§18-28-3. Standardized testing requirements.
(a) Each private, parochial or church school or school of a religious order or other nonpublic school electing to operate under this statute in lieu of the approval requirements set forth as part of §18-8-1(b) of this code, shall administer during each school year a nationally normed standardized achievement test which test shall be selected by the chief administrative officer of each school. The test shall be administered to students at the same grade levels and in the same subject areas as required in the public schools of the state for administration of the state-wide summative assessment. The selected test shall be published or normed within the last ten years and shall be administered under standardized conditions as set forth by the published instructions of the selected test. The student participation rate on the standardized achievement test must be the same as that required in the public schools for a school’s composite score to be considered valid.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, any private, parochial, church school, school of a religious order or other nonpublic school that exclusively teaches special education students or children with learning disabilities shall academically assess students by one or more of the following methods: (1) A standardized group achievement test; (2) a standardized individual achievement test; (3) a written narrative of an evaluation of a portfolio of samples of a child’s work; (4) an alternative academic assessment of the child’s proficiency as mutually agreed by the county superintendent, parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and the school. The assessment shall be made of students at the same grade levels and in the same subject areas as required in the public schools of the state for administration of the state-wide summative assessment,
(c) Nothing in this section prohibits a private parochial, church school, school of a religious order or other nonpublic school from administering standardized achievement tests in additional subject areas or at additional grade levels as they may choose at their sole discretion.
(d) Each child’s testing or assessment results and the school composite results shall be made available to the child’s parents or legal guardians. Upon request of a duly authorized representative of the West Virginia Department of Education, the school’s composite results shall be furnished by the school or by a parents organization composed of the parents or guardians of children enrolled in said school to the State Superintendent of Schools.
(e) Each school to which this article applies shall:
(1) Establish curriculum objectives, the attainment of which will enable students to develop the potential for becoming literate citizens.
(2) Provide an instructional program that will make possible the acquisition of competencies necessary to become a literate citizen.
(f) If the school’s composite test results for any single year fall below the fortieth percentile on the selected standardized achievement test or a comparable level established by the state board for assessment methods authorized pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the school shall initiate a remedial program to foster achievement above that level. If after two consecutive calendar years school composite test results are not above the fortieth percentile or comparable level, attendance at the school no longer satisfies the compulsory school attendance requirement of §18-8-1(k) of this code, until the percentile standards herein set forth are met.
