NY State Senate Bill 2023-S4244

Senate Bill S4244

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Clarifies the application of standardized testing requirements to the general education development exam

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - On Floor Calendar

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 21, 2024	advanced to third reading
Mar 20, 2024	2nd report cal.
Mar 19, 2024	1st report cal.672
Jan 03, 2024	referred to education
Feb 06, 2023	referred to education

Votes

- Mar 19, 2024 - Education Committee Vote
  S4244
  
  14
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  1
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Education Committee Vote: Mar 19, 2024
      
      aye (14)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Cleare
      
      Felder
      
      Jackson
      
      Liu
      
      Mannion
      
      Martinez
      
      Mayer
      
      Oberacker
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stec
      
      Tedisco
      
      Weber
      
      Weik
      
      aye wr (1)
      
      Chu

co-Sponsors

View additional co-sponsors

2023-S4244 (ACTIVE) - Details

Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §340, Ed L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S9533

2023-S4244 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Clarifies the application of standardized testing requirements to the general education development exam by explicitly including it in the definition of "standardized test" and "test".

2023-S4244 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4244

SPONSOR: WEIK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to clarifying the appli-
cation of standardized testing requirements to the general education
development exam

 
PURPOSE:

To clarify that the provisions of New York's Trust-in-Testing law shall
also apply to GED exams

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

The bill amends the truth-in-testing law to also include the General
Education Development, or GED, exam

 
EXISTING LAW:

The original Truth-in-Testing Law requires test administrators to make
available actual questions included in specific standardized tests, as
well as scored answer sheets to individuals upon request, but the
current list of applicable tests does not include the GED.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York's first-in-the-nation Trust-in-Testing Law was enacted in 1979
to provide students an opportunity to review actual questions and their
own scored answer sheets from a list of 10 specific standardized tests,
including the SAT, PSAT, ACT, GRE, MCAT, LSAT and others, usually during
a specific time-frame and for a modest fee.

The purpose of the law was to provide assurance to test-takers of the
accuracy of their individual scores by allowing them the opportunity to
compare their own answers with an official answer key, while also
providing a chance to learn from past errors and improve their results
on future tests.

The General Education Development exam, or GED, is a group of four
subject tests, covering Math, Science, Social Studies and Reasoning,
that provides an opportunity for students who do not meet the require-
ments of a high school diploma to demonstrate equivalent knowledge and
understanding of those subject matters and is widely seen as beneficial
to individuals seeking employment or who decide to return to academic
study.

Applying the Truth-in-Testing requirements to the GED would improve
students' testing outcomes as well as ensure accountability for test
scorers and test administrators.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2022: S9533 Rules Committee

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.
 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
90 days after it shall have become law.

2023-S4244 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4244
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 6, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEIK  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to clarifying the  appli-
   cation  of  standardized testing requirements to the general education
   development exam

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of  section  340 of the education law, as
 amended by chapter 567 of the laws  of  1986,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   1. "Standardized test" or "test" means:
   A.  any  test  that  is  given  in New York at the expense of the test
 subject and designed for use and used in the process  of  selection  for
 post-secondary  or  professional  school  admissions.  Such  tests shall
 include, but are not limited to,  the  Preliminary  Scholastic  Aptitude
 Test, Scholastic Aptitude Test, ACT Assessment, Graduate Record Examina-
 tion,  Medical College Admission Test, Law School Admission Test, Dental
 Admission Testing Program, Graduate Management  Admission  Test,  Miller
 Analogies  Test  and the Test for Standard Written English. This article
 shall not apply to any state, federal, or local civil service test,  any
 test used solely for placement, credit-by-examination or other nonadmis-
 sion  purpose  or  any  test developed and administered by an individual
 school or institution solely for  its  own  purposes  or  any  test,  or
 portion  of a test, designed to evaluate manual skills or other physical
 abilities; AND
   B. THE GENERAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT EXAM.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08777-01-3

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