Chapter 118

118.294 History History: 2023 a. 193.

118.295 118.295 Suicide intervention; civil liability exemption. Any school board, private school, tribal school, county children with disabilities education board, or cooperative educational service agency, and any officer, employee, or volunteer thereof, who in good faith attempts to prevent suicide by a pupil is immune from civil liability for his or her acts or omissions in respect to the suicide or attempted suicide. The civil liability immunity provided in this section is in addition to and not in lieu of that provided under s. 895.48 (1).

118.295 History History: 1985 a. 29; 1987 a. 14; 1997 a. 164; 2009 a. 302.

118.30 118.30 Pupil assessment.

118.30(1) (1) The state superintendent shall adopt or approve examinations designed to measure pupil attainment of knowledge and concepts in the 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Beginning in the 2015-16 school year, the state superintendent may not adopt or approve assessments developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

118.30(1g) (1g) 

118.30(1g)(a) (a)

118.30(1g)(a)1. 1. By August 1, 1998, each school board shall adopt pupil academic standards in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography, and history. The school board may adopt the pupil academic standards issued by the governor as executive order no. 326, dated January 13, 1998.

118.30(1g)(a)2. 2. By January 1, 2000, or by January 1 of the 1st school year of operation, whichever is later, each operator of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) shall adopt pupil academic standards in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography and history. The operator of the charter school may adopt the pupil academic standards issued by the governor as executive order no. 326, dated January 13, 1998.

118.30(1g)(a)3. 3. The governing body of each private school participating in the program under s. 119.23 and the governing body of a private school that, pursuant to s. 115.999 (3), 119.33 (2) (c) 3., or 119.9002 (3) (c), is responsible for the operation and general management of a school transferred to an opportunity schools and partnership program under s. 119.33, subch. IX of ch. 115, or subch. II of ch. 119 shall adopt pupil academic standards in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography, and history. The governing body of the private school may adopt the pupil academic standards issued by the governor as executive order no. 326, dated January 13, 1998.

118.30(1g)(a)4. 4. The governing body of each private school participating in the program under s. 118.60 shall adopt pupil academic standards in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography, and history. The governing body of the private school may adopt the pupil academic standards issued by the governor as executive order no. 326, dated January 13, 1998.

118.30(1g)(c) (c) Each school board operating elementary grades and each operator of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) that operates elementary grades may develop or adopt its own examination designed to measure pupil attainment of knowledge and concepts in the 4th grade and may develop or adopt its own examination designed to measure pupil attainment of knowledge and concepts in the 8th grade. If the school board or operator of the charter school develops or adopts an examination under this paragraph, it shall notify the department.

118.30(1m) (1m) Except as otherwise provided in this section, annually each school board shall do all of the following:

118.30(1m)(a) (a)

118.30(1m)(a)1. 1. Except as provided in subs. (6) and (7), administer the 4th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils enrolled in the school district, including pupils enrolled in charter schools located in the school district, in the 4th grade.

118.30(1m)(a)2. 2. Except as provided in sub. (7), if the school board has developed or adopted its own 4th grade examination, administer that examination to all pupils enrolled in the school district, including pupils enrolled in charter schools located in the school district, in the 4th grade.

118.30(1m)(am) (am)

118.30(1m)(am)1. 1. Except as provided in subs. (6) and (7), administer the 8th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils enrolled in the school district, including pupils enrolled in charter schools located in the school district, in the 8th grade.

118.30(1m)(am)2. 2. Except as provided in sub. (7), if the school board has developed or adopted its own 8th grade examination, administer that examination to all pupils enrolled in the school district, including pupils enrolled in charter schools located in the school district, in the 8th grade.

118.30(1m)(ar) (ar) Except as provided in sub. (7), beginning in the 2014-15 school year, administer the 9th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils enrolled in the school district, including pupils enrolled in charter schools located in the school district, in the spring session of 9th grade.

118.30(1m)(b) (b) Except as provided in sub. (7), administer the 10th grade examination to all pupils enrolled in the school district, including pupils enrolled in charter schools located in the school district, in the spring session of the 10th grade.

118.30(1m)(c) (c) Except as provided in sub. (7), beginning in the 2014-15 school year, administer the 11th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils enrolled in the school district, including pupils enrolled in charter schools located in the school district, in the spring session of the 11th grade.

118.30(1m)(d) (d) If the school board maintains an Internet site for the school district, annually publish information on that Internet site about the examinations administered under this subsection to pupils in the school district.

