Increasing academic rigor and streamlining assessment requirements for high school students.
Summary
Discontinues administration of the 10th grade reading, writing, and mathematics assessments after the 2015-16 school year, and eliminates all but one existing alternative assessment option.
Establishes that, beginning with the graduating class of 2017, a student who earns a score of 3 or 4 on the 11th grade Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) English Language Arts and mathematics assessments will earn a certificate of academic achievement (CAA).
Authorizes students who take but do not earn a level 3 or 4 score on the 11th grade SBAC assessments to earn a CAA by earning an equivalent score on the SAT or ACT, taking and passing a "locally determined course," or completing a dual credit course in which the student earns college credit.
Eliminates the requirement that students take and pass the Biology end-of-course-exam in order to earn a CAA and graduate, provides for a two-year transition period following development of a comprehensive science assessment, after which students will be required to meet standards in order to earn a CAA, and includes an emergency clause making these provisions effective immediately.
Provides that a student in the class of 2017 or a prior year may earn a CAA by means of: (1) the assessments and alternatives that were available to the particular class if the student has met the standard or satisfied the alternative before the beginning of the 2016-17 school year; or (2) by scoring a 3 or 4 on the SBAC, earning an equivalent ACT or SAT score, taking and passing a locally determined course, or completing a dual credit course in which the student earns college credit.
Adds specificity to High School and Beyond Plan requirements.
From the Substitute House Bill Report (SHB 2214), written by the Legislature's nonpartisan staff. Read the full report ↗
Did not passDid not pass · passed House, stalled in Senate