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SECTION 1. Section 39.023,
Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-2), (b),
(c-1), (c-3), (e), (l), (m), (n), and (p) and adding Subsections (a-3),
(a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (a-7), (a-8), and (a-9) 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. Except as provided by Subsection (a-2), all
students, other than students assessed under Subsection (b) or (l) or
exempted under Section 39.027, shall be assessed in:
(1) mathematics, [annually]
in grades three and five [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, five, and [through] eight;
(3)
writing, including spelling and grammar, in grades five and eight [four
and seven];
(4)
social studies, in grade eight; and
(5) science, in grades five
and eight[; and
[(6) any other subject and
grade required by federal law].
(a-1) The agency shall
develop assessment instruments required under Subsections (a), (a-4),
(a-5), and (a-6) [Subsection (a)] in a manner that allows, to
the extent practicable:
(1) the score a student
receives to provide reliable information relating to a student's
satisfactory performance for each performance standard under Section
39.0241; and
(2) an appropriate range of
performances to serve as a valid indication of growth in student
achievement.
(a-2) A student is not
required to be assessed in a subject otherwise assessed at the student's
grade level under Subsection (a) if the student:
(1) is enrolled in a course
in the subject intended for students above the student's grade level and
will be administered an assessment instrument adopted or developed under
Subsection (a), (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6) that aligns with the
curriculum for the course in which the student is enrolled; or
(2) is enrolled in a course
in the subject for which the student will receive high school academic
credit and will be administered an end-of-course assessment instrument
adopted under Subsection (c) for the course.
(a-3) For each assessment
instrument administered under Subsection (a) or (a-5), the agency shall
determine, based on available information for that assessment instrument,
the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score. The minimum satisfactory
adjusted scale score is the sum of the scale score that indicates
satisfactory performance on that assessment instrument, as determined by
the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a), plus the minimum number of points
that when added to the scale score produces a score that, within a three
percent margin of error, is predictive that a student achieving that score
would achieve satisfactory performance on an assessment instrument in the
same subject administered to the student during the following school year.
(a-4) A student shall be
assessed in grade four in a subject for which an assessment instrument is
administered under Subsection (a) in grade three if, on the final
assessment instrument in that subject administered under Subsection (a) to
the student in grade three during the preceding school year, the student
did not achieve a score equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory
adjusted scale score for that assessment instrument, as determined under
Subsection (a-3).
(a-5) A student shall be
assessed in grade six in a subject for which an assessment instrument is
administered under Subsection (a)(1) or (2)
in grade five if, on the final assessment instrument in that subject
administered under Subsection (a)(1) or (2)
to the student in grade five during the preceding school year, the student
did not achieve a score equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory
adjusted scale score for that assessment instrument, as determined under
Subsection (a-3).
(a-6) A student shall be
assessed in grade seven in a subject for which an assessment instrument was
administered under Subsection (a-5) to the student in grade six if, on the
final assessment instrument in that subject administered to the student in
grade six during the preceding school year, the student did not achieve a
score equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale
score for that assessment instrument, as determined under Subsection (a-3).
(a-7) A student assessed
in mathematics under Subsection (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6) shall be assessed
without the aid of technology.
(a-8) A school district
or open-enrollment charter school may, for its own use in determining
whether students are performing at a satisfactory level, administer to a student
at the appropriate grade level, other than a student required to be
assessed, an assessment instrument developed for purposes of Subsection
(a-4), (a-5), or (a-6). At the request of a district or open-enrollment
charter school, the agency shall provide, allow for the administration of,
and score each assessment instrument administered under this subsection in
the same manner and at the same cost as for assessment instruments required
to be administered under the applicable subsection. The results of an
assessment instrument administered under this subsection may not be
included as an indicator of student achievement under Section 39.053 or any
other provision.
(a-9) If there is a
conflict between this section and a federal law or regulation as a result
of forgoing under this section certain administration of assessment
instruments to students who have recently performed successfully on
assessment instruments assessing the same subject, the commissioner shall
seek a waiver from the application of the conflicting federal law or
regulation. In seeking a waiver, the commissioner shall submit all
relevant data, including data relating to:
(1) the likelihood that a
student who achieves a score on an assessment instrument equal to or
greater than the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score for that
assessment instrument, as determined under Subsection (a-3), will, in
subsequent years, perform satisfactorily on assessment instruments in the
same subject;
(2) the costs associated
with ongoing assessment of students who have proven likely to perform
successfully on subsequent assessment instruments; and
(3) the benefit of
redirecting resources from assessment of students who have proven likely to
perform successfully on subsequent assessment instruments toward enabling
lower performing students to perform successfully on assessment instruments
after one school year.
(b) The agency shall develop
or adopt appropriate criterion-referenced alternative assessment
instruments to be administered to a [each] student in a
special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, for whom an
assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (a) or, to the extent
applicable, Subsection (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6), even with allowable
accommodations, would not provide an appropriate measure of student
achievement, as determined by the student's admission, review, and
dismissal committee.