118.30(1r) (1r) Annually the operator of each charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) shall do all of the following:

118.30(1r)(a) (a)

118.30(1r)(a)1. 1. Except as provided in sub. (6), administer the 4th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils enrolled in the charter school in the 4th grade.

118.30(1r)(a)2. 2. Beginning on July 1, 2002, if the operator of the charter school has developed or adopted its own 4th grade examination, administer that examination to all pupils enrolled in the charter school in the 4th grade.

118.30(1r)(am) (am)

118.30(1r)(am)1. 1. Except as provided in sub. (6), administer the 8th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils enrolled in the charter school in the 8th grade.

118.30(1r)(am)2. 2. Beginning on July 1, 2002, if the operator of the charter school has developed or adopted its own 8th grade examination, administer that examination to all pupils enrolled in the charter school in the 8th grade.

118.30(1r)(ar) (ar) Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, administer the 9th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils enrolled in the charter school in spring session of the 9th grade.

118.30(1r)(b) (b) Administer the 10th grade examination to all pupils enrolled in the charter school in the spring session of the 10th grade.

118.30(1r)(c) (c) Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, administer the 11th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils enrolled in the charter school in the spring session of the 11th grade.

118.30(1r)(d) (d) If the operator of the charter school maintains an Internet site for the school, annually publish information on that Internet site about the examinations administered under this subsection to pupils in the school.

118.30(1s) (1s) Annually, the governing body of each private school participating in the program under s. 119.23, other than a private school at which fewer than 20 pupils in grades 3 to 12 are attending the school under the program under s. 119.23, and the governing body of a private school that, pursuant to s. 115.999 (3), 119.33 (2) (c) 3., or 119.9002 (3) (c), is responsible for the operation and general management of a school transferred to an opportunity schools and partnership program under s. 119.33, subch. IX of ch. 115, or subch. II of ch. 119 shall do all of the following:

118.30(1s)(a) (a) Administer the 4th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 4th grade in the private school under s. 119.23.

118.30(1s)(b) (b) Administer the 8th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 8th grade in the private school under s. 119.23.

118.30(1s)(bm) (bm) Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, in the spring session administer the 9th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 9th grade in the private school under s. 119.23.

118.30(1s)(c) (c) In the spring session, administer the 10th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 10th grade in the private school under s. 119.23.

118.30(1s)(cm) (cm) Beginning in the 2014-15 school year in the spring session administer the 11th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 11th grade in the private school under s. 119.23.

118.30(1s)(d) (d) Administer to pupils attending the private school under s. 119.23 all other examinations in reading, mathematics, and science that are required to be administered to public school pupils under 20 USC 6311 (b) (2).

118.30(1s)(e) (e) If the governing body of the private school maintains an Internet site for the school, annually publish information on that Internet site about the examinations administered under this subsection to pupils in the school.

118.30(1t) (1t) Annually, the governing body of each private school participating in the program under s. 118.60, other than a private school at which fewer than 20 pupils in grades 3 to 12 are attending the school under the program under s. 118.60, shall do all of the following:

118.30(1t)(a) (a) Administer the 4th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 4th grade in the private school under s. 118.60.

118.30(1t)(b) (b) Administer the 8th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 8th grade in the private school under s. 118.60.

118.30(1t)(bm) (bm) Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, in the spring session administer the 9th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 9th grade in the private school under s. 118.60.

118.30(1t)(c) (c) In the spring session, administer the 10th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 10th grade in the private school under s. 118.60.

118.30(1t)(cm) (cm) Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, in the spring session administer the 11th grade examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) to all pupils attending the 11th grade in the private school under s. 118.60.

118.30(1t)(d) (d) Administer to pupils attending the private school under s. 118.60 all other examinations in reading, mathematics, and science that are required to be administered to public school pupils under 20 USC 6311 (b) (2).

118.30(1t)(e) (e) If the governing body of the private school maintains an Internet site for the school, annually publish information on that Internet site about the examinations administered under this subsection to pupils in the school.

118.30(2) (2) 

118.30(2)(a) (a) To the extent possible, all examinations under this section shall be free of bias.

118.30(2)(b) (b)

118.30(2)(b)1. 1. If a pupil is enrolled in a special education program under subch. V of ch. 115, the school board, operator of the charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x), governing body of the private school participating in the program under s. 118.60, or governing body of the private school participating in the program under s. 119.23 shall comply with s. 115.77 (1m) (bg).

