Bill Text: TX HB21 | 2023 | 88th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced

Texas House Bill 21 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating to the use of interim testing and adaptive, growth-based assessment instruments for certain required assessments of public school students and prohibiting the use of the results of certain required assessments of public school students for certain purposes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-10-06 - Filed [HB21 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB21-Introduced.html

	88S30181 CXP-D

	By: Shaheen	H.B. No. 21



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the use of interim testing and adaptive, growth-based
	assessment instruments for certain required assessments of public
	school students and prohibiting the use of the results of certain
	required assessments of public school students for certain
	purposes.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 21.416 to read as follows:
	Sec. 21.416. PROHIBITING USE OF CERTAIN ASSESSMENT
	INSTRUMENTS AS SOLE CRITERION IN TEACHER EVALUATION OR
	COMPENSATION. The results of an assessment instrument administered
	under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (n) may not be used as the sole
	criterion in evaluating teacher performance or determining teacher
	compensation.
	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 39.0264 to read as follows:
	Sec. 39.0264. SCHOOL DISTRICT ADOPTION AND ADMINISTRATION
	OF INTERIM TESTING AND ADAPTIVE, GROWTH-BASED ASSESSMENT
	INSTRUMENTS. (a) In this section, "adaptive, growth-based
	assessment instrument" means an assessment instrument that:
	(1) adjusts the level of difficulty for each student
	during administration of the assessment instrument to match the
	knowledge and ability demonstrated by the student on the assessment
	instrument; and
	(2) measures each student's academic progress over a
	period of time, regardless of the student's age, grade level, or
	performance in class.
	(b) The commissioner shall apply to the United States
	Department of Education for a waiver of the requirement under the
	Every Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.) to
	administer the same assessment instruments to all public school
	students.
	(c) If the United States Department of Education grants a
	waiver described by Subsection (b), a school district may adopt or
	develop assessment instruments in accordance with this section and
	administer those assessment instruments in lieu of the assessment
	instruments required under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (n) in each
	subject and at each grade level for which an assessment instrument
	is required to be administered under Section 39.023(a).
	(d) Each assessment instrument administered under this
	section must be administered during the school year through
	statewide interim assessments. The results of the interim
	assessments for each subject shall be combined to determine a
	single summative score on that assessment instrument for each
	student in the manner established by commissioner rule.
	(e) An assessment instrument administered under this
	section in an electronic format must be an adaptive, growth-based
	assessment instrument.
	(f) In adopting or developing assessment instruments under
	this section, a school district may contract with a nonprofit
	organization that specializes in developing adaptive, growth-based
	assessment instruments.
	(g) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
	implement this section, including rules:
	(1) providing the number and timing of the
	administration of the statewide interim assessments to be
	administered to a student for each assessment instrument described
	by Subsection (c), which must include at least:
	(A) one interim assessment administered at the
	beginning of the school year; and
	(B) one interim assessment administered at the
	end of the school year; and
	(2) establishing the criteria necessary to ensure an
	assessment instrument is an adaptive, growth-based assessment
	instrument.
	(h) A reference in law to an assessment instrument adopted
	or developed under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (n) includes an
	assessment instrument adopted or developed and administered by a
	school district in accordance with a waiver described by Subsection
	(b) and this section.
	SECTION 3. Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended by
	adding Subsection (c-4) to read as follows:
	(c-4) For purposes of Subsection (c)(2)(A), a student's
	improvement on an assessment instrument administered under Section
	39.0264 must be measured from the beginning of the school year for
	which the district or campus is being evaluated to the end of that
	school year.
	SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2024-2025
	school year.
	SECTION 5. Not later than May 1, 2024, the commissioner of
	education shall apply to the United States Department of Education
	for a waiver of the requirement under the Every Student Succeeds Act
	(20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.) to administer the same assessment
	instruments to all public school students.
	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
	last day of the legislative session.