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| SPONSOR: | Campos | DATE TYPED: | 03/13/01 | HB | |||
| SHORT TITLE: | Reading and Writing Testing Requirements | SB | 673 | ||||
| ANALYST: | Segura | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY01 | FY02 | FY01 | FY02 | ||
| N/A | |||||
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
State Department of Education (SDE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 673 expands the grade level fo reading assessment in the state assessment program to K through grade 3 and offers flexibility in the grade levels at which the writing assessment is administered.
Significant Issues
According to SDE, instituting a statewide reading assessment at K through Grade 3 will allow schools and districts to evaluate the progress of individual students in the various aspects of reading. When different reading assessments are used at different grades, it is difficult to determine progress. This reading assessment will be a reading inventory that looks at the skills of individual students against scientifically based reading research.
Current statute, Section 22-2-8.5 NMSA 1978, states, " All third grade classes shall provide daily instruction in language arts and mathematics." A reading assessment will appropriately match the intent of this statute, whereas norm-referenced assessments tests students at Grade 3 in science and language arts, which are focus areas that are not added in statue until Grade 4.
The department indicates the more flexible language of the proposed bill will allow for educators from New Mexico to recommend the best grade levels for administering the writing assessment.
This will keep certain grade levels from being burdened with too much testing and allow for teachers to obtain information about students writing skills at the most appropriate times in their educational careers.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The SDE would simply shift monies for Grade 3 achievement testing to Grade 3 reading testing and allow reading funding for Grades 1 and 2 to include kindergarten. The same is true for the writing assessment. Funds now used for the grades 4 and 6 writing assessment will be shifted to the grades selected for this assessment.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The oversight for reading programs would expand. This could be absorbed by SDE and will not create additional administrative impact to school districts.
RS/ar