Bill Text: TX HB1480 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to assessment of public school students, providing accelerated instruction, appropriately crediting certain student performance, and eliminating requirements based on performance on certain assessment instruments.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 20-8)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-05-22 - Placed on intent calendar [HB1480 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB1480-Introduced.html

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86R2257 GCB-F
By: VanDeaver H.B. No. 1480

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to assessment of public school students, providing
accelerated instruction, and eliminating requirements based on
performance on certain assessment instruments.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 28.0211, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 28.0211. ACCELERATED LEARNING COMMITTEE [SATISFACTORY
PERFORMANCE ON ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS REQUIRED]; ACCELERATED
INSTRUCTION.
SECTION 2. Section 28.0211, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-3), (c), (f), (i), (k), and (n)
and adding Subsections (f-1) and (f-2) to read as follows:
(a) A district shall establish an accelerated learning
committee described by Subsection (c) for each student who does not
perform satisfactorily on:
(1) the third grade mathematics or reading assessment
instrument under Section 39.023;
(2) [Except as provided by Subsection (b) or (e), a
student may not be promoted to:
[(1) the sixth grade program to which the student
would otherwise be assigned if the student does not perform
satisfactorily on] the fifth grade mathematics or [and] reading
assessment instrument [instruments] under Section 39.023; or
(3) [(2) the ninth grade program to which the student
would otherwise be assigned if the student does not perform
satisfactorily on] the eighth grade mathematics or [and] reading
assessment instrument [instruments] under Section 39.023.
(a-1) Each time a student fails to perform satisfactorily on
an assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(a) in
the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth grade, the
school district in which the student attends school shall provide
to the student accelerated instruction in the applicable subject
area. Accelerated instruction may require participation of the
student before or after normal school hours, [and] may include
participation at times of the year outside normal school
operations, and may be provided to the student during the
subsequent school year.
(a-3) The commissioner shall provide guidelines to
districts on research-based best practices and effective
strategies that a district may use in developing an accelerated
instruction program. The commissioner may provide to districts
available resources concerning research-based best practices and
effective strategies that a district may use in developing an
accelerated instruction program.
(c) [Each time a student fails to perform satisfactorily on
an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a), the school
district in which the student attends school shall provide to the
student accelerated instruction in the applicable subject area,
including reading instruction for a student who fails to perform
satisfactorily on a reading assessment instrument.] After a
student fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument
specified under Subsection (a) [a second time], an accelerated
learning [a grade placement] committee shall be established [to
prescribe the accelerated instruction the district shall provide to
the student before the student is administered the assessment
instrument the third time]. The accelerated learning [grade
placement] committee shall be composed of the principal or the
principal's designee, the student's parent or guardian, and the
teacher of the subject of an assessment instrument on which the
student failed to perform satisfactorily. The district shall
notify the parent or guardian of the time and place for convening
the accelerated learning [grade placement] committee and the
purpose of the committee. [An accelerated instruction group
administered by a school district under this section may not have a
ratio of more than 10 students for each teacher.]
(f) An accelerated learning [A school district shall
provide to a student who, after three attempts, has failed to
perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
Subsection (a) accelerated instruction during the next school year
as prescribed by an educational plan developed for the student by
the student's grade placement] committee described by [established
under] Subsection (c) shall:
(1) develop an educational plan for the student that
provides the necessary accelerated instruction to enable the
student to perform at the appropriate grade level by the conclusion
of the subsequent school year; and
(2) provide other assistance to the student in
accordance with a policy adopted by the district board of trustees
prescribing the role of accelerated learning committees in that
district. [The district shall provide that accelerated instruction
regardless of whether the student has been promoted or retained.]
(f-1) A student for whom an [The] educational plan is
developed under Subsection (f)(1) [must be designed to enable the
student to perform at the appropriate grade level by the conclusion
of the school year. During the school year, the student] shall be
monitored to ensure that the student is progressing in accordance
with the plan. The district shall administer to the student the
assessment instrument for the grade level in which the student is
placed at the time the district regularly administers the
assessment instruments for that school year.
