By Garcia H.B. No. 3675
76R13214 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain 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 (e) 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 students, except students assessed under Subsection
1-12 (b) or (l) or exempted under Section 39.027, shall be assessed in:
1-13 (1) reading and mathematics, annually in grades three
1-14 through eight;
1-15 (2) writing, in grades four and eight; and
1-16 (3) social studies and science, at an appropriate
1-17 grade level determined by the State Board of Education.
1-18 (e) Under rules adopted by the State Board of Education, the
1-19 agency shall release the questions and answer keys to each
1-20 assessment instrument administered under Subsection (a), (b), (c),
1-21 [or] (d), or (l) after the last time the instrument is administered
1-22 for a school year. To ensure a valid bank of questions for use
1-23 each year, the agency is not required to release a question that is
1-24 being field-tested and was not used to compute the student's score
2-1 on the instrument. The agency shall also release, under board
2-2 rule, each question that is no longer being field-tested and that
2-3 was not used to compute a student's score.
2-4 (l) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules for the
2-5 administration of the assessment instruments adopted under
2-6 Subsection (a) in Spanish to students of limited English
2-7 proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052, whose primary language
2-8 is Spanish. The language proficiency assessment committee
2-9 established under Section 29.063 shall determine which students are
2-10 administered assessment instruments in Spanish under this
2-11 subsection. Each student of limited English proficiency whose
2-12 primary language is Spanish, other than a student to whom
2-13 Subsection (b) applies, shall be assessed using assessment
2-14 instruments in Spanish under this subsection or assessment
2-15 instruments in English under Subsection (a).
2-16 (m) The agency shall initially release, under Subsection
2-17 (e), the questions and answer key to each assessment instrument
2-18 administered under Subsection (l) after the last administration of
2-19 an assessment instrument in the third school year in which the
2-20 instrument is administered. This subsection expires September 1,
2-21 2005.
2-22 SECTION 2. Section 39.024(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-23 read as follows:
2-24 (b) Each school district shall offer an intensive program of
2-25 instruction for students who did not perform satisfactorily on an
2-26 assessment instrument administered under this subchapter. The
2-27 intensive programs for students who did not perform satisfactorily
3-1 on an assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a), [or] (c), or
3-2 (l) shall be designed to enable those [the] students to be
3-3 performing at grade level at the conclusion of the next regular
3-4 school term or to attain a standard of annual growth specified by
3-5 the agency. The intensive programs for students who did not
3-6 perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument under Section
3-7 39.023(b) shall be designed by each student's admission, review,
3-8 and dismissal committee to enable the student to attain a standard
3-9 of annual growth on the basis of the student's individualized
3-10 education program.
3-11 SECTION 3. Section 39.027, Education Code, is amended by
3-12 amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read
3-13 as follows:
3-14 (a) A student may be exempted from the administration of an
3-15 assessment instrument under:
3-16 (1) Section 39.023(a) or (b) if the student is
3-17 eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 and
3-18 the student's individualized education program does not include
3-19 instruction in the essential knowledge and skills under Section
3-20 28.002 at any grade level;
3-21 (2) Section 39.023(c) or (d) if the student is
3-22 eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 and:
3-23 (A) the student's individualized education
3-24 program does not include instruction in the essential knowledge and
3-25 skills under Section 28.002 at any grade level; or
3-26 (B) the assessment instrument, even with
3-27 allowable modifications, would not provide an appropriate measure
4-1 of the student's achievement as determined by the student's
4-2 admission, review, and dismissal committee; or
4-3 (3) Section 39.023 if the student is of limited
4-4 English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052, and has a
4-5 primary language other than Spanish.
4-6 (e) The commissioner shall develop an assessment system that
4-7 shall be used for evaluating the academic progress, including
4-8 reading proficiency in English, of all students of limited English
4-9 proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052. The performance under
4-10 the assessment system developed under this subsection of students
4-11 to whom Subsection (a)(3) applies shall be included in the academic
4-12 excellence indicator system under Section 39.051, the campus report
4-13 card under Section 39.052, and the performance report under Section
4-14 39.053. The agency shall compile data on the performance under
4-15 that assessment system of students of limited English proficiency
4-16 whose primary language is Spanish, and the performance of those
4-17 students shall be included in the campus report card under Section
4-18 39.052 and the performance report under Section 39.053.
4-19 (f) In this section, "average daily attendance" is computed
4-20 in the manner provided by Section 42.005.
4-21 SECTION 4. Section 39.051(b), Education Code, is amended to
4-22 read as follows:
4-23 (b) Performance on the indicators adopted under this section
4-24 shall be compared to state-established standards. The degree of
4-25 change from one school year to the next in performance on each
4-26 indicator adopted under this section shall also be considered. The
4-27 indicators must be based on information that is disaggregated with
5-1 respect to race, ethnicity, sex, and socioeconomic status and must
5-2 include:
5-3 (1) the results of assessment instruments required
5-4 under Sections 39.023(a), [and] (c), and (l), aggregated by grade
5-5 level and subject area;
5-6 (2) dropout rates;
5-7 (3) student attendance rates;
5-8 (4) the percentage of graduating students who attain
5-9 scores on the secondary exit-level assessment instruments required
5-10 under Subchapter B that are equivalent to a passing score on the
5-11 test instrument required under Section 51.306;
5-12 (5) the percentage of graduating students who meet the
5-13 course requirements established for the recommended high school
5-14 program by State Board of Education rule;
5-15 (6) the results of the Scholastic Assessment Test
5-16 (SAT) and the American College Test;
5-17 (7) the percentage of students taking end-of-course
5-18 assessment instruments adopted under Section 39.023(d);
5-19 (8) the percentage of students exempted, by exemption
5-20 category, from the assessment program generally applicable under
5-21 this subchapter; and
5-22 (9) any other indicator the State Board of Education
5-23 adopts.
5-24 SECTION 5. Section 7.055(b)(33), Education Code, is
5-25 repealed.
5-26 SECTION 6. (a) The State Board of Education shall
5-27 administer assessment instruments in accordance with rules adopted
6-1 under Section 39.023(l), Education Code, as added by this Act, for
6-2 students in:
6-3 (1) grades three through six not later than the
6-4 1999-2000 school year; and
6-5 (2) grades seven and eight not later than the
6-6 2002-2003 school year.
6-7 (b) The performance of students under an assessment
6-8 instrument prescribed under Section 39.023(l), Education Code, as
6-9 added by this Act, shall be included in the accountability system
6-10 as provided by Section 39.051(b), Education Code, as amended by
6-11 this Act for students in:
6-12 (1) grades three through six not later than the
6-13 1999-2000 school year; and
6-14 (2) grades seven and eight not later than the
6-15 2003-2004 school year.
6-16 (c) Section 39.027(a)(3), Education Code, as amended by this
6-17 Act, applies to students in:
6-18 (1) grades three through six beginning with the
6-19 1999-2000 school year; and
6-20 (2) grades seven and eight beginning with the
6-21 2002-2003 school year.
6-22 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-27 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-1 passage, and it is so enacted.