Section 22-2C-4 - Statewide assessment and accountability system; indicators; required assessments; alternative assessments; limits on alternatives to English language reading assessments. - New Mexico Statutes

22-2C-4. Statewide assessment and accountability system; indicators; required assessments; alternative assessments; limits on alternatives to English language reading assessments.

A.     The department shall establish a statewide assessment and accountability system that is aligned with the state academic content and performance standards and that measures adequate yearly progress for each public school and school district.  Adequate yearly progress shall be determined primarily by student academic achievement, as demonstrated by statewide standards-based assessments; however, the department may include other indicators of adequate yearly progress, including graduation rates for high schools and attendance for elementary and middle schools.

B.     The academic assessment program for adequate yearly progress shall test student achievement as follows:

(1)     for grades three through eight and for grade eleven, standards-based assessments in mathematics, reading and language arts and social studies; 

(2)     for grades three through eight, a standards-based writing assessment with the writing assessment scoring criteria applied to the extended response writing portions of the language arts standards-based assessments; and 

(3)     for one of grades three through five and six through eight and for grade eleven, standards-based assessments in science by the 2007-2008 school year.

C.     The department shall involve appropriate licensed school employees in the development of the standards-based assessments.

D.     All students shall participate in the academic assessment program.  The department shall adopt standards for reasonable accommodations in standards-based assessments for students with disabilities and limited English proficiency, including when and how accommodations may be applied.  The legislative education study committee shall review the standards prior to adoption by the department. 

E.     Students who have been determined to be limited English proficient may be allowed to take the standards-based assessment in their primary language.  A student who has attended school for three consecutive years in the United States shall participate in the English language reading assessment unless granted a waiver by the department based on criteria established by the department.  An English language reading assessment waiver may be granted only for a maximum of two additional years and only on a case-by-case basis.