This proposed rule amendment addresses two issues: 1) assessment graduation requirements for students who have been enrolled in an English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program for less than two years in order to align ....

 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

State Board of Education

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

6A-1.09422Statewide, Standardized Assessment Program Requirements

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: This proposed rule amendment addresses two issues: 1) assessment graduation requirements for students who have been enrolled in an English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program for less than two years in order to align the rule with current statute, and 2) the implementation timeline for concordant and comparative scores aligned to the Florida Standards for the graduating class of 2021-22 to provide more flexibility for meeting assessment graduation requirements.

SUMMARY: 1) In compliance with section (s.) 1003.433(3)(b), Florida Statutes (F.S.), as amended during the 2021 Legislative Session, this proposed rule amendment will specify alternative methods available for students who have been enrolled in an ESOL program for less than two years to meet the grade 10 English Language Arts (ELA) assessment graduation requirement.

2) Pursuant to s. 1008.22(9)-(10), F.S., concordant and comparative scores aligned to the Florida Standards were established by the State Board of Education in May 2018 after a public review period, and they are scheduled to become effective for students graduating in 2021-22 who entered grade 9 in 2018-19. Pursuant to Florida Department of Education Emergency Order No. 2020-EO-1, spring K-12 statewide assessment test administrations for the 2019-20 school year were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and grade 10 students were unable to participate that school year in the grade 10 ELA assessment and the Algebra 1 End-of-Course (EOC) assessment, if enrolled in the Algebra 1 course required for graduation. Such students have had fewer opportunities than other graduating classes to pass the assessment prior to their scheduled graduation. This proposed rule amendment delays the implementation of the concordant and comparative scores aligned to the Florida Standards by one year, allowing the graduating class of 2021-22 to use as many options for meeting their assessment graduation requirements as possible.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION:

The Agency has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has not been prepared by the Agency.

The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein: The amendment relates only to the assessment graduation requirements for students who have been enrolled in an ESOL program for less than two years and students graduating in the 2021-22 school year; therefore, there is no impact on economic growth, private sector job creation, employment, private sector investment, or business competitiveness. If there is any impact on such economic growth and private sector job creation, the impact would be positive because it would lead to a higher number of students receiving a standard diploma. For the same reasons, though no impact on business competitiveness is anticipated, any impact would be positive. Because the proposed rule amendment only relates to the allowing this small population of students to access an additional pathway to graduation, it is not likely to increase regulatory costs or any other factors listed in s. 120.541(2)(a), F.S., and will not require legislative ratification.

Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 1001.02(1), (2)(n), 1003.433(3)(b), 1008.22(13), 1008.25(10), F.S.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 1001.02, 1001.11, 1003.4282, 1003.433, 1008.22, 1008.25, F.S.

A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:

DATE AND TIME: February 9, 2022, 9 a.m.

PLACE: Tallahassee Community College, Student Union Ballroom, 444 Appleyard Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32304.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Vince Verges, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Accountability, Research, and Measurement, [phone].

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

 

6A-1.09422 Statewide, Standardized Assessment Program Requirements.

(1) through (7) No change.

(8) Concordant and comparative scores shall be applied to the statewide assessment program as follows:

(a) Concordant scores shall be applied for the grade 10 Reading or ELA assessment, as appropriate, according to this subsection:

1. Beginning with students who entered grade 9 in the 2010-11 school year and ending with students who entered grade 9 in the 2018-19 2017-18 school year, students and adults who have not yet earned their required passing score on the Grade 10 FCAT 2.0 Reading Assessment or the Grade 10 FSA ELA Assessment, as applicable, may meet this testing requirement to qualify for a high school diploma by earning a concordant passing score on the respective section of the SAT or ACT. For eligible students, the concordant passing scale score shall be a score equal to or greater than four hundred and thirty (430) on the 200 to 800 scale for the SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) section, twenty-four (24) on the 10 to 40 scale of the SAT Reading Subtest section, or nineteen (19) on the 1 to 36 scale on the ACT Reading section. Eligible students may also use concordant scores set forth in subparagraph (8)(a)2. of this rule.

2. Beginning with students who entered grade 9 in the 2019-20 2018-19 school year, students and adults who have not yet earned their required passing score on the Grade 10 FSA ELA Assessment, may meet this testing requirement to qualify for a high school diploma by earning a concordant passing score on the EBRW section of the SAT or the average of the English and Reading subject test scores for the ACT. For eligible students, the concordant passing scale score for the SAT EBRW shall be a score equal to or greater than four hundred and eighty (480) on the 200 to 800 scale, and the concordant passing scale score for the average of the English and Reading subject test scores on the ACT shall be a score equal to or greater than eighteen (18) on the 1 to 36 scale. For the ACT, if the average of the two subject test scores results in a decimal of .5, the score shall be rounded up to the next whole number. The scores for the English and Reading subject tests on the ACT are not required to come from the same test administration.

