HB 2247

Generally, this bill applies various requirements to students and schools that participate in the individualized education account (IEA) program, education savings account (ESA) program, and education freedom scholarship program. Testing Present law requires the parent of a student who participates in an IEA in grades three through eight, to ensure that the student is annually administered either a nationally norm-referenced test identified by the department of education or the TCAP tests . The tests should, at a minimum, measure learning in mathematics and English language arts. Students with disabilities who would have participated in the alternate assessment, as determined on the student's IEP, are exempt from the testing requirement. Present law requires that students participating in an ESA in grades three through eleven must be annually administered the TCAP tests for math and English language arts. Present law requires that students being administered an education freedom scholarship in grades three through eleven must be annually administered a nationally standardized achievement test that is aligned to the respective private school's instructional plan or the TCAP tests for math and English language arts. Subject to the exception for students having a disability, this bill instead requires that: (1) A parent of a participating student who enrolls in a participating school that is a church-related school or home school ensure that the participating student is annually administered all T CAP tests that are administered to a public school student in the same grade or same course subject as the participating student . In grade 11 , the parent must ensure that the student is administered the graduation assessment examination that is administered to public school students in grade 11 . In grades kinderga rten through three, the parent must ensure that the participating student is annually administered each of the three Tennessee universal reading screeners, or universal reading screeners approved by the state board of education , during each of the three administration windows esta b lished by present law; and (2) A participating school that is a private school is required to administer the same tests as described in (1) must be administered to a participating student enroll ed in the school . The same testing requirements as described in (1) and (2) will apply to schools that enroll students who participate in an ESA or who receive an education freedom scholarship. Publication of educational materials This bill requires a school that participates in the IEA, ESA, or education freedom scholarship program to publish the school's lesson plans and syllabus for each class offered by the school, a current list of materials in the school's library collection, and the academic standards for each class offered by the school on the school's website. Educator licensure and evaluation This bill requires a school that participates in the IEA, ESA, or education freedom scholarship program to ensure that all educators of the participating school hold a valid license to teach in a public school that is issued by the state board of education. This bill also requires participating schools to evaluate teachers in accordance with teacher evaluation requirements for public school teachers. School grades This bill requires the department of education to include schools that participate in the IEA, ESA, or education freedom scholarship program in the school grading system for public schools by annually assigning a letter grade to such participating schools.