By: Hochberg (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 447
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 28, 2003;
May 1, 2003, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 22, 2003, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 22, 2003, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state assessment of academic skills of public school
students in special education programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.023(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The agency shall develop or adopt appropriate
criterion-referenced assessment instruments to be administered to
each student in a special education program under Subchapter A,
Chapter 29, who receives modified instruction in the essential
knowledge and skills identified under Section 28.002 for the
assessed subject but for whom an [the] assessment instrument
[instruments] adopted under Subsection (a), even with allowable
modifications, would not provide an appropriate measure of student
achievement, as determined by the student's admission, review, and
dismissal committee. The assessment instruments required under
this subsection must assess essential knowledge and skills and
growth in the subjects of reading, mathematics, and writing. A
student's admission, review, and dismissal committee shall
determine whether any allowable modification is necessary in
administering to the student an assessment instrument required
under this subsection. The assessment instruments required under
this subsection shall be administered on the same schedule as the
assessment instruments administered under Subsection (a).
SECTION 2. Section 39.051(b), Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 8, 725, 834, and 1420, Acts of the 77th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2001, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(b) Performance on the indicators adopted under this
section shall be compared to state-established standards. The
degree of change from one school year to the next in performance on
each indicator adopted under this section shall also be considered.
The indicators must be based on information that is disaggregated
by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status and must
include:
(1) the results of assessment instruments required
under Sections 39.023(a), (c), and (l), aggregated by grade level
and subject area;
(2) dropout rates, including dropout rates and
district completion rates for grade levels 9 through 12;
(3) student attendance rates;
(4) the percentage of graduating students who attain
scores on the secondary exit-level assessment instruments required
under Subchapter B that are equivalent to a passing score on the
test instrument required under Section 51.306;
(5) the percentage of graduating students who meet the
course requirements established for the recommended high school
program by State Board of Education rule;
(6) the results of the Scholastic Assessment Test
(SAT), the American College Test (ACT), articulated postsecondary
degree programs described by Section 61.852, and certified
workforce training programs described by Chapter 311, Labor Code;
(7) the percentage of students, aggregated by grade
level, provided accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211(c),
the results of assessments administered under that section, the
percentage of students promoted through the grade placement
committee process under Section 28.0211, the subject of the
assessment instrument on which each student failed to perform
satisfactorily, and the performance of those students in the school
year following that promotion on the assessment instruments
required under Section 39.023;
(8) for students who have failed to perform
satisfactorily on an assessment instrument required under Section
39.023(a) or (c), the numerical progress of those students on
subsequent assessment instruments required under those sections,
aggregated by grade level and subject area;
[(9) the percentage of students taking end-of-course
assessment instruments adopted under Section 39.023(d);]
(9) the percentage of students exempted, by exemption
category, from the assessment program generally applicable under
this chapter [subchapter]; [and]
(10) [(11)] the percentage of students of limited
English proficiency exempted from the administration of an
assessment instrument under Sections 39.027(a)(3) and (4); and
(11) the percentage of students in a special education
program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, assessed through assessment
instruments developed or adopted under Section 39.023(b).
SECTION 3. Section 39.075(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall authorize special accreditation
investigations to be conducted:
(1) when excessive numbers of absences of students
eligible to be tested on state assessment instruments are
determined;
(2) when excessive numbers of allowable exemptions
from the required state assessment are determined;
(3) in response to complaints submitted to the agency
with respect to alleged violations of civil rights or other
requirements imposed on the state by federal law or court order;
(4) in response to established compliance reviews of
the district's financial accounting practices and state and federal
program requirements;
(5) when extraordinary numbers of student placements
in alternative education programs, other than placements under
Sections 37.006 and 37.007, are determined;
(6) in response to an allegation involving a conflict
between members of the board of trustees or between the board and
the district administration if it appears that the conflict
involves a violation of a role or duty of the board members or the
administration clearly defined by this code;
(7) when excessive numbers of students in special
education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, are assessed
through assessment instruments developed or adopted under Section
39.023(b); or
(8) [(7)] as the commissioner otherwise determines
necessary.
SECTION 4. Sections 1 and 2 apply beginning with the
2003-2004 school year. Section 3 applies beginning with the
2004-2005 school year.
SECTION 5. Section 3 takes effect September 1, 2004.
Sections 1 and 2 take effect immediately if this Act receives a vote
of two-thirds of all members elected to each house, as provided by
Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not
receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, Sections 1 and 2
take effect September 1, 2003.
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