84R397 KKA-D
 
  By: Rinaldi H.B. No. 948
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 7.0561, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (b), (d), (i), and (j) and adding
  Subsections (j-1), (j-2), (j-3), (j-4), (k), (l), (m), and (m-1) to
  read as follows:
         (a)  In this section:
               (1)  "Consortium"[, "consortium"] means the Texas High
  Performance Schools Consortium established under this section.
               (2)  "Participant campus" means a school district
  campus or open-enrollment charter school that has been selected for
  and is participating in the consortium.
               (3)  "Participant district" means a school district
  that has one or more campuses participating in the consortium.
               (4)  "Readiness standards" means the standards
  identified by the agency that are essential for success.
         (b)  The Texas High Performance Schools Consortium is
  established to inform the governor, legislature, State Board of
  Education, and commissioner concerning methods for transforming
  public schools in this state by improving student learning through
  the development of innovative, next-generation learning standards
  and assessment and accountability systems.
         (d)  The number of students initially enrolled in
  participant campuses [consortium participants] may not be greater
  than a number equal to five percent of the total number of students
  enrolled in public schools in this state according to the most
  recent agency data. With approval of the commissioner, a
  participant district may add one or more district campuses to the
  consortium.
         (i)  To cover the costs of administering the consortium, the
  commissioner may charge a fee to a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school participating in the consortium.
  The commissioner may also charge a fee to a participating school
  district or open-enrollment charter school for use of
  state-provided assessment items or other costs associated with
  Subsection (l), and the commissioner may collect and use that fee
  for purposes of administering the consortium.
         (j)  The [With the assistance of the] school districts and
  open-enrollment charter schools participating in the consortium[,
  the commissioner] shall submit reports concerning the performance
  and progress of the consortium to the governor, [and] the
  legislature, the State Board of Education, and the commissioner not
  later than December 1 of[,] 2012, [and not later than December 1,]
  2014, 2016, and 2018.
         (j-1)  The report submitted under Subsection (j) not later
  than December 1, 2012, must include any recommendation by the
  commissioner concerning legislative authorization for the
  commissioner to waive a prohibition, requirement, or restriction
  that applies to a [consortium] participant campus or district.
  That report must also include a plan for an effective and efficient
  accountability system for participant campuses and districts
  [consortium participants] that balances academic excellence and
  local values to inspire learning and, at the state level,
  contingent on any necessary waiver of federal law, may incorporate
  use of a stratified random sampling of students or other objective
  methodology to hold participant campuses and districts [consortium
  participants] accountable while attempting to reduce the number of
  state assessment instruments that are required to be administered
  to students. The commissioner shall seek a federal waiver, to any
  extent necessary, to prepare for implementation of the plan if
  enacted by the legislature.
         (j-2)  The report submitted under Subsection (j) not later
  than December 1, 2016, must include an update on the effectiveness
  with which participant campuses are closing gaps in achievement on
  readiness standards, an evaluation of teaching fewer high-priority
  learning standards in depth, and any recommendations for
  legislation.  The report must address the effectiveness of the use
  of methods, including focus on high-priority standards; digital
  learning, such as blended learning, personalized learning, flipped
  classrooms, adaptive learning, and virtual learning; the use of
  multiple assessments that provide more precise, useful, and timely
  information; and reliance on local control that enables greater
  community and parental involvement.
         (j-3)  The report submitted under Subsection (j) not later
  than December 1, 2018, must include an update on the effectiveness
  with which participant campuses are addressing closing gaps in
  achievement on readiness standards, an evaluation of teaching fewer
  high-priority learning standards in depth, and any recommendations
  for legislation.
         (j-4)  Subsections (j), (j-1), (j-2), and (j-3) and this
  [This] subsection expire [expires] January 1, 2020 [2018].
         (k)  At least annually, the school board or governing body of
  each participant district or open-enrollment charter school shall
  hold a public hearing to discuss the district's or school's goals
  and work in the consortium and to provide for parental and community
  input.