(f-2) If a student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) fails in the
subsequent school year to perform satisfactorily on an assessment
instrument in the same subject, the superintendent of the district
or the superintendent's designee shall meet with the student's
accelerated learning committee to:
(1) identify the reason the student did not perform
satisfactorily; and
(2) determine, in order to ensure the student performs
satisfactorily on the assessment instrument at the next opportunity
for the student to be administered the assessment instrument,
whether:
(A) the educational plan developed for the
student under Subsection (f) must be modified to provide the
necessary accelerated instruction for that student; and
(B) any additional resources are required for
that student.
(i) The admission, review, and dismissal committee of a
student who participates in a district's special education program
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, and who does not perform
satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
Subsection (a) and administered under Section 39.023(a) or (b) must
meet before the student is administered the assessment instrument
for the second time. The committee shall determine[:
[(1)] the manner in which the student will participate
in an accelerated instruction program under this section[; and
[(2) whether the student will be promoted in
accordance with Subsection (i-1) or retained under this section].
(k) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section[, including rules concerning when school
districts shall administer assessment instruments required under
this section and which administration of the assessment instruments
will be used for purposes of Section 39.054].
(n) A student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) and is
promoted to the next grade level [by a grade placement committee
under this section] must be assigned at that next grade level in
each subject in which the student failed to perform satisfactorily
on an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) to a
teacher who meets all state and federal qualifications to teach
that subject and grade.
SECTION 3. Sections 39.023(a), (c), (c-3), and (e),
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate
criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess
essential knowledge and skills in reading, writing, mathematics,
[social studies,] and science. Except as provided by Subsection
(a-2), all students, other than students assessed under Subsection
(b) or (l) or exempted under Section 39.027, shall be assessed in:
(1) mathematics, annually in grades three through
seven without the aid of technology and in grade eight with the aid
of technology on any assessment instrument that includes algebra;
(2) reading, annually in grades three through eight;
(3) writing, including spelling and grammar, in grades
four and seven; and
(4) [social studies, in grade eight;
[(5)] science, in grades five and eight[; and
[(6) any other subject and grade required by federal
law].
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment
instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, biology,
English I, and English II[, and United States history]. The
Algebra I end-of-course assessment instrument must be administered
with the aid of technology. The English I and English II
end-of-course assessment instruments must each assess essential
knowledge and skills in both reading and writing in the same
assessment instrument and must provide a single score. A school
district shall comply with State Board of Education rules regarding
administration of the assessment instruments listed in this
subsection. If a student is in a special education program under
Subchapter A, Chapter 29, the student's admission, review, and
dismissal committee shall determine whether any allowable
modification is necessary in administering to the student an
assessment instrument required under this subsection. The agency
[State Board of Education] shall administer the assessment
instruments. The commissioner, with input from school districts,
[State Board of Education] shall adopt a schedule for the
administration of end-of-course assessment instruments that
complies with the requirements of Subsection (c-3).
(c-3) The commissioner, with input from school districts,
shall adopt [In adopting] a schedule for the administration of
assessment instruments under this section that[, the State Board of
Education shall require]:
(1) minimizes the disruption of classroom instruction
[assessment instruments administered under Subsection (a) to be
administered on a schedule so that the first assessment instrument
is administered at least two weeks later than the date on which the
first assessment instrument was administered under Subsection (a)
during the 2006-2007 school year]; and
(2) maximizes available instruction time by
scheduling the spring administration of [end-of-course] assessment
instruments [under Subsection (c)] to occur as close to the end of
the semester as possible [in each school district not earlier than
the first full week in May, except that the spring administration of
the end-of-course assessment instruments in English I and English
II must be permitted to occur at an earlier date].
(e) At least [Under rules adopted by the State Board of
Education,] every third year, the agency shall release the
questions and answer keys to each assessment instrument
administered under Subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), or (l), excluding
any assessment instrument administered to a student for the purpose
of retaking the assessment instrument, after the last time the
instrument is administered for that school year. To ensure a valid
bank of questions for use each year, the agency is not required to
release a question that is being field-tested and was not used to
compute the student's score on the instrument. The agency shall
also release[, under board rule,] each question that is no longer
being field-tested and that was not used to compute a student's
score. [During the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years, the
agency shall release the questions and answer keys to assessment
instruments as described by this subsection each year.]
