ENROLLED
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 195
BY REPRESENTATIVE SCHRODER
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to promulgate
rules to provide for teacher and parental access to and review of student assessments.
WHEREAS, current law, R.S. 17:355, provides that a parent of a child attending a
public elementary or secondary school shall be entitled to access to instructional materials;
and
WHEREAS, this law further provides that a parent is entitled to review instructional
materials used by or administered to his or her child; and
WHEREAS, this law defines "instructional materials" as content that conveys the
knowledge or skills of a subject in the school curriculum through a medium or a combination
of media for conveying information to a student including any nonsecure test, nonsecure
assessment, or survey administered to a student, books, supplementary materials, teaching
aids, computer software, magnetic media, DVD, CD-ROM, computer courseware, online
material, information, or services, or an electronic medium or other means of conveying
information to the student or otherwise contributing to the learning process; and
WHEREAS, current law, R.S. 17:24.4, requires the State Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education to implement standards-based assessments in English language arts,
mathematics, science, and social studies based on state content standards and rigorous
student achievement standards set with reference to test scores of students of the same grade
level nationally; and
WHEREAS, this law further requires such standards-based assessments in English
language arts and mathematics to be based on nationally recognized content standards that
represent the knowledge and skills needed for students to successfully transition to
postsecondary education and the workplace; and
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WHEREAS, current law, R.S. 17:10.1, requires the State Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education to provide for a school and district accountability system based on
student achievement and minimum standards for the approval of public schools; and
WHEREAS, implementation of the school and district accountability system by the
state board necessitates the use of secure, standards-based assessments to produce valid and
reliable data on student achievement; and
WHEREAS, it is important to provide teachers with the assessment results for their
students and to make the assessments available to parents of students taking the assessments
in a manner that does not compromise the security or use or increase the cost of the
assessments.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the State Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education to promulgate rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedure
Act to provide for teacher and parental access to and review of student assessments.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that such rules shall include a process and procedures
for both of the following:
(1) Teachers to review the assessment results of any student he taught for the subject
he taught in that school year and review an individualized student assessment report that
identifies the student's performance in each assessment domain.
(2) Parents of students taking the assessments to review each assessment, excluding
a national assessment that the state Department of Education is prohibited by the assessment
vendor from providing to a parent for review, in a secure setting. The review shall be held
within ten days following the dissemination of assessment results to parents and shall be
offered for at least ten consecutive business days at the department's main office during
regular business hours in the presence of the director of assessments or his designee. Parents
shall be given reasonable time to complete the review, not to exceed two hours, and shall not
be permitted to photocopy or photograph any assessment item or question or make
handwritten, typed, or orally recorded notes that identify an assessment item or question.
The board may require a parent who violates such prohibitions to reimburse the state
Department of Education for any costs incurred by the department to replace any assessment
items or questions determined to no longer be secure due to the actions of the parent.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education to promulgate and implement such rules in order to provide for such access and
review by teachers and parents following the administration of standards-based assessments
during the 2015-2016 school year.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
president of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the state
superintendent of education.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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