2006 Utah Code - 53A-1-611 — Standards and assessment processes to measure student performance -- Basic skills competency test.

     53A-1-611.   Standards and assessment processes to measure student performance -- Basic skills competency test.
     (1) The Legislature recognizes the need for the State Board of Education to develop and implement standards and assessment processes to ensure that student progress is measured and that school boards and school personnel are accountable.
     (2) (a) In addition to its responsibilities under Sections 53A-1-603 through 53A-1-605, the State Board of Education, through the state superintendent of public instruction, shall design a basic skills competency test to be administered in the tenth grade.
     (b) A student must pass the basic skills competency test, in addition to the established requirements of the state and local board of education of the district in which the student attends school, in order to receive a basic high school diploma of graduation.
     (c) The state board shall include in the test, at a minimum, components on English language arts and reading and mathematics.
     (d) A student who fails to pass all components of the test may not receive a basic high school diploma but may receive a certificate of completion or alternative completion diploma under rules made by the State Board of Education in accordance with Title 63, Chapter 46a, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act.
     (e) The state board shall make rules:
     (i) to allow students who initially fail the test to retake all or part of the test; and
     (ii) that take into account and are consistent with federal law relating to students with disabilities in the administration of the test.
     (3) The state board shall implement the tenth grade basic skills competency test, no later than the beginning of the 2003-04 school year.
     (4) The requirements of this section are to be complementary to the other achievement testing provisions of this part.

Amended by Chapter 7, 2002 Special Session 5