SECTION 4. Section 39.025(c-2), Education Code, as
effective September 1, 2019, is amended to read as follows:
(c-2) A school district may administer to a student who
failed to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument
described by Subsection (c-1) an alternate assessment instrument
designated by the commissioner. The commissioner shall determine
the level of performance considered to be satisfactory on an
alternate assessment instrument. [The district may not administer
to the student an assessment instrument or a part of an assessment
instrument that assesses a subject that was not assessed in an
assessment instrument applicable to the student described by
Subsection (c-1).] The commissioner shall make available to
districts information necessary to administer the alternate
assessment instrument authorized by this subsection. The
commissioner's determination regarding designation of an
appropriate alternate assessment instrument under this subsection
and the performance required on the assessment instrument is final
and may not be appealed.
SECTION 5. Section 39.203(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) In addition to the distinction designations described
by Subsections (a) and (b), a campus that satisfies the criteria
developed under Section 39.204 shall be awarded a distinction
designation by the commissioner for outstanding performance
in academic achievement in reading [English language arts],
mathematics, or science[, or social studies].
SECTION 6. Section 39.301(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Indicators for reporting purposes must include:
(1) the percentage of graduating students who meet the
course requirements established by State Board of Education rule
for:
(A) the foundation high school program;
(B) the distinguished level of achievement under
the foundation high school program; and
(C) each endorsement described by Section
28.025(c-1);
(2) the results of the SAT, ACT, and certified
workforce training programs described by Chapter 311, Labor Code;
(3) for students who have failed to perform
satisfactorily, under each performance standard under Section
39.0241, on an assessment instrument required under Section
39.023(a) or (c), the performance of those students on subsequent
assessment instruments required under those sections, aggregated
by grade level and subject area;
(4) for each campus, the number of students,
disaggregated by major student subpopulations, that take courses
under the foundation high school program and take additional
courses to earn an endorsement under Section 28.025(c-1),
disaggregated by type of endorsement;
(5) the percentage of students, aggregated by grade
level, provided accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211
[28.0211(c)], the results of assessment instruments administered
under that section, [the percentage of students promoted through
the grade placement committee process under Section 28.0211,] the
subject of the assessment instrument on which each student failed
to perform satisfactorily under each performance standard under
Section 39.0241, and the performance of those students in the
subsequent school year [following that promotion] on the assessment
instruments required under Section 39.023;
(6) the percentage of students of limited English
proficiency exempted from the administration of an assessment
instrument under Sections 39.027(a)(1) and (2);
(7) the percentage of students in a special education
program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, assessed through assessment
instruments developed or adopted under Section 39.023(b);
(8) the percentage of students who satisfy the college
readiness measure;
(9) the measure of progress toward dual language
proficiency under Section 39.034(b), for students of limited
English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052;
(10) the percentage of students who are not
educationally disadvantaged;
(11) the percentage of students who enroll and begin
instruction at an institution of higher education in the school
year following high school graduation; and
(12) the percentage of students who successfully
complete the first year of instruction at an institution of higher
education without needing a developmental education course.
SECTION 7. Section 51.338(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) A student who has demonstrated the performance standard
for college readiness as provided by Section 28.008 on the
postsecondary readiness assessment instruments adopted under
Section 39.0238 for Algebra II and English III, as that section
existed before repeal by __.B. No. ____, Acts of the 86th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, is exempt from the requirements
of this subchapter with respect to those content areas. The
commissioner of higher education by rule shall establish the period
for which an exemption under this subsection is valid.
SECTION 8. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 7.102(c)(5);
(2) Sections 28.0211(a-2), (b), (d), (e), (i-1),
(i-2), (m), and (m-1); and
(3) Section 39.0238.
SECTION 9. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020
school year.
SECTION 10. 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, 2019.