AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

In 2006, the legislature instructed the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to develop the College & Career Readiness Standards in an effort to increase the number of students who are college and career ready upon graduation from high school. The standards are designed to measure knowledge and skills that students need to succeed in entry level college coursework or in a wide range of careers.

 

C.S.H.B. 1613 requires the State Board of Education to create a chart showing the alignment between the curriculum standards, also known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, with the College & Career Readiness Standards.

 

Additionally, THECB's Texas Success Initiative (TSI) assessment at the end of a college preparatory course measures the college readiness of high school students seeking a higher education.

 

Unless otherwise exempted, students who are entering a Texas college or university must take a TSI examination and receive a passing score in order to enroll in credit bearing courses. Interested parties contend that TSI assessments are equal, if not superior, in rigor to state administered end-of-course tests covering the same subject matter. Taking both tests is an unnecessary duplication for students who demonstrate subject mastery on TSI  assessments to then be required to take an end-of-course test covering the same subject.

 

C.S.H.B. 1613 seeks to eliminate duplicative testing for high school students who are able to demonstrate performance at college readiness levels on the TSI assessment at the end of a college preparatory mathematics or English language arts courses—specifically, Algebra I or the English I and English II—even if the student did not perform satisfactorily on a previous administration of the applicable end-of-course test. The bill specifies that such a student also satisfies the requirements concerning those end-of-course tests and authorizes a student who fails to perform satisfactorily on the test designated by THECB for purposes of the success initiative to retake that test for purposes of satisfying the end-of-course testing requirements or to take the appropriate end-of-course test.

 

C.S.H.B. 1613 amends current law relating to the use of performance on certain assessment instruments designated by THECB to satisfy requirements concerning high school end-of-course assessment instruments.

 

C.S.H.B. 1613 amends current law relating to the alignment of college readiness standards and expectations and essential knowledge and skills and the use to satisfy requirements concerning high school end-of-course assessment instruments of performance demonstrating satisfaction of certain college readiness benchmarks on certain assessment instruments designated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the State Board of Education in SECTION 1 (Section 28.008, Education Code) of this bill.  

 

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Section 28.008(d), Education Code, as  follows:

 

(d) Requires the State Board of Education (SBOE) to incorporate college readiness standards and expectations approved by the commissioner of education and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) under Subsection (b) into the essential knowledge and skills identified by SBOE under Section 28.002(c) (requiring SBOE, with the direct participation of educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers to by rule identify the essential knowledge and skills of each subject of the required curriculum that all students should be able to demonstrate). Requires SBOE to develop and by rule adopt a chart that clearly indicates the alignment of the college readiness standards and expectations with the essential knowledge and skills identified by SBOE under Section 28.002(c).

 

SECTION 2. Amends Section 39.025, Education Code, by amending Subsection (a-1) and adding Subsection (a-2), as follows:

 

(a-1) Provides that a student enrolled in a college preparatory mathematics or English language arts course under Section 28.014 (College Preparatory Courses) who satisfies TSI college readiness benchmarks prescribed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) under Section 51.3062(f) (requiring that each assessment instrument designated by THECB for use under this section be diagnostic in nature and designed to assess a student's readiness to perform freshman-level academic coursework) on an assessment instrument designated by THECB under Section 51.3062(c) (requiring THECB to designate one or more instruments for use by institutions of higher education in assessing students under this section) administered at the end of the college preparatory mathematics or English language arts course satisfies the requirements concerning and is exempt from the administration of the Algebra I or the English I and English II end-of-course assessment instruments, as applicable, as prescribed by Section 39.023(c) (requiring the Texas Education Agency to adopt end-of-course assessment instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, biology, English I, English II, and United States history), even if the student did not perform satisfactorily on a previous administration of the applicable end-of-course assessment instrument, rather than provides that a student enrolled in a college preparatory course under Section 28.014 who satisfies the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) college readiness benchmarks prescribed by THECB under Section 51.3062(f) on an assessment instrument designated by THECB under Section 51.3062(c) administered at the end of the college preparatory course satisfies the requirements concerning an end-of-course assessment in an equivalent course as prescribed by Subsection (a). Authorizes a student who  fails to perform satisfactorily on the assessment instrument designated by THECB under Section 51.3062(c) administered as provided by this subsection to retake that assessment instrument for purposes of this subsection or to take the appropriate end-of-course assessment instrument.

 

(a-2) Creates this subsection from existing text and makes no further change.

 

SECTION 3. Requires SBOE to adopt a chart as prescribed by Section 28.008(d), Education Code, as amended by this Act, not later than January 1, 2016.

 

SECTION 4. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2015.