81R5102 CAS-F

By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 548

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to public school accountability for bilingual education and English as a second language and other special language programs.

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

SECTION 1. Section 29.062, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (d), and (e) and adding Subsections (a-1), (b-1), (b-2), (d-1), and (f) to read as follows:

(a) The legislature recognizes that compliance with this subchapter is an imperative public necessity. Therefore, in accordance with the policy of the state, the agency shall evaluate the effectiveness of programs under this subchapter based on the following, disaggregated by campus and school district or open-enrollment charter school:

(1) the academic excellence indicators adopted under Section 39.051(a), including the results of assessment instruments;

(2) the results of monitoring under Subsection (b);

(3) the results of analysis under Subsection (b-1); and

(4) the accomplishment of annual improvement goals designated under Subsection (d)(2).

(a-1) The agency may combine but may not replace evaluations under this section with federal accountability measures concerning students of limited English proficiency.

(b-1) In measuring compliance under this subchapter, the agency shall analyze the following, disaggregated by campus and school district or open-enrollment charter school:

(1) frequency of requests by a campus, district, or open-enrollment charter school for a waiver of or exception to a requirement relating to a program under this subchapter;

(2) a rate of parental denial of approval of a student's entry into, placement in, or exit from a program under this subchapter that is at least 150 percent greater than the state average rate of parental denial;

(3) the difference in grade-level retention rates between students of limited English proficiency and students who are not students of limited English proficiency;

(4) any variance of greater than 20 percent between the percentage of students identified as students of limited English proficiency and the percentage of students whose families speak a language other than English at home, as determined by the home language survey administered to all students new to a campus, district, or open-enrollment charter school as provided by Section 29.056(a)(1);

(5) any significant difference in academic performance between students of limited English proficiency and students who are not students of limited English proficiency; and

(6) any significant difference in the dropout rate for grade levels 9 through 12 between students of limited English proficiency and students who are not students of limited English proficiency.

(b-2) If as a result of a program evaluation under this section the agency conducts a desk audit or on-site monitoring of a campus, school district, or open-enrollment charter school, each agency auditor or monitor must be appropriately certified by the State Board for Educator Certification as provided for under Section 29.061 for the bilingual education or English as a second language or other special language program to be audited or monitored. An emergency endorsement issued under Section 29.061(a) is not considered appropriate certification for purposes of this subsection.

(d) The agency shall notify in writing a school district concerning a campus's or the district's noncompliance or an open-enrollment charter school concerning the open-enrollment charter school's [found in] noncompliance [in writing,] not later than the 30th day after the date of the desk audit or on-site monitoring. The district or open-enrollment charter school shall take immediate corrective action. The corrective action must include:

(1) a review and assessment of:

(A) procedures for identification of students of limited English proficiency;

(B) procedures for placement of students in a program under this subchapter;

(C) student assessment procedures, including assessment of:

(i) English language proficiency;

(ii) proficiency in the language spoken at home; and

(iii) academic achievement in, as defined by commissioner rule, core content areas;

(D) provision of instruction under the program, including assessment of the quality of instruction and whether the program is being implemented as designed;

(E) credentials of instructional staff, including:

(i) appropriate certification of teachers providing English language development or content area instruction to students of limited English proficiency; and

(ii) the amount of instruction provided by teachers who hold emergency endorsements or who are teaching outside the teacher's area of specialization;

(F) professional development provided to content area teachers serving students of limited English proficiency;

(G) curricular materials used in providing instruction; and

(H) program evaluation procedures, including procedures for:

(i) ongoing monitoring to identify program components needing improvement and implementing identified improvements; and

(ii) identifying and closing any academic achievement gap between students of limited English proficiency and students who are not students of limited English proficiency; and

(2) designation by the district or open-enrollment charter school of annual improvement goals that:

(A) are based on the results of the review and assessment under Subdivisions (1)(A) through (G) and Subdivision (1)(H)(i);

(B) are designed to improve academic achievement in the core content areas by students of limited English proficiency; and

(C) are based on the extent of any academic achievement gap identified under Subdivision (1)(H)(ii), with incremental improvement goals established according to the size of the achievement gap.

(d-1) The agency shall review annual improvement in a program under this subchapter as measured by the goals designated under Subsection (d)(2). A campus, school district, or open-enrollment charter school with a program that fails to meet one or more annual improvement goals shall provide for a program audit conducted by an independent auditor who has experience in implementing programs for students of limited English proficiency and who is appropriately certified as provided for under Section 29.061 for the program to be audited. The agency shall take corrective action as appropriate in one or more areas reviewed and assessed under Subsection (d)(1) of a program that fails to meet an annual improvement goal for two or more consecutive school years.

(e) If a campus, school district, or open-enrollment charter school fails to satisfy appropriate standards adopted by the commissioner for purposes of Subsection (a), the agency shall apply sanctions, which may include the removal of accreditation, loss of foundation school funds, or both.

(f) The commissioner shall adopt rules consistent with this section as necessary to administer this section.

SECTION 2. Section 29.066, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) This subsection applies only to a school district that is required to offer bilingual education or special language programs. During each school year after a district student is transferred out of the district's bilingual education or special language program, the district shall include in the district's Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) report the following information concerning the student without providing any personally identifiable information concerning the student:

(1) the total amount of time the student was enrolled in a bilingual education or special language program;

(2) the student's grades each grading period in each subject in the foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1);

(3) the student's performance on each assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(a) or (c);

(4) any disciplinary actions taken against the student under Subchapter A, Chapter 37;

(5) the number of credits the student has earned toward high school graduation, if applicable;

(6) the number of years the student has been enrolled in high school, if applicable; and

(7) whether the student graduated from high school, earned a high school equivalency certificate, or dropped out of high school, if applicable.

SECTION 3. Section 39.051(b), Education Code, is 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, identification as a student of limited English proficiency, 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

(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.

SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2009-2010 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 September 1, 2009.