75R11921 CAS-D
By Raymond H.B. No. 1640
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1640:
By Raymond C.S.H.B. No. 1640
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to assessment of adult education programs and program
1-3 participants.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 29.252, Education Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 29.252. STATE ROLE IN ADULT AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION.
1-8 (a) The agency shall:
1-9 (1) provide adequate staffing to develop, administer,
1-10 and support a comprehensive statewide adult education program and
1-11 coordinate related federal and state programs for education and
1-12 training of adults;
1-13 (2) develop, implement, and regulate a comprehensive
1-14 statewide program for community level education services to meet
1-15 the special needs of adults;
1-16 (3) develop the mechanism and guidelines for
1-17 coordination of comprehensive adult education and related skill
1-18 training services for adults with other agencies, both public and
1-19 private, in planning, developing, and implementing related
1-20 programs, including community education programs;
1-21 (4) administer all state and federal funds for adult
1-22 education and related skill training in this state, except in
1-23 programs for which another entity is specifically authorized to do
1-24 so under other law;
2-1 (5) prescribe and administer standards and accrediting
2-2 policies for adult education;
2-3 (6) prescribe and administer rules for teacher
2-4 certification for adult education; [and]
2-5 (7) accept and administer grants, gifts, services, and
2-6 funds from available sources for use in adult education; and
2-7 (8) develop and administer a standardized assessment
2-8 mechanism for assessing all adult education program participants
2-9 who need literacy instruction, adult basic education, or secondary
2-10 education leading to an adult high school diploma or the
2-11 equivalent.
2-12 (b) The assessment mechanism prescribed under Subsection
2-13 (a)(8) must include an initial basic skills screening instrument
2-14 and must provide comprehensive information concerning baseline
2-15 student skills before and student progress after participation in
2-16 an adult education program.
2-17 SECTION 2. (a) Not later than September 15, 1997, the Texas
2-18 Education Agency shall complete development of the initial basic
2-19 skills screening instrument component of the standardized
2-20 assessment mechanism prescribed under Section 29.252, Education
2-21 Code, as amended by this Act. Not later than January 1, 1998, the
2-22 Texas Education Agency shall implement the initial basic skills
2-23 screening instrument component.
2-24 (b) Not later than July 1, 1998, the Texas Education Agency
2-25 shall complete development of the baseline student skills
2-26 assessment component of the standardized assessment mechanism
2-27 prescribed under Section 29.252, Education Code, as amended by this
3-1 Act. Not later than September 1, 1998, the Texas Education Agency
3-2 shall implement the baseline student skills assessment component.
3-3 (c) Not later than August 1, 1999, the Texas Education
3-4 Agency shall complete development of the student progress
3-5 assessment component of the standardized assessment mechanism under
3-6 Section 29.252, Education Code, as amended by this Act. Not later
3-7 than September 1, 1999, the Texas Education Agency shall implement
3-8 the student progress assessment component.
3-9 SECTION 3. Not later than September 1, 1998, the Texas
3-10 Education Agency shall develop a comprehensive management
3-11 information system to measure the progress of and results achieved
3-12 by adult education programs by collecting individual student data
3-13 concerning students in adult education programs, including
3-14 assessment data. The management information system must be
3-15 compatible with any related system used by the Texas Workforce
3-16 Commission.
3-17 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-22 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-23 passage, and it is so enacted.