HB 225 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to multilingual versions of statewide 2
standardized assessments; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.; 3
requiring the Department of Education to develop and 4
school districts to administer multilingual versions 5
of certain statewide, standardized assessments in 6
English and specified home languages to certain 7
students who are or were English language learners; 8
defining the term "multilingual version of an 9
assessment"; authorizing parents of eligible students 10
to request a monolingual version such assessments for 11
his or her student; requiring the department to 12
develop a timetable and action plan to phase in the 13
administration of such assessments, including 14
administering such assessments in additional 15
languages; amending s. 1008.25, F.S.; requiring the 16
Department of Education to develop and school 17
districts to administer multilingual versions of the 18
grade 10 English Language Arts coordinated screening 19
and progress monitoring system in English and 20
specified home languages to certain students who are 21
or were English language learners; defining the term 22
"multilingual version of an assessment"; authorizing 23
parents of eligible students to request a monolingual 24
version of such assessments for his or her student; 25
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providing an effective date. 26
27
WHEREAS, tapping the full linguistic repertoire of English 28
Language Learners during statewide assessments will provide more 29
accurate information on such students' content area achiev ement, 30
and 31
WHEREAS, multilingual assessments increase fair play by 32
reducing the influence of language barriers on high school 33
graduation rates for the English language learners, and 34
WHEREAS, providing multilingual assessments to students 35
whose home language is Spanish or Haitian Creole would be an 36
effective response to requests from parents, teachers, and 37
students to create avenues for such assessments to better gauge 38
the learning gains of English language learners, NOW, THEREFORE, 39
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 40
41
Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (3) of section 42
1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 43
1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools. — 44
(3) STATEWIDE, STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT PROGRAM. —The 45
Commissioner of Education shall design and implement a 46
statewide, standardized assessment program aligned to the core 47
curricular content established in the state academic standards. 48
The commissioner also must develop or select and implement a 49
common battery of assessment tools that will be used in all 50
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juvenile justice education programs in the state. These tools 51
must accurately measure the core curricular content established 52
in the state academic standards. Participation in the assessment 53
program is mandatory for all school districts and all students 54
attending public schools, including adult students seeking a 55
standard high school diploma under s. 1003.4282 and students in 56
Department of Juvenile Justice education programs, except as 57
otherwise provided by law . If a student does not participate in 58
the assessment program, the school district must notify the 59
student's parent and provide the parent with information 60
regarding the implications of such nonparticipation. The 61
statewide, standardized assessment program shall be designed and 62
implemented as follows: 63
(d) Students with disabilities; Florida Alternate 64
Assessment; English language learners .— 65
1. Each district school board must provide instruction to 66
prepare students with disabilities in the core content kno wledge 67
and skills necessary for successful grade -to-grade progression 68
and high school graduation. 69
2. A student with a disability, as defined in s. 1007.02, 70
for whom the individual education plan (IEP) team determines 71
that the statewide, standardized asse ssments under this section 72
cannot accurately measure the student's abilities, taking into 73
consideration all allowable accommodations, shall have 74
assessment results waived for the purpose of receiving a course 75
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grade and a standard high school diploma. Such waiver shall be 76
designated on the student's transcript. The statement of waiver 77
shall be limited to a statement that performance on an 78
assessment was waived for the purpose of receiving a course 79
grade or a standard high school diploma, as applicable. 80
3. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules, based 81
upon recommendations of the commissioner, for the provision of 82
assessment accommodations for students with disabilities and for 83
students who have limited English proficiency. 84
a. Accommodations that ne gate the validity of a statewide, 85
standardized assessment are not allowed during the 86
administration of the assessment. However, instructional 87
accommodations are allowed in the classroom if identified in a 88
student's IEP. Students using instructional accommo dations in 89
the classroom that are not allowed on a statewide, standardized 90
assessment may have assessment results waived if the IEP team 91
determines that the assessment cannot accurately measure the 92
student's abilities. 93
b. If a student is provided with in structional 94
accommodations in the classroom that are not allowed as 95
accommodations for statewide, standardized assessments, the 96
