Bill Text: TX HB1302 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to measures to support and acknowledge public school student achievement, including continuing education requirements for a classroom teacher to include project-based learning and the consideration of certain student achievement indicators under the public school accountability system.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-05-17 - Referred to Education [HB1302 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB1302-Engrossed.html

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By: Guillen, Meza, Button, Shaheen H.B. No. 1302

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to measures to support and acknowledge public school
student achievement, including continuing education requirements
for a classroom teacher to include project-based learning and the
consideration of certain student achievement indicators under the
public school accountability system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.054(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) Continuing education requirements for a classroom
teacher must provide that at least 25 percent of the training
required every five years include instruction regarding:
(1) collecting and analyzing information that will
improve effectiveness in the classroom;
(2) recognizing early warning indicators that a
student may be at risk of dropping out of school;
(3) digital learning, digital teaching, and
integrating technology into classroom instruction;
(4) project-based learning;
(5) educating diverse student populations, including:
(A) students who are eligible to participate in
special education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29;
(B) students who are eligible to receive
educational services required under Section 504, Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794);
(C) students with mental health conditions or who
engage in substance abuse;
(D) students with intellectual or developmental
disabilities;
(E) students who are educationally
disadvantaged;
(F) students of limited English proficiency; and
(G) students at risk of dropping out of school;
(6) [(5)] understanding appropriate relationships,
boundaries, and communications between educators and students; and
(7) [(6)] how mental health conditions, including
grief and trauma, affect student learning and behavior and how
evidence-based, grief-informed, and trauma-informed strategies
support the academic success of students affected by grief and
trauma.
SECTION 2. Section 28.025(c-5), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c-5) A student may earn a performance acknowledgment on the
student's transcript by satisfying the requirements for that
acknowledgment adopted by the State Board of Education by rule. An
acknowledgment under this subsection may be earned:
(1) for outstanding performance:
(A) in a dual credit course;
(B) in bilingualism and biliteracy;
(C) on a college advanced placement test or
international baccalaureate examination;
(D) on an established, valid, reliable, and
nationally norm-referenced preliminary college preparation
assessment instrument used to measure a student's progress toward
readiness for college and the workplace; or
(E) on an established, valid, reliable, and
nationally norm-referenced assessment instrument used by colleges
and universities as part of their undergraduate admissions process;
[or]
(2) for earning a state recognized or nationally or
internationally recognized business or industry certification or
license; or
(3) for completing 10 projects demonstrating
workforce readiness while enrolled at a campus that is a member of
the New Tech Network.
SECTION 3. Section 39.053(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) School districts and campuses must be evaluated based on
three domains of indicators of achievement adopted under this
section that include:
(1) in the student achievement domain, indicators of
student achievement that must include:
(A) for evaluating the performance of districts
and campuses generally:
(i) an indicator that accounts for the
results of assessment instruments required under Sections
39.023(a), (c), and (l), as applicable for the district and campus,
including the results of assessment instruments required for
graduation retaken by a student, aggregated across grade levels by
subject area, including:
(a) for the performance standard
determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a), the
percentage of students who performed satisfactorily on the
assessment instruments, aggregated across grade levels by subject
area; and
(b) for the college readiness
performance standard as determined under Section 39.0241, the
percentage of students who performed satisfactorily on the
assessment instruments, aggregated across grade levels by subject
area; and
(ii) an indicator that accounts for the
results of assessment instruments required under Section
39.023(b), as applicable for the district and campus, including the
percentage of students who performed satisfactorily on the
assessment instruments, as determined by the performance standard
adopted by the agency, aggregated across grade levels by subject
area; [and]
(B) for evaluating the performance of high school
campuses and districts that include high school campuses,
indicators that account for:
(i) students who satisfy the Texas Success
Initiative (TSI) college readiness benchmarks prescribed by the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under Section 51.334 on
an assessment instrument in reading or mathematics designated by
the coordinating board under that section;
(ii) students who satisfy relevant
performance standards on advanced placement tests or similar
assessments;
(iii) students who earn dual course credits
in the dual credit courses;
(iv) students who demonstrate military
readiness by:
(a) enlisting in the armed forces of
the United States;
(b) successfully completing two years
of a course of study in a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps
(JROTC) program; or
(c) enlisting in the Texas military
forces [enlist in the armed forces of the United States];
(v) students who earn industry
certifications;
(vi) students admitted into postsecondary
industry certification programs that require as a prerequisite for
entrance successful performance at the secondary level;
(vii) students whose successful completion
of a course or courses under Section 28.014 indicates the student's
preparation to enroll and succeed, without remediation, in an
entry-level general education course for a baccalaureate degree or
associate degree;
(viii) students who successfully met
standards on a composite of indicators that through research
indicates the student's preparation to enroll and succeed, without
remediation, in an entry-level general education course for a
baccalaureate degree or associate degree;
(ix) high school graduation rates, computed
in accordance with standards and definitions adopted in compliance
with the Every Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.)
