1-1 By: Ellis S.B. No. 1379
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 13, 1997; March 19, 1997, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 21, 1997,
1-4 reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 21, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1379 By: West
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to assessment of adult education programs and program
1-10 participants.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 29.252, Education Code, is amended to
1-13 read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 29.252. STATE ROLE IN ADULT AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION.
1-15 (a) The agency shall:
1-16 (1) provide adequate staffing to develop, administer,
1-17 and support a comprehensive statewide adult education program and
1-18 coordinate related federal and state programs for education and
1-19 training of adults;
1-20 (2) develop, implement, and regulate a comprehensive
1-21 statewide program for community level education services to meet
1-22 the special needs of adults;
1-23 (3) develop the mechanism and guidelines for
1-24 coordination of comprehensive adult education and related skill
1-25 training services for adults with other agencies, both public and
1-26 private, in planning, developing, and implementing related
1-27 programs, including community education programs;
1-28 (4) administer all state and federal funds for adult
1-29 education and related skill training in this state, except in
1-30 programs for which another entity is specifically authorized to do
1-31 so under other law;
1-32 (5) prescribe and administer standards and accrediting
1-33 policies for adult education;
1-34 (6) prescribe and administer rules for teacher
1-35 certification for adult education; [and]
1-36 (7) accept and administer grants, gifts, services, and
1-37 funds from available sources for use in adult education; and
1-38 (8) develop and administer a standardized assessment
1-39 mechanism for assessing all adult education program participants
1-40 who need literacy instruction, adult basic education, or secondary
1-41 education leading to an adult high school diploma or the
1-42 equivalent.
1-43 (b) The assessment mechanism prescribed under Subsection
1-44 (a)(8) must include an initial basic skills screening instrument
1-45 and must provide comprehensive information concerning baseline
1-46 student skills before and student progress after participation in
1-47 an adult education program.
1-48 SECTION 2. (a) Not later than September 15, 1997, the Texas
1-49 Education Agency shall complete development of the initial basic
1-50 skills screening instrument component of the standardized
1-51 assessment mechanism prescribed under Section 29.252, Education
1-52 Code, as amended by this Act. Not later than January 1, 1998, the
1-53 Texas Education Agency shall implement the initial basic skills
1-54 screening instrument component.
1-55 (b) Not later than July 1, 1998, the Texas Education Agency
1-56 shall complete development of the baseline student skills
1-57 assessment component of the standardized assessment mechanism
1-58 prescribed under Section 29.252, Education Code, as amended by this
1-59 Act. Not later than September 1, 1998, the Texas Education Agency
1-60 shall implement the baseline student skills assessment component.
1-61 (c) Not later than August 1, 1999, the Texas Education
1-62 Agency shall complete development of the student progress
1-63 assessment component of the standardized assessment mechanism under
1-64 Section 29.252, Education Code, as amended by this Act. Not later
2-1 than September 1, 1999, the Texas Education Agency shall implement
2-2 the student progress assessment component.
2-3 SECTION 3. Not later than September 1, 1998, the Texas
2-4 Education Agency shall develop a comprehensive management
2-5 information system to measure the progress of and results achieved
2-6 by adult education programs by collecting individual student data
2-7 concerning students in adult education programs, including
2-8 assessment data. The management information system must be
2-9 compatible with any related system used by the Texas Workforce
2-10 Commission.
2-11 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-16 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-17 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-18 * * * * *