A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide flexibility to local school ADMINISTRATIVE units in establishing the annual testing schedule AND ENSURING THAT THE TEACHER OF RECORD MAY ADMINISTER TESTS TO STUDENTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑174.12(a) reads as rewritten:
"(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.
(3)	No school shall participate in more than two field tests at any one grade level during a school year.
(4)	All annual assessments of student achievement adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C‑174.11(c)(1) and (3) and all final exams for courses shall be administered, whenever practicable and educationally advantageous for students, within the final 10 instructional days of the school year for year‑long courses and within the final five instructional days of the semester for semester courses. Upon approval by the local board of education, a local school administrative unit may apply to the State Board of Education at least 60 days prior to the date of scheduled assessments or final exams for an extension of the testing schedule for up to the final 20 instructional days of the school year for year‑long courses and up to the final 15 instructional days of the semester for semester‑long courses. A local school administrative unit shall also be permitted to accommodate a student's individualized education program and section 504 (29 U.S.C. § 794) plans and for the administration of final exams for courses with national or international curricula required to be held at designated times.
(5)	No teacher of record shall be prohibited from administering tests required through State or local testing programs to students assigned to that teacher, except when testing modifications are necessary.
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 student'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 student's graduation or promotion, and (iii) provide parents with information about the Statewide Testing Program and options for children 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."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2015‑2016 school year.