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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to evaluating the performance, including computing |
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dropout and completion rates, of public schools, including schools |
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designated as dropout recovery schools and residential facilities. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended by |
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amending Subsection (g-1) and adding Subsection (g-2) to read as |
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follows: |
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(g-1) In computing dropout and completion rates under |
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Subsection (c)(2), the commissioner may not consider as a dropout a |
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student [shall exclude]: |
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(1) [students] who is [are] ordered by a court to |
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attend a high school equivalency certificate program but who has |
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[have] not yet earned a high school equivalency certificate; |
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(2) [students] who was [were] previously reported to |
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the state as a dropout [dropouts]; |
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(3) who is [students] in attendance but who is [are] |
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not in membership for purposes of average daily attendance; |
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(4) [students] whose initial enrollment in a school in |
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the United States in grades 7 through 12 was as an unschooled |
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refugee [refugees] or asylee [asylees] as defined by Section |
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39.027(a-1); |
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(5) [students] who is [are] in the district |
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exclusively as a function of having been detained at a county |
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detention facility but is [are] otherwise not a student [students] |
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of the district in which the facility is located; and |
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(6) [students] who is [are] incarcerated in a state |
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jail or [jails and] federal penitentiary [penitentiaries] as an |
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adult or as a person [adults and as persons] certified to stand |
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trial as an adult [adults]. |
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(g-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (c)(2), in computing |
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completion rates under that subdivision, the commissioner shall |
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include any student described by Subsection (g-1) who graduates, |
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continues attending school into the next academic year, or receives |
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a high school equivalency certificate. |
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SECTION 2. Section 39.054, Education Code, is amended by |
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adding Subsection (d-2) to read as follows: |
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(d-2) In evaluating performance of a dropout recovery |
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school designated under Section 39.0545 or a campus or |
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open-enrollment charter school that is a residential facility, the |
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commissioner shall assign a performance rating in accordance with |
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Subsection (a), provided that the commissioner shall adjust the |
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criteria on which performance is evaluated under Subsection (b) to |
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appropriately evaluate the student population served by the dropout |
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recovery school or residential facility, as appropriate. |
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SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Education Code, is |
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amended by adding Section 39.0545 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 39.0545. EVALUATING DROPOUT RECOVERY SCHOOLS. (a) |
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For purposes of evaluating performance under Section 39.053(c), the |
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commissioner shall designate as a dropout recovery school a school |
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district or an open-enrollment charter school or a campus of a |
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district or of an open-enrollment charter school: |
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(1) that has an enrollment of which at least 50 percent |
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of the students are 17 years of age or older as of the fall semester |
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Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) submission; |
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and |
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(2) that is registered under alternative education |
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accountability procedures adopted by the commissioner. |
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(b) Notwithstanding Section 39.053(c)(2), the commissioner |
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shall adopt an alternative computation for the student achievement |
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indicator under Section 39.053(c)(2) for a dropout recovery school. |
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The computation of the completion rate shall be the ratio of the |
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total number of students who graduate, continue attending school |
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into the next academic year, or receive a high school equivalency |
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certificate to the total number of students. |
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(c) For a dropout recovery school, only the best result from |
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the primary administration and any retake of an assessment |
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instrument administered to a student in the school year evaluated |
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under the accountability procedures adopted by the commissioner may |
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be considered in determining the performance rating of the school |
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under Section 39.054. |
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SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2013-2014 |
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school year. |
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SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |