MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Representatives Ishee, Masterson, Smith (27th), Zuber

AN ACT TO REQUIRE HOME SCHOOLED CHILDREN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE UNIFORM STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT TESTING PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO PROVIDE NOTICE OF THE TESTING REQUIREMENT TO PARENTS OF SUCH CHILDREN WHOSE GRADE LEVEL IS BEING TESTED DURING THAT SCHOOL YEAR AND TO ACCOMMODATE HOME SCHOOLED CHILDREN DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE TESTS; TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP A LIST OF ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENTS THAT MAY BE TAKEN BY HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS IN LIEU OF THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, each compulsory-school-age child who is being educated in a home instruction program shall participate in the uniform statewide assessment testing program required under Section 37-16-3 in order to verify that the student is performing at or above the minimum performance standards approved by the State Board of Education for the student's appropriate grade level. For the purposes of this section, "appropriate grade level" means the grade in which public school students typically are enrolled when such students are the same age as the child in the home instruction program and not the grade level at which the child in the home instruction program purportedly is performing.

(2) Each local school district shall provide notice of the testing requirement established under this section to the parent, guardian or custodian of each compulsory-school-age child in a home instruction program who is the same age as the students typically enrolled in a grade in which the uniform tests are being administered during that school year. To assist the school district in providing this notice, before September 30 of each year, the school attendance officer shall provide a copy of the certificate of enrollment for each compulsory-school-age child in a home instruction program residing in the school district to the school district superintendent. Based upon the age of the child as reflected on the certificate of enrollment, the school district promptly shall notify, in writing, the appropriate parents, guardians and custodians of the testing requirements, the dates and times that the tests will be administered in the school district and the location to which a child in a home instruction program must report to participate in the test. The notice also must include a listing of those tests or assessment instruments that the State Board of Education recognizes as alternative means to verify that the student is performing at or above the minimum performance standards approved by the State Board of Education for the student's appropriate grade level.

(3) School districts shall provide appropriate accommodations for the participation of the compulsory-school-age children in home instruction programs in the uniform statewide assessment testing program.

(4) The State Board of Education shall adopt a list of tests and assessment instruments that the board recognizes as valid, alternative means to establish the performance level of a student in a home instruction program. A parent, guardian or custodian of a compulsory-school-age child in a home instruction program may submit documentation of the child's results on these tests or assessments to the local school board in lieu of the child participating in the statewide assessment program.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2000.