2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes Article 10A - Testing.

Article 10A.

Testing.

Part 1.  Commission on Testing.

§§ 115C‑174.1 through 115C‑174.6:  Repealed by Session Laws 1995, c.  524, s. 1.

 

§ 115C‑174.7.  Reserved for future codification purposes.

 

§ 115C‑174.8.  Reserved for future codification purposes.

 

§ 115C‑174.9.  Reserved for future codification purposes.

 

Part 2.  Statewide Testing Program.

§ 115C‑174.10.  Purposes of the Statewide Testing Program.

The three testing programs in this Article have three purposes: (i) to assure that all high school graduates possess those minimum skills and that knowledge thought necessary to function as a member of society; (ii) to provide a means of identifying strengths and weaknesses in the education process in order to improve instructional delivery; and (iii) to establish additional means for making the education system at the State, local, and school levels accountable to the public for results. (1977, c. 522, s. 1; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 74(a); 1995, c. 524, s. 2.)

 

§ 115C‑174.11.  Components of the testing program.

(a)       Assessment Instruments for First and Second Grades. – The State Board of Education shall adopt and provide to the local school administrative units developmentally appropriate individualized assessment instruments consistent with the Basic Education Program for the first and second grades, rather than standardized tests. Local school administrative units may use these assessment instruments provided to them by the State Board for first and second grade students, and shall not use standardized tests except as required as a condition of receiving a federal grant under the Reading First Program.

(b)       Competency Testing Program.

(1)       The State Board of Education shall adopt tests or other measurement devices which may be used to assure that graduates of the public high schools and graduates of nonpublic schools supervised by the State Board of Education pursuant to the provisions of Part 1 of Article 39 of this Chapter possess the skills and knowledge necessary to function independently and successfully in assuming the responsibilities of citizenship.

(2)       The tests shall be administered annually to all ninth grade students in the public schools. Students who fail to attain the required minimum standard for graduation in the ninth grade shall be given remedial instruction and additional opportunities to take the test up to and including the last month of the twelfth grade. Students who fail to pass parts of the test shall be retested on only those parts they fail. Students in the ninth grade who are enrolled in special education programs or who have been officially designated as eligible for participation in such programs may be excluded from the testing programs.

(3)       The State Board of Education shall:

a.         Adopt one or more nationally standardized tests or other nationally standardized equivalent measures that measure competencies in the verbal and quantitative areas; or

b.         Develop and validate alternate means and standards for demonstrating minimum competence. These standards must be as difficult as the tests adopted pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection.

The State Board of Education shall adopt a policy to identify which students and under what circumstances students may pass one of these tests in lieu of the testing requirement of subdivision (2) of this subsection.

(3a)     Students with disabilities who fail to pass the competency test adopted pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection after two attempts shall be given the opportunity to take and pass one of the alternate tests adopted pursuant to subdivision (3) of this subsection.

(4)       Repealed by Session Laws 1996, Second Extra Session, c. 18, s. 18.14.

(c)       Annual Testing Program.

(1)       The State Board of Education shall adopt a system of annual testing for grades three through 12. These tests shall be designed to measure progress toward reading, communication skills, and mathematics for grades three through eight, and toward competencies designated by the State Board for grades nine through 12. The State Board may develop and implement a plan for high school end‑of‑course tests that must be aligned with the content standards developed under G.S. 115C‑12(9c). Students who do not pass the tests adopted for eighth grade shall be provided remedial instruction in the ninth grade. This assistance shall be calculated to prepare the students to pass the competency test administered under subsection (b) of this section.

(2)       If the State Board of Education finds that additional testing in grades three through 12 is desirable to allow comparisons with national indicators of student achievement, that testing shall be conducted with the smallest size sample of students necessary to assure valid comparisons with other states. (1977, c. 522, s. 1; c. 541, s. 1; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1983, c. 627, s. 1; 1985, c. 409, ss. 1, 2; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 74(a); 1987, c. 738, s. 180(a); 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1086, s. 77(a); 1989, c. 778, ss. 4, 5; 1995, c. 524, s. 3; 1996, 2nd Ex. Sess., c. 18, s. 18.14; 1998‑212, s. 9.15(b); 1998‑220, ss. 6, 11; 2000‑140, s. 21(a), (b); 2003‑275, s. 1; 2004‑124, ss. 7.11, 7.27; 2005‑458, s. 3.)

