§ 4.51. State assessment system.

 (a)  The State assessment system shall be designed to serve the following purposes:

   (1)  Provide students, parents, educators and citizens with an understanding of student and school performance consistent with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 the act of January 8, 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425).

   (2)  Determine the degree to which school programs enable students to attain proficiency of academic standards under §  4.12 (relating to academic standards).

   (3)  Provide results to school entities for consideration in the development of strategic plans under §  4.13 (relating to strategic plans).

   (4)  Provide information to State policymakers including the General Assembly and the Board on how effective schools are in promoting and demonstrating student proficiency of academic standards.

   (5)  Provide information to the general public on school performance.

   (6)  Provide results to school entities based upon the aggregate performance of all students, for students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and for those without an IEP.

 (b)  State assessment instruments administered in reading, writing and mathematics in grades 5, 8 and 11 will be standards-based and criterion referenced and include essay or open-ended response items in addition to other item formats. The proportion of type of items will vary by grade level. Neither State assessments nor academic standards under §  4.12 may require students to hold or express particular attitudes, values or beliefs. The Department will make samples of assessment questions, instrument formats, and scoring guides available to the public after each administration of State assessments. The criteria for judging performance on State assessments are as follows:

   (1)  Performance on State reading assessments shall be demonstrated by students’ responses to comprehension questions about age-appropriate reading passages and by their written responses to in-depth comprehension questions about the passages.

   (2)  Performance on State mathematics assessments shall be demonstrated by students’ responses to questions about grade-appropriate content and by the quality of their responses to questions that require a written solution to a problem.

   (3)  Performance on State writing assessments shall be demonstrated by the quality of students’ written compositions on a variety of topics and modes of writing.

   (4)  Levels of proficiency shall be advanced, proficient, basic and below basic. In consultation with educators, students, parents and citizens, the Department will develop and recommend to the Board for its approval specific criteria for advanced, proficient, basic and below basic levels of performance.

 (c)  The Department will develop or cause to be developed State assessments based on academic standards in mathematics, reading and writing under §  4.12 and contained in Appendix A. In developing assessments, the Department will consult with educators, students, parents and citizens regarding the specific methods of assessment. To ensure that information regarding student performance is available to parents and teachers, State assessments developed under this section shall include student names. Individual test results shall be used in planning instruction only by parents, teachers, administrators and guidance counselors with a need to know based upon local board policy on testing and in reporting academic progress. The Department or other Commonwealth entities are prohibited from collecting individual student test scores, and may only collect aggregate test scores by school and district.

 (d)  The State assessments shall be administered annually and include assessments of the State academic standards in mathematics and reading at grades 3—8 and 11; in writing at grades 5, 8 and 11; and in science at grades 4, 8 and 11.

 (e)  Students not achieving at the proficient level in the administration of State assessments in grade 11 shall be provided one additional opportunity in grade 12 to demonstrate a proficient level on State assessments.

 (f)  The Board will authorize the expansion of the State assessment system through a revision of this chapter.

 (g)  The Department will implement provisions for security of the State assessment system, including the following provisions:

   (1)  Action by a professional employee or commissioned officer that is willfully designed to divulge test questions, falsify student scores or in some other fashion compromise the integrity of the State assessment system as determined by the school entity shall be subject to disciplinary action under the Professional Educator Discipline Act (24 P. S. § §  2070.1a—2070.18a).

   (2)  Cheating by students or employees other than those covered in paragraph (1) shall be subject to disciplinary action by the school district.

   (3)  Cheating or breaches of assessment security shall be reported to the Secretary as soon as detected.

 (h)  The Secretary has the authority to establish guidelines for the administration of the State assessment system.

 (i)  The Secretary will report each September to the Board and the General Assembly information and pertinent data relating to the State assessment system. The Secretary will also provide each school entity information and pertinent data for the school entity and its students.

 (j)  Children with disabilities and children with limited English proficiency shall be included in the State assessment system as required by Federal law, with appropriate accommodations, when necessary. As appropriate, the Commonwealth will develop guidelines for the participation of children with disabilities in alternate assessments for those children who cannot participate in the State assessment as determined by each child’s Individualized Education Program team under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and this part.

   The provisions of this §  4.51 amended under the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P. S. 26-2603-B).

   The provisions of this §  4.51 amended February 15, 2008, effective February 16, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 872. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (323745) to (323747).

   This section cited in 22 Pa. Code §  4.21 (relating to elementary education: primary intermediate levels); 22 Pa. Code §  4.24 (relating to high school graduating requirements); and 22 Pa. Code §  14.142 (relating to caseload for special education).