84R397 KKA-D
	By: Seliger	S.B. No. 1798

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 7.0561, Education Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a), (b), (d), (i), and (j) and adding
	Subsections (j-1), (j-2), (j-3), (j-4), (k), (l), (m), and (m-1) to
	read as follows:
	(a)  In this section:
	(1)  "Consortium"[, "consortium"] means the Texas High
	Performance Schools Consortium established under this section.
	(2)  "Participant campus" means a school district
	campus or open-enrollment charter school that has been selected for
	and is participating in the consortium.
	(3)  "Participant district" means a school district
	that has one or more campuses participating in the consortium.
	(4)  "Readiness standards" means the standards
	identified by the agency that are essential for success.
	(b)  The Texas High Performance Schools Consortium is
	established to inform the governor, legislature, State Board of
	Education, and commissioner concerning methods for transforming
	public schools in this state by improving student learning through
	the development of innovative, next-generation learning standards
	and assessment and accountability systems.
	(d)  The number of students initially enrolled in
	participant campuses [consortium participants] may not be greater
	than a number equal to five percent of the total number of students
	enrolled in public schools in this state according to the most
	recent agency data. With approval of the commissioner, a
	participant district may add one or more district campuses to the
	consortium.
	(i)  To cover the costs of administering the consortium, the
	commissioner may charge a fee to a school district or
	open-enrollment charter school participating in the consortium.
	The commissioner may also charge a fee to a participating school
	district or open-enrollment charter school for use of
	state-provided assessment items or other costs associated with
	Subsection (l), and the commissioner may collect and use that fee
	for purposes of administering the consortium.
	(j)  The [With the assistance of the] school districts and
	open-enrollment charter schools participating in the consortium[,
	the commissioner] shall submit reports concerning the performance
	and progress of the consortium to the governor, [and] the
	legislature, the State Board of Education, and the commissioner not
	later than December 1 of[,] 2012, [and not later than December 1,]
	2014, 2016, and 2018.
	(j-1)  The report submitted under Subsection (j) not later
	than December 1, 2012, must include any recommendation by the
	commissioner concerning legislative authorization for the
	commissioner to waive a prohibition, requirement, or restriction
	that applies to a [consortium] participant campus or district.
	That report must also include a plan for an effective and efficient
	accountability system for participant campuses and districts
	[consortium participants] that balances academic excellence and
	local values to inspire learning and, at the state level,
	contingent on any necessary waiver of federal law, may incorporate
	use of a stratified random sampling of students or other objective
	methodology to hold participant campuses and districts [consortium
	participants] accountable while attempting to reduce the number of
	state assessment instruments that are required to be administered
	to students. The commissioner shall seek a federal waiver, to any
	extent necessary, to prepare for implementation of the plan if
	enacted by the legislature.
	(j-2)  The report submitted under Subsection (j) not later
	than December 1, 2016, must include an update on the effectiveness
	with which participant campuses are closing gaps in achievement on
	readiness standards, an evaluation of teaching fewer high-priority
	learning standards in depth, and any recommendations for
	legislation.  The report must address the effectiveness of the use
	of methods, including focus on high-priority standards; digital
	learning, such as blended learning, personalized learning, flipped
	classrooms, adaptive learning, and virtual learning; the use of
	multiple assessments that provide more precise, useful, and timely
	information; and reliance on local control that enables greater
	community and parental involvement.
	(j-3)  The report submitted under Subsection (j) not later
	than December 1, 2018, must include an update on the effectiveness
	with which participant campuses are addressing closing gaps in
	achievement on readiness standards, an evaluation of teaching fewer
	high-priority learning standards in depth, and any recommendations
	for legislation.
	(j-4)  Subsections (j), (j-1), (j-2), and (j-3) and this
	[This] subsection expire [expires] January 1, 2020 [2018].
	(k)  At least annually, the school board or governing body of
	each participant district or open-enrollment charter school shall
	hold a public hearing to discuss the district's or school's goals
	and work in the consortium and to provide for parental and community
	input.
