status; or 25
109	109	(3) Deny a student financial 26
110	110	assistance for purposes of paying for or reducing the costs of the college or 27
111	111	career readiness assessment based on the student's enrollment status. 28
112	112	(b) As approved or recommended by the organization responsible for the 29
113	113	administration of a college and career readiness assessment, a public school 30
114	114	serving as a test site shall provide appropriate accommodations for a student 31
115	115	with one (1) or more verifiable physical disabilities or learning 32
116	116	disabilities regardless of the student's enrollment status at the public 33
117	117	school or in the public school district. 34
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