[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4085 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4085

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve 
           certain accountability and assessment provisions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 19, 2005

  Ms. Hooley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve 
           certain accountability and assessment provisions.

    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 ``Flexibility in Assessments for 
Individuals Reform Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.

    (a) Longitudinal Assessment of AYP.--Subparagraph (C) of section 
1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (vi), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (vii), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(viii) at the State's discretion, 
                        measures the progress of public elementary 
                        schools, secondary schools, and local 
                        educational agencies by tracking the progress 
                        of individual students or cohorts of students 
                        on a longitudinal basis in lieu of, or in 
                        addition to, comparing the proficiency of a 
                        class of students with the proficiency of 
                        earlier classes of students; and''.
    (b) Participation in Assessments.--
            (1) Opt-out for certain students.--Section 1111(b) of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        6311(b)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)(C)(iv), by inserting ``subject 
                to subparagraph (L),'' before ``measures the 
                progress'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)(I)(ii), by inserting ``, and 
                the 95 percent requirement described in this clause 
                shall exclude any student who, pursuant to subparagraph 
                (L), opts out of the assessments)'' after ``about an 
                individual student''; and
                    (C) at the end of paragraph (2), by adding the 
                following:
                    ``(L) Opt-out for certain students.--At the request 
                of the parent of a student, a State may allow the 
                student to opt out of the assessments described in 
                paragraph (3) because the student is a child with a 
                disability (as that term is defined in section 602 of 
                the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) or 
                because of religious reasons.''.
            (2) Flexibility in scheduling.--Paragraph (3) of section 
        1111(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
        (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:
                    ``(E) Flexibility in scheduling.--The Secretary 
                shall give States the flexibility to reschedule the 
                assessments described in this paragraph in the case of 
                a student who cannot attend school at the time of the 
                assessments because of--
                            ``(i) unusual weather or a natural 
                        disaster;
                            ``(ii) a cultural or religious event; or
                            ``(iii) a medical condition.''.
    (c) Graduation Rates.--Clause (vi) of section 1111(b)(2)(C) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
6311(b)(2)(C)) is amended by inserting ``, except that, at the 
discretion of the State, such graduation rates may include any child 
with a disability (as that term is defined in section 602 of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) who satisfies such 
alternative challenging academic content and achievement standards as 
the State may establish, consistent with the child's individualized 
education program (as that term is defined in section 602 of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), for the child to complete 
secondary school in a reasonable period of time'' after ``in the 
standard number of years''.
    (d) Students With Limited English Proficiency.--Section 1111(b) of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)) 
is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) (as amended by 
        subsection (a) of this Act), by adding at the end the 
        following:
                            ``(ix) continues to include students in the 
                        subgroup described in clause (v)(II)(dd) for 
                        three school years after such students attain 
                        English proficiency.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3)(C)(x), by striking ``for three or more 
        consecutive years'' and inserting ``for more than five 
        consecutive years''.
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