PROFICIENCY TEST SCORES - S.B. 160 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS

Senate Bill 160 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

Sponsor: Senator Mike Rogers

Committee: Education

CONTENT

The bill would amend the State School Aid Act to delete current provisions that require school districts (including public school academies) to award a State-endorsed diploma in order to receive school aid. The bill would require, instead, that districts include a State endorsement on a graduate's high school transcript upon completion of specified assessment instruments, in order to receive school aid. The actual test score achieved by the graduate on each of the assessment instruments would have to be printed on the State endorsement.

Specifically, a school district would have to include a State endorsement on a graduate's high school transcript for each high school graduate of the district who had completed each of the assessment instruments specified in the Act in the subject areas of communication skills, mathematics, science, and, beginning with pupils scheduled to graduate in 2000, social studies. If a graduate had repeated an assessment instrument for a subject area, the highest test score achieved by the graduate on an assessment instrument for that subject area would be the score printed on the State endorsement for that subject area.

The Act permits any person, after graduation from high school, upon payment of a reasonable fee, to retake the State-endorsed diploma test and, upon achieving the initial mastery level in a subject area, have his or her high school diploma State-endorsed for that subject area. Under the bill, any person after graduation could take one or more State-endorsed diploma assessments, upon payment of a reasonable fee. Upon completion of all available assessments, a person could have his or her high school diploma State-endorsed with his or her test scores for each subject area.

MCL 388.1704a - Legislative Analyst: L. Arasim

FISCAL IMPACT

The fiscal impact of the bill on State and local government would depend on the date on which it took effect. The bill contains no effective date. If it were enacted and given immediate effect prior to the end of the 1996-97 school year, the Department of Education and local school districts would incur additional costs in changing endorsement procedures for this year's graduates. The amount of additional cost is unknown. If the bill took effect early next school year, endorsement procedures for 1998 graduates could be adjusted with minimal additional cost to State or local government.

Date Completed: 3-10-97 - Fiscal Analyst: E. Pratt

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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.