A. The state board of education shall adopt a menu of achievement assessments to measure pupil achievement of the state academic standards. Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, each local education agency that offers instruction in grades nine through twelve may select from that menu an achievement assessment to administer to the pupils in that local education agency in grades designated by the state board instead of the statewide assessment to measure pupil achievement adopted by the state board pursuant to section 15-741. No later than the 2023-2024 school year, each local education agency that offers instruction in grades three through eight may select from that menu an achievement assessment to administer to the pupils in that local education agency instead of the statewide assessment to measure pupil achievement adopted by the state board pursuant to section 15-741. The department of education shall provide adequate staff support for the state board to comply with this section.

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B. An achievement assessment in use by a local education agency that is not on the menu of assessments by March 1, 2018 may be added to the menu at the request of the local education agency and shall be approved by the state board of education if the assessment is nationally recognized, a qualifying college credit examination pursuant to Section 15-249.06 or an assessment adopted pursuant to Section 15-792.03. The state board may approve any other assessment if the assessment meets the requirements of subsection E of this section. The state board shall evaluate assessments that are not on the menu pursuant to this section annually and shall notify local education agencies of the results on or before May 1 of each year.

C. A local education agency that selects an achievement assessment pursuant to this section meets the requirements prescribed in section 15-741. The local education agency shall include the name of the assessment it administers in the school report card required in section 15-746 and administer the assessment for a minimum period of time prescribed by the state board of education.

D. The state board of education shall adopt policies, rules and procedures to carry out this section. Any policy, rule or procedure adopted pursuant to this subsection may not require a local education agency to receive additional approval from the state board or the department of education to select an assessment from the menu of assessments. A local education agency that adopts an achievement assessment pursuant to this section shall provide the necessary reasonable accommodations for a student who is an English language learner and the necessary accommodations and modifications for a student as required by the student’s individualized education program team.

E. The state board of education shall require that the provider of an achievement assessment that is proposed for the menu of achievement assessments do all of the following:

1. Provide evidence that the assessment is a high quality assessment.

2. Demonstrate that the assessment meets or exceeds the level of rigor of the state board’s adopted academic standards.

3. Demonstrate that the assessment scores can be scaled for state accountability programs including establishing comparable student performance levels for achievement profiles and letter grade classifications issued pursuant to section 15-241.

4. Submit an evaluation from a third party approved by the state board that shows the assessment meets the requirements prescribed in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this subsection.

5. Provide a copy of assessment scores to the department of education when scores are provided to the partnering local education agency.

F. For the purposes of this section, "nationally recognized" means accepted by universities for the purposes of awarding college credit or admissions.