House Bill 3906 amends the Education Code to establish as state policy that the statewide assessment program be designed to provide standardized tests that are as short as practicable and to minimize the disruption to the educational program. The bill revises requirements for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to adopt and develop statewide standardized tests in specified subjects for administration in the third through eighth grades by removing grade‑level specifications regarding the use of technology for mathematics tests and, effective September 1, 2021, removing the required writing tests. The bill revises provisions relating to the administration of the tests, including by shortening the time required for administration, allowing administration in multiple parts and on multiple days, and establishing certain exceptions. The bill revises certain provisions relating to the administration and scheduling of secondary‑level end‑of‑course tests, limits the proportion of multiple choice questions permitted for any statewide standardized test, and requires TEA to adopt or develop certain optional interim tests. The bill requires the commissioner of education to appoint a technical advisory committee and an educator advisory committee to advise the commissioner and TEA regarding the development of statewide standardized tests.

House Bill 3906 requires TEA, in consultation with the State Board of Education, to develop a transition plan to administer all required statewide standardized tests electronically beginning not later than the 2022‑2023 school year and establishes a related reporting requirement to ensure legislative approval of the transition plan before its implementation. The bill requires TEA to establish an integrated formative assessment pilot program and to submit a biennial report on the program to the governor, lieutenant governor, and members of the legislature.

House Bill 3906 prohibits the consideration of performance on a test administered to students in prekindergarten for any purpose relating to public school accountability or accountability interventions and sanctions. The bill requires a public school district to permit a student to substitute a calculator application on a computing device for a graphing calculator for use in an applicable course.

Implementation of a provision of this bill by TEA is mandatory only if a specific appropriation is made for that purpose. The bill caps the annual amount of foundation school program funds appropriated to TEA that TEA may use for that purpose at $35 million.

House Bill 3906	House Author: Huberty
Effective: See below	Senate Sponsor: Taylor et al.