district must inform the parent in writing and provide the 97
parent with information regarding the impact on the student's 98
ability to meet expected performance levels. A parent must 99
provide signed consent for a student to receive classroom 100
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instructional accommodations that would not be available or 101
permitted on a statewide, standardized assessment and 102
acknowledge in writing that he o r she understands the 103
implications of such instructional accommodations. 104
c. If a student's IEP states that online administration of 105
a statewide, standardized assessment will significantly impair 106
the student's ability to perform, the assessment shall be 107
administered in hard copy. 108
d.(I) No later than the 2026 -2027 school year, the 109
Department of Education shall have developed multilingual 110
versions of the grade 10 ELA assessment and the Algebra I EOC 111
assessment to include Spanish and Haitian Creole test it ems that 112
are equivalent to each English language test items. For purposes 113
of this section, a "multilingual version of an assessment" means 114
an assessment with test items in both English and Spanish or 115
Haitian Creole, as appropriate for the student. Each sch ool 116
district shall administer a multilingual version of the Grade 10 117
ELA assessment or the Algebra I EOC to students whose home 118
language is Spanish or Haitian Creole and who are receiving 119
services in a program operated pursuant to s. 1003.56 or who 120
have recently exited such program and are still within the post -121
exit monitoring period. A parent of an English language learner 122
may request his or her student receive a monolingual, English 123
version of the assessment. 124
(II) The Department of Education shall devel op a timetable 125
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and action plan to phase in the development and adoption of the 126
multilingual assessments required under this sub -subparagraph in 127
addition to such assessments in additional languages, as 128
feasible. 129
4. For students with significant cognitive disabilities, 130
the Department of Education shall provide for implementation of 131
the Florida Alternate Assessment to accurately measure the core 132
curricular content established in the state academic standards. 133
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (9) of section 134
1008.25, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 135
1008.25 Public school student progression; student 136
support; coordinated screening and progress monitoring; 137
reporting requirements. — 138
(9) COORDINATED SCREENING AND PROGRESS MONITORING SYSTEM. — 139
(b) Beginning with the 2022 -2023 school year, private 140
Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program providers and public 141
schools must participate in the coordinated screening and 142
progress monitoring system pursuant to this paragraph. 143
1. For students in the Vol untary Prekindergarten Education 144
Program through grade 2, the coordinated screening and progress 145
monitoring system must be administered at least three times 146
within a program year or school year, as applicable, with the 147
first administration occurring no lat er than the first 30 148
instructional days after a student's enrollment or the start of 149
the program year or school year, the second administration 150
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occurring midyear, and the third administration occurring within 151
the last 30 days of the program or school year pursuant to state 152
board rule. The state board may adopt alternate timeframes to 153
address nontraditional school year calendars or summer programs 154
to ensure the coordinated screening and progress monitoring 155
program is administered a minimum of three times wit hin a year 156
or program. 157
2. For grades 3 through 10 English Language Arts (ELA) and 158
grades 3 through 8 Mathematics, the coordinated screening and 159
progress monitoring system must be administered at the 160
beginning, middle, and end of the school year pursuant to state 161
board rule. The end-of-year administration of the coordinated 162
screening and progress monitoring system must be a comprehensive 163
progress monitoring assessment administered in accordance with 164
the scheduling requirements under s. 1008.22(7)(c). No later 165
than the 2026-2027 school year, the Department of Education 166
shall have developed multilingual versions of the Grade 10 ELA 167
coordinated screening and progress monitoring system to include 168
Spanish and Haitian Creole test items that are equivalent to 169
each English language test item. For purposes of this section, a 170
"multilingual version of an assessment" means an assessment with 171
test items in both English and Spanish or Haitian Creole, as 172
appropriate for the student. Each school district shall, for the 173
beginning, middle, and end of the school year administrations of 174
the grade 10 ELA coordinated screening and progress monitoring 175
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system, administer a multilingual version of the assessment to 176
students whose home language is Spanish or Haitian Creole and 177
who are receiving services in a program operated pursuant to s. 178
1003.56 or who have recently exited such program and are still 179
within the post-exit monitoring period. A parent of an English 180
language learner may request his or her student receive a 181
monolingual, English version of the assessment. 182
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 183