(c-1) To the greatest
extent practicable, the [The] agency shall develop any
assessment instrument required under this section in a manner that allows
for the measurement of annual improvement in student achievement as
required by Sections 39.034(c) and (d).
(c-3) In adopting a schedule
for the administration of assessment instruments under this section, the
State Board of Education shall require:
(1) assessment instruments
administered under Subsections (a), (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6) [Subsection
(a)] to be administered on a schedule so that the first assessment
instrument is administered at least two weeks later than the date on which
the first assessment instrument was administered under Subsection (a)
during the 2006-2007 school year; and
(2) the spring
administration of end-of-course assessment instruments under Subsection (c)
to occur in each school district not earlier than the first full week in
May, except that the spring administration of the end-of-course assessment
instruments in English I, English II, and English III must be permitted to
occur at an earlier date.
(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), (a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (b), (c), (d), or (l),
excluding any assessment instrument administered to a student for the
purpose of retaking the assessment instrument, 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) and, to the extent applicable,
the assessment instruments adopted under Subsection (a-4) in Spanish to
students in grades three, four, and [through] five 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)(1) or
(2). 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)
and, as applicable, Subsection (a-4). The language proficiency
assessment committee established under Section 29.063 shall determine which
students are administered assessment instruments in Spanish under this
subsection.
(m) The commissioner by rule
shall develop procedures under which the language proficiency assessment
committee established under Section 29.063 shall determine which students
are exempt from the administration of the assessment instruments under
Section 39.027(a)(1) or (2). The rules adopted under this subsection shall
ensure that the language proficiency assessment committee provides that the
exempted students are administered the assessment instruments under
Subsections (a) and (c) and, to the extent applicable, Subsections
(a-4), (a-5), and (a-6) at the earliest practical date.
(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
Subsection (a) and, to the extent applicable, the assessment instruments
adopted under Subsections (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6), 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 Subsections (a), (a-4),
(a-5), and (a-6), as applicable [Subsection (a)].
(p) On or before September 1
of each year, the commissioner shall make the following information
available on the agency's Internet website for each assessment instrument
administered under Subsection (a), (a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (c), or (l):
(1) the number of questions
on the assessment instrument;
(2) the number of questions
that must be answered correctly to achieve satisfactory performance as
determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a);
(3) the number of questions
that must be answered correctly to achieve satisfactory performance under
the college readiness performance standard as provided by Section 39.0241;
and
(4) the corresponding scale
scores.
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SECTION 1. Section 39.023,
Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-2), (b),
(c-1), (c-3), (e), (l), (m), (n), and (p) and adding Subsections (a-3),
(a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (a-7), (a-8), and (a-9) 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. Except as provided by Subsection (a-2), all
students, other than students assessed under Subsection (b) or (l) or
exempted under Section 39.027, shall be assessed in:
(1) mathematics, [annually]
in grades three and five [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, five, and [through] eight; and
(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].
(a-1) The agency shall
develop assessment instruments required under Subsections (a), (a-4),
(a-5), and (a-6) [Subsection (a)] in a manner that allows, to
the extent practicable:
(1) the score a student
receives to provide reliable information relating to a student's
satisfactory performance for each performance standard under Section
39.0241; and
(2) an appropriate range of
performances to serve as a valid indication of growth in student
achievement.
(a-2) A student is not
required to be assessed in a subject otherwise assessed at the student's
grade level under Subsection (a) if the student:
(1) is enrolled in a course
in the subject intended for students above the student's grade level and
will be administered an assessment instrument adopted or developed under
Subsection (a), (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6) that aligns with the
curriculum for the course in which the student is enrolled; or
(2) is enrolled in a course
in the subject for which the student will receive high school academic
credit and will be administered an end-of-course assessment instrument
adopted under Subsection (c) for the course.
(a-3) For each assessment
instrument administered under Subsection (a) or (a-5), the agency shall
determine, based on available information for that assessment instrument,
the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score. The minimum satisfactory
adjusted scale score is the sum of the scale score that indicates
satisfactory performance on that assessment instrument, as determined by
the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a), plus the minimum number of
points that when added to the scale score produces a score that, within a
three percent margin of error, is predictive that a student achieving that
score would achieve satisfactory performance on an assessment instrument in
the same subject administered to the student during the following school
year.
(a-4) A student shall be
assessed in grade four in a subject for which an assessment instrument is
administered under Subsection (a) in grade three if, on the final
assessment instrument in that subject administered under Subsection (a) to
the student in grade three during the preceding school year, the student
did not achieve a score equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory
adjusted scale score for that assessment instrument, as determined under
Subsection (a-3).