 

§ 115C‑174.12.  Responsibilities of agencies.

(a)       The State Board of Education shall establish policies and guidelines necessary for minimizing the time students spend taking tests administered through State and local testing programs, for minimizing the frequency of field testing at any one school, and for otherwise carrying out the provisions of this Article. These policies and guidelines shall include the following:

(1)       Schools shall devote no more than two days of instructional time per year to the taking of practice tests that do not have the primary purpose of assessing current student learning;

(2)       Students in a school shall not be subject to field tests or national tests during the two‑week period preceding the administration of end‑of‑grade tests, end‑of‑course tests, or the school's regularly scheduled final exams; and

(3)       No school shall participate in more than two field tests at any one grade level during a school year unless that school volunteers, through a vote of its school improvement team, to participate in an expanded number of field tests.

These policies shall reflect standard testing practices to insure reliability and validity of the sample testing. The results of the field tests shall be used in the final design of each test. The State Board of Education's policies regarding the testing of children with disabilities shall (i) provide broad accommodations and alternate methods of assessment that are consistent with a child's individualized education program and section 504 (29 U.S.C. § 794) plans, (ii) prohibit the use of statewide tests as the sole determinant of decisions about a child's graduation or promotion, and (iii) provide parents with information about the Statewide Testing Program and options for students with disabilities. The State Board shall report its proposed policies and proposed changes in policies to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee prior to adoption.

The State Board of Education may appoint an Advisory Council on Testing to assist in carrying out its responsibilities under this Article.

(b)       The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be responsible, under policies adopted by the State Board of Education, for the statewide administration of the testing program provided by this Article.

(b1)     The Superintendent shall notify local boards of education by October 1 of each year of any field tests that will be administered in their schools during the school year, the schools at which the field tests will be administered, and the specific field tests that will be administered at each school.

(c)       Local boards of education shall cooperate with the State Board of Education in implementing the provisions of this Article, including the regulations and policies established by the State Board of Education. Local school administrative units shall use the annual and competency testing programs to fulfill the purposes set out in this Article. Local school administrative units are encouraged to continue to develop local testing programs designed to diagnose student needs further. (1977, c. 522, ss. 4‑6; c. 541, ss. 2, 5‑7; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 74(a); 1995, c. 524, s. 4; 2001‑424, s. 28.17(f); 2002‑126, s. 7.30; 2002‑159, s. 70; 2005‑276, s. 7.37.)

 

§ 115C‑174.13.  Public records exemption.

Any written material containing the identifiable scores of individual students on any test taken pursuant to the provisions of this Article is not a public record within the meaning of G.S. 132‑1 and shall not be made public by any person, except as permitted under the provisions of the Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. 1232g. (1977, c. 522, s. 7; c. 541, s. 8; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 74(a).)

 

§ 115C‑174.14.  Provisions for nonpublic schools.

All components of the Statewide Testing Program shall be made available to nonpublic schools in the manner prescribed in G.S. 115C‑551 and G.S. 115C‑559. (1977, c. 522, s. 8; c. 541, s. 9; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 74(a).)

 

§ 115C‑174.15.  Reserved for future codification purposes.

 

§ 115C‑174.16.  Reserved for future codification purposes.

 

§ 115C‑174.17.  Reserved for future codification purposes.

 

Part 3. Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test Opportunities Encouraged.

§ 115C‑174.18.  Opportunity to take Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Every student in the eighth through tenth grades who has completed Algebra I or who is in the last month of Algebra I shall be given an opportunity to take a version of the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) one time at State expense. (1989, c. 752, s. 77(a); 2005‑154, s. 1.)

 

§ 115‑174.19:  Repealed by Session Laws 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 677, s. 5.