REFERENCE TITLE: ESAs; assessments; qualified schools; audits.

State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-sixth Legislature First Regular Session 2023

HB 2662

Introduced by Representatives Pawlik: Aguilar, Austin, Blattman, Bravo, Cano, Contreras L, Contreras P, De Los Santos, Gutierrez, Hernandez A, Hernandez C, Hernandez L, Hernandez M, Longdon, Mathis, Ortiz, Peshlakai, Qui  onez, Salman, Sandoval, Schwiebert, Seaman, Shah, Stahl Hamilton, Sun, Terech, Travers, Tsosie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Act

 

amending sections 15-743, 15-2402 and 15-2404, Arizona Revised Statutes; repealing section 41-1279.03, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by Laws 2021, chapter 405, section 25; amending section 41-1279.03, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by Laws 2019, chapter 3, section 11; relating to assessment and accountability.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section  1. Section 15-743, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-743. Test results; annual report; five-year cumulative summary

A. The state board of education shall provide annual reports for every school and school district, and the state as a whole and the Arizona empowerment scholarship account program. The state board shall annually submit these reports to school districts, the legislature and the county school superintendents and shall make them available to the public.   The state board shall publish and distribute the reports by September 1 and shall also provide a cumulative summary of the reports every five years. The annual reports and cumulative summary results shall include:

1. Average and range scores on the statewide assessment adopted pursuant to section 15-741.

2. Standardized test scores by subject area according to percentiles and stanines for the school, school district, county, state and nation and either:

(a) For pupils who are enrolled in a school district, by the school and school district.

(b) For pupils who are enrolled in the Arizona empowerment scholarship account program, by eligibility category and school type.

3. Achievement-related nontest indicator data collected in the survey of teachers, principals and superintendents as required by section 15-741, including information related to dropout rates by ethnicity for each grade level and graduation rates and postsecondary employment and education by ethnicity. In reporting such data, the state board shall not violate the provisions of the family educational rights and privacy act (P.L.  93-380), as amended, or disclose personally identifiable information.

4. The numbers of pupils who have completed the academic standards at grades three, eight and twelve.

B. Test results on individual pupils shall not be made available to the public by name or individually identifiable reference.

C. The state board shall provide a copy of the results from the tests prescribed in section 15-741, subsection A for each school district to that school district.   Results may not be released to the public until ten days after the reports are provided to each school district.

D. The state board shall provide each school district participating in the testing program with a copy of each pupil's standardized norm-referenced test scores in reading, language arts and mathematics, and the associated grade equivalents, percentiles and stanines for the school, school district, county, state and nation and the Arizona empowerment scholarship account program, a report of pupil progress on an ongoing and annual basis, showing the trends in gain or loss in pupil achievement over time in reading, language arts and mathematics for all years in which pupils are enrolled in the school district for an entire school year and for which this information is available and a report of the pupil progress for pupils not enrolled in a district for an entire school year. The state board shall also provide each school district with each pupil's statewide assessment scores and the statewide assessment scores for the school, school district, county and state and the Arizona empowerment scholarship account program.

E. The school district shall provide a parent or guardian of each pupil participating in the standardized norm-referenced testing part of the program with a copy of the pupil's scores in reading, language arts and mathematics, and the percentiles and stanines. The school district shall provide a parent or guardian of each pupil with a copy of the pupil's scores on the statewide assessment and the associated scores for the school, school district, county and state and the Arizona empowerment scholarship account program. The school district shall make available to the public through the reports those scores for each school in the school district and for the school district, county, state and nation and the Arizona empowerment scholarship account program. The department of education shall provide or make available all reports required pursuant to this subsection for pupils who are enrolled in the Arizona empowerment scholarship account program, except that the report made available to the public shall be disaggregated by eligibility category and school type.

F. Any testing window established and executed by the department of education or the state board for the administration of the statewide assessment adopted pursuant to section 15-741 may not be longer than four consecutive school weeks and shall ensure that local education agencies receive test scores and assessment data from the third grade reading portion of the statewide assessment on or before May 15 of each academic year and that the scores and assessment data from all other portions of the statewide assessment adopted pursuant to section 15-741 are received by local education agencies on or before May 25 of each academic year.   The department of education or the state board may not prohibit the superintendent or the staff of a local education agency from sharing statewide assessment data with the local education agency's district governing board or governing body or otherwise impede the sharing of statewide assessment data.

G. Notwithstanding subsection F of this section and sections 15-741 and 15-742, the department of education, subject to review and approval by the state board, may adjust the testing window for the statewide assessment adopted pursuant to section 15-741 in academic years that the state board is revising current proficiency levels or is establishing new proficiency levels for the statewide assessment adopted pursuant to section 15-741. END_STATUTE

Sec.  2. Section 15-2402, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-2402. Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts; funds

A. Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts are established to provide options for the education of students in this state.

B. To enroll a qualified student for an Arizona empowerment scholarship account, the parent of the qualified student must sign an agreement to do all of the following:

1. Use a portion of the Arizona empowerment scholarship account monies allocated annually to provide an education for the qualified student in at least the subjects of reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies and science, unless the Arizona empowerment scholarship account is allocated monies according to a transfer schedule other than quarterly transfers pursuant to section 15-2403, subsection G.

2. Not enroll the qualified student in a school district or charter school and release the school district from all obligations to educate the qualified student.   This paragraph does not:

(a) Relieve the school district or charter school that the qualified student previously attended from the obligation to conduct an evaluation pursuant to section 15-766.

