Bill Text: TX HB4402 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to the administration of certain assessment instruments, the accountability rating system for assessing campus and district performance, public school career and technology education programs, and an extracurricular and cocurricular allotment under the Foundation School Program.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 17-5)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-11 - Referred to Education [HB4402 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB4402-Engrossed.html

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By: Bell of Kaufman, Buckley, VanDeaver, H.B. No. 4402
Landgraf, Talarico, et al.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration of certain assessment instruments,
the accountability rating system for assessing campus and district
performance, public school career and technology education
programs, and an extracurricular and cocurricular allotment under
the Foundation School Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.182(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The state plan must include procedures designed to
ensure that:
(1) all secondary and postsecondary students have the
opportunity to participate in career and technology education
programs;
(2) the state complies with requirements for
supplemental federal career and technology education funding;
(3) career and technology education is established as
a part of the total education system of this state and constitutes
an option for student learning that provides a rigorous course of
study consistent with the required curriculum under Section 28.002
and under which a student may receive specific education in a career
and technology program that:
(A) incorporates competencies leading to
academic and technical skill attainment;
(B) leads to:
(i) an industry-recognized license,
credential, or certificate; or
(ii) at the postsecondary level, an
associate or baccalaureate degree;
(C) includes opportunities for students to earn
college credit for coursework; and
(D) includes, as an integral part of the program,
participation by students and teachers in activities of career and
technical student organizations supported by the agency and the
State Board of Education; [and]
(4) a school district provides, to the greatest extent
possible, to a student participating in a career and technology
education program opportunities to enroll in dual credit courses
designed to lead to a degree, license, or certification as part of
the program; and
(5) courses of study in a Junior Reserve Officer
Training Corps program or Leadership Officer Training Corps program
are provided as part of a career and technology education program.
SECTION 2. Sections 39.023(e), (h), and (o), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(e) 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.]
(h) The agency shall notify school districts and campuses of
the results of assessment instruments administered under this
section not later than the 21st day after the last date on which the
assessment instrument may be [is] administered, except that the
agency may delay the notification if necessary to maintain validity
and reliability standards. The school district shall disclose to
each district teacher the results of assessment instruments
administered to students taught by the teacher in the subject for
the school year in which the assessment instrument is administered.
(o) The agency shall adopt or develop optional interim
assessment instruments for each subject or course for each grade
level for which a through-year assessment instrument under Section
39.0236 is not required [subject to assessment under this section].
A school district or open-enrollment charter school may not be
required to administer interim assessment instruments adopted or
developed under this subsection. An interim assessment instrument:
(1) must be:
(A) when possible, predictive of the assessment
instrument for the applicable subject or course for that grade
level required under this section; and
(B) administered electronically; and
(2) may not be used for accountability purposes.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.02301 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.02301. OPTIONAL USE OF WRITING PORTFOLIO
ASSESSMENT. (a) A school district may elect to use a writing
portfolio assessment to assess writing performance for students
enrolled in the district as an alternative to administering the
portion of a reading assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a)
or English I or English II end-of-course assessment instrument
under Section 39.023(c) that is not presented in a multiple choice
format.
(b) A school district that elects to use a writing portfolio
assessment under this section shall design the assessment in
consultation with a public or private institution of higher
education and submit the assessment to the agency for approval. The
agency shall approve the assessment if the assessment is:
(1) determined by the public or private institution of
higher education that consulted on the design of the assessment to
be valid and reliable; and
(2) designed to assess:
(A) a student's mastery of the essential
knowledge and skills in writing through timed writing samples;
(B) improvement of a student's writing skills
from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year;
(C) a student's ability to follow the writing
process from rough draft to final product; and
(D) a student's ability to produce more than one
type of writing style.
(c) A school district that elects to use a writing portfolio
assessment under this section may adopt a policy allowing the
assessment to be scored by a classroom teacher assigned to the same
campus as the student to whom the assessment is administered. The
district may coordinate with the regional education service center
for the district's region in grading the assessments.
(d) A school district that elects to use a writing portfolio
assessment under this section is not required to administer the
portion of a reading assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a)
or English I or English II end-of-course assessment instrument
under Section 39.023(c) that is not presented in a multiple choice
format during the period the district is administering the writing
portfolio assessment. The agency shall, to the greatest extent
practicable, apply cost savings that result from the exemption
under this subsection to offset the costs accrued under this
section.
