What's happening
This bill prohibits asking biologically identifying questions, such as those about race or gender, before standardized tests in New York.
Why it matters
Aims to reduce stereotype threat and performance anxiety. by banning questions about race, gender, family income, religion, or sexuality before standardized tests, which research shows can negatively impact student performance if social identity is made salient before testing.
Seeks to ensure fairer testing conditions. for all students by removing prompts that could activate biases—either internalized by the student or held by test administrators—potentially leading to more accurate assessments of academic ability.
May impact data collection practices. for schools and policymakers, as demographic information traditionally gathered before tests would need to be collected separately, possibly changing how educational disparities are monitored and addressed.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Identity Questions on Tests
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Enacting clause stricken
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2599
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 20, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. SEPULVEDA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to prohibiting biologically identifying questions from being asked prior to standardized testing
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 340 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 10 to read as follows:
10. "Biologically identifying questions" means any question or group of questions that implicitly activate a social identity that can either facilitate or hinder performance, including race, gender, family income, religion, and sexuality.
§ 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 344-d to read as follows:
§ 344-d. Prohibited questions. No standardized test given pursuant to the provisions of this article shall contain any biologically identifying questions about the test subject or his or her family prior to the initiation of the test.
§ 3. 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.
LBD07465-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.