The proposed bill would amend current statutes regarding the administration of statewide assessments in Arizona. Under the new provisions, the authorization for school districts or charter schools to request to administer these assessments in written form would be removed. Instead, the bill would allow written assessments to be administered under specific circumstances, including to accommodate special needs, for religious reasons, if required by an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 plan, or upon request by a student's parent or guardian. Additionally, the bill introduces a new requirement for schools to accept official score reports from nationally recognized assessments, allowing students to opt out of the school-administered assessments if they submit these reports in advance.

Furthermore, the bill specifies that upon receiving a student's official score report, schools must record the score, report it to the State Board of Education and the Arizona Department of Education, and utilize the data from the report for the student's assessment data. It clarifies that while students can opt out of the school-administered assessments, they are not exempt from the collection of other nontest indicator data. The bill also defines "nationally recognized" assessments and makes technical and conforming changes to existing statutes.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 15-741
House Engrossed Version: 15-741
Senate Engrossed Version: 15-741
Chaptered Version: 15-741