Statewide testing program; require tests to be translated and printed in primary spoken language of ELL students.

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To: Education;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Hines

HOUSE BILL NO. 98

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-16-3 AND 37-16-9, MISSISSIPPI 1
CODE OF 1972, WHICH ARE PROVISIONS OF THE STATEWIDE TESTING 2
PROGRAM, TO REQUIRE THE UNIFORM BASIC SKILLS TESTS TO BE 3
ADMINISTERED IN THE PRIMARY SPOKEN LANGUAGE OF STUDENTS IDENTIFIED 4
AS ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS; TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF 5
EDUCATION TO TRANSLATE AND PRINT THE ASSESSMENTS IN THE 6
APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE FOR THE APPROPRIATE GRADE LEVELS; TO REQUIRE 7
THE DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN NEED WITH TESTING 8
OBSERVERS OR PROCTORS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING TRANSLATION ASSISTANCE 9
TO STUDENTS IDENTIFIED AS ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS; TO REQUIRE 10
SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO REQUEST THE NEED FOR TRANSLATION ASSISTANCE 11
WITHIN A REASONABLE PERIOD BEFORE THE ADMINISTRATION OF APPLICABLE 12
ASSESSMENTS; TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO REPORT TO THE 13
DEPARTMENT THE NUMBER OF, GRADES OF AND PRIMARY SPOKEN LANGUAGES 14
OF ALL ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS ENROLLED IN ITS SCHOOLS; TO BRING 15
FORWARD SECTION 37-16-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR PURPOSES OF 16
POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 17
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 18
SECTION 1. Section 37-16-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 19
amended as follows: 20
37-16-3. (1) The State Department of Education is directed 21
to implement a program of statewide assessment testing which shall 22
provide for the improvement of the operation and management of the 23
public schools. The statewide program shall be timed, as far as 24
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possible, so as not to conflict with ongoing district assessment 25
programs. As part of the program, the department shall: 26
(a) Establish, with the approval of the State Board of 27
Education, minimum performance standards related to the goals for 28
education contained in the state's plan including, but not limited 29
to, basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics. The minimum 30
performance standards shall be approved by April 1 in each year 31
they are established. 32
(b) Conduct a uniform statewide testing program in 33
grades deemed appropriate in the public schools, including charter 34
schools, which shall include the administration of a 35
career-readiness assessment, such as, but not limited to, the ACT 36
WorkKeys Assessment, deemed appropriate by the Mississippi 37
Department of Education working in coordination with the Office of 38
Workforce Development, to any students electing to take the 39
assessment. Each individual school district shall determine 40
whether the assessment is administered in the tenth, eleventh or 41
twelfth grade. The program may test skill areas, basic skills and 42
high school course content. 43
(c) Monitor the results of the assessment program and, 44
at any time the composite student performance of a school or basic 45
program is found to be below the established minimum standards, 46
notify the district superintendent or the governing board of the 47
charter school, as the case may be, the school principal and the 48
school advisory committee or other existing parent group of the 49
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situation within thirty (30) days of its determination. The 50
department shall further provide technical assistance to a school 51
district in the identification of the causes of this deficiency 52
and shall recommend courses of action for its correction. 53
(d) Provide technical assistance to the school 54
districts, when requested, in the development of student 55
performance standards in addition to the established minimum 56
statewide standards. 57
(e) Issue security procedure regulations providing for 58
the security and integrity of the tests that are administered 59
under the basic skills assessment program. 60
(f) In case of an allegation of a testing irregularity 61
that prompts a need for an investigation by the Department of 62
Education, the department may, in its discretion, take complete 63
control of the statewide test administration in a school district 64
or any part thereof, including, but not limited to, obtaining 65
control of the test booklets and answer documents. In the case of 66
any verified testing irregularity that jeopardized the security 67
and integrity of the test(s), validity or the accuracy of the test 68
results, the cost of the investigation and any other actual and 69
necessary costs related to the investigation paid by the 70
Department of Education shall be reimbursed by the local school 71
district from funds other than federal funds, total funding 72
formula funds provided in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215, 73
or any other state funds within six (6) months from the date of 74
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notice by the department to the school district to make 75
reimbursement to the department. 76
(2) (a) Uniform basic skills tests shall be completed by 77
each student in the appropriate grade. These tests shall be 78
administered in such a manner as to preserve the integrity and 79
validity of the assessment. In the event of excused or unexcused 80
student absences, make-up tests shall be given. The school 81
superintendent of every school district in the state and the 82
principal of each charter school shall annually certify to the 83
State Department of Education that each student enrolled in the 84
appropriate grade has completed the required basic skills 85
assessment test for his or her grade in a valid test 86
administration. 87
(b) The State Department of Education shall ensure that 88
each student to whom the uniform basic skills test is administered 89
under the Mississippi Assessment Program is not disadvantaged in 90
the testing process. All students identified by their school 91
districts as English language learners shall be administered the 92
test which has been translated and printed in the students' native 93
or primary spoken language, except that all tests in English 94
language arts shall be administered in the English language. For 95
assessments administered to high school students, the translator 96
requirement shall only be applicable to those assessments which 97
are a part of the end-of-course subject area testing program. The 98
translated testing material shall consist of the method of 99
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translation and assessment module approved by the State Department 100
of Education and made available to schools and school districts as 101
an appropriate accommodation for English language learners in the 102
assessment process. Each local school district shall make a 103
report to the department of the number and grades of students 104
whose secondary language is English, as well as those students' 105
native or primary spoken language. The department shall then make 106
every necessary effort to have the uniform basic skills tests 107
translated into the appropriate language prior to the 108
administration of the test. This section shall not apply to the 109
administration of the ACT. 110
(c) During each administration of any uniform basic 111
skills test under the Mississippi Assessment Program or as an 112
end-of-course subject area test, the department shall provide 113
school districts having need of translators with testing observers 114
