A4268

An Act establishing a task force to analyze State assessments.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. Under the provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, states are required to administer annual assessments in language arts literacy and mathematics to students enrolled in grades three through eight, and one additional time in high school.

b. Starting in the 2014-2015 school year, the State of New Jersey began a transition to use the assessment developed by a consortia of states known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers as its State assessment.

c. In order to determine if these new assessments are appropriate for use throughout the State, a task force that includes a broad range of education practitioners and experts should be established to review the quality of these assessments, and to make recommendations regarding their future use.

2. As used in this act, “PARCC assessments” means the assessments developed by the consortium of states known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.

3. a. There is established the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Task Force. The purpose of the task force shall be to study the administration of the PARCC assessments.

b. The task force shall consist of the following 12 members:

(1) the Commissioner of Education, or the commissioner’s designee, who shall serve ex officio;

(2) five members appointed by the Governor, one upon the recommendation of the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, one upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, one upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Education Association, one upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, and one upon the recommendation of the New Jersey School Boards Association;

(3) two members of the Senate, who shall not be from the same political party, appointed by the President of the Senate;

(4) two members of the General Assembly, who shall not be from the same political party, appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly;

(5) one member, appointed by the President of the Senate, who is the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a New Jersey public school; and

(6) one member, appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, who is the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a New Jersey public school.

c. Appointments to the task force shall be made within 30 days of the effective date of this act. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made. Members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the task force within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its purposes.

4. The task force shall organize as soon as practicable following the appointment of its members, but no later than 60 days after the appointment of the members. The task force shall select one member of the Senate and one member of the General Assembly appointed to the task force to serve as co-chairpersons of the task force. The task force shall also appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force.

5. The Department of Education shall provide such stenographic, clerical, and other assistance, and such professional staff as the task force requires to carry out its work. The task force shall also be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.

6. a. The task force shall evaluate the administration of the PARCC assessments. The evaluation shall include, but need not be limited to, the following:

(1) a description of actions taken by the State to date to support the administration of the PARCC assessments and a timeline of any subsequent actions to be taken;

(2) an estimate of the full cost for school districts to administer the PARCC assessments, including those costs already incurred by districts and those to be incurred in the future;

(3) an analysis of districts’ technological readiness to administer the PARCC assessments, including technological upgrades required to successfully administer the PARCC assessments and technological challenges encountered during any prior administration;

(4) the use of students’ results on the PARCC assessments on matters including, but not limited to, a student’s placement in a gifted and talented program, placement in another program or intervention, grade promotion, and as the State graduation proficiency assessment pursuant to section 6 of P.L.1979, c.241 (C.18A:7C-6); and

(5) the use and mining of confidential student and family data including, but not limited to, matters related to a student’s learning disability, student behavior, political affiliation, religious affiliation, and medical history.

7. The task force shall issue a final report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than six months after the task force organizes. Prior to issuing its final report, the task force shall hold at least four public hearings, with at least one public hearing to occur in each of the northern, central, and southern regions of the State, to gather information regarding the administration of the PARCC assessments, the mining of student and family data, and student privacy rights.

8. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Task Force to evaluate the administration of the assessments developed by a consortia of states (PARCC assessments). The task force would include 12 members as follows: the Commissioner of Education or a designee; five members appointed by the Governor, one each upon the recommendation of the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, the New Jersey Education Association, the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, and the New Jersey School Boards Association; two members of the Senate and two members of General Assembly, appointed by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the General Assembly, respectively; and two individuals who are the parents or guardians of a student enrolled in a public school in the State, one appointed by the President of the Senate and one by the Speaker of the General Assembly.

The task force’s evaluation of the PARCC assessments would include: 1) a description of actions taken by the State to date to support the administration of the PARCC assessments, and a timeline for future actions to be taken; 2) an estimate of the full cost for school districts to administer the PARCC assessments; 3) an analysis of districts’ technological readiness to administer the assessments; 4) the use of students’ results on the PARCC assessments; and 5) matters related to the use and mining of confidential student and family data.

The task force is to issue its final report no later six months after it organizes. Prior to issuing its final report, the task force is to conduct at least four public hearings to gather information.