A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to eliminate statewide standardized testing in the public schools, except as required by federal law or as a condition of a federal grant.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑174.10 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑174.10.  Purposes of the Statewide Testing Program.
The 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."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑174.11 reads as rewritten:
"§ 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.
							(4)	Repealed by Session Laws 1996, Second Extra Session, c. 18, s. 18.14.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 the tests for grades three through 12 that are required by federal law or as a condition of a federal grant. These tests shall be designed to measure progress toward reading, communication skills, and mathematics for grades three through eight, and toward competencies for grades nine through 12. Students who do not pass the tests adopted for eighth grade shall be provided remedial instruction in the ninth grade. (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.
(d)	The State Board of Education shall not require the public schools to administer any standardized tests except for those required by federal law or as a condition of a federal grant. 
The State Board of Education shall adopt and provide to local school administrative units all tests required by federal law or as a condition of a federal grant."
SECTION 2.  G. S. 115C‑174.12 reads as rewritten:
"§ 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  other standardized 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 Chief Executive Officer 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 Chief Executive Officer 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 tests 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."
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.