Bill Text: TX HB988 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to establishing a pilot program under which public schools may develop a portfolio method to assess student performance in grades three through eight for purposes of accountability and qualification for promotion.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-21 - Left pending in committee [HB988 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB988-Introduced.html
  85R6716 PAM-D
 
  By: González of El Paso H.B. No. 988
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to establishing a pilot program under which public schools
  may develop a portfolio method to assess student performance in
  grades three through eight for purposes of accountability and
  qualification for promotion.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 39.02302 to read as follows:
         Sec. 39.02302.  PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT PILOT PROGRAM FOR
  GRADES THREE THROUGH EIGHT. (a) The commissioner shall establish a
  pilot program as provided by this section under which participating
  school districts may:
               (1)  implement a portfolio method to assess students in
  grades three through eight; and
               (2)  use student performance under that method as a
  percentage of a student's overall performance on assessment
  instruments, in addition to the student's performance on assessment
  instruments required under Sections 39.023(a), (b), and (l), for
  purposes of accountability under this chapter and qualification for
  promotion under Section 28.0211.
         (b)  A school district may choose to participate in the pilot
  program established under this section by submitting to the
  commissioner for approval not later than May 1, 2018, a plan
  described by this subsection and approved by the board of trustees
  of the district. A school district that chooses to participate in
  the pilot program must create a committee that consists of teachers
  and administrators employed by and students enrolled in the
  district to develop a three-year plan that:
               (1)  specifies the goals and guiding principles for
  implementation of the district's portfolio assessment method;
               (2)  designates for assessment by the portfolio
  assessment method:
                     (A)  English language arts;
                     (B)  mathematics; and
                     (C)  any other subject as determined by the
  committee;
               (3)  specifies the essential knowledge and skills that
  must be addressed by the portfolio method of assessment for each
  subject designated under Subdivision (2);
               (4)  designates the grades subject to portfolio
  assessment;
               (5)  provides for accommodations and any other support
  measures that comply with applicable federal law for students
  enrolled in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter
  29, and students of limited English proficiency, as defined by
  Section 29.052;
               (6)  includes requirements for using components of the
  portfolio assessment as:
                     (A)  an interim formative assessment tool to
  provide the student the opportunity to further develop
  understanding and performance; and
                     (B)  a final summative assessment;
               (7)  includes the method of submitting student
  portfolios, which may include written submission, digital
  delivery, an oral defense presentation, or a combination of those
  methods; and
               (8)  includes a rubric for grading student portfolios
  as provided by Subsection (c).
         (c)  The rubric included in the plan developed under
  Subsection (b) must be developed by district teachers. In
  developing the rubric, the district teachers may incorporate
  suggestions from students enrolled in the district and community
  and business leaders. The rubric must be based on a 100-point scale
  scoring system and must establish a level of performance considered
  satisfactory and a level of performance necessary to indicate
  college readiness.
         (d)  Subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
  of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g), the plan developed under
  Subsection (b) may provide for the use of portfolio assessments for
  other purposes, including to:
               (1)  evaluate teacher performance;
               (2)  assist in developing campus turnaround plans and
  other campus improvement initiatives under Subchapter E;
               (3)  assist in communicating with the student's parents
  regarding the student's academic development; or
               (4)  provide relevant information in admission,
  review, and dismissal committee and language proficiency
  assessment committee meetings.
         (e)  The commissioner shall review and make a determination
  on each plan submitted under this section on or before August 1,
  2018. To participate in the pilot program, a school district must
  implement a plan approved by the commissioner under this section
  beginning with the 2018-2019 school year.
         (f)  For purposes of the pilot program, if a scale score
  required for satisfactory performance under Section 39.0241(a) on
  an assessment instrument required under Section 39.023(a), (b), or
  (l) is not based on a 100-point scale scoring system, the
  commissioner shall provide for a conversion, in accordance with
  commissioner rule, of the scale score to an equivalent score based
  on a 100-point scale scoring system. A student's performance under
  the portfolio assessment method for a grade and subject shall be
  combined with the student's performance on the assessment
  instrument administered under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (l), as
  applicable, for that grade and subject to determine the student's
  overall performance. For purposes of assigning districts and
  campuses a performance rating under Section 39.054, a student's
  performance under the portfolio assessment method for a grade and
  subject is considered as 50 percent of the student's overall
  performance. For purposes of determining whether a student
  performed satisfactorily on an assessment instrument required
  under Section 28.0211 to qualify for promotion, a student's
  performance under the portfolio assessment method for the
  applicable grade and subject is considered as 65 percent of the
  student's overall performance.
         (g)  For purposes of assigning districts and campuses a
  performance rating under Section 39.054, the commissioner shall
  consider districts and campuses participating in the pilot program
  separately. The commissioner shall adopt rules to substitute a
  student's overall performance computed as provided by Subsection
  (f) for purposes of accountability for the student's performance on
  assessment instruments required under Section 39.023(a), (b), or
  (l), as applicable.
         (h)  A school district that participates in the pilot program
  shall provide student performance data to the agency as required by
  agency rule. The agency shall periodically review the performance
  data submitted under this subsection.
         (i)  The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
  implement this section, including:
               (1)  rules for submitting to the commissioner for
  approval a plan described by Subsection (b) and subsequent
  amendments to the plan;
               (2)  rules for evaluating submitted plans and
  amendments described by Subdivision (1);
               (3)  rules for submitting student performance data to
  the agency as required under Subsection (h); and
               (4)  any specific rules for school districts or
  campuses that are rated unacceptable and choose to participate in
  the pilot program under this section.
         (j)  Not later than September 1, 2022, the agency shall
  prepare and deliver to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
  speaker of the house of representatives, and the presiding officer
  of each legislative standing committee with primary jurisdiction
  over primary and secondary education a report that:
               (1)  evaluates the implementation and performance
  results of the pilot program under this section; and
               (2)  makes recommendations regarding the feasibility
  of statewide application of establishing a portfolio method to
  assess student performance in grades three through eight for
  purposes of accountability and qualification for promotion.
         (k)  This section expires September 1, 2023.
         SECTION 2.  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, 2017.
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