SB 2636

Subject to exceptions for home school students who are enrolled in a church school, present law requires a parent-teacher conducting a home school to comply with administration by the commissioner of education, or by a professional testing service that is approved by the LEA, to home school students of the same state board approved secure standardized tests required of public school students in grades five, seven, and nine. This bill instead requires a parent-teacher conducting a home school to ensure tha t if the parent-teacher's student is in any of the grades five, seven, or nine, that the student is administered: ( 1 ) A standardized test selected by the parent-teacher that provides nationally normed analytics in the subjects of English language arts and mathematics, that is proctored by an individual who is not related to the student, and that is recorded by the dev eloper of the nationally normed examination, at the expense of the parent-teacher; or ( 2 ) The same state board-approved standardized tests required of public school students in the same grade as the parent-teacher's student that is administered by the commissioner of education, or by a professional testing service approved by the LEA . Present law also requires a parent-teacher conducting a home school to comply with consultation between the director of schools and the parent-teacher if the home school student falls three to six months behind the home school student's appropriate grade level, based on the test r equired in (1) or (2) above. If a home school student falls six to nine months behind the home school student's appropriate grade level in the home school student's reading, language arts, mathematics, or science test scores or such of these areas as are actually tested for the stud ent's grade level, based on the required tests required, the parent is required to consult with a licensed teacher having a certificate or endorsement in the grade level or course or subject matter in which consultation is sought. The parent and teacher ar e required to design a remedial course to help the child obtain the child's appropriate grade level. The parent is required to report the remedial course for the child to the local director of schools. If a home school student falls more than one year behind the home school student's appropriate grade level in the home school student's comprehensive test score for two consecutive tests based on the required tests and if the child is not learning disable d in the opinion of a teacher licensed to teach at the child's grade level, the local director of schools is authorized to require the parents to enroll the child in a public, private, or church-related school. If a test indicates that a home school student is one year or more behind the home school student's appropriate grade level, the same test must be administered to the child not more than one year later. This bill revises the graduated schedule of remedial actions described above. Under this bill, if a home school student does not test proficient in a tested subject matter , as demonstrated by the student scoring a performance level rating of "approaching"" in the subject matter tested on a standardized test selected by the parent, or by the student scoring below the fiftieth percentile, but above the twenty-fifth percentile, on the subject matter tested on a state-board approved standardized test, then the parent-teacher is required to consult with the director of schools If a home school student does not test proficient in the tested subject matter, as demonstrated by the student scoring a performance level rating of ""below"" in the subject matter tested on a test on a standardized test selected by the parent or by the student scoring below the twenty-fifth percentile on state-board approved standardized test, then this bill requires : ( 1 ) The same test be readministered to the student within one year of the date on which the first test was administered to the student; and ( 2 ) The parent-teacher to consult with a licensed t eacher having a certificate or endorsement in the grade level or subject matter for which the parent-teacher's student did not test proficient. The parent-teacher and consulting teacher are required to design remedial coursework to help the student obtain proficiency for the student's grade level in the respective subject area. The parent-teacher is required to report the remedial coursework designed for the to the director of schools . If a home school student completes the requirements for students scoring ""below"" or below the twenty-fifth percentile in the same subject matter for two consecutive test administrations and the student is not diagnosed as learning disabled by a qualified medical professional, then the director of schools will be authorized to require the parent to enroll the student in a public, private, or church-related school . Present law requires a public school that administers the advanced placement ( AP ) and Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test ( PSAT/NMSQT ) examinations to provide notice of the dates on which the school will administer the examinations on the school's website . Present law further requires that h ome school students be permitted to take the AP and PSAT/NMSQT examinations at any public school offering such examinations . This bill instead requires that a public school that administers an a dvanced course or preparatory college entrance examination provide notice of the following on its website: ( 1 ) The date and time for which an advanced course or preparatory college entrance examination is offered; ( 2 ) The student capacity and availability of an advanced course or preparatory college entrance examination being offered; and ( 3 ) The availability of outside financial assistance for low-income and at-risk students to assist such students in taking an advanced course and preparatory college entrance examination. For purposes of this bill, "" a dvanced course"" means a college-level course administered to high school students for a particular subject area that may earn students college credit through a standardized examination that includes, but is not limited to, an AP program . ""Preparatory college entrance examination"" means a test administered to students for the purpose of preparation for a college entrance exam that includes the PSAT/NMSQT, Pre-ACT, and CLT10 administered by Classic Learning Initiatives, LLC. Th is bill requires a public school to allow a home school student to take an advanced course or preparatory college entrance examination offered by the public school if space is available. This bill authorizes a student who meets all other qualifications for recognition as a Tennessee Tri Star Scholar upon high school graduation to supplement an equivalent score on the Classic Learning Test (CLT) for a score of 19 or higher on the ACT in order to receive the recognition. Present law authorizes six pilot after school educational programs to increase performance for at-risk students on the ACT and SAT. This bill adds increased performance on the CLT as one of the program objectives. One of the qualifying criteria for an LEA to be a ""high performing school district"" under present law is exhibiting an average student ACT score of 21 or higher or the concordant score on the SAT. This bill adds an average score on the CLT concordant wit h a 21 on the ACT to the list of qualifying scores. Present law requires that schools include in their school improvement plans specific goals for improving SAT and SAT scores, where applicable. This bill adds improvement of CLT scores to the list of assessments. The Move On When Ready Act provides that one of the requirements for early graduation and unconditional entry into a public two-year institution or conditional entry into a public four-year institution is s cor ing on either the ACT or the SAT at or above benchmarks set by THEC for math and English . This bill adds the CLT to the tests that may be used to meet such qualification."