or proctors capable of providing translation assistance to 115
students in specific languages, provided that the school submits a 116
request to the department for translation assistance within a 117
reasonable period before the administration of the assessments, by 118
specifying the language or languages in which students identified 119
as English language learners need translation, the number of 120
students in need of translation and the grade level of students in 121
need of translation. The translation assistance authorized under 122
this paragraph shall be made available to school districts having 123
one or more students who identify as English language learners. 124
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(3) Within five (5) days of completing the administration of 125
a statewide test, the principal of the school where the test was 126
administered shall certify under oath to the State Department of 127
Education that the statewide test was administered in strict 128
accordance with the Requirements of the Mississippi Statewide 129
Assessment System as adopted by the State Board of Education. The 130
principal's sworn certification shall be set forth on a form 131
developed and approved by the Department of Education. If, 132
following the administration of a statewide test, the principal 133
has reason to believe that the test was not administered in strict 134
accordance with the Requirements of the Mississippi Statewide 135
Assessment System as adopted by the State Board of Education, the 136
principal shall submit a sworn certification to the Department of 137
Education setting forth all information known or believed by the 138
principal about all potential violations of the Requirements of 139
the Mississippi Statewide Assessment System as adopted by the 140
State Board of Education. The submission of false information or 141
false certification to the Department of Education by any licensed 142
educator may result in licensure disciplinary action pursuant to 143
Section 37-3-2 and criminal prosecution pursuant to Section 144
37-16-4. 145
SECTION 2. Section 37-16-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 146
amended as follows: 147
37-16-9. (1) (a) The state board shall, after a public 148
hearing and consideration, make provision for appropriate 149
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accommodations for testing instruments and procedures for students 150
with identified handicaps or disabilities in order to ensure that 151
the results of the testing represent the student's achievement, 152
rather than reflecting the student's impaired sensory, manual, 153
speaking or psychological process skills, except when such skills 154
are the factors the test purports to measure. 155
(b) The state board shall, after a public hearing and 156
consideration, make provision for appropriate accommodations for 157
testing instruments and procedures for students identified as 158
English language learners in order to ensure that the results of 159
the testing represent the students' achievement in an equitable 160
manner. For purposes of this paragraph (b) appropriate 161
accommodations shall consist of: 162
(i) The testing materials being translated and 163
printed in the students' native or primary spoken language using 164
the method of translation and assessment module approved by the 165
State Department of Education and made available to schools and 166
school districts as an appropriate accommodation for English 167
language learners in the assessment process; and 168
(ii) The onsite presence of testing observers or 169
proctors capable of providing translation assistance in the native 170
or primary spoken language of students who are identified by the 171
school district as English language learners. 172
(2) The public hearing and consideration required hereunder 173
shall not be construed to amend or nullify the requirements of 174
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security relating to the contents of examinations or assessment 175
instruments and related materials or data. 176
(3) Children with disabilities shall be included in general 177
statewide and district-wide assessments programs, with appropriate 178
accommodations, where necessary. As appropriate, the State 179
Department of Education and the local educational agency shall: 180
(a) Develop policies and procedures for the 181
participation of children with disabilities in alternate 182
assessments for those children who cannot participate in statewide 183
and district-wide assessment programs; and 184
(b) Develop and, beginning not later than July 1, 2000, 185
conduct those alternate assessments. 186
(4) The State Department of Education shall make available 187
to the public, and report to the public with the same frequency 188
and in the same detail as it reports on the assessment of 189
nondisabled children, the following: 190
(a) The number of children with disabilities 191
participating in regular assessments; 192
(b) The number of children participating in alternate 193
assessments; 194
(c) The performance of those children on regular 195
assessments, beginning not later than July 1, 1998, and on 196
alternate assessments, not later than July 1, 2000, if doing so 197
would be statistically sound and would not result in the 198
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disclosure of performance results identifiable to individual 199
children; and 200
(d) Data relating to the performance of children with 201
disabilities shall be disaggregated for assessments conducted 202
after July 1, 1998. 203
(5) The State Department of Education shall make available 204
to the public, and report to the public with the same frequency 205
and in the same detail as it reports on the assessment of children 206
whose primary spoken language is English, the following: 207
(a) The number of children identified as English 208
language learners participating in regular assessments; 209
(b) The number of children identified as English 210
language learners participating in alternate assessments; 211
(c) The performance of those children on regular 212
assessments, beginning not later than July 1, 2026, and on 213
alternate assessments, not later than July 1, 2027, if doing so 214
would be statistically sound and would not result in the 215
disclosure of performance results identifiable to individual 216
children; and 217
(d) Data relating to the performance of children 218
identified as English language learners shall be disaggregated for 219
assessments conducted after July 1, 2025. 220
SECTION 3. Section 37-16-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 221
brought forward as follows: 222
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ST: Statewide testing program; require tests to
be translated and printed in primary spoken
language of ELL students.
37-16-5. The school board of every district in this state 223
shall periodically assess student performance and achievement in 224
each school. Such assessment programs shall be based upon local 225
goals and objectives which are compatible with the state's plan 226
for education and which supplement the minimum performance 227
standards approved by the State Board of Education. Data from 228
district assessment programs shall be provided to the State 229
Department of Education when such data is required in order to 230
evaluate specific instructional programs or processes or when the 231
data is needed for other research or evaluation projects. Each 232
district may provide acceptable, compatible district assessment 233
data to substitute for any assessment data needed at the state 234
level when the State Department of Education certifies that such 235
data is acceptable for the purposes of Section 37-16-3. 236
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 237
and after July 1, 2026. 238