| 1 | 1 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4265 |
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| 2 | 2 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 3 | 3 | | ________________________________________ |
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| 4 | 4 | | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 22, 2024. |
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| 5 | 5 | | The committee on Higher Education to whom was referred the petition |
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| 6 | 6 | | (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 838) of Michael O. Moore, John J. |
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| 7 | 7 | | Cronin, James K. Hawkins, James B. Eldridge and other members of the |
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| 8 | 8 | | General Court for legislation relative to advance placement examinations, |
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| 9 | 9 | | the joint petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1264) of Richard M. |
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| 10 | 10 | | Haggerty and Michael O. Moore relative to advanced placement |
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| 11 | 11 | | examination for post-secondary level course credits, the petition |
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| 12 | 12 | | (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1270) of Bradley H. Jones, Jr. and |
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| 13 | 13 | | others relative to the acceptance of Advanced Placement scores for college |
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| 14 | 14 | | credit and the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1280) of Adrian |
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| 15 | 15 | | C. Madaro, Chynah Tyler and others relative to advanced placement |
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| 16 | 16 | | examinations and college credit, reports recommending that the |
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| 17 | 17 | | accompanying bill (House, No. 4265) ought to pass. |
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| 18 | 18 | | For the committee, |
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| 19 | 19 | | DAVID M. ROGERS. 1 of 3 |
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| 20 | 20 | | FILED ON: 1/18/2024 |
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| 21 | 21 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4265 |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act relative to advanced placement examinations and college credit. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 15A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2section 39 the following section:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 Section 39A. (a) All public institutions of higher education, as set forth in section 5, shall |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4develop and adopt written policies and procedures to accept a score of three, four, and five on all |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5advanced placement examinations to satisfy degree requirements. The policies shall indicate |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6whether the credit shall be granted for general education, major, or elective requirements at the |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7institution, and shall include procedures related to the transferability of these credits to another |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8institution of higher education. An institution may not require an exam score of more than three |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9unless the chief academic officer provides evidence that the higher score is necessary for a |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10student to be successful in a related or more advanced course for which the lower-division course |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11is a prerequisite. The department of higher education shall provide guidance on what constitutes |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12as evidence for an institution to require an examination score of more than three. 2 of 3 |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13 (b) All policies and procedures governing the award of credit shall be posted on the |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14institution’s website under the category of admission, which the institution shall update as |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15necessary to reflect any changes in policies and procedures. In addition, each institution shall |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16submit its policies and procedures, or any changes thereto, to the department of higher education |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17who shall post each institution’s policies and procedures, or changes thereto, on the department’s |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18website. |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19 (c) The board of higher education, and in the case of the University of Massachusetts, in |
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| 49 | 49 | | 20cooperation with the board of trustees of the University of Massachusetts, shall annually review |
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| 50 | 50 | | 21the advanced placement examination score course granting policies of each institution of higher |
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| 51 | 51 | | 22education and any evidence supporting policies requiring scores above 3 in accordance with the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 23requirements of this section, and report its findings, evidence supporting policies requiring scores |
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| 53 | 53 | | 24above 3, and any recommendations with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, |
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| 54 | 54 | | 25and the chairs of the joint committee on higher education not later than July 1. Each institution of |
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| 55 | 55 | | 26higher education shall provide the board of higher education, and in the case of the University of |
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| 56 | 56 | | 27Massachusetts, its board of trustees, with all necessary data, in accordance with the federal |
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| 57 | 57 | | 28Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, to conduct the analysis. |
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| 58 | 58 | | 29 (d) All policies and procedures governing the award of credit shall be posted in an easily |
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| 59 | 59 | | 30accessible location on the institution’s website. The institution shall update the website as |
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| 60 | 60 | | 31necessary to reflect any changes in policies and procedures. Each institution shall submit its |
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| 61 | 61 | | 32policies and procedures, and any changes, to the department which shall post a summary of each |
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| 62 | 62 | | 33institution’s policies and procedures on the department’s website. 3 of 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 34 SECTION 2. The first annual report required by subsection (c) of section 39A of chapter |
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| 64 | 64 | | 3515A of the General Laws shall be published not later than July 1, 2025. |
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| 65 | 65 | | 36 SECTION 3. The department shall determine when section 1 shall take effect, but it shall |
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| 66 | 66 | | 37be no later than one year after enactment. |
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