84R9832 CAE-D

By: Miller of Fort Bend H.B. No. 3583

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a pilot program in certain school districts exempting those districts from administering standard assessment instruments and authorizing alternative assessment instruments.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 39.042 to read as follows:

Sec. 39.042. ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The commissioner by rule shall develop and implement a pilot program under which participating school districts are exempt from administering assessment instruments under Section 39.023 and administer alternative assessment instruments.

(b) A school district may apply to the commissioner to participate in the pilot program established under this section. The commissioner shall select for participation in the pilot program one school district located in each of the regional education service center areas. To be eligible to apply for the pilot program under this section, a school district must have a student enrollment of 70,000 or more. If a regional education service center area does not have a school district with student enrollment of 70,000 or more, the commissioner shall select the district in the area with the highest student enrollment that has applied for participation in the pilot program.

(c) A school district selected by the commissioner as a participant in the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium under Section 7.0561 may not participate in the pilot program established under this section.

(d) The commissioner by rule shall adopt procedures to designate alternative assessment instruments that may be used by a school district participating in the pilot program to evaluate student achievement. The procedures adopted by the commissioner must provide that the following assessment instruments may be administered by a participating school district as an alternative assessment instrument:

(1) ACT Plan;

(2) Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS);

(3) National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP);

(4) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA);

(5) PSAT; and

(6) Texas Success Initiative (TSI Diagnostic Test).

(e) From funds appropriated for that purpose, the commissioner by rule shall establish a grant program under which participating school districts receive grants to implement the pilot program to administer alternative assessment instruments.

(f) A school district that receives a grant under this section may use grant funds to implement an alternative system of student assessment using commissioner-approved alternative assessment instruments.

(g) Each participating school district shall report to the agency student performance on alternative assessment instruments the district administers under the pilot program.

(h) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to administer this section.

SECTION 2. The commissioner of education shall establish the pilot program under Section 39.042, Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 2015.

SECTION 3. 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.