Bill Text: TX HB3906 | 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 the assessment of public school students, including the development and administration of assessment instruments, and technology permitted for use by students.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)

Status: (Passed) 2019-06-14 - See remarks for effective date [HB3906 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB3906-Introduced.html

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86R13647 SOS-F
By: Huberty H.B. No. 3906

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the adoption and administration of assessment
instruments used to assess the performance of public school
students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.410(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) The commissioner shall annually identify each high-need
campus in a school district using criteria established by the
commissioner by rule, including performance on the language arts
[reading] assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023.
The commissioner shall also use the criteria to rank campuses in
order of greatest need.
SECTION 2. Section 21.4551(c), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) The commissioner by rule shall require a teacher to
attend a reading academy if the teacher provides instruction in
reading, mathematics, science, or social studies to students at the
sixth, seventh, or eighth grade level at a campus that fails to
satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e) on the basis of
student performance on the language arts [reading] assessment
instrument administered under Section 39.023(a) to students in any
grade level at the campus.
SECTION 3. Section 28.006(c-1), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c-1) Each school district shall administer at the
beginning of the seventh grade a reading instrument adopted by the
commissioner to each student whose performance on the assessment
instrument in language arts [reading] administered under Section
39.023(a) to the student in grade six did not demonstrate reading
proficiency, as determined by the commissioner. The district shall
administer the reading instrument in accordance with the
commissioner's recommendations under Subsection (a)(1).
SECTION 4. Section 28.0061(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) A school district is eligible to participate in the
pilot program if, as determined by the commissioner, the district
has low student performance on:
(1) a reading instrument administered in accordance
with Section 28.006(c); or
(2) a third grade language arts [reading] assessment
instrument administered under Section 39.023(a).
SECTION 5. Section 28.0211(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) 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 and language arts
[reading] assessment instruments under Section 39.023; or
(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 and language arts
[reading] assessment instruments under Section 39.023.
SECTION 6. Section 29.056(g), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(g) A district may transfer a student of limited English
proficiency out of a bilingual education or special language
program for the first time or a subsequent time if the student is
able to participate equally in a regular all-English instructional
program as determined by:
(1) agency-approved tests administered at the end of
each school year to determine the extent to which the student has
developed oral and written language proficiency and specific
language skills in English;
(2) satisfactory performance on the language arts
[reading] assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) or an
English language arts assessment instrument under Section
39.023(c), as applicable, with the assessment instrument
administered in English, or, if the student is enrolled in the first
or second grade, an achievement score at or above the 40th
percentile in the reading and language arts sections of an English
standardized test approved by the agency; and
(3) agency-approved criterion-referenced tests and
the results of a subjective teacher evaluation.
SECTION 7. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (a-12), (a-13), (b-1), (c), and (c-3) and
adding Subsections (a-3), (a-14), (a-15), and (c-7) to read as
follows:
(a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate
criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess
essential knowledge and skills in language arts [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) language arts, including reading and writing,
annually in grades three through eight;
(3) [writing, including spelling and grammar, in
grades four and seven;
[(4)] social studies, in grade eight;
(4) [(5)] science, in grades five and eight; and
(5) [(6)] any other subject and grade required by
federal law.
(a-3) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), the commissioner
by rule may designate sections of a mathematics assessment
instrument for a grade level that:
(1) may be completed with the aid of technology; and
(2) must be completed without the aid of technology.
(a-12) An assessment instrument adopted or developed under
Subsection (a) must be designed so that:
(1) if administered to students in grades three
through five, 85 percent of students will be able to complete all
[the] assessment instruments for that grade [instrument] within an
aggregate period equal to the number of assessment instruments for
that grade multiplied by 120 minutes; and
(2) if administered to students in grades six through
eight, 85 percent of students will be able to complete all [the]
assessment instruments for that grade [instrument] within an
aggregate period equal to the number of assessment instruments for
that grade multiplied by 180 minutes.
(a-13) The amount of time allowed for administration of an
assessment instrument adopted or developed under Subsection (a) may
not exceed eight hours, and the administration may occur in
multiple parts over more than [on only] one day.
(a-14) Subsections (a-12) and (a-13) do not apply to the
administration of assessment instruments for a grade level if the
time restriction imposed would result in a determination by the
commissioner that an assessment instrument is no longer valid and
reliable.
(a-15) Subsections (a-12) and (a-13) do not apply to a
classroom portfolio method used to assess writing performance.
(b-1) The agency, in conjunction with appropriate
interested persons, shall redevelop assessment instruments adopted
or developed under Subsection (b) for administration to
significantly cognitively disabled students in a manner consistent
with federal law. An assessment instrument under this subsection
may not require a teacher to prepare tasks or materials for a
student who will be administered such an assessment instrument. A
classroom portfolio method used to assess writing performance may
require a teacher to prepare tasks and materials [Assessment
instruments adopted or developed under this subsection shall be
administered not later than the 2014-2015 school year].
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment
instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, biology,
English I, English II, and United States history. The Algebra I
end-of-course assessment instrument must be administered with the
aid of technology, but may include one or more parts that prohibit
the use 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 State
Board of Education shall administer the assessment instruments. An
end-of-course assessment instrument may be administered in
multiple parts over more than one day [The 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) Except as provided by Subsection (c-7), in [In]
adopting a schedule for the administration of assessment
instruments under this section, the State Board of Education shall
require:
(1) 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) the spring administration of end-of-course
assessment instruments under Subsection (c) to occur 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.
(c-7) Subsection (c-3) does not apply to a classroom
portfolio method used to assess writing performance if student
performance under that method is less than 50 percent of a student's
overall assessed performance in writing.
SECTION 8. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the commissioner of education shall adopt rules
necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act.
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.