81R288 KKA-D

By: Raymond H.B. No. 541

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to assessment of public school students receiving special education services.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 28.0211, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (n) to read as follows:

(n) This section does not apply to a student who participates in a district's special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29.

SECTION 2. Sections 39.023(a), (c), (d), (e), and (l), Education Code, are amended 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 be assessed in:

(1) mathematics, annually in grades three through seven without the aid of technology and in grade eight with the aid of technology on any assessment instrument that includes algebra;

(2) reading, annually in grades three through eight;

(3) writing, including spelling and grammar, in grades four and seven;

(4) social studies, in grade eight;

(5) science, in grades five and eight; and

(6) any other subject and grade required by federal law.

(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, Algebra II, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, English I, English II, English III, world geography, world history, and United States history. The Algebra I, Algebra II, and geometry end-of-course assessment instruments must be administered with the aid of technology. A school district shall comply with State Board of Education rules regarding administration of the assessment instruments listed in this subsection and shall adopt a policy that requires a student's performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument for a course listed in this subsection in which the student is enrolled to account for 15 percent of the student's final grade for the course. If a student retakes an end-of-course assessment instrument for a course listed in this subsection, as provided by Section 39.025, a school district is not required to use the student's performance on the subsequent administration or administrations of the assessment instrument to determine the student's final grade for the course. [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. The State Board of Education shall adopt a schedule for the administration of end-of-course assessment instruments that complies with the requirements of Subsection (c-3).

(d) The commissioner may participate in multistate efforts to develop voluntary standardized end-of-course assessment instruments. The commissioner by rule may require a school district to administer an end-of-course assessment instrument developed through the multistate efforts. [The admission, review, and dismissal committee of a student in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, shall determine whether any allowable modification is necessary in administering to the student an end-of-course assessment instrument or whether the student should be exempted under Section 39.027(a)(2).]

(e) Under rules adopted by the State Board of Education, every third year, the agency shall release the questions and answer keys to each assessment instrument administered under Subsection (a), [(b),] (c), (d), or (l) after the last time the instrument is administered for that school year. To ensure a valid bank of questions for use each year, the agency is not required to release a question that is being field-tested and was not used to compute the student's score on the instrument. The agency shall also release, under board rule, each question that is no longer being field-tested and that was not used to compute a student's score.

(l) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules for the administration of the assessment instruments adopted under Subsection (a) 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.

SECTION 3. Section 39.024(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The [Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, the] State Board of Education shall determine the level of performance considered to be satisfactory on the assessment instruments. [The admission, review, and dismissal committee of a student being assessed under Section 39.023(b) shall determine the level of performance considered to be satisfactory on the assessment instruments administered to that student in accordance with criteria established by agency rule.]

SECTION 4. Section 39.027(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A student may be exempted from the administration of an assessment instrument under:

(1) Section 39.023(a) [or (b)] if the student is eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 [and the student's individualized education program does not include instruction in the essential knowledge and skills under Section 28.002 at any grade level];

(2) Section 39.023(c) or (d) if the student is eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 [and:

[(A) the student's individualized education program does not include instruction in the essential knowledge and skills under Section 28.002 at any grade level; or

[(B) the assessment instrument, even with allowable modifications, would not provide an appropriate measure of the student's achievement as determined by the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee];

(3) Section 39.023(a) or (l) for a period of up to one year after initial enrollment in a school in the United States if the student is of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052, and has not demonstrated proficiency in English as determined by the assessment system under Subsection (e); or

(4) Section 39.023(a) or (l) for a period of up to two years in addition to the exemption period authorized by Subdivision (3) if the student has received an exemption under Subdivision (3) and:

(A) is a recent unschooled immigrant; or

(B) is in a grade for which no assessment instrument in the primary language of the student is available.

SECTION 5. Section 39.0302(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) During an agency investigation or audit of a school district under Section 39.0301(e) or (f), an accreditation investigation under Section 39.075(a)(7) [39.075(a)(8)], or an investigation by the State Board for Educator Certification of an educator for an alleged violation of an assessment instrument security procedure established under Section 39.0301(a), the commissioner may issue a subpoena to compel the attendance of a relevant witness or the production, for inspection or copying, of relevant evidence that is located in this state.

SECTION 6. Section 39.035(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Subject to Subsection (b), the agency may conduct field testing of questions for any assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(a), [(b),] (c), (d), or (l) that is separate from the administration of the assessment instrument not more frequently than every other school year.

SECTION 7. Sections 39.051(b) and (b-1), Education Code, are 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, computed in accordance with standards and definitions adopted by the National Center for Education Statistics of the United States Department of Education;

(3) high school graduation rates, computed in accordance with standards and definitions adopted in compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Pub. L. No. 107-110);

(4) student attendance rates;

(5) the percentage of graduating students who attain scores on the questions developed for end-of-course assessment instruments under Section 39.0233(a) that are equivalent to a passing score on the assessment instrument required under Section 51.3062;

(6) the percentage of graduating students who meet the course requirements established for the recommended high school program by State Board of Education rule;

(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;

(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;

(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 grouped by percentage on subsequent assessment instruments required under those sections, aggregated by grade level and subject area;

(10) the percentage of students exempted, by exemption category, from the assessment program generally applicable under this chapter;

(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);

(12) [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);

[(13)] the measure of progress toward preparation for postsecondary success; and

(13) [(14)] the measure of progress toward dual language proficiency under Section 39.034(b), for students of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052.

(b-1) Performance on the indicators described by Subsections (b)(1), (2), (3), (8), (9), and (13) [(14)] must be based on longitudinal student data that is disaggregated by the bilingual education or special language program, if any, in which students of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052, are or former students of limited English proficiency were enrolled. If a student described by this subsection is not or was not enrolled in specialized language instruction, the number and percentage of those students shall be provided.

SECTION 8. 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 instruments 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 disciplinary 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);

[(8)] in response to an allegation regarding or an analysis using a statistical method result indicating a possible violation of an assessment instrument security procedure established under Section 39.0301, including for the purpose of investigating or auditing a school district under that section; or

(8) [(9)] as the commissioner otherwise determines necessary.

SECTION 9. Section 39.114(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) A school district may use funds allocated under Section 42.2516(b)(3) on any instructional program in grades six through 12 other than an athletic program if:

(1) the district is recognized as exceptional by the commissioner under the academic accountability indicator adopted under Section 39.051(b)(12) [39.051(b)(13)]; and

(2) the district's completion rates for grades nine through 12 meet or exceed completion rate standards required by the commissioner to achieve a rating of exemplary under Section 39.072.

SECTION 10. Sections 28.0211(i), 28.0213(e), 39.023(b), 39.027(c), and 39.051(f), Education Code, are repealed.

SECTION 11. Not later than December 1, 2010, the Texas Education Agency shall submit to the legislature a report that:

(1) identifies the anticipated consequences of implementing the changes in law made by this Act regarding assessment of students receiving special education services, including any consequences arising from requirements imposed by federal law regarding assessment of those students; and

(2) specifies the amount, if any, of federal funds that would not be received as a result of implementing those changes in law.

SECTION 12. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.

(b) Section 11 of this Act takes effect September 1, 2010.