79R4299 PAM-F
By: West, Royce S.B. No. 972
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing a method for assessing the academic growth of
the performance of public school students on certain assessment
instruments.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.006(j), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(j) No more than 15 percent of the funds certified by the
commissioner under Subsection (i) may be spent on indirect costs.
The commissioner shall evaluate the programs that fail to meet the
standard of performance under Section 39.051(b)(10) [39.051(b)(7)]
and may implement sanctions under Subchapter G, Chapter 39. The
commissioner may audit the expenditures of funds appropriated for
purposes of this section. The use of the funds appropriated for
purposes of this section shall be verified as part of the district
audit under Section 44.008.
SECTION 2. Section 39.022, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.022. ASSESSMENT PROGRAM. The State Board of
Education by rule shall create and implement a statewide assessment
program that is knowledge- and skills-based to ensure school
accountability for student achievement and academic growth that
achieves the goals provided under Section 4.002. After adopting
rules under this section, the State Board of Education shall
consider the importance of maintaining stability in the statewide
assessment program when adopting any subsequent modification of the
rules.
SECTION 3. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (l) and (n) and adding Subsection (o) to read
as follows:
(l) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules for the
administration of the assessment instruments adopted under
Subsections [Subsection] (a) and (o) in Spanish to students in
grades three through six who are of limited English proficiency, as
defined by Section 29.052, whose primary language is Spanish, and
who are not otherwise exempt from the administration of an
assessment instrument under Section 39.027(a)(3) or (4). Each
student of limited English proficiency whose primary language is
Spanish, other than a student to whom Subsection (b) applies, may be
assessed using assessment instruments in Spanish under this
subsection for up to three years or assessment instruments in
English under Subsection (a). The language proficiency assessment
committee established under Section 29.063 shall determine which
students are administered assessment instruments in Spanish under
this subsection.
(n) This subsection applies only to a student who is
determined to have dyslexia or a related disorder and who is an
individual with a disability under 29 U.S.C. Section 705(20) and
its subsequent amendments. The agency shall adopt or develop
appropriate criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed
to assess the ability of and to be administered to each student to
whom this subsection applies for whom the assessment instruments
adopted under Subsections [Subsection] (a) and (o), even with
allowable modifications, would not provide an appropriate measure
of student achievement, as determined by the committee established
by the board of trustees of the district to determine the placement
of students with dyslexia or related disorders. The committee
shall determine whether any allowable modification is necessary in
administering to a 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) and, if
applicable, Subsection (o).
(o) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate
criterion-referenced assessment instruments, separate from the
assessment instruments adopted or developed under Subsection (a),
designed to assess reading progress by tracking changes in a
student's performance during the school year. A school district or
open-enrollment charter school may administer an assessment
instrument under this subsection. A campus that administers a
reading assessment under this subsection must report the results to
the agency.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.034 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.034. MEASURE OF STUDENT ACADEMIC GROWTH ON
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS. (a) The commissioner by rule shall adopt a
method by which the agency may measure student academic growth by
tracking changes in a student's performance from one school year to
the next on an assessment instrument required under Section
39.023(a).
(b) Each year, for each student who takes an assessment
instrument required under Section 39.023(a), the agency shall use
the method adopted under Subsection (a) to compare the student's
results on the assessment instrument to the student's results on
any assessment instrument for that subject the student has taken
during the preceding school year.
(c) The commissioner shall implement this section not later
than September 1, 2006. This subsection expires January 1, 2008.
SECTION 5. Section 39.051(b), Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 433 and 805, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2003, 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) average student academic growth, as measured under
Section 39.034, aggregated by grade level and subject;
(3) dropout rates, including dropout rates and
district completion rates for grade levels 9 through 12, computed
in accordance with standards and definitions adopted by the
National Center for Education Statistics of the United States
Department of Education;
(4) [(3)] high school graduation rates, computed in
accordance with standards and definitions adopted in compliance
with the [federal] No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Pub. L. No.
107-110);
(5) [(4)] student attendance rates;
(6) [(5)] 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 assessment [test] instrument required under Section 51.3062
[51.306];
(7) [(6)] the percentage of graduating students who
meet the course requirements established for the recommended high
school program by State Board of Education rule;
(8) if applicable, the results of assessment
instruments administered under Section 39.023(o), aggregated by
grade level;
(9) [(7)] 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;
(10) [(8)] 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;
(11) [(9)] 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;
(12) [(10)] the percentage of students exempted, by
exemption category, from the assessment program generally
applicable under this chapter; [and]
(13) [(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
(14) 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 6. Sections 39.051(c) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(c) Performance on the indicators [indicator] under
Subsections [Subsection] (b)(1) and (2) shall be compared to state
standards, required improvement, and comparable improvement. The
state standard shall be established by the commissioner. Required
improvement is defined as the progress necessary for the campus or
district to meet state standards and for its students to meet exit
requirements as defined by the commissioner. Comparable
improvement is derived by measuring campuses and districts against
a profile developed from a total state student performance database
which exhibits substantial equivalence to the characteristics of
students served by the campus or district, including past academic
performance, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and limited English
proficiency.
