GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2013

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 587

Short Title:        OCS/ECS/Exemption From ACT.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representatives Whitmire, Holloway, Blackwell, and Glazier (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:	Education.

April 8, 2013

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to exempt eleventh grade students enrolled in the occupational course of study or the extended course of study from the ACT Testing requirement.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C-174.11(c)(4) reads as rewritten:

"(4)      To the extent funds are made available, the State Board shall plan for and require the administration of the ACT test for all students in the eleventh grade unless the student has already taken a comparable test and scored at or above a level set by the State Board. This requirement shall not apply to 11th grade students enrolled in the Occupational Course of Study or the Extended Course of Study. The State Board may develop an alternative assessment measure for these students."

SECTION 2.   G.S. 115C-174.22 reads as rewritten:

"§ 115C-174.22.  Tools for student learning.

To the extent funds are made available for this purpose, and except as otherwise provided in G.S. 115C-174.11(c)(4), the State Board shall plan for and require the administration of diagnostic tests in the eighth and tenth grades that align to the ACT test in order to help diagnose student learning and provide for students an indication of whether they are on track to be remediation-free at a community college or university."

SECTION 3.  The State Board of Education shall apply to the U.S. Department of Education for an amendment to the federal waiver obtained by the State Board regarding accountability measures under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6311, to implement the requirements of this act.

SECTION 4.  Sections 1 and 2 of this act are effective September 1, 2014, or upon the approval of the waiver amendment required to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in accordance with Section 3 of this act, whichever occurs earlier. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.