By: Barrientos S.B. No. 349
73R4477 SOS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the testing of certain deaf or blind students enrolled
1-3 at institutions of higher education.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 51.306, Education Code, is amended by
1-6 adding Subsection (l) to read as follows:
1-7 (l) An institution may not require a deaf or blind student
1-8 to take the test required by this section as a condition for
1-9 enrollment in an upper division course or require a deaf or blind
1-10 student to participate in a remediation program as a result of the
1-11 test. This subsection expires September 1, 1993.
1-12 SECTION 2. Effective September 1, 1993, Section 51.306,
1-13 Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (n) and (o) to
1-14 read as follows:
1-15 (n) This section applies to a blind student only if the test
1-16 is administered to that student in large-print or braille or is
1-17 administered by audio cassette, as appropriate to that student.
1-18 (o) This section does not apply to a deaf student.
1-19 SECTION 3. Subchapter F, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
1-20 amended by adding Section 51.3061 to read as follows:
1-21 Sec. 51.3061. TESTING AND REMEDIAL COURSEWORK FOR DEAF
1-22 STUDENTS. (a) In this section:
1-23 (1) "Deaf student" means a student who is a deaf
1-24 person, as defined by Section 54.205(a) of this code.
2-1 (2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
2-2 assigned by Section 61.003 of this code.
2-3 (b) A deaf student who enrolls at an institution of higher
2-4 education must take the Stanford Achievement Test, nationally
2-5 normed on the hearing-impaired population by Gallaudet University,
2-6 if the student:
2-7 (1) is a full-time or part-time freshman enrolled in a
2-8 certificate or degree program that contains the equivalent of nine
2-9 or more semester credit hours of general education courses; or
2-10 (2) is a transfer student from an institution that is
2-11 not an institution of higher education, has less than 60 semester
2-12 credit hours, and has not previously taken the test required by
2-13 this section.
2-14 (c) The Central Education Agency shall administer the test.
2-15 (d) A deaf testing committee is established to determine
2-16 required performance standards on the test and to determine
2-17 required remedial coursework for students who fail the test.
2-18 (e) The deaf testing committee consists of the following
2-19 seven members:
2-20 (1) a person appointed by the Central Education
2-21 Agency's testing and evaluation division;
2-22 (2) a person appointed by the Central Education
2-23 Agency's office on deaf education;
2-24 (3) an administrator of the deaf student services
2-25 program of the Texas State Technical College System;
2-26 (4) a vice-president of the Southwest Collegiate
2-27 Institute for the Deaf;
3-1 (5) a person appointed by Eastfield College's deaf
3-2 support services program;
3-3 (6) a person appointed by Houston Community College's
3-4 deaf support services program; and
3-5 (7) a person appointed by Eastfield College's
3-6 Gallaudet extension program.
3-7 SECTION 4. Notwithstanding Section 51.3061, Education Code,
3-8 as added by this Act, deaf students who enroll at institutions of
3-9 higher education are required to take the test prescribed by that
3-10 section beginning with the fall semester in 1995.
3-11 SECTION 5. Not later than May 1, 1995, the deaf testing
3-12 committee established under Section 51.3061, Education Code, as
3-13 added by this Act, shall establish performance standards for the
3-14 test required under that section and shall establish remedial
3-15 coursework requirements for students who fail the test.
3-16 SECTION 6. Except as provided by Section 2 of this Act, this
3-17 Act takes effect immediately.
3-18 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
3-24 terms, and it is so enacted.