75R12978 E
By Garcia H.B. No. 2051
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2051:
By Culberson C.S.H.B. No. 2051
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to state assessment instruments administered to public
1-3 school students.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
1-6 amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsections (l) and (m)
1-7 to read as follows:
1-8 (a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate
1-9 criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess
1-10 competencies in reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and
1-11 science. All [nonexempt] students, except students assessed under
1-12 Subsection (l) or exempted under Section 39.027, shall be assessed
1-13 in:
1-14 (1) reading and mathematics, annually in grades three
1-15 through eight;
1-16 (2) writing, in grades four and eight; and
1-17 (3) social studies and science, at an appropriate
1-18 grade level determined by the State Board of Education.
1-19 (d) Under rules adopted by the State Board of Education, the
1-20 agency shall release the questions and answer keys to each
1-21 assessment instrument administered under Subsection (a), (b), [or]
1-22 (c), or (l) after the last time the instrument is administered for
1-23 a school year. To ensure a valid bank of questions for use each
1-24 year, the agency is not required to release a question that is
2-1 being field-tested and was not used to compute the student's score
2-2 on the instrument. The agency shall also release, under board
2-3 rule, each question that is no longer being field-tested and that
2-4 was not used to compute a student's score.
2-5 (l) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules for
2-6 administration of the assessment instruments adopted under
2-7 Subsection (a) to students of limited English proficiency, as
2-8 defined by Section 29.052. The agency shall adopt or develop
2-9 assessment instruments to assess the English reading proficiency of
2-10 students as provided by the board rules.
2-11 (m) The agency shall adopt or develop and the State Board of
2-12 Education shall administer the assessment instruments not later
2-13 than the 2000-2001 school year. The agency shall initially
2-14 release, under Subsection (d), the questions and answer key to each
2-15 assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (l) after the last
2-16 administration of an assessment instrument in the third school year
2-17 in which the instrument is administered. This subsection expires
2-18 September 1, 2001.
2-19 SECTION 2. Sections 39.024(b) and (c), Education Code, are
2-20 amended to read as follows:
2-21 (b) Each school district shall offer an intensive program of
2-22 instruction for students who did not perform satisfactorily on an
2-23 assessment instrument administered under this subchapter. The
2-24 intensive programs shall be designed to enable the students who did
2-25 not perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument to be
2-26 performing at grade level at the conclusion of the next regular
2-27 school term. The intensive programs shall be designed to enable
3-1 the students who did not perform satisfactorily on an assessment
3-2 instrument adopted under Section 39.023(a) or a secondary
3-3 exit-level assessment instrument to attain a standard of annual
3-4 growth specified by the agency.
3-5 (c) The agency shall develop [and distribute] study guides
3-6 for the assessment instruments administered under Section 39.023(a)
3-7 and the secondary exit-level assessment instruments. To [to]
3-8 assist parents in providing assistance during the period that
3-9 school is recessed for the summer, school districts shall
3-10 distribute the study guides to parents of [to] students who do not
3-11 perform satisfactorily on one or more parts of an assessment
3-12 instrument administered under this subchapter. The commissioner
3-13 shall retain a portion of the total amount of funds allotted under
3-14 Section 42.152(a) that the commissioner considers appropriate to
3-15 finance the development and distribution of the study guides and
3-16 shall reduce each district's allotment proportionately.
3-17 SECTION 3. Section 39.027, Education Code, is amended by
3-18 amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read
3-19 as follows:
3-20 (a) A [Except as provided by Subsection (c), a] student may
3-21 be exempted from:
3-22 (1) the requirements of this subchapter if the
3-23 student[:]
3-24 [(1)] is eligible for a special education program
3-25 under Section 29.003, unless the student's individualized education
3-26 program does not permit the exemption; or
3-27 (2) the administration in the English language of an
4-1 assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) if the student is of
4-2 limited English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052, and
4-3 meets the criteria for exemption established by rule of the State
4-4 Board of Education.
4-5 (c) Not later than September 1, 2000 [December 1, 1996], the
4-6 commissioner shall develop [and propose to the legislature] an
4-7 assessment system that shall be used for evaluating the academic
4-8 progress of students exempted under Subsection (a)(2) who are
4-9 instructed in English because of a shortage of teachers with
4-10 teaching certificates appropriate for bilingual education
4-11 instruction or in a secondary ESL class. Not later than the
4-12 2000-2001 [1998-1999] school year, the performance [of those
4-13 students] under an assessment system of students to whom Subsection
4-14 (a) applies must be included in the academic excellence indicator
4-15 system under Section 39.051, the campus report card under Section
4-16 39.052, and the performance report under Section 39.053. This
4-17 subsection expires September 1, 2001 [1999].
4-18 (d) A student of limited English proficiency who is
4-19 enrolling for the first time in a public school in this state, and
4-20 is instructed predominantly in English because of a shortage of
4-21 teachers with teaching certificates appropriate for bilingual
4-22 education instruction or in a secondary ESL class for one or more
4-23 school years, must be assessed for at least three school years
4-24 using an assessment instrument developed by the commissioner
4-25 specifically for evaluating the academic progress of a student of
4-26 limited English proficiency who is instructed predominantly in
4-27 English. Assessment under this subsection must be completed before
5-1 the student may be assessed using an assessment instrument adopted
5-2 under Section 39.023 unless the LPAC waives the three-year period.
5-3 In this subsection, "student of limited English proficiency" has
5-4 the meaning assigned by Section 29.052.
5-5 SECTION 4. Section 26.005, Education Code, is amended to
5-6 read as follows:
5-7 Sec. 26.005. Access to State Assessments. Except as
5-8 provided by Section 39.023(d), a parent is entitled to access to a
5-9 copy of each state assessment instrument administered under Section
5-10 39.023(a), (b), [or] (c), or (l) to the parent's child.
5-11 SECTION 5. Section 7.055(a)(33), Education Code, is
5-12 repealed.
5-13 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
5-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-18 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-19 passage, and it is so enacted.