16 NCAC 06D .0302. TEST ADMINISTRATION

(a)  Employees of the LEA shall administer tests to students who are required or permitted to participate.

(b)  The department shall supply the tests to the LEAs.

(c)  LEAs shall:

(1)           account to the department for all tests received;

(2)           provide a locked storage area for all tests received;

(3)           prohibit the reproduction of all or any part of the test; and

(4)           prohibit their employees from disclosing the content of, or specific items contained in, the test to persons other than authorized employees of the LEA.

(d)  LEAs must monitor test administration procedures. If school officials discover any instance of improper administration and determine that the validity of the test results has been affected, they must notify the local board of education and order the affected students to be retested.

(e)  The Superintendent of Public Instruction may conduct audits of LEAs if he receives written complaints which allege improper test administration, and he may require the retesting of students.

(f)  The department shall provide the mechanism for the scoring of all North Carolina mandated tests. In addition the department shall provide score interpretation services to the LEA.

(g)  LEAs shall, at the beginning of each school year, provide information to students and parents or guardians advising them of the district-wide and state-mandated tests that students will be required to take during that school year. In addition, LEAs shall provide information to the students and parents or guardians to advise them of the dates the tests will be administered and how the results from the tests will be used and the consequences thereof. Also, information provided to parents about tests shall include whether the SBE or the local board of education requires the test.

(h)  LEAs shall report scores resulting from the administration of district-wide and state-mandated tests to students and parents or guardians along with available score interpretation information within 30 days from generation of the score at the LEA level or from the receipt of the score and interpretive documentation from the department.

(i)  At the time the scores are reported for tests required for graduation such as the high school competency tests, the computer skills tests, and the high school exit exam, the LEA shall provide the information to students and parents or guardians to advise whether or not the student has met the standard for the test. If a student fails to meet the standard for the test, the student and parents or guardians shall be informed at the time of reporting, the date(s) when focused remedial instruction will be available and the date of the next testing opportunity.

(j)  In order to ensure adequate representation and the generalizability of the data used to develop tests and to conduct evaluation studies, selected LEAs and schools, determined by the department through random stratified samples, shall participate in field testing and other sample testing such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and other national or international assessments as designated by the department or the SBE.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 115C-12(9)c.;

Eff. July 1, 1986;

Amended Eff. May 1, 2001; August 1, 1999; June 1, 1996.