1-1 By: Garcia (Senate Sponsor - Bivins) H.B. No. 3675
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1999;
1-3 May 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Education; May 14, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0;
1-6 May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3675 By: Bivins
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to certain assessment instruments administered to public
1-11 school students.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
1-14 amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsection (l) to read
1-15 as follows:
1-16 (a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate
1-17 criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess
1-18 competencies in reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and
1-19 science. All students, except students assessed under Subsection
1-20 (b) or (l) or exempted under Section 39.027, shall be assessed in:
1-21 (1) reading and mathematics, annually in grades three
1-22 through eight;
1-23 (2) writing, in grades four and eight; and
1-24 (3) social studies and science, at an appropriate
1-25 grade level determined by the State Board of Education.
1-26 (e) Under rules adopted by the State Board of Education, the
1-27 agency shall release the questions and answer keys to each
1-28 assessment instrument administered under Subsection (a), (b), (c),
1-29 [or] (d), or (l) after the last time the instrument is administered
1-30 for a school year. To ensure a valid bank of questions for use
1-31 each year, the agency is not required to release a question that is
1-32 being field-tested and was not used to compute the student's score
1-33 on the instrument. The agency shall also release, under board
1-34 rule, each question that is no longer being field-tested and that
1-35 was not used to compute a student's score.
1-36 (l) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules for the
1-37 administration of the assessment instruments adopted under
1-38 Subsection (a) in Spanish to students in grades three through six
1-39 who are of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section
1-40 29.052, and whose primary language is Spanish. Each student of
1-41 limited English proficiency whose primary language is Spanish,
1-42 other than a student to whom Subsection (b) applies, shall be
1-43 assessed using assessment instruments in Spanish under this
1-44 subsection or assessment instruments in English under Subsection
1-45 (a). The language proficiency assessment committee established
1-46 under Section 29.063 shall determine which students are
1-47 administered assessment instruments in Spanish under this
1-48 subsection.
1-49 SECTION 2. Section 39.024(b), Education Code, is amended to
1-50 read as follows:
1-51 (b) Each school district shall offer an intensive program of
1-52 instruction for students who did not perform satisfactorily on an
1-53 assessment instrument administered under this subchapter. The
1-54 intensive programs for students who did not perform satisfactorily
1-55 on an assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a), [or] (c), or
1-56 (l) shall be designed to enable those [the] students to be
1-57 performing at grade level at the conclusion of the next regular
1-58 school term or to attain a standard of annual growth specified by
1-59 the agency. The intensive programs for students who did not
1-60 perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument under Section
1-61 39.023(b) shall be designed by each student's admission, review,
1-62 and dismissal committee to enable the student to attain a standard
1-63 of annual growth on the basis of the student's individualized
1-64 education program.
2-1 SECTION 3. Section 39.027, Education Code, is amended by
2-2 amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read
2-3 as follows:
2-4 (a) A student may be exempted from the administration of an
2-5 assessment instrument under:
2-6 (1) Section 39.023(a) or (b) if the student is
2-7 eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 and
2-8 the student's individualized education program does not include
2-9 instruction in the essential knowledge and skills under Section
2-10 28.002 at any grade level;
2-11 (2) Section 39.023(c) or (d) if the student is
2-12 eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 and:
2-13 (A) the student's individualized education
2-14 program does not include instruction in the essential knowledge and
2-15 skills under Section 28.002 at any grade level; or
2-16 (B) the assessment instrument, even with
2-17 allowable modifications, would not provide an appropriate measure
2-18 of the student's achievement as determined by the student's
2-19 admission, review, and dismissal committee; or
2-20 (3) Section 39.023 if the student is of limited
2-21 English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052, and has a
2-22 primary language other than Spanish, or is a recent unschooled
2-23 immigrant as defined by board rule.
2-24 (e) The commissioner shall develop an assessment system that
2-25 shall be used for evaluating the academic progress, including
2-26 reading proficiency in English, of all students of limited English
2-27 proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052. The performance of
2-28 students on the assessment system developed under this subsection
2-29 shall be included in the academic excellence indicator system under
2-30 Section 39.051, the campus report card under Section 39.052, and
2-31 the performance report under Section 39.053.
2-32 (f) In this section, "average daily attendance" is computed
2-33 in the manner provided by Section 42.005.
2-34 SECTION 4. Section 39.051(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-35 read as follows:
2-36 (b) Performance on the indicators adopted under this section
2-37 shall be compared to state-established standards. The degree of
2-38 change from one school year to the next in performance on each
2-39 indicator adopted under this section shall also be considered. The
2-40 indicators must be based on information that is disaggregated with
2-41 respect to race, ethnicity, sex, and socioeconomic status and must
2-42 include:
2-43 (1) the results of assessment instruments required
2-44 under Sections 39.023(a), [and] (c), and (l), aggregated by grade
2-45 level and subject area;
2-46 (2) dropout rates;
2-47 (3) student attendance rates;
2-48 (4) the percentage of graduating students who attain
2-49 scores on the secondary exit-level assessment instruments required
2-50 under Subchapter B that are equivalent to a passing score on the
2-51 test instrument required under Section 51.306;
2-52 (5) the percentage of graduating students who meet the
2-53 course requirements established for the recommended high school
2-54 program by State Board of Education rule;
2-55 (6) the results of the Scholastic Assessment Test
2-56 (SAT) and the American College Test;
2-57 (7) the percentage of students taking end-of-course
2-58 assessment instruments adopted under Section 39.023(d);
2-59 (8) the percentage of students exempted, by exemption
2-60 category, from the assessment program generally applicable under
2-61 this subchapter; and
2-62 (9) any other indicator the State Board of Education
2-63 adopts.
2-64 SECTION 5. Section 7.055(b) (33), Education Code, is
2-65 repealed.
2-66 SECTION 6. (a) The State Board of Education shall
2-67 administer assessment instruments in accordance with rules adopted
2-68 under Section 39.023(l), Education Code, as added by this Act, not
2-69 later than the 1999-2000 school year.
3-1 (b) The performance of students under an assessment
3-2 instrument prescribed under Section 39.023(l), Education Code, as
3-3 added by this Act, shall be included in the accountability system
3-4 as provided by Section 39.051(b), Education Code, as amended by
3-5 this Act not later than the 1999-2000 school year.
3-6 (c) Section 39.027(a)(3), Education Code, as amended by this
3-7 Act, applies beginning with the 1999-2000 school year.
3-8 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
3-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-13 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-14 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-15 * * * * *