(d) Annually, the commissioner shall define exemplary,
recognized, and unacceptable performance for each academic
excellence indicator included under Subsections (b)(1) through (9)
[(6)] and shall project the standards for each of those levels of
performance for succeeding years. For the indicator under
Subsection (b)(10) [(b)(7)], the commissioner shall define
exemplary, recognized, and unacceptable performance based on
student performance for the period covering both the current and
preceding academic years. In defining exemplary, recognized, and
unacceptable performance for the indicators under Subsections
(b)(3) and (4) [(b)(2) and (3)], the commissioner may not consider
as a dropout or as a student who has failed to attend school a
student whose failure to attend school results from:
(1) the student's expulsion under Section 37.007; and
(2) as applicable:
(A) adjudication as having engaged in delinquent
conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision, as defined by
Section 51.03, Family Code; or
(B) conviction of and sentencing for an offense
under the Penal Code.
SECTION 7. Section 39.052(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The report card shall include the following
information:
(1) where applicable, the academic excellence
indicators adopted under Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (12) [(9)];
(2) average class size by grade level and subject;
(3) the administrative and instructional costs per
student, computed in a manner consistent with Section 44.0071; and
(4) the district's instructional expenditures ratio
and instructional employees ratio computed under Section 44.0071,
and the statewide average of those ratios, as determined by the
commissioner.
SECTION 8. Sections 39.072(b) and (c), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) The academic excellence indicators adopted under
Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (10) [(7)] and the district's current
special education compliance status with the agency shall be the
main considerations of the agency in the rating of the district
under this section. Additional criteria in the rules may include
consideration of:
(1) compliance with statutory requirements and
requirements imposed by rule of the State Board of Education under
specific statutory authority that relate to:
(A) reporting data through the Public Education
Information Management System (PEIMS);
(B) the high school graduation requirements
under Section 28.025; or
(C) an item listed in Sections
7.056(e)(3)(C)-(I) that applies to the district;
(2) the effectiveness of the district's programs for
special populations; and
(3) the effectiveness of the district's career and
technology programs.
(c) The agency shall evaluate against state standards and
shall, not later than August 1 of each year, report the performance
of each campus in a district and each open-enrollment charter
school on the basis of the campus's performance on the indicators
adopted under Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (10) [(7)].
Consideration of the effectiveness of district programs under
Subsection (b)(2) or (3) must be based on data collected through the
Public Education Information Management System for purposes of
accountability under this chapter and include the results of
assessments required under Section 39.023.
SECTION 9. Section 39.0721(c), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) The performance standards on which a gold performance
rating is based should include:
(1) student proficiency on:
(A) assessment instruments administered under
Sections 39.023(a), (c), and (l); and
(B) other measures of proficiency determined by
the commissioner;
(2) student performance on one or more nationally
recognized norm-referenced assessment instruments;
(3) improvement in student performance, including
academic growth of student performance on assessment instruments
administered under Section 39.023(a), as measured under Section
39.034;
(4) in the case of middle or junior high school
campuses, student proficiency in mathematics, including algebra;
and
(5) in the case of high school campuses:
(A) the extent to which graduating students are
academically prepared to attend institutions of higher education;
(B) the percentage of students who take advanced
placement tests and student performance on those tests; and
(C) the percentage of students who take and
successfully complete advanced academic courses or college-level
course work offered through dual credit programs provided under
agreements between high schools and institutions of higher
education.
SECTION 10. Sections 39.073(a), (b), and (f), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The agency shall annually review the performance of each
district and campus on the indicators adopted under Sections
39.051(b)(1) through (10) [(7)] and determine if a change in the
accreditation status of the district is warranted. The
commissioner may determine how all indicators adopted under Section
39.051(b) may be used to determine accountability ratings and to
select districts and campuses for acknowledgment.
(b) Each annual review shall include an analysis of the
indicators under Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (10) [(6)] to
determine district and campus performance in relation to:
(1) standards established for each indicator;
(2) required improvement as defined under Section
39.051(c); and
(3) comparable improvement as defined by Section
39.051(c).
(f) In the computation of dropout rates under Section
39.051(b)(3) [39.051(b)(2)], a student who is released from a
juvenile pre-adjudication secure detention facility or juvenile
post-adjudication secure correctional facility and fails to enroll
in school or a student who leaves a residential treatment center
after receiving treatment for fewer than 85 days and fails to enroll
in school may not be considered to have dropped out from the campus
or school district serving the facility or center unless that
campus or district is the one to which the student is regularly
assigned.
SECTION 11. Section 39.074(e), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(e) If an annual review indicates low performance on one or
more of the indicators under Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (10)
[(7)] of one or more campuses in a district, the agency may conduct
an on-site evaluation of those campuses only.
SECTION 12. (a) Not later than the 2006-2007 school year,
the Texas Education Agency shall collect information concerning
student academic growth for purposes of Section 39.051(b)(2),
Education Code, as amended by this Act.
(b) Not later than the 2007-2008 school year, the Texas
Education Agency shall include, in evaluating the performance of
school districts, campuses, and open-enrollment charter schools
under Subchapter D, Chapter 39, Education Code, student academic
growth under Section 39.051(b)(2), Education Code, as amended by
this Act.
SECTION 13. This Act applies beginning with the 2006-2007
school year.
SECTION 14. 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 September 1, 2005.