         (l)  Notwithstanding Chapter 39 or any other law, a
  participant campus shall be evaluated for accountability purposes
  and administer assessment instruments only as follows:
               (1)  beginning with the 2015-2016 school year:
                     (A)  for each assessment instrument administered
  under this subsection, a participant campus shall be evaluated:
                           (i)  by the independent evaluation under
  Subsection (m) on disaggregated data by student group, with an
  emphasis on closing achievement gaps; and
                           (ii)  by the agency on a report-only basis,
  with the scores not otherwise used for accountability purposes,
  including interventions and sanctions under Subchapter E, Chapter
  39;
                     (B)  for each assessment instrument administered
  under Chapter 39, a participant campus shall be evaluated under
  Subsection (m) on readiness standards to allow teaching with depth
  and the evaluation of the effects of teaching with depth;
                     (C)  students in grades three through eight who
  are not taking secondary-level courses shall be administered and
  students in grades three through eight who are taking
  secondary-level courses may, at the option of the district or
  charter school participating in the consortium, be administered
  only the assessment instruments under Section 39.023 in mathematics
  annually in grades three through seven without the aid of
  technology, mathematics in grade eight with the aid of technology
  on any assessment instrument that includes algebra, reading
  annually, and science in grades five and eight, and may be
  administered an assessment instrument described by Section
  39.0261(a)(1) in eighth grade instead of the assessment instruments
  or may be administered fewer assessment instruments if allowed by
  federal law or a waiver of federal law; and
                     (D)  students taking secondary-level courses
  shall be assessed on end-of-course assessment instruments
  administered under Section 39.023(c) only for the 10th grade level
  course in English in which they are currently enrolled or shall be
  administered an assessment instrument described by Section
  39.0261(a)(2) for 10th grade in the same subject if allowed by
  federal law or a waiver of federal law, at the option of the
  district or open-enrollment charter school participating in the
  consortium;
               (2)  beginning with the 2016-2017 school year or as
  soon as possible following receipt of a waiver from federal law or a
  change in the federal law that requires annual testing of every
  student:
                     (A)  students shall be administered:
                           (i)  assessment instruments under Section
  39.023(a) for reading in grade three, mathematics in grade four,
  science in grade five, reading in grade six, and mathematics in
  grade seven;
                           (ii)  in prekindergarten through 12th grade,
  locally approved or developed assessment instruments that are
  aligned to readiness standards or high-priority learning standards
  under Subsection (f), that may include limited numbers of
  state-provided assessment items, and that may have results that can
  be accessed by the agency for monitoring and reporting purposes, or
  other satisfactory secondary-level performance demonstrated under
  Section 39.025(a-1); and
                           (iii)  assessment instruments described by
  Section 39.0261(a); and
                     (B)  a participant campus shall be evaluated on
  community-established measures that include academic achievement
  and college and career readiness;
               (3)  beginning not later than the 2015-2016 school
  year, students in a special education program shall be administered
  appropriate assessments, including assessments developed or
  adopted under Section 39.023(b) and other assessments developed or
  adopted for significantly cognitively disabled students; and
               (4)  beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, students
  of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052:
                     (A)  shall be administered appropriate
  assessments, including assessments approved by the commissioner
  that measure linguistic and academic growth as determined by the
  student's language proficiency assessment committee established by
  Section 29.063; and
                     (B)  if a waiver from federal law is obtained,
  shall participate in appropriate assessments the first five years
  the students are enrolled in schools in the United States as
  participation-only unless the student attains an English
  proficiency rating equivalent to advanced high performance during
  this period, in which case the student's data will be aggregated
  into campus and district performance reports.
         (m)  The consortium shall receive independent evaluation
  from one or more external evaluation teams, including an
  institution of higher education in this state.
         (m-1)  An evaluation conducted under Subsection (m) must be
  included in the reports required under Subsection (j).  This
  subsection expires January 1, 2020.
         SECTION 2.  Section 29.0822(a), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  Notwithstanding Section 25.081 or 25.082, a school
  district may apply to the commissioner to provide a flexible school
  day program for students who:
               (1)  have dropped out of school or are at risk of
  dropping out of school as defined by Section 29.081;
               (2)  attend a campus that is implementing an innovative
  redesign of the campus, including a campus in the high performance
  schools consortium under Section 7.0561, or an early college high
  school under a plan approved by the commissioner; or
               (3)  as a result of attendance requirements under
  Section 25.092, will be denied credit or a final grade for one or
  more classes in which the students have been enrolled.
         SECTION 3.  Section 39.025(d), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the commissioner by
  rule shall adopt one or more alternative nationally recognized norm
  referenced assessment instruments under this section to administer
  to a student to qualify for a high school diploma if the student
  enrolls after January 1 of the school year in which the student is
  otherwise eligible to graduate:
               (1)  for the first time in a public school in this
  state; [or]
               (2)  after an absence of at least four years from any
  public school in this state; or
               (3)  in a public school in this state that does not
  participate in the high performance schools consortium under
  Section 7.0561 after the student has been enrolled in a public
  school participating in the consortium during high school.
         SECTION 4.  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, 2015.