(b) Comparative scores shall be applied for the Algebra 1 EOC assessment, as appropriate, according to this subsection:

1. Beginning with students entering grade 9 in the 2011-12 school year and ending with students who entered grade 9 in the 2018-19 2017-18 school year, students and adults who have not yet earned their required passing score on the Algebra 1 EOC assessment, may meet this testing requirement to qualify for a high school diploma by earning a comparative passing score on the Mathematics section of the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT). For eligible students, the comparative passing scale score for the PERT shall be a score equal to or greater than ninety-seven (97) on the 50 to 150 scale. Eligible students may also use comparative scores set forth in subparagraph (8)(b)2. of this rule.

2. Beginning with students who entered grade 9 in the 2019-20 2018-19 school year, students and adults who have not yet earned their required passing score on the Algebra 1 EOC assessment, may meet this testing requirement to qualify for a high school diploma by earning a comparative passing score on the Math section of the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), the SAT or the ACT or on the Geometry EOC assessment. For eligible students, the comparative passing scale score shall be a score equal to or greater than four hundred and thirty (430) on the 160 to 760 scale for the PSAT/NMSQT Math section, equal to or greater than four hundred and twenty (420) on the 200 to 800 scale for the SAT Math section, equal to or greater than sixteen (16) on the 1 to 36 scale for the ACT Math section, or equal to or greater than 499 on the 425 to 575 scale for the Geometry EOC assessment. Students who are eligible for the Algebra 1 EOC alternate passing score of 489 under subsection (6) or the Geometry EOC alternate passing score of 492 under subsection (7) may use the Geometry EOC alternate passing score of 492 as a comparative score to satisfy this requirement.

(c) No change.

(9) through (11) No change.

(12) Pursuant to s. 1003.433(3), F.S., beginning with the 2022-23 school year, students who have been enrolled in an English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program for less than 2 school years and have met all requirements for the standard high school diploma except for passage of any assessment required for graduation as specified by ss. 1003.4282 or 1008.22, F.S., or alternate assessment is eligible for a standard high school diploma if the student:

(a)   Passes the required assessment or alternate assessment after having received immersion English language instruction during the summer following the student’s senior year; or

(b)  Beginning with the 2022-23 school year, meets the requirement to pass the statewide, standardized grade 10 ELA assessment by satisfactorily demonstrating grade-level expectations on a formative assessment that generates a score or metric that can be interpreted as a measure of grade 10 level achievement in ELA.

(c) Formative assessments that may be used for this purpose are:

1. Benchmark assessments included as part of an instructional materials adoption;

2. Portfolios of independently-produced student work; and

3. Assessments developed or purchased by districts in order to monitor academic progress.

(d) A portfolio used to meet the requirements of this subsection must meet the following criteria:

1. Be selected by the student’s teacher;

2. Be an accurate picture of the student’s ability and only include student work that has been independently produced in the classroom;

3. Include evidence that the standards assessed by the grade 10 statewide, standardized assessment in ELA have been met, and such evidence may include chapter or unit tests from the district’s/school’s adopted core reading curriculum that are aligned with the ELA content standards, or teacher-prepared assessments;

4. Be an organized collection of evidence of the student’s mastery of the ELA content standards that are assessed by the grade 10 statewide, standardized assessment in ELA; and

5. Be signed by the teacher and the principal as an accurate assessment of the required skills.

(e) By October 1st of each year, districts must report to the Department of Education the formative assessments they are using for this purpose and the score or metric that is used on the assessment to demonstrate that grade-level expectations have been met.

(f) This rule shall not preclude native language support from being provided as needed and beneficial to students’ access to ELA curriculum and accelerating their English language learning.

Rulemaking Authority 1001.02(2)(n), 1003.433(3)(b), 1008.22(13), 1008.25(10) FS. Law Implemented 1001.02, 1001.11, 1003.4282, 1003.433, 1008.22, 1008.25 FS. History–New 1-24-99, Amended 10-7-01, 1-22-02, 12-23-03, 3-27-06, 3-1-07, 2-25-09, 7-19-10, 2-12-12, 2-3-13, 2-25-14, 2-17-15, 2-9-16, 1-1-18, 6-28-18, 8-18-20,

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Vince Verges, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Accountability, Research, and Measurement.

NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Richard Corcoran, Commissioner, Department of Education.

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: January 10, 2022

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAR: December 22, 2021