LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 84TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
April 13, 2015

TO:
Honorable Jimmie Don Aycock, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
 
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB2804 by Aycock (Relating to assessment of public school students and evaluation of public school performance.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would require the Commissioner of Education to adopt an approved list of assessment instruments for science and writing, and rubrics that establish criteria for selecting, compiling, and evaluating student-produced work for science, social studies, and writing. The bill would require the Texas Education Agency to provide training in evaluating students under the approved rubric and would allow the Commissioner to conduct random audits of assessments. The bill would amend the accountability indicators in Education Code §39.053 and would require the Commissioner to assign a separate rating for each domain. The bill would take effect September 1, 2015, or immediately if passed with the necessary voting margins, and would apply beginning in school year 2016-17.

The agency estimates there would be costs associated with implementing the provisions of the bill; however, this estimate assumes these costs could be absorbed within existing resources.

Local Government Impact

The bill would require school districts to evaluate student achievement in science, social studies, and writing according to approved instruments or rubrics as adopted by the Commissioner, and would allow districts to use a norm-referenced assessment instrument that complies with Education Code §39.026 to evaluate student achievement for science and writing. The bill would require school districts to adopt local policies for the assessment of students as required by the bill.

The bill would require districts to report the results of science, social studies, and writing assessment instruments and rubrics and submit relevant data to TEA in order to assess the campuses and district in community and student engagement.

Districts would incur costs associated with implementing the provisions of the bill. These costs would vary by school district, but may be significant.


Source Agencies:
701 Central Education Agency
LBB Staff:
UP, JBi, AM, AW