	(l)  Notwithstanding Chapter 39 or any other law, a
	participant campus shall be evaluated for accountability purposes
	and administer assessment instruments only as follows:
	(1)  beginning with the 2015-2016 school year:
	(A)  for each assessment instrument administered
	under this subsection, a participant campus shall be evaluated:
	(i)  by the independent evaluation under
	Subsection (m) on disaggregated data by student group, with an
	emphasis on closing achievement gaps; and
	(ii)  by the agency on a report-only basis,
	with the scores not otherwise used for accountability purposes,
	including interventions and sanctions under Subchapter E, Chapter
	39;
	(B)  for each assessment instrument administered
	under Chapter 39, a participant campus shall be evaluated under
	Subsection (m) on readiness standards to allow teaching with depth
	and the evaluation of the effects of teaching with depth;
	(C)  students in grades three through eight who
	are not taking secondary-level courses shall be administered and
	students in grades three through eight who are taking
	secondary-level courses may, at the option of the district or
	charter school participating in the consortium, be administered
	only the assessment instruments under Section 39.023 in mathematics
	annually in grades three through seven without the aid of
	technology, mathematics in grade eight with the aid of technology
	on any assessment instrument that includes algebra, reading
	annually, and science in grades five and eight, and may be
	administered an assessment instrument described by Section
	39.0261(a)(1) in eighth grade instead of the assessment instruments
	or may be administered fewer assessment instruments if allowed by
	federal law or a waiver of federal law; and
	(D)  students taking secondary-level courses
	shall be assessed on end-of-course assessment instruments
	administered under Section 39.023(c) only for the 10th grade level
	course in English in which they are currently enrolled or shall be
	administered an assessment instrument described by Section
	39.0261(a)(2) for 10th grade in the same subject if allowed by
	federal law or a waiver of federal law, at the option of the
	district or open-enrollment charter school participating in the
	consortium;
	(2)  beginning with the 2016-2017 school year or as
	soon as possible following receipt of a waiver from federal law or a
	change in the federal law that requires annual testing of every
	student:
	(A)  students shall be administered:
	(i)  assessment instruments under Section
	39.023(a) for reading in grade three, mathematics in grade four,
	science in grade five, reading in grade six, and mathematics in
	grade seven;
	(ii)  in prekindergarten through 12th grade,
	locally approved or developed assessment instruments that are
	aligned to readiness standards or high-priority learning standards
	under Subsection (f), that may include limited numbers of
	state-provided assessment items, and that may have results that can
	be accessed by the agency for monitoring and reporting purposes, or
	other satisfactory secondary-level performance demonstrated under
	Section 39.025(a-1); and
	(iii)  assessment instruments described by
	Section 39.0261(a); and
	(B)  a participant campus shall be evaluated on
	community-established measures that include academic achievement
	and college and career readiness;
	(3)  beginning not later than the 2015-2016 school
	year, students in a special education program shall be administered
	appropriate assessments, including assessments developed or
	adopted under Section 39.023(b) and other assessments developed or
	adopted for significantly cognitively disabled students; and
	(4)  beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, students
	of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052:
	(A)  shall be administered appropriate
	assessments, including assessments approved by the commissioner
	that measure linguistic and academic growth as determined by the
	student's language proficiency assessment committee established by
	Section 29.063; and
	(B)  if a waiver from federal law is obtained,
	shall participate in appropriate assessments the first five years
	the students are enrolled in schools in the United States as
	participation-only unless the student attains an English
	proficiency rating equivalent to advanced high performance during
	this period, in which case the student's data will be aggregated
	into campus and district performance reports.
	(m)  The consortium shall receive independent evaluation
	from one or more external evaluation teams, including an
	institution of higher education in this state.
	(m-1)  An evaluation conducted under Subsection (m) must be
	included in the reports required under Subsection (j).  This
	subsection expires January 1, 2020.
	SECTION 2.  Section 29.0822(a), Education Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(a)  Notwithstanding Section 25.081 or 25.082, a school
	district may apply to the commissioner to provide a flexible school
	day program for students who:
	(1)  have dropped out of school or are at risk of
	dropping out of school as defined by Section 29.081;
	(2)  attend a campus that is implementing an innovative
	redesign of the campus, including a campus in the high performance
	schools consortium under Section 7.0561, or an early college high
	school under a plan approved by the commissioner; or
	(3)  as a result of attendance requirements under
	Section 25.092, will be denied credit or a final grade for one or
	more classes in which the students have been enrolled.
	SECTION 3.  Section 39.025(d), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(d)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the commissioner by
	rule shall adopt one or more alternative nationally recognized norm
	referenced assessment instruments under this section to administer
	to a student to qualify for a high school diploma if the student
	enrolls after January 1 of the school year in which the student is
	otherwise eligible to graduate:
	(1)  for the first time in a public school in this
	state; [or]
	(2)  after an absence of at least four years from any
	public school in this state; or
	(3)  in a public school in this state that does not
	participate in the high performance schools consortium under
	Section 7.0561 after the student has been enrolled in a public
	school participating in the consortium during high school.
	SECTION 4.  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, 2015.