|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the administration of certain assessment instruments to |
|
public school students under the statewide assessment program. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by |
|
amending Subsections (a), (c), and (i) and adding Subsection (o) to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate |
|
criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess |
|
essential knowledge and skills in reading, writing, mathematics, |
|
social studies, and science. All students, except students |
|
assessed under Subsection (b) or (l) or exempted under Section |
|
39.027, shall, through an assessment instrument administered to |
|
students in September, be assessed in: |
|
(1) mathematics, annually in grades three through |
|
seven without the aid of technology and in grades eight through 11 |
|
with the aid of technology on any assessment instruments that |
|
include algebra; |
|
(2) reading, annually in grades three through nine; |
|
(3) writing, including spelling and grammar, in grades |
|
four and seven; |
|
(4) English language arts, in grade 10; |
|
(5) social studies, in grades eight and 10; |
|
(6) science, in grades five, eight, and 10; and |
|
(7) any other subject and grade required by federal |
|
law. |
|
(c) The agency shall also adopt secondary exit-level |
|
assessment instruments designed to be administered to students in |
|
grade 11 to assess essential knowledge and skills in mathematics, |
|
English language arts, social studies, and science. The |
|
mathematics section must include at least Algebra I and geometry |
|
with the aid of technology. The English language arts section must |
|
include at least English III and must include the assessment of |
|
essential knowledge and skills in writing. The social studies |
|
section must include early American and United States history. The |
|
science section must include at least biology and integrated |
|
chemistry and physics. The assessment instruments must be designed |
|
to assess a student's mastery of minimum skills necessary for high |
|
school graduation and readiness to enroll in an institution of |
|
higher education. If a student is in a special education program |
|
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, the 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 or whether the |
|
student should be exempted under Section 39.027(a)(2). The State |
|
Board of Education shall administer the assessment instruments in |
|
September. [The State Board of Education shall adopt a schedule for
|
|
the administration of secondary exit-level assessment
|
|
instruments.] Each student who did not perform satisfactorily on |
|
any secondary exit-level assessment instrument when initially |
|
tested shall be given multiple opportunities to retake that |
|
assessment instrument. A student who performs at or above a level |
|
established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on the |
|
secondary exit-level assessment instruments is exempt from the |
|
requirements of Section 51.3062 [51.306]. |
|
(i) The provisions of this section, except Subsection (d) |
|
and any provision requiring the administration of an assessment |
|
instrument in September, are subject to modification by rules |
|
adopted under Section 39.022. Each assessment instrument adopted |
|
under those rules and each assessment instrument required under |
|
Subsection (d) must be reliable and valid and must meet any |
|
applicable federal requirements for measurement of student |
|
progress. |
|
(o) The requirement that assessment instruments |
|
administered under Subsections (a) and (c) be administered in |
|
September does not preclude the additional administration of the |
|
assessment instruments on one or more subsequent dates in the |
|
school year. |
|
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2007-2008 |
|
school year. |
|
SECTION 3. 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, 2007. |