(e) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.02342 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.02342. PAPER ADMINISTRATION OF ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENTS ON REQUEST. (a) Subject to Subsection (c), a school
district shall administer an assessment instrument required under
Section 39.023(a), (c), or (l) in paper format to any student whose
parent or guardian requests the assessment instrument be
administered to the student in paper format.
(b) A request for the administration of an assessment
instrument in paper format to a student under this section must be
submitted to the school district not later than December 1 of the
school year in which the assessment instrument will be
administered.
(c) The number of students enrolled at a school district who
are administered an assessment instrument in paper format for any
single administration under this section may not exceed three
percent of the number of students enrolled in the district. On
receipt of more requests for administration of an assessment
instrument than the maximum number permitted under this subsection,
the district shall accept the requests in the order received until
the maximum number is reached.
SECTION 5. Section 39.0236, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.0236. THROUGH-YEAR [INTEGRATED FORMATIVE]
ASSESSMENT [PILOT] PROGRAM. (a) Notwithstanding any other law and
except as otherwise provided by commissioner rule, beginning with
the 2027-2028 school year, the agency shall adopt or develop a
through-year assessment for each subject and grade for which an
assessment instrument is required under Section 39.023(a) or (c),
including a through-year assessment in Spanish for administration
to emergent bilingual students, as required under Section
39.023(l), for each subject and grade level for which an assessment
instrument in Spanish may be administered under that subsection. A
through-year assessment adopted or developed under this section
shall consist of the administration of not more than three
assessment instruments over the course of a school year [The agency
shall establish a pilot program in which participating school
districts administer to students integrated formative assessment
instruments for subjects or courses for a grade level subject to
assessment under Section 28.006 or 39.023].
(b) The agency shall develop and implement a plan to
transition each assessment instrument required under Sections
39.023(a), (c), and (l) to a through-year assessment instrument
beginning with the 2027-2028 school year. The plan must:
(1) evaluate the administration of through-year
assessment instruments in this state, including an analysis of
instructional support improvements provided by school districts
administering through-year assessment instruments; and
(2) identify the actions necessary to improve the
administration of through-year assessment instruments, including
necessary changes to state law or policy [A school district may
elect to participate in the pilot program].
(c) The agency may require a school district to:
(1) participate in a pilot program for the
administration of through-year assessment instruments to district
students; and
(2) report information to the agency regarding the
implementation of through-year assessment instruments under this
section [A school district's participation in the pilot program
does not affect the district's obligations regarding the
administration of assessment instruments required under Section
39.023].
(d) The score on a through-year assessment instrument
administered to a student in grades three through eight shall be
calculated as a summative score of each instrument administered
during the school year as part of the through-year assessment. The
commissioner shall adopt rules regarding the relative weights that
must be given to each individual assessment instrument administered
as part of the through-year assessment [Not later than December 1 of
each even-numbered year, the agency shall submit to the governor,
the lieutenant governor, and the members of the legislature a
report on the pilot program that includes:
[(1) an analysis of whether the administration of
integrated formative assessment instruments under the pilot
program provided any improvement in instructional support during
the preceding two school years; and
[(2) a determination of the feasibility of replacing
the assessment instruments required under Section 39.023 with
integrated formative assessment instruments].
SECTION 6. Section 39.0263, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) This section expires September 1, 2027.
SECTION 7. Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and (c-2) and adding Subsections (c-4) and
(c-5) 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;
(iii) an indicator that accounts for
extracurricular and cocurricular student success in accordance
with Section 39.0533;
(iv) an indicator that accounts for
successful completion of middle school career and technology
education courses; and
(v) an indicator that accounts for middle
school student success in accelerated mathematics; 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 [enlist] in the armed
forces of the United States or the Texas National Guard;
(b) achieving a passing score set by
the applicable military branch on the Armed Services Vocational
Aptitude Battery test; or
(c) successfully completing a Junior
Reserve Officer Training Corps program;
(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), (g-3), and (g-4);
(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;
(xii) students who are awarded an associate
degree; and
(xiii) students who successfully completed
a program of study in career and technical education;
(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 and [,] socioeconomic
backgrounds[, and other factors, including:
[(A) students formerly receiving special
education services;
[(B) students continuously enrolled; and
[(C) students who are mobile].
