84R9495 PAM-D

By: Aycock H.B. No. 2349

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to public school assessment, performance standards, and course requirements.

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

SECTION 1. Section 28.025(c-5), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c-5) A student may earn a performance acknowledgment on the student's diploma and transcript by satisfying the requirements for that acknowledgment adopted by the State Board of Education by rule. An acknowledgment under this subsection may be earned:

(1) for outstanding performance:

(A) in a dual credit course;

(B) in bilingualism and biliteracy;

(C) on a college advanced placement test or international baccalaureate examination; [or]

(D) on an established, valid, reliable, and nationally norm-referenced preliminary college preparation assessment instrument used to measure a student's progress toward readiness for college and the workplace; or

(E) on an established, valid, reliable, and nationally norm-referenced assessment instrument used by colleges and universities as part of their undergraduate admissions process [the PSAT, the ACT-Plan, the SAT, or the ACT]; or

(2) for earning a state recognized or nationally or internationally recognized business or industry certification or license.

SECTION 2. Sections 39.025(a) and (f), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring a student in the foundation high school program under Section 28.025 to be administered an [each] 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 a scale score that indicates satisfactory performance, as determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a), on each end-of-course assessment instrument administered to the student [listed under Section 39.023(c)]. For each scale score required under this subsection that is not based on a 100-point scale scoring system, the commissioner shall provide for conversion, in accordance with commissioner rule, of the scale score to an equivalent score based on a 100-point scale scoring system. A student may not receive a high school diploma until the student has performed satisfactorily on 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.

(f) The commissioner shall by rule adopt a transition plan to implement the amendments made by Chapter 1312 (S.B. No. 1031), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, replacing general subject assessment instruments administered at the high school level with end-of-course assessment instruments. The rules must provide for the end-of-course assessment instruments adopted under Section 39.023(c) to be administered beginning with students entering the ninth grade during the 2011-2012 school year. During the period under which the transition to end-of-course assessment instruments is made:

(1) for students entering a grade above the ninth grade during the 2011-2012 school year, the commissioner shall retain, administer, and use for purposes of accreditation and other campus and district accountability measures under this chapter the assessment instruments required by Section 39.023(a) or (c), as that section existed before amendment by Chapter 1312 (S.B. No. 1031), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007; and

(2) a student subject to Subdivision (1) may not receive a high school diploma unless the student has performed satisfactorily on each required assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(c) as that section existed before amendment by Chapter 1312 (S.B. No. 1031), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007[; and

[(3) the agency may defer releasing assessment instrument questions and answer keys as required by Section 39.023(e) to the extent necessary to develop additional assessment instruments].

SECTION 3. Section 130.008, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:

(f) Except as provided by Subsection (g) [this section], a public school student may not enroll in more than three courses under this section at a junior college if the [junior college does not have a] service area of another junior college [that] includes the student's high school.

(g) A public school student may enroll in a greater number of courses than provided by Subsection (f) if:

(1) each junior college and the school district in which the student is enrolled authorize by agreement the student's enrollment; or

(2) the [A] student is enrolled at an early college high school [may enroll in a greater number of courses to the extent approved by the commissioner of education].

SECTION 4. The following provisions of the Education Code are repealed:

(1) Section 39.023(o);

(2) Section 39.0233(c);

(3) Sections 39.025(b-2) and (g); and

(4) Section 39.0262.

SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2015-2016 school year.

SECTION 6. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the legislative session.