2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 115C-174.11. Components of the testing program.

§ 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.)