(c-2) The commissioner by rule shall determine a method by
which a student's performance may be included in determining the
performance rating of a school district or campus under Section
39.054 if, before the student graduates, the student[:
[(1)] satisfies the Texas Success Initiative (TSI)
college readiness benchmarks prescribed by the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board under Section 51.334 on an assessment
instrument designated by the coordinating board under that section
[; or
[(2) performs satisfactorily on an assessment
instrument under Section 39.023(c), notwithstanding Subsection (d)
of this section].
(c-4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
an indicator adopted under Subsection (c) may not be included in
determining the performance rating of a school district or campus
under Section 39.054 unless it has been determined to be valid and
reliable by the commissioner and through a peer review process.
(c-5) Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, in
calculating the performance of a campus providing instruction in
grades three through eight in the student achievement domain under
Subsection (c)(1):
(1) indicators adopted under Subsections (c)(1)(A)(i)
and (ii) may not collectively contribute more than 80 percent of the
score assigned to the campus; and
(2) indicators adopted under Subsections
(c)(1)(A)(iii), (iv), and (v) may not collectively contribute more
than 20 percent of the score assigned to the campus.
SECTION 8. Sections 39.0533(a), (b), and (c), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, the [The]
commissioner shall [study the feasibility of incorporating] adopt
for evaluating school district and campus performance under this
subchapter an indicator that accounts for student participation in
extracurricular and cocurricular activities as provided by Section
39.053(c)(1)(A)(iii) [student activity].
(b) In adopting an indicator under Subsection (a), the
commissioner may [If the commissioner determines that an
extracurricular and cocurricular student activity indicator is
appropriate, the commissioner may adopt the indicator.
[(b) To determine the feasibility of adopting an indicator
under this section, the commissioner may] require a school district
or campus to:
(1) participate in a pilot program implementing an
indicator under Subsection (a); or
(2) implement components of and report requested
information necessary to develop and implement an indicator under
Subsection (a) [relating to extracurricular and cocurricular
student activity].
(c) The commissioner shall [may] establish an advisory
committee to assist in developing and [determining the feasibility
of] incorporating the [an extracurricular and cocurricular student
activity] indicator under Subsection (a) [for evaluating school
district and campus performance].
SECTION 9. Section 39.054, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) Notwithstanding any other law or regulation, for
purposes of assigning school districts and campuses overall and
domain performance ratings under Subsection (a) for the 2022-2023
and 2023-2024 school years, the commissioner shall set the rating
standards for the college, career, and military readiness
indicators under Section 39.053(c)(1)(B) using the specific
criteria and calculations for 2022 described by 19 T.A.C. Section
97.1001(b) as that rule existed on January 1, 2023, including cut
scores, scaling, and targets. If the commissioner determines that a
waiver or authorization from the United States Department of
Education is necessary for the implementation of this subsection,
the commissioner shall request the waiver or authorization and may
delay the implementation of this subsection until the waiver or
authorization is granted. This subsection expires December 1, 2024.
SECTION 10. Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.0547 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.0547. LOCAL ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM GRANT PROGRAM.
From money appropriated for that purpose, the agency shall provide
grants to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools for
the planning and implementation of local accountability systems
under Section 39.0544.
SECTION 11. Subchapter C, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 48.116 to read as follows:
Sec. 48.116. EXTRACURRICULAR AND COCURRICULAR ALLOTMENT. A
school district is entitled to an annual allotment for each student
in average daily attendance equal to the basic allotment, or, if
applicable, the sum of the basic allotment and the allotment under
Section 48.101 to which the district is entitled, multiplied by
.003.
SECTION 12. Sections 39.023(g) and 39.0533(d) and (e),
Education Code, are repealed.
SECTION 13. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, this Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school
year.
(b) The expiration of Section 39.0263, Education Code,
applies with respect to the statewide assessment program under
Chapter 39 of that code, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year.
SECTION 14. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, 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, 2023.
(b) Section 48.116, Education Code, as added by this Act,
takes effect September 1, 2023.