118.30(2)(b)2. 2. According to criteria established by the state superintendent by rule, the school board, operator of the charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x), governing body of the private school participating in the program under s. 118.60, or governing body of the private school participating in the program under s. 119.23 may determine not to administer an examination under this section to a limited-English speaking pupil, as defined under s. 115.955 (7), may permit the pupil to be examined in his or her native language, or may modify the format and administration of an examination for such pupils.

118.30(2)(b)3. 3. Upon the request of a pupil’s parent or guardian, the school board shall excuse the pupil from taking an examination administered under sub. (1m) or s. 118.301 (3).

118.30(2)(b)4. 4. Upon the request of a pupil’s parent or guardian, the operator of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) shall excuse the pupil from taking an examination administered under sub. (1r) or s. 118.301 (3).

118.30(2)(b)5. 5. Upon the request of a pupil’s parent or guardian, the governing body of a private school participating in the program under s. 119.23 shall excuse the pupil from taking an examination administered under sub. (1s) (a) to (cm) or s. 118.301 (3).

118.30(2)(b)6. 6. Upon the request of a pupil’s parent or guardian, the governing body of a private school participating in the program under s. 118.60 shall excuse the pupil from taking an examination administered under sub. (1t) (a) to (cm) or s. 118.301 (3).

118.30(2)(c) (c) The results of examinations administered under this section or under 20 USC 6311 (b) (2) to pupils enrolled in public schools, including charter schools, may not be used as the sole reason to discharge, suspend, or formally discipline a teacher or as the sole reason for the nonrenewal of a teacher’s contract.

118.30(2)(d) (d) The results of examinations under this section may not be used in determining general or categorical aids to school districts.

118.30(3) (3) If a person submits to the state superintendent a written request for practice examinations or sample items related to examinations required to be administered under this section, the state superintendent shall make practice examinations or sample items related to examinations required to be administered under this section available to the person. This subsection does not apply while an examination is being developed or validated.

118.30(4) (4) The department shall study the utility of administering technology-based performance assessments to pupils.

118.30(5) (5) Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, the department shall ensure that benchmark assessments are administered to pupils annually under this section prior to the administration of summative assessments under this section.

118.30(5m) (5m) When determining the percentage of pupils participating in the program under s. 119.23 who performed at designated proficiency levels on the examinations administered as required under sub. (1s) or s. 118.301 (3), the department shall consider only the pupils participating in the program under s. 119.23 to whom the examinations were administered at each grade level, and shall exclude from consideration those pupils participating in the program under s. 119.23 who were excused from taking the examinations under sub. (2) (b) 5.

118.30(6) (6) A school board and an operator of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) is not required to administer the 4th and 8th grade examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1) or authorized under s. 118.301 (3) if the school board or the operator of the charter school administers its own 4th and 8th grade examinations, the school board or operator of the charter school submits the examination results to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Value-Added Research Center to conduct statistical correlations of those examinations with the examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent under sub. (1), the University of Wisconsin-Madison Value-Added Research Center provides the statistical correlations to the state superintendent, and the federal department of education approves.

118.30(7) (7) If a school board enters into an agreement with a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state to establish a charter school, that school board shall administer the examinations under sub. (1m) or s. 118.301 (3) regardless of the location of the charter school.

118.30 History History: 1991 a. 269; 1993 a. 16, 367; 1995 a. 27 ss. 3971b to 3971yd, 9145 (1); 1997 a. 27, 164, 237; 1999 a. 9, 19, 32, 185, 186; 2001 a. 16, 109; 2003 a. 33; 2009 a. 28, 60; 2011 a. 32, 105; 2013 a. 20, 237; 2015 a. 55; 2017 a. 36, 335.

118.301 118.301 Alternative pupil assessments.

118.301(1) (1) In this section, “research center” means the University of Wisconsin-Madison Value-Added Research Center.

118.301(2) (2) 

118.301(2)(a) (a) Within 30 days after the release of funds under s. 115.28 (9m) (b), the department shall request from the research center a list of nationally recognized, norm-referenced alternative examinations determined by the research center to be acceptable for statistical comparison with examinations adopted or approved under s. 118.30 (1). Within 180 days of the release of funds under s. 115.28 (9m) (b), the research center shall evaluate and approve at least 3 and no more than 5 of the examinations and shall submit the list of approved examinations to the department. The research center shall submit under this paragraph only those examinations that are consistent with the following parameters:

118.301(2)(a)1. 1. The examination aligns sufficiently with content standards established for examinations adopted or approved under s. 118.30 (1).

