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Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Avoid the Inappropriate Use of Assessment Tools on Children before Grade 3’
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §4252, sub-§§7 and 8, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 548, §5, are amended to read:
 
7. Transition.   Facilitate the transition of children from preschool programs to public school programs; and
 
8. Family outreach.   Provide family outreach and support programs designed to improve parent-school relations and parenting skills.; and
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §4252, sub-§9  is enacted to read:
 
9.  Early childhood statewide assessments.    The use of early childhood statewide assessment tools pursuant to chapter 222 to inform instruction and to communicate effectively with parents. An early childhood statewide assessment must avoid inappropriate use of assessment information; specifically, the assessment may not result in labeling children, restricting kindergarten entry or predicting children's future academic and life success.’
 
SUMMARY
This amendment strikes and replaces the bill. The amendment adds a provision to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A related to the early childhood educational programs for children ages 4 to 9 to clarify that early childhood statewide assessment tools are used to inform instruction and to communicate effectively with parents, but that the statewide assessments of early childhood programs must avoid the inappropriate use of assessment information.