By Dutton H.B. No. 988
75R4683 ESH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to exemptions from state assessment instruments
1-3 administered to public school students.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 39.027, Education Code, is repealed.
1-6 SECTION 2. Section 39.023(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (a) The agency shall adopt appropriate criterion-referenced
1-9 assessment instruments designed to assess competencies in reading,
1-10 writing, mathematics, social studies, and science. All [nonexempt]
1-11 students shall be assessed in:
1-12 (1) reading and mathematics, annually in grades three
1-13 through eight;
1-14 (2) writing, in grades four and eight; and
1-15 (3) social studies and science, at an appropriate
1-16 grade level determined by the State Board of Education.
1-17 SECTION 3. Section 39.051(b), Education Code, is amended to
1-18 read as follows:
1-19 (b) Performance on the indicators adopted under this section
1-20 shall be compared to state-established standards. The degree of
1-21 change from one school year to the next in performance on each
1-22 indicator adopted under this section shall also be considered. The
1-23 indicators must be based on information that is disaggregated with
1-24 respect to race, ethnicity, sex, and socioeconomic status and must
2-1 include:
2-2 (1) the results of assessment instruments required
2-3 under Subchapter B aggregated by grade level and subject area;
2-4 (2) dropout rates;
2-5 (3) student attendance rates;
2-6 (4) the percentage of graduating students who attain
2-7 scores on the secondary exit-level assessment instruments required
2-8 under Subchapter B that are equivalent to a passing score on the
2-9 test instrument required under Section 51.306;
2-10 (5) the percentage of graduating students who meet the
2-11 course requirements established for the recommended high school
2-12 program by State Board of Education rule;
2-13 (6) the results of the Scholastic Assessment Test
2-14 (SAT) and the American College Test;
2-15 (7) the percentage of students taking end-of-course
2-16 assessment instruments adopted under Section 39.023(c); and
2-17 (8) [the percentage of students exempted, by exemption
2-18 category, from the assessment program generally applicable under
2-19 this subchapter; and]
2-20 [(9)] any other indicator the State Board of Education
2-21 adopts.
2-22 SECTION 4. Section 39.052(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-23 read as follows:
2-24 (b) The report card shall include the following information
2-25 where applicable:
2-26 (1) the academic excellence indicators adopted under
2-27 Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (7) [(8)];
3-1 (2) student/teacher ratios; and
3-2 (3) administrative and instructional costs per
3-3 student.
3-4 SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 1997-1998
3-5 school year.
3-6 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-11 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-12 passage, and it is so enacted.