|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the limitation on administration and use of certain |
|
assessment instruments in public schools. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by |
|
amending Subsections (a), (c), and (c-3) and adding Subsection (q) |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate |
|
criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess |
|
essential knowledge and skills in reading, [writing,] mathematics, |
|
[social studies,] and science. Except as provided by Subsection |
|
(a-2), all students, other than students assessed under Subsection |
|
(b) or (l) or exempted under Section 39.027, shall be assessed in: |
|
(1) mathematics, annually in grades three through |
|
seven without the aid of technology and in grade eight with the aid |
|
of technology on any assessment instrument that includes algebra; |
|
(2) reading, annually in grades three through eight; |
|
and |
|
(3) [writing, including spelling and grammar, in
|
|
grades four and seven;
|
|
[(4) social studies, in grade eight;
|
|
[(5)] science, in grades five and eight[; and
|
|
[(6)
any other subject and grade required by federal
|
|
law]. |
|
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment |
|
instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, biology, and |
|
English I[, English II, and United States history]. The Algebra I |
|
end-of-course assessment instrument must be administered with the |
|
aid of technology. The English I [and English II] end-of-course |
|
assessment instrument [instruments] must [each] assess essential |
|
knowledge and skills in both reading and writing in the same |
|
assessment instrument and must provide a single score. A school |
|
district shall comply with State Board of Education rules regarding |
|
administration of the assessment instruments listed in this |
|
subsection. If a student is in a special education program under |
|
Subchapter A, Chapter 29, the student's admission, review, and |
|
dismissal committee shall determine whether any allowable |
|
modification is necessary in administering to the student an |
|
assessment instrument required under this subsection. The State |
|
Board of Education shall administer the assessment instruments. |
|
The State Board of Education shall adopt a schedule for the |
|
administration of end-of-course assessment instruments that |
|
complies with the requirements of Subsection (c-3). |
|
(c-3) In adopting a schedule for the administration of |
|
assessment instruments under this section, the State Board of |
|
Education shall require: |
|
(1) assessment instruments administered under |
|
Subsection (a) to be administered on a schedule so that the first |
|
assessment instrument is administered at least two weeks later than |
|
the date on which the first assessment instrument was administered |
|
under Subsection (a) during the 2006-2007 school year; and |
|
(2) the spring administration of end-of-course |
|
assessment instruments under Subsection (c) to occur in each school |
|
district not earlier than the first full week in May, except that |
|
the spring administration of the end-of-course assessment |
|
instrument [instruments] in English I [and English II] must be |
|
permitted to occur at an earlier date. |
|
(q) This subsection applies to assessment instruments |
|
adopted or developed under Subsection (a) to assess writing in |
|
grades four and seven, an assessment instrument adopted or |
|
developed under Subsection (a) to assess social studies in grade |
|
eight, and end-of-course assessments adopted under Subsection (c) |
|
for secondary-level courses in English II and United States |
|
history, as those subsections existed before amendment by __.B. |
|
No.___, Acts of the 86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019. The |
|
agency may retain assessment instruments described by this |
|
subsection, but may not require a school district to administer |
|
those assessment instruments. A school district may choose to |
|
administer an assessment instrument described by this subsection. |
|
An assessment instrument described by this subsection administered |
|
by a school district may not be used for accountability purposes to |
|
measure the performance of the district or a district campus. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 39.025(a-1), Education Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(a-1) A student enrolled in a college preparatory |
|
mathematics or English language arts course under Section 28.014 |
|
who satisfies the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) college readiness |
|
benchmarks prescribed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating |
|
Board under Section 51.334 on an assessment instrument designated |
|
by the coordinating board under that section administered at the |
|
end of the college preparatory mathematics or English language arts |
|
course satisfies the requirements concerning and is exempt from the |
|
administration of the Algebra I or the English I [and English II] |
|
end-of-course assessment instrument [instruments], as applicable, |
|
as prescribed by Section 39.023(c), even if the student did not |
|
perform satisfactorily on a previous administration of the |
|
applicable end-of-course assessment instrument. A student who |
|
fails to perform satisfactorily on the assessment instrument |
|
designated by the coordinating board under Section 51.334 |
|
administered as provided by this subsection may retake that |
|
assessment instrument for purposes of this subsection or may take |
|
the appropriate end-of-course assessment instrument. |
|
SECTION 3. Section 39.203(c), Education Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(c) In addition to the distinction designations described |
|
by Subsections (a) and (b), a campus that satisfies the criteria |
|
developed under Section 39.204 shall be awarded a distinction |
|
designation by the commissioner for outstanding performance in |
|
academic achievement in English language arts, mathematics, or |
|
science[, or social studies]. |
|
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020 |
|
school year. |
|
SECTION 5. 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, 2019. |