79S30588 SLO-D

By:  Howard of Fort Bend                                          H.B. No. 165


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the reading curriculum used in public schools and to reading textbooks for public school students. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 28.002(c), Education Code, is amended to read as follows: (c) The State Board of Education, with the direct participation of educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers shall by rule identify the essential knowledge and skills of each subject of the required curriculum that all students should be able to demonstrate and that will be used in evaluating textbooks under Chapter 31 and addressed on the assessment instruments required under Subchapter B, Chapter 39. Reading must be included among the essential knowledge and skills of English language arts for grades one through eight. The reading curriculum must be grade specific and increase in depth and complexity from one school year to the next. The reading curriculum for kindergarten through grade three must include phonemic awareness and systematic, explicit phonics, spelling, vocabulary, and reading fluency and comprehension. As a condition of accreditation, the board shall require each district to provide instruction in the essential knowledge and skills at appropriate grade levels. SECTION 2. Section 31.023(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows: (a) For each subject and grade level, the State Board of Education shall adopt two lists of textbooks. The conforming list includes each textbook submitted for the subject and grade level that meets applicable physical specifications adopted by the State Board of Education, [and] contains material covering each element of the essential knowledge and skills of the subject and grade level as determined by the State Board of Education under Section 28.002 presented in an educationally effective manner, and is adopted under Section 31.024. To be placed on the conforming list, a reading textbook for kindergarten or grade one, two, or three must address phonemic awareness and must contain systematic, explicit phonics, spelling, vocabulary, and reading fluency and comprehension instruction that increases in depth and complexity from one school year to the next. The nonconforming list includes each textbook submitted for the subject and grade level that: (1) meets applicable physical specifications adopted by the State Board of Education; (2) contains material covering at least half, but not all, of the elements of the essential knowledge and skills of the subject and grade level presented in an educationally effective manner; [and] (3) is adopted under Section 31.024; and (4) contains systematic, explicit phonics, spelling, vocabulary, and reading fluency and comprehension instruction that increases in depth and complexity from one school year to the next, in the case of a reading textbook for kindergarten or grade one, two, or three. SECTION 3. Notwithstanding the textbook review and adoption requirements under Section 31.022, Education Code, or the textbook review and adoption cycle the State Board of Education adopts under that section, the board shall review and adopt reading textbooks for kindergarten through grade three that satisfy requirements under Section 31.023, Education Code, as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act. SECTION 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this Act apply beginning with the 2006-2007 school year. SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the 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, this Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the legislative session.