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Amend CSHB 515 (house committee report) as follows:
(1) Add the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumber subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Section 28.025(c), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) A person may receive a diploma if the person is eligible for a diploma under Section 28.0251. In other cases, a student may graduate and receive a diploma only if:
(1) the student successfully completes the curriculum requirements identified by the State Board of Education under Subsection (a) and complies with Sections 39.02304 and [Section] 39.025; or
(2) the student successfully completes an individualized education program developed under Section 29.005.
SECTION ____. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 39.02304 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.02304. CIVICS TEST. (a) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring a school district to administer a civics test to a student in the foundation high school program under Section 28.025. A student may not receive a high school diploma until the student has performed satisfactorily on the civics test.
(b) The civics test must consist of all of the questions on the civics test administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of the naturalization process under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.). The questions must be presented in a multiple-choice format.
(c) To perform satisfactorily on the civics test, a student must answer at least 70 percent of the questions correctly.
(d) A school district shall administer the civics test to a student when the school counselor or the teacher of the United States history course in which the student is enrolled, if applicable, determines that the student is prepared for the test.
(e) The admission, review, and dismissal committee of a student in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, shall determine:
(1) whether any allowable modification is necessary in administering the civics test to the student to appropriately measure the student's achievement; and
(2) if the committee determines that the civics test, even with allowable modifications, would not provide an appropriate measure of the student's achievement, whether the student is required to achieve satisfactory performance on the civics test to receive a high school diploma.
(f) The commissioner shall adopt rules regarding the administration of the civics test. The rules:
(1) must require:
(A) the test to be administered electronically in the presence of a teacher, teacher's aide, proctor, or campus testing coordinator and be scored by that person or by the school district; and
(B) the results of the test to be submitted to the agency not later than the last instructional day of the school year in which the test is administered; and
(2) may not:
(A) restrict the high school grade level at which a student may take the civics test; or
(B) limit the number of attempts a student may make to perform satisfactorily on the test.
(g) For purposes of the public school accountability system, a reference in this code to an assessment instrument under Section 39.023(c) includes the civics test. Performance at the level required under Subsection (c) of this section is considered satisfactory performance for purposes of Section 39.0241(a), and the commissioner shall determine the level of performance considered to indicate college readiness for purposes of Section 39.0241(a-1). To the extent of a conflict between this section and any other provision of law, this section controls.
(2) On page 14, line 6, strike "This" and substitute "(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, this".
(3) On page 14, between lines 7 and 8, insert the following:
(b) Section 28.025(c), Education Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 39.02304, Education Code, as added by this Act, apply beginning with students who enter the ninth grade during the 2018-2019 school year.