By Garcia H.B. No. 3675
76R8738 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) to students of limited English proficiency, as
2-7 defined by Section 29.052. The agency shall adopt or develop
2-8 assessment instruments to assess the English reading proficiency of
2-9 students as provided by board rule.
2-10 (m) The agency shall adopt or develop and the State Board of
2-11 Education shall administer the assessment instruments adopted under
2-12 Subsection (a) to students of limited English proficiency, as
2-13 defined by Section 29.052, not later than the 2002-2003 school
2-14 year. The agency shall initially release, under Subsection (e),
2-15 the questions and answer key to each assessment instrument adopted
2-16 or developed under Subsection (l) after the last administration of
2-17 an assessment instrument in the third school year in which the
2-18 instrument is administered. This subsection expires September 1,
2-19 2003.
2-20 SECTION 2. Section 39.024(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-21 read as follows:
2-22 (b) Each school district shall offer an intensive program of
2-23 instruction for students who did not perform satisfactorily on an
2-24 assessment instrument administered under this subchapter. The
2-25 intensive programs for students who did not perform satisfactorily
2-26 on an assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) or (c) shall be
2-27 designed to enable those [the] students to be performing at grade
3-1 level at the conclusion of the next regular school term or to
3-2 attain a standard of annual growth specified by the agency. The
3-3 intensive programs for students who did not perform satisfactorily
3-4 on an assessment instrument under Section 39.023(b) shall be
3-5 designed by each student's admission, review, and dismissal
3-6 committee to enable the student to attain a standard of annual
3-7 growth on the basis of the student's individualized education
3-8 program.
3-9 SECTION 3. Section 39.027, Education Code, is amended by
3-10 amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsections (f) and (g)
3-11 to read as follows:
3-12 (a) A student may be exempted from the administration of an
3-13 assessment instrument under:
3-14 (1) Section 39.023(a) or (b) if the student is
3-15 eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 and
3-16 the student's individualized education program does not include
3-17 instruction in the essential knowledge and skills under Section
3-18 28.002 at any grade level;
3-19 (2) Section 39.023(c) or (d) if the student is
3-20 eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 and:
3-21 (A) the student's individualized education
3-22 program does not include instruction in the essential knowledge and
3-23 skills under Section 28.002 at any grade level; or
3-24 (B) the assessment instrument, even with
3-25 allowable modifications, would not provide an appropriate measure
3-26 of the student's achievement as determined by the student's
3-27 admission, review, and dismissal committee; or
4-1 (3) the administration in the English language of an
4-2 assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) [39.023] if the
4-3 student is of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section
4-4 29.052, and meets the criteria for exemption established by State
4-5 Board of Education rule.
4-6 (e) Not later than September 1, 2002, the commissioner shall
4-7 develop an assessment system that shall be used for evaluating the
4-8 academic progress of students exempted under Subsection (a)(3) who
4-9 are instructed in English because of a shortage of teachers with
4-10 teaching certificates and endorsements appropriate for bilingual
4-11 education instruction or for English as a second language
4-12 instruction at the secondary level. Not later than the 2002-2003
4-13 school year, the performance under an assessment system of students
4-14 to whom Subsection (a)(3) applies must be included in the academic
4-15 excellence indicator system under Section 39.051, the campus report
4-16 card under Section 39.052, and the performance report under Section
4-17 39.053. This subsection expires September 1, 2003.
4-18 (f) 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 primarily in English for one or more school years
4-21 because of a shortage of teachers with teaching certificates and
4-22 endorsements appropriate for bilingual education instruction or is
4-23 instructed in English as a second language at the secondary level
4-24 for one or more school years must be assessed for at least three
4-25 school years using an assessment instrument developed by the
4-26 commissioner specifically for evaluating the progress of a student
4-27 of limited English proficiency who is instructed primarily in
5-1 English. Assessment under this subsection must be completed before
5-2 the student may be assessed using an assessment instrument adopted
5-3 under Section 39.023 unless the committee established under Section
5-4 29.063 waives all or a portion of the period. In this subsection,
5-5 "student of limited English proficiency" has the meaning assigned
5-6 by Section 29.052.
5-7 (g) In this section, "average daily attendance" is computed
5-8 in the manner provided by Section 42.005.
5-9 SECTION 4. Section 7.055(b)(33), Education Code, is
5-10 repealed.
5-11 SECTION 5. Section 39.027(f), Education Code, as added by
5-12 this Act, applies beginning with the 2000-2001 school year.
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.