118.301(2)(a)2. 2. The examination is comprised of a variety of testing methodologies, including multiple choice and short answer, to assess a range of student skills.

118.301(2)(a)3. 3. The examination includes accommodations or alternative assessments for students enrolled in a special education program under subch. V of ch. 115.

118.301(2)(a)4. 4. The examination provider makes available translations for limited-English proficient pupils, as defined in s. 115.955 (7).

118.301(2)(a)5. 5. The examination may be administered in a variety of modes, including with paper and pencil, in an online format, in a fixed form format, and in an adaptive format.

118.301(2)(a)6. 6. The examination has internal consistency reliability coefficients of at least 0.8.

118.301(2)(b) (b) An examination approved under this subsection may be administered only by a school that notifies the department of its intent to administer the examination.

118.301(3) (3) 

118.301(3)(a) (a) Notwithstanding s. 118.30 (1m), beginning in the first full school year following the date on which the research center submitted the list of approved examinations to the department under sub. (2) (a), a school board is not required to administer an examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under s. 118.30 (1) in any grade for which an examination is required to be administered under s. 118.30 if the school board administers in that grade an alternative examination approved by the research center under sub. (2). If the school board elects to administer an alternative examination under this paragraph, the school board shall notify the department of its intent to administer the examination and shall publish that fact and information about the examination on the school’s Internet site.

118.301(3)(b) (b) Notwithstanding s. 118.30 (1r), beginning in the first full school year following the date on which the research center submitted the list of approved examinations to the department under sub. (2) (a), an operator of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x) is not required to administer an examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under s. 118.30 (1) in any grade for which an examination is required to be administered under s. 118.30 if the operator administers in that grade an alternative examination approved by the research center under sub. (2). If the operator of the charter school elects to administer an alternative examination under this paragraph, the operator shall notify the department of its intent to administer the examination and shall publish that fact and information about the examination on the school’s Internet site.

118.301(3)(c) (c) Notwithstanding s. 118.30 (1s), beginning in the first full school year following the date on which the research center submitted the list of approved examinations to the department under sub. (2) (a), the governing body of each private school participating in the program under s. 119.23 that is required to administer an examination under s. 118.30 (1s) is not required to administer an examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under s. 118.30 (1) in any grade for which an examination is required to be administered under s. 118.30 if the governing body administers in that grade an alternative examination approved by the research center under sub. (2). If the governing body of the private school elects to administer an alternative examination under this paragraph, the governing body shall notify the department of its intent to administer the examination and shall publish that fact and information about the examination on the school’s Internet site.

118.301(3)(d) (d) Notwithstanding s. 118.30 (1t), beginning in the first full school year following the date on which the research center submitted the list of approved examinations to the department under sub. (2) (a), the governing body of a private school participating in a program under s. 118.60 that is required to administer an examination under s. 118.30 (1t) is not required to administer an examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent under s. 118.30 (1) in any grade for which an examination is required to be administered under s. 118.30 if the governing body administers in that grade an alternative examination approved by the research center under sub. (2). If the governing body of the private school elects to administer an alternative examination under this paragraph, the governing body shall notify the department of its intent to administer the examination and shall publish that fact and information about the examination on the school’s Internet site.

118.301(3)(e) (e) If a school administers an alternative examination in any grade under this subsection, and if the cost of the alternative examination exceeds the cost of the examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent for that grade, the school board, operator, or governing body of the school is responsible for the difference between the cost of the examination adopted or approved by the state superintendent for that grade and the cost of the alternative examination for that grade.

118.301(4) (4) 

118.301(4)(a) (a) If a school board, an operator of a charter school under s. 118.40 (2r) or (2x), or the governing body of a private school participating in a program under s. 118.60 or 119.23 administers an alternative examination under sub. (3), the school board, operator, or governing body shall submit the examination results to the research center.

118.301(4)(b) (b) The research center shall review all examination results received under par. (a) and statistically equate them to the pupil examinations required under s. 118.30. The research center shall provide the examination data, as statistically equated, to the school board, operator, or governing body and to the department. The department shall use data received under this subsection to determine a school’s performance or school district’s improvement under s. 115.385.

118.301 History History: 2015 a. 55.