(a-5) A student shall be
assessed in grade six in a subject for which an assessment instrument is
administered under Subsection (a) in grade five if, on the final assessment
instrument in that subject administered under Subsection (a) to the student
in grade five during the preceding school year, the student did not achieve
a score equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale
score for that assessment instrument, as determined under Subsection (a-3).
(a-6) A student shall be
assessed in grade seven in a subject for which an assessment instrument was
administered under Subsection (a-5) to the student in grade six if, on the
final assessment instrument in that subject administered to the student in
grade six during the preceding school year, the student did not achieve a
score equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale
score for that assessment instrument, as determined under Subsection (a-3).
(a-7) A student assessed
in mathematics under Subsection (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6) shall be assessed
without the aid of technology.
(a-8) A school district
or open-enrollment charter school may, for its own use in determining
whether students are performing at a satisfactory level, administer to a
student at the appropriate grade level, other than a student required to be
assessed, an assessment instrument developed for purposes of Subsection
(a-4), (a-5), or (a-6). At the request of a district or open-enrollment
charter school, the agency shall provide, allow for the administration of,
and score each assessment instrument administered under this subsection in
the same manner and at the same cost as for assessment instruments required
to be administered under the applicable subsection. The results of an
assessment instrument administered under this subsection may not be
included as an indicator of student achievement under Section 39.053 or any
other provision.
(a-9) If there is a
conflict between this section and a federal law or regulation as a result
of forgoing under this section certain administration of assessment
instruments to students who have recently performed successfully on
assessment instruments assessing the same subject, the commissioner shall
seek a waiver from the application of the conflicting federal law or
regulation. In seeking a waiver, the commissioner shall submit all
relevant data, including data relating to:
(1) the likelihood that a
student who achieves a score on an assessment instrument equal to or
greater than the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score for that
assessment instrument, as determined under Subsection (a-3), will, in
subsequent years, perform satisfactorily on assessment instruments in the
same subject;
(2) the costs associated
with ongoing assessment of students who have proven likely to perform
successfully on subsequent assessment instruments; and
(3) the benefit of
redirecting resources from assessment of students who have proven likely to
perform successfully on subsequent assessment instruments toward enabling
lower performing students to perform successfully on assessment instruments
after one school year.
(b) The agency shall develop
or adopt appropriate criterion-referenced alternative assessment
instruments to be administered to a [each] student in a special
education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, for whom an assessment
instrument adopted under Subsection (a) or, to the extent applicable,
Subsection (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6), even with allowable accommodations,
would not provide an appropriate measure of student achievement, as
determined by the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee.
(c-1) To the greatest
extent practicable, the [The] agency shall develop any
assessment instrument required under this section in a manner that allows for
the measurement of annual improvement in student achievement as required by
Sections 39.034(c) and (d).
(c-3) In adopting a schedule
for the administration of assessment instruments under this section, the
State Board of Education shall require:
(1) assessment instruments
administered under Subsections (a), (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6) [Subsection
(a)] to be administered on a schedule so that the first assessment
instrument is administered at least two weeks later than the date on which
the first assessment instrument was administered under Subsection (a)
during the 2006-2007 school year; and
(2) the spring
administration of end-of-course assessment instruments under Subsection (c)
to occur in each school district not earlier than the first full week in May,
except that the spring administration of the end-of-course assessment
instruments in English I, English II, and English III must be permitted to
occur at an earlier date.
(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), (a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (b), (c), (d), or (l),
excluding any assessment instrument administered to a student for the
purpose of retaking the assessment instrument, 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) and, to the extent applicable,
the assessment instruments adopted under Subsection (a-4) in Spanish to
students in grades three, four, and [through] five 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)(1) or
(2). 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)
and, as applicable, Subsection (a-4). The language proficiency
assessment committee established under Section 29.063 shall determine which
students are administered assessment instruments in Spanish under this
subsection.
(m) The commissioner by rule
shall develop procedures under which the language proficiency assessment
committee established under Section 29.063 shall determine which students
are exempt from the administration of the assessment instruments under
Section 39.027(a)(1) or (2). The rules adopted under this subsection shall
ensure that the language proficiency assessment committee provides that the
exempted students are administered the assessment instruments under
Subsections (a) and (c) and, to the extent applicable, Subsections
(a-4), (a-5), and (a-6) at the earliest practical date.
(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
Subsection (a) and, to the extent applicable, the assessment instruments
adopted under Subsections (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6), 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 Subsections
(a), (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6), as applicable [Subsection (a)].
(p) On or before September 1
of each year, the commissioner shall make the following information
available on the agency's Internet website for each assessment instrument
administered under Subsection (a), (a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (c), or (l):
(1) the number of questions
on the assessment instrument;
(2) the number of questions
that must be answered correctly to achieve satisfactory performance as
determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a);
(3) the number of questions
that must be answered correctly to achieve satisfactory performance under
the college readiness performance standard as provided by Section 39.0241;
and
(4) the corresponding scale
scores.
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