(b) Require a   the qualified student to withdraw from a   the school district or charter school before enrolling for an Arizona empowerment scholarship account if the qualified student withdraws from the school district or charter school before receiving any monies in the qualified student's Arizona empowerment scholarship account.

(c) Prevent a   the qualified student from applying in advance for an Arizona empowerment scholarship account to be funded beginning the following school year.

3. Not accept a scholarship from a school tuition organization pursuant to title 43 concurrently with an Arizona empowerment scholarship account for the qualified student in the same year a parent signs the agreement pursuant to this section.

4. Use monies deposited in the qualified student's Arizona empowerment scholarship account only for the following expenses of the qualified student:

(a) Tuition or fees at a qualified school.

(b) Textbooks required by a qualified school.

(c) If the qualified student meets any of the criteria specified in section 15-2401, paragraph 7, subdivision (a), item (i), (ii) or (iii) as determined by a school district or by an independent third party pursuant to section 15-2403, subsection J, the qualified student may use the following additional services:

(i) Educational therapies from a licensed or accredited practitioner or provider, including and up to any amount not covered by insurance if the expense is partially paid by a health insurance policy for the qualified student.

(ii) A licensed or accredited paraprofessional or educational aide.

(iii) Tuition for vocational and life skills education approved by the department.

(iv) Associated goods and services that include educational and psychological evaluations, assistive technology rentals and braille translation goods and services approved by the department.

(d) Tutoring or teaching services provided by an individual or facility accredited by a state, regional or national accrediting organization.

(e) Curricula and supplementary materials.

(f) Tuition or fees for a nonpublic online learning program.

(g) Fees for a nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test, an advanced placement examination or any exams related to college or university admission, including fees assessed by a school district or charter school for any costs incurred by the school district or charter school for providing to the qualified student the assessment required by paragraph 7 of this subsection.   This subdivision does not require a school district or charter school to provide the assessment required by paragraph 7 of this subsection to a qualified student.

(h) Tuition or fees at an eligible postsecondary institution.

(i) Textbooks required by an eligible postsecondary institution.

(j) Fees to manage the Arizona empowerment scholarship account.

(k) Services provided by a public school, including individual classes and extracurricular programs.

(l) Insurance or surety bond payments.

(m) Uniforms purchased from or through a qualified school.

(n) If the qualified student meets the criteria specified in section 15-2401, paragraph 7, subdivision (a), item (i), (ii) or (iii) and if the qualified student is in the second year prior to the final year of a contract executed pursuant to this article, costs associated with an annual education plan conducted by an independent evaluation team.   The department shall prescribe minimum qualifications for independent evaluation teams pursuant to this subdivision and factors that teams must use to determine whether the qualified student shall be eligible to continue to receive monies pursuant to this article through the school year in which the qualified student reaches twenty-two years of age. An independent evaluation team that provides an annual education plan pursuant to this subdivision shall submit a written report that summarizes the results of the evaluation to the parent of the qualified student and to the department on or before July 31. The written report submitted by the independent evaluation team is valid for one year. If the department determines that the qualified student meets the eligibility criteria prescribed in the annual education plan, the qualified student is eligible to continue to receive monies pursuant to this article until the qualified student reaches twenty-two years of age, subject to annual review. A parent may appeal the department's decision pursuant to title 41, chapter 6, article 10. As an addendum to a qualified student's final-year contract, the department shall provide the following written information to the parent of the qualified student:

(i) That the qualified student will not be eligible to continue to receive monies pursuant to this article unless the results of an annual education plan conducted pursuant to this subdivision demonstrate that the qualified student meets the eligibility criteria prescribed in the annual education plan.

(ii) That the parent is entitled to obtain an annual education plan pursuant to this subdivision to determine whether the qualified student meets the eligibility criteria prescribed in the annual education plan.

(iii) A list of independent evaluation teams that meet the minimum qualifications prescribed by the department pursuant to this subdivision.

(o) Public transportation services in this state, including a commuter pass for the qualified student, or transportation network services as defined in section 28-9551 between the qualified student's residence and a qualified school in which the qualified student is enrolled.

(p) Computer hardware and technological devices primarily used for an educational purpose. For the purposes of this subdivision, "computer hardware and technological devices":

(i) Includes calculators, personal computers, laptops, tablet devices, microscopes, telescopes and printers.

(ii) Does not include entertainment and other primarily noneducational devices, including televisions, telephones, video game consoles and accessories, and home theatre and audio equipment.

5. Not file an affidavit of intent to homeschool pursuant to section 15-802, subsection B, paragraph 2 or 3.

6. Not use monies deposited in the qualified student's account for any of the following:

(a) Computer hardware or other technological devices, except as otherwise allowed under paragraph 4, subdivision (c) or (p) of this subsection.

(b) Transportation of the pupil, except for transportation services described in paragraph 4, subdivision (o) of this subsection.

7. Notwithstanding any other law, beginning in the 2023-2024 school year and each year thereafter, have the qualified student, if in any of grades three through twelve, take either a nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test or the statewide assessment adopted pursuant to section 15-741 and report the assessment results to the Department of education.   This paragraph does not apply to:

(a) A qualified student who is identified as having a disability under section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 (P.L. 93-112; 87 Stat.  355; 29 United States Code section 794).

(b) A qualified student who is identified by a school district or independent third p