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HB 2540

PEN CD-VARIOUS

104th Regular Session Introduced by Stephanie Kifowit

Arizona HB 2540 lets districts offer statewide tests in written form on request (IEP/504, religious, or other needs) and accept outside nationally recognized test scores.

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Bill Summary · HB 2540

Summary — HB 2540 (Statewide assessment; accommodations; written form)

Status / Timeline
- Introduced: Feb 6, 2025 (Arizona House)
- Committee and floor actions: multiple committee referrals and readings (see bill file)
- Passed both chambers: early May 2025 (records show passage and transmittal to governor)
- Governor signed: May 13, 2025 (document shows Chapter 204)
- Note: the bill text provided includes an unrelated Illinois HB2540 (pension/funding) text appended; this summary focuses on the Arizona statute amending A.R.S. §15‑741.

Purpose and intent
HB 2540 amends Arizona Revised Statutes §15‑741 to (1) clarify assessment administration, transparency, data-sharing and contractor deadlines for the statewide academic assessments and (2) expand and clarify circumstances under which a school district or charter school must (or may) administer the statewide assessment in written form or accept outside nationally recognized assessment results.

Key provisions and changes
- State Board responsibilities
- Continue to adopt and implement statewide assessments in reading, writing and math in at least four grades and may assess science/social studies (but students are not required to meet social studies/science standards for accountability).
- Require public approval and website disclosure of any pupil “nontest” data collected (link titled “What nontest data does the state of Arizona collect about Arizona pupils?”), and comply with FERPA.
- Maintain adopted tests and evaluation methods for at least 10 years; establish evaluation methods that account for demographics and intervention strategies for low‑scoring schools.
- Contract requirement: third‑grade reading scores delivered to local education agencies (LEAs) by May 15; other assessment scores by May 25. State board may impose penalties on contractors for late delivery; dates may be adjusted if testing window is changed.

  • Local education agencies (districts/charters)

    • Administer state assessments and collect nontest indicator data as required.
    • If an LEA requests a raw data file of assessment results for its pupils, the Department of Education must provide a usable diagnostic format within 30 days; LEAs must protect student privacy and not publicly disclose individual results.

  • Written‑form testing and accommodations (new/clarified)

    • A school district or charter school may administer the statewide assessment in written form on request when any of the following apply (as refined in engrossed/chaptered versions):
    • A written test is required by an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a Section 504 plan (per A.R.S. §15‑731),
    • To accommodate special circumstances,
    • For religious purposes.
    • The law clarifies that districts/charters may provide written‑format testing to meet these needs.

  • Acceptance of nationally recognized assessments (new)

    • If a high school pupil participates in a nationally recognized assessment that the State Board has adopted and that is administered by a non‑school provider, the pupil (or parent/guardian) may submit the pupil’s official score report to the district/charter.
    • On receipt, the district/charter must: (1) record the score in the pupil’s file; (2) report the score to the State Board and Department of Education; and (3) if submitted before the district’s scheduled administration, allow the pupil to opt out of the district‑administered test and use the submitted score for the pupil’s achievement data. (This opt‑out does not affect collection of nontest indicator data.)

Other notable items
- Penmanship tests are explicitly not required.
- The statute reiterates privacy and FERPA protections for all survey/data collection.
- The bill increases transparency and administrative obligations for the State Board, the Department of Education and LEAs, and imposes contractual timing/penalty requirements on assessment vendors.

Who is affected
- Primary: Arizona public school pupils (especially high school students), students with IEPs or 504 plans, students with religious objections, parents/guardians.
- Secondary: school districts and charter schools (administration, recordkeeping, reporting), state board of education, Arizona Department of Education, and assessment contractors/vendors.

Potential impact
- Provides greater flexibility for students with disabilities or religious objections to take assessments in written format or to use nationally recognized external scores.
- Creates new administrative tasks for LEAs (accepting/reporting outside scores; recordkeeping) and deadlines/penalty exposure for vendors delivering assessment data.
- Enhances transparency about nontest data collected by the State Board and strengthens data‑access for LEAs (raw data in usable format).

Administrative or effective date
- The bill text provided includes a chaptered version (Chapter 204) and a governor’s signature date of May 13, 2025, indicating enactment; consult the official session laws or the Secretary of State for the statute’s precise effective date.

Note on mixed documents
- The materials supplied also contain text from an unrelated Illinois HB2540 (pension/funding reform). That text is separate and not part of the Arizona A.R.S. §15‑741 amendments summarized above. If you want a summary of the Illinois pension bill text as well, I can provide one.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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