subject to the exclusions provided by Subsections (g), (g-1),
(g-2), and (g-3);
(x) students who successfully completed an
OnRamps dual enrollment course;
(xi) students who successfully completed a
practicum or internship approved by the State Board of Education;
[and]
(xii) students who are awarded an associate
degree;
(xiii) students who have earned a diploma
after not more than three and one-half years of high school
attendance; and
(xiv) students who enroll in a preparatory
program of training in fire protection at a school approved by the
Texas Commission on Fire Protection; and
(C) for evaluating the performance of
elementary, middle, and junior high school campuses and districts
that include those campuses, indicators that account for students
who:
(i) in grade seven or eight, complete an
advanced level course as designated by the district;
(ii) have been promoted to a higher grade
level, or accelerated to a higher level for a subject in the
foundation curriculum, than the level to which the students would
ordinarily be assigned, including through credit by examination or
another method approved by the district;
(iii) are identified as gifted and talented
and have been promoted to a higher grade level, or accelerated to a
higher level for a subject in the foundation curriculum, than the
level to which the students would ordinarily be assigned, including
through credit by examination or another method approved by the
district;
(iv) have received credit by examination
with no prior instruction in the applicable course;
(v) by the end of grade eight, complete one
career and technology education course in a program of study
approved by the agency for purposes of this subparagraph;
(vi) are identified as gifted and talented
and have received credit by examination with no prior instruction
in the applicable course; and
(vii) complete during school hours not
fewer than four project-based or problem-based learning projects
during a school year;
(2) in the school progress domain, indicators for
effectiveness in promoting student learning, which must include:
(A) for assessment instruments, including
assessment instruments under Subdivisions (1)(A)(i) and (ii), the
percentage of students who met the standard for improvement, as
determined by the commissioner; and
(B) for evaluating relative performance, the
performance of districts and campuses compared to similar districts
or campuses; and
(3) in the closing the gaps domain, the use of
disaggregated data to demonstrate the differentials among students
from different racial and ethnic groups, socioeconomic
backgrounds, and other factors, including:
(A) students formerly receiving special
education services;
(B) students continuously enrolled; and
(C) students who are mobile.
SECTION 4. Section 39.202, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.202. ACADEMIC DISTINCTION DESIGNATIONS
[DESIGNATION] FOR DISTRICTS AND CAMPUSES. (a) The commissioner by
rule shall establish an academic distinction designation for
districts and campuses for outstanding performance in attainment of
postsecondary readiness. The commissioner shall adopt criteria for
the designation under this subsection [section], including:
(1) percentages of students who:
(A) performed satisfactorily, as determined
under the college readiness performance standard under Section
39.0241, on assessment instruments required under Section
39.023(a), (b), (c), or (l), aggregated across grade levels by
subject area; or
(B) met the standard for annual improvement, as
determined by the agency under Section 39.034, on assessment
instruments required under Section 39.023(a), (b), (c), or (l),
aggregated across grade levels by subject area, for students who
did not perform satisfactorily as described by Paragraph (A);
(2) percentages of:
(A) students who earned a nationally or
internationally recognized business or industry certification or
license;
(B) students who completed a coherent sequence of
career and technical courses;
(C) students who completed a dual credit course
or an articulated postsecondary course provided for local credit;
(D) students who achieved applicable College
Readiness Benchmarks or the equivalent on the Preliminary
Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT), the Scholastic Assessment Test
(SAT), the American College Test (ACT), or the ACT-Plan assessment
program; and
(E) students who received a score on either an
advanced placement test or an international baccalaureate
examination to be awarded college credit; and
(3) other factors for determining sufficient student
attainment of postsecondary readiness.
(b) In addition to the distinction designation described by
Subsection (a), the commissioner by rule shall establish an
academic distinction designation for districts and campuses for
outstanding performance in attainment of high student achievement.
The commissioner shall adopt criteria for the designation under
this subsection, including percentages of students who:
(1) have earned a diploma after not more than three and
one-half years of high school attendance;
(2) in grade seven or eight, complete an advanced
level course as designated by the district;
(3) have been promoted to a higher grade level, or
accelerated to a higher level for a subject in the foundation
curriculum, than the level to which the students would ordinarily
be assigned, including through credit by examination or another
method approved by the district;
(4) are identified as gifted and talented and have
been promoted to a higher grade level, or accelerated to a higher
level for a subject in the foundation curriculum, than the level to
which the students would ordinarily be assigned, including through
credit by examination or another method approved by the district;
(5) have received credit by examination with no prior
instruction in the applicable course;
(6) are identified as gifted and talented and have
received credit by examination with no prior instruction in the
applicable course; and
(7) complete during school hours not fewer than four
project-based or problem-based learning projects during a school
year.
SECTION 5. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the State Board for Educator Certification shall
propose rules implementing Section 21.054(d), Education Code, as
amended by this Act.
SECTION 6. A classroom teacher subject to continuing
education requirements immediately before the effective date of
this Act is not required to comply with the continuing education
requirements described by Section 21.054(d), Education Code, as
amended by this Act, for any continuing education requirements
period that ends before January 1, 2022.
SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
school year.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2021.