83R5063 PAM-F

By: Strama H.B. No. 659

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to state assessment instruments administered in public schools.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 28.014(c) and (f), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(c) The agency, in consultation with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, shall adopt an end-of-course assessment instrument for each course developed under this section to ensure the rigor of the course. A school district shall, in accordance with State Board of Education rules, administer the end-of-course assessment instrument to a student enrolled in a course developed under this section. Each school district shall adopt a policy that requires a student's performance on the end-of-course assessment instrument to account for 15 percent of the student's second semester [final] grade for the course in accordance with commissioner rule adopted under Section 39.023(c-7). [A student's performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument administered under this subsection may be used, on a scale of 0-40, in calculating whether the student satisfies the graduation requirements established under Section 39.025.]

(f) To the extent applicable, the commissioner shall draw from curricula and instructional materials developed under Section [Sections] 28.008 [and 61.0763] in developing a course and related instructional materials under this section. Not later than September 1, 2010, the State Board of Education shall adopt essential knowledge and skills for each course developed under this section. The State Board of Education shall make each course developed under this section and the related instructional materials available to school districts not later than the 2014-2015 school year. [As required by Subsection (c), a school district shall adopt a policy requiring a student's performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument administered under that subsection to account for 15 percent of the student's grade for a course developed under this section not later than the 2014-2015 school year.] This subsection expires September 1, 2015.

SECTION 2. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (c), (c-3), (e), and (h) and adding Subsection (c-7) to read as follows:

(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 second semester [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. 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).

(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 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 during the final [not earlier than the first full] week of the school year [in May], except that the spring administration of the end-of-course assessment instruments in English I Writing, English II Writing, and English III Writing must be permitted to occur at an earlier date.

(c-7) The commissioner by rule shall:

(1) adopt a statewide standardized procedure to convert and use end-of-course assessment instrument performance for purposes of determining course grades in a manner that provides uniformity across school districts throughout this state; and

(2) require each school district to use the procedure adopted under Subdivision (1) in determining second semester course grades as provided by Subsection (c) and Section 28.014(c).

(e) Under rules adopted by the State Board of Education, each [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), 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.

(h) The agency shall notify school districts and campuses of the results of assessment instruments administered under this section [at the earliest possible date determined by the State Board of Education but] not later than the 21st day after the date the assessment instrument is administered [beginning of the subsequent school year].

SECTION 3. Section 39.0234, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 39.0234. ADMINISTRATION OF ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS BY COMPUTER. (a) The agency shall ensure that assessment instruments required under Section 39.023 are capable of being administered by computer. Except as provided by Subsection (b), the [The] commissioner may not require a school district or open-enrollment charter school to administer an assessment instrument by computer.

(b) A school district, including a disciplinary alternative education program provided by the district, or a juvenile justice alternative education program shall provide to a student eligible to retake an end-of-course assessment instrument the opportunity to retake that assessment instrument by computer at any reasonable time. The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to administer this subsection.

SECTION 4. Sections 39.025(a), (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (b), (b-2), and (e), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring a student participating in the recommended or advanced high school program to be administered each end-of-course assessment instrument listed in Section 39.023(c) and requiring a student participating in the minimum high school program to be administered an end-of-course assessment instrument listed in Section 39.023(c) only for a course in which the student is enrolled and for which an end-of-course assessment instrument is administered. [A student is required to achieve, in each subject in the foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1), a cumulative score that is at least equal to the product of the number of end-of-course assessment instruments administered to the student in that subject and a scale score that indicates satisfactory performance, as determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a). A student must achieve a minimum score as determined by the commissioner to be within a reasonable range of the scale score under Section 39.0241(a) on an end-of-course assessment instrument for the score to count towards the student's cumulative score. For purposes of this subsection, a student's cumulative score is determined using the student's highest score on each end-of-course assessment instrument administered to the student. A student may not receive a high school diploma until the student has performed satisfactorily on the end-of-course assessment instruments in the manner provided under this subsection. This subsection does not require a student to demonstrate readiness to enroll in an institution of higher education.]

(a-1) The commissioner by rule shall determine a method by which a student's satisfactory performance on an advanced placement test, an international baccalaureate examination, an SAT Subject Test, or another assessment instrument determined by the commissioner to be at least as rigorous as an end-of-course assessment instrument adopted under Section 39.023(c) may be used as a factor in determining whether the student satisfies the requirements of Subsection (a) and Subsection (a-2) or (a-3), as applicable to the student[, including the cumulative score requirement of that subsection]. The commissioner by rule may determine a method by which a student's satisfactory performance on a Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT) assessment or a preliminary American College Test (ACT) assessment may be used as a factor in determining whether the student satisfies the requirements of Subsection (a) and Subsection (a-2) or (a-3), as applicable to the student.

(a-2) A [In addition to the cumulative score requirements under Subsection (a), a] student must achieve a score that meets or exceeds the score determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a) on [for] English II [III] and Algebra I [II] end-of-course assessment instruments to graduate under the minimum or recommended high school program.

(a-3) A [In addition to the cumulative score requirements under Subsection (a), a] student must achieve a score that meets or exceeds the score determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a-1) on English II [III] and Algebra I [II] end-of-course assessment instruments in order to graduate under the advanced high school program.

(b) Each time an end-of-course assessment instrument is administered, a student who failed to achieve the [a minimum] score requirement under Subsection (a-2) or (a-3) may [Subsection (a) shall] retake the assessment instrument. [A student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an Algebra II or English III end-of-course assessment instrument under the college readiness performance standard, as provided under Section 39.024(b), may retake the assessment instrument.] Any other student may retake an end-of-course assessment instrument for any reason. A student is not required to retake a course as a condition of retaking an end-of-course assessment instrument.

(b-2) If a school district determines that a student, on completion of grade 11, is unlikely to achieve the [cumulative] score requirement under this section [requirements] for one or more end-of-course assessment instruments as necessary [subjects prescribed by Subsection (a)] for receiving a high school diploma, the district shall require the student to enroll in a corresponding content-area college preparatory course for which an end-of-course assessment instrument has been adopted, if available. A student who enrolls in a college preparatory course described by this subsection shall be administered an end-of-course assessment instrument for the course, with the end-of-course assessment instrument scored on a scale as determined by the commissioner [not to exceed 20 percent of the cumulative score requirements required to graduate as determined under Subsection (a)]. A student may use the student's score on the end-of-course assessment instrument for the college preparatory course towards satisfying the [cumulative] score requirement under this section [requirements prescribed by Subsection (a)].

(e) The commissioner shall establish a required performance level for an assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (d) that is at least as rigorous as the performance level required to be met under Subsection (a-2) or (a-3), as applicable to the student [(a)].

SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2014, the commissioner of education shall by rule adopt a statewide standardized procedure for converting and using end-of-course assessment instrument performance for purposes of determining course grades as provided by Section 28.014(c), Education Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 39.023(c-7), Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 6. (a) This Act applies beginning with the 2013-2014 school year.

(b) Section 39.025, Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to students who have entered or will enter the ninth grade during the 2011-2012 school year or a later school year.

SECTION 7. 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, 2013.