1-1 By: Raymond (Senate Sponsor - Ellis) H.B. No. 1640
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 1997;
1-3 May 6, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Education; May 16, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0;
1-6 May 16, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1640 By: West
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to assessment of adult education programs and program
1-11 participants.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 29.252, Education Code, is amended to
1-14 read as follows:
1-15 Sec. 29.252. STATE ROLE IN ADULT AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION.
1-16 (a) The agency shall:
1-17 (1) provide adequate staffing to develop, administer,
1-18 and support a comprehensive statewide adult education program and
1-19 coordinate related federal and state programs for education and
1-20 training of adults;
1-21 (2) develop, implement, and regulate a comprehensive
1-22 statewide program for community level education services to meet
1-23 the special needs of adults;
1-24 (3) develop the mechanism and guidelines for
1-25 coordination of comprehensive adult education and related skill
1-26 training services for adults with other agencies, both public and
1-27 private, in planning, developing, and implementing related
1-28 programs, including community education programs;
1-29 (4) administer all state and federal funds for adult
1-30 education and related skill training in this state, except in
1-31 programs for which another entity is specifically authorized to do
1-32 so under other law;
1-33 (5) prescribe and administer standards and accrediting
1-34 policies for adult education;
1-35 (6) prescribe and administer rules for teacher
1-36 certification for adult education; [and]
1-37 (7) accept and administer grants, gifts, services, and
1-38 funds from available sources for use in adult education; and
1-39 (8) adopt or develop and administer a standardized
1-40 assessment mechanism for assessing all adult education program
1-41 participates who need literacy instruction, adult basic education,
1-42 or secondary education leading to an adult high school diploma or
1-43 the equivalent.
1-44 (b) The assessment mechanism prescribed under Subsection
1-45 (a)(8) must include an initial basic skills screening instrument
1-46 and must provide comprehensive information concerning baseline
1-47 student skills before and student progress after participation in
1-48 an adult education program.
1-49 SECTION 2. (a) Not later than September 15, 1997, the Texas
1-50 Education Agency shall complete development of the initial basic
1-51 skills screening instrument component of the standardized
1-52 assessment mechanism prescribed under Section 29.252, Education
1-53 Code, as amended by this Act. Not later than January 1, 1998, the
1-54 Texas Education Agency shall implement the initial basic skills
1-55 screening instrument component.
1-56 (b) Not later than July 1, 1998, the Texas Education Agency
1-57 shall complete development of the baseline student skills
1-58 assessment component of the standardized assessment mechanism
1-59 prescribed under Section 29.252, Education Code, as amended by this
1-60 Act. Not later than September 1, 1998, the Texas Education Agency
1-61 shall implement the baseline student skills assessment component.
1-62 (c) Not later than August 1, 1999, the Texas Education
1-63 Agency shall complete development of the student progress
1-64 assessment component of the standardized assessment mechanism under
2-1 Section 29.252, Education Code, as amended by this Act. Not later
2-2 than September 1, 1999, the Texas Education Agency shall implement
2-3 the student progress assessment component.
2-4 SECTION 3. Not later than September 1, 1998, the Texas
2-5 Education Agency shall develop a comprehensive management
2-6 information system to measure the progress of and results achieved
2-7 by adult education programs by collecting individual student data
2-8 concerning students in adult education programs, including
2-9 assessment data. The management information system must be
2-10 compatible with any related system used by the Texas Workforce
2-11 Commission.
2-12 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-17 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-18 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-19 * * * * *