[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3315 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3315

  To curtail the use of high-stakes tests in elementary and secondary 
                                schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 16, 2003

  Mr. Owens introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To curtail the use of high-stakes tests in elementary and secondary 
                                schools.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Moratorium Testing Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 
        unleashed forces that threaten students, teachers, and the 
        basic integrity of the educational process. The stakes are very 
        high. On the basis of test scores, students may be held back; 
        teachers, principals, and superintendents may be fired; schools 
        may be closed; and some school systems may be restructured or 
        abolished.
            (2) Elected officials at all levels have become obsessed 
        with test results. There is a rush to measure the output of the 
        education community while minimizing the resources contributed 
        by Federal, State, and municipal governments. The annual 
        release of test score results provides a media opportunity for 
        public officials profitably to ``spin'' the education function 
        in a partisan manner.
            (3) The amendments to the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 made by the No Child Left Behind Act of 
        2001 established a devastatingly one-sided environment for 
        education reform. They implemented national standards for 
        testing with serious penalties for failure. At the same time, 
        there is a continuing refusal to recognize national standards 
        for ``Opportunities to Learn''.
            (4) Provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965 pertaining to school construction and the 
        improvement of library, science laboratory, and technology 
        facilities and equipment were not strengthened by the 2001 
        landmark legislation. While the testing process gallops 
        forward, students will not receive any new resources to improve 
        their performance. The tests will continue to reign supreme 
        unless some new initiative is launched to control them.
            (5) Added to the numerous arguments exposing the danger of 
        overreliance on testing is a newly emerging crisis, namely 
        incompetence and corruption in the testing industry. The No 
        Child Left Behind Act of 2001 provided a great leap forward for 
        the testing market. The sheer volume of the surge in new 
        business has overwhelmed the newly expanding industry.
            (6) The scrubbing of test contents to avoid offending right 
        wing zealots is presently under attack by scholars who protest 
        the alteration of quotes from Shakespeare and other classical 
        writers.
            (7) Recent reports highlight ongoing concerns regarding the 
        quality of test questions. Recent reports in the New York Times 
        and other national newspapers raise serious issues regarding 
        the integrity of testing companies. Their failure to recognize 
        key processing errors highlight the need for more Federal 
        oversight.
            (8) Groups representing the minority community have 
        continued to oppose the use of high-stakes tests as the only 
        criteria to measure achievement. The overreliance on tests will 
        have a major negative impact on the African-American community.

SEC. 3. DELAY IN IMPLEMENTATION OF ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS.

    Section 1111(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3)(C)--
                    (A) in clause (v)(II), by striking ``2007-2008'' 
                and inserting ``2008-2009''; and
                    (B) in clause (vii), by striking ``2005-2006'' and 
                inserting ``2008-2009''; and
            (2) in paragraph (7), by striking ``2002-2003'' and 
        inserting ``2008-2009''.

SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Encouraging Moratorium.--The Secretary of Education shall 
encourage States, during the 3-year period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this Act, to place a moratorium on the administration of 
all standardized tests.
    (b) Report.--Beginning after such 3-year period, each State 
desiring to receive a grant under part A of title I of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) annually 
shall submit to such Secretary a report on all standardized tests 
administered to elementary or secondary students in the State. A State 
report submitted under this subsection may be submitted as part of a 
consolidated report under section 9303 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7843).
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