Bill Text: IL HB4265 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Gifted and Talented Children and Children Eligible for Accelerated Placement Article of the School Code. Provides that, by no later than the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, a school district's accelerated placement policy may (instead of shall) allow for the automatic enrollment, in the following school term, of a student into the next most rigorous level of advanced coursework offered by the high school if the student exceeds (instead of meets or exceeds) State standards in English language arts, mathematics, or science on a State assessment administered under the School Code. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-05 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4265 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4265-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4265 Introduced , by Rep. Lance Yednock SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/14A-32
Amends the Gifted and Talented Children and Children Eligible for Accelerated Placement Article of the School Code. Provides that, by no later than the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, a school district's accelerated placement policy may (instead of shall) allow for the automatic enrollment, in the following school term, of a student into the next most rigorous level of advanced coursework offered by the high school if the student exceeds (instead of meets or exceeds) State standards in English language arts, mathematics, or science on a State assessment administered under the School Code. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
14A-32 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/14A-32)
Sec. 14A-32. Accelerated placement; school district
responsibilities.
(a) Each school district shall have a policy that allows
for accelerated placement that includes or incorporates by
reference the following components:
(1) a provision that provides that participation in
accelerated placement is not limited to those children who
have been identified as gifted and talented, but rather is
open to all children who demonstrate high ability and who
may benefit from accelerated placement;
(2) a fair and equitable decision-making process that
involves multiple persons and includes a student's parents
or guardians;
(3) procedures for notifying parents or guardians of a
child of a decision affecting that child's participation
in an accelerated placement program; and
(4) an assessment process that includes multiple

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valid, reliable indicators.
(a-5) By no later than the beginning of the 2023-2024
school year, a school district's accelerated placement policy
may shall allow for the automatic enrollment, in the following
school term, of a student into the next most rigorous level of
advanced coursework offered by the high school if the student
meets or exceeds State standards in English language arts,
mathematics, or science on a State assessment administered
under Section 2-3.64a-5 as follows:
(1) A student who meets or exceeds State standards in
English language arts may shall be automatically enrolled
into the next most rigorous level of advanced coursework
in English, social studies, humanities, or related
subjects.
(2) A student who meets or exceeds State standards in
mathematics may shall be automatically enrolled into the
next most rigorous level of advanced coursework in
mathematics.
(3) A student who meets or exceeds State standards in
science may shall be automatically enrolled into the next
most rigorous level of advanced coursework in science.
For a student entering grade 12, the next most rigorous
level of advanced coursework in English language arts or
mathematics shall be a dual credit course, as defined in the
Dual Credit Quality Act, an Advanced Placement course, as
defined in Section 10 of the College and Career Success for All

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Students Act, or an International Baccalaureate course;
otherwise, the next most rigorous level of advanced coursework
under this subsection (a-5) may include a dual credit course,
as defined in the Dual Credit Quality Act, an Advanced
Placement course, as defined in Section 10 of the College and
Career Success for All Students Act, an International
Baccalaureate course, an honors class, an enrichment
opportunity, a gifted program, or another program offered by
the district.
A school district may use the student's most recent State
assessment results to determine whether a student meets or
exceeds State standards. For a student entering grade 9,
results from the State assessment taken in grades 6 through 8
may be used. For other high school grades, the results from a
locally selected, nationally normed assessment may be used
instead of the State assessment if those results are the most
recent.
A school district must provide the parent or guardian of a
student eligible for automatic enrollment under this
subsection (a-5) with the option to instead have the student
enroll in alternative coursework that better aligns with the
student's postsecondary education or career goals.
Nothing in this subsection (a-5) may be interpreted to
preclude other students from enrolling in advanced coursework
per the policy of a school district.
(b) Further, a school district's accelerated placement

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policy may include or incorporate by reference, but need not
be limited to, the following components:
(1) procedures for annually informing the community
at-large, including parents or guardians, community-based
organizations, and providers of out-of-school programs,
about the accelerated placement program and the methods
used for the identification of children eligible for
accelerated placement, including strategies to reach
groups of students and families who have been historically
underrepresented in accelerated placement programs and
advanced coursework;
(2) a process for referral that allows for multiple
referrers, including a child's parents or guardians; other
referrers may include licensed education professionals,
the child, with the written consent of a parent or
guardian, a peer, through a licensed education
professional who has knowledge of the referred child's
abilities, or, in case of possible early entrance, a
preschool educator, pediatrician, or psychologist who
knows the child;
(3) a provision that provides that children
participating in an accelerated placement program and
their parents or guardians will be provided a written plan
detailing the type of acceleration the child will receive
and strategies to support the child;
(4) procedures to provide support and promote success

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for students who are newly enrolled in an accelerated
placement program;
(5) a process for the school district to review and
utilize disaggregated data on participation in an
accelerated placement program to address gaps among
demographic groups in accelerated placement opportunities;
and
(6) procedures to promote equity, which may
incorporate one or more of the following evidence-based
practices:
(A) the use of multiple tools to assess
exceptional potential and provide several pathways
into advanced academic programs when assessing student
need for advanced academic or accelerated programming;
(B) providing enrichment opportunities starting in
the early grades to address achievement gaps that
occur at school entry and provide students with
opportunities to demonstrate their advanced potential;
(C) the use of universal screening combined with
local school-based norms for placement in accelerated
and advanced learning programs;
(D) developing a continuum of services to identify
and develop talent in all learners ranging from
enriched learning experiences, such as problem-based
learning, performance tasks, critical thinking, and
career exploration, to accelerated placement and

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advanced academic programming; and
(E) providing professional learning in gifted
education for teachers and other appropriate school
personnel to appropriately identify and challenge
students from diverse cultures and backgrounds who may
benefit from accelerated placement or advanced
academic programming.
(c) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to
determine data to be collected and disaggregated by
demographic group regarding accelerated placement, including
the rates of students who participate in and successfully
complete advanced coursework, and a method of making the
information available to the public.
(d) On or before November 1, 2022, following a review of
disaggregated data on the participation and successful
completion rates of students enrolled in an accelerated
placement program, each school district shall develop a plan
to expand access to its accelerated placement program and to
ensure the teaching capacity necessary to meet the increased
demand.
(Source: P.A. 102-209, eff. 11-30-21 (See Section 5 of P.A.
102-671 for effective date of P.A. 102-209); 103-263, eff.
6-30-23.)