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F I S C A L   I M P A C T   R E P O R T

 

 

 

SPONSOR:

M. P. Garcia

 

DATE TYPED:

2/6/03

 

HB

76

 

SHORT TITLE:

Prohibit Norm-Referenced Testing

 

SB

 

 

 

ANALYST:

Segura

 

APPROPRIATION

 

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY03

FY04

FY03

FY04

 

 

 

N/A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

 

State Department of Education (SDE)

 

SUMMARY

 

     Synopsis of Bill

 

House Bill 76 prohibits school districts from administering or using norm-referenced testing.

 

 

     Significant Issues

 

According to SDE, Section 22-1-6 NMSA 1978 requires the administration of norm-referenced or standards based assessments in the Annual School District Accountability Report.

 

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

 

House Bill 76 contains no appropriation.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

 

SDE indicates that New Mexico will be unable to comply with the school and district accountability provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) due to having insufficient data for the determination of school and district ratings. An abrupt termination of norm-referenced assessments


causing immediate change to the student assessment program may not be acceptable to the U.S. Department of Education.

 

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

 

If House Bill 76 is enacted, norm referenced test data would no longer be available for use in school ratings. SDE indicates that a plan to transition to standards-based assessments and eliminate norm-referenced tests by school year 2004-2005 is being submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.

 

The New Mexico assessment program must be reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Education as a condition for continued receipt of federal education funds.

 

RS/prr