Sponsored by:
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Greenstein, Gill, Holzapfel, Lesniak, Sacco, Singer, Van Drew and P.Barnes, III
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits administration of standardized assessments in kindergarten through second grade.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act prohibiting the administration of standardized assessments in certain grades and supplementing chapter 7C of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section, “commercially-developed standardized assessment” means an assessment that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, in the same manner, and is developed and scored by an entity under a contract with a board of education.
b. A board of education shall not administer any commercially-developed standardized assessment that is not required pursuant to State or federal law to a student enrolled in kindergarten through the second grade. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of a classroom teacher or board of education to develop, administer, and score an assessment for an individual classroom, grade level, or group of grade levels in any subject area in kindergarten through the second grade.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first be applicable to the first full school year beginning after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a school district may not administer a commercially-developed standardized assessment to students enrolled in kindergarten through the second grade. The bill would not preclude a classroom teacher or a board of education from developing, administering, and scoring an assessment in kindergarten through the second grade.