By: Huberty H.B. No. 2983

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the administration to public school students in certain grades of state-administered assessment instruments.

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

SECTION 1. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-2), (b), (c-1), (c-3), (e), (l), (m), (n), and (p) and adding Subsections (a-3), (a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (a-7), (a-8), and (a-9) 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 and five [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, five, and [through] eight;

(3) writing, including spelling and grammar, in grades five and eight [four and seven];

(4) social studies, in grade eight; and

(5) science, in grades five and eight[; and

[(6) any other subject and grade required by federal law].

(a-1) The agency shall develop assessment instruments required under Subsections (a), (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6) [Subsection (a)] in a manner that allows, to the extent practicable:

(1) the score a student receives to provide reliable information relating to a student's satisfactory performance for each performance standard under Section 39.0241; and

(2) an appropriate range of performances to serve as a valid indication of growth in student achievement.

(a-2) A student is not required to be assessed in a subject otherwise assessed at the student's grade level under Subsection (a) if the student:

(1) is enrolled in a course in the subject intended for students above the student's grade level and will be administered an assessment instrument adopted or developed under Subsection (a), (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6) that aligns with the curriculum for the course in which the student is enrolled; or

(2) is enrolled in a course in the subject for which the student will receive high school academic credit and will be administered an end-of-course assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (c) for the course.

(a-3) The agency may not adopt or develop a criterion- referenced assessment instrument under this section based on common core state standards as defined by Section 28.002(b-1). This subsection does not prohibit the use of college advanced placement tests or international baccalaureate examinations as those terms are defined by Section 28.051.

(a-4) For each assessment instrument administered under Subsection (a) or (a-5), the agency shall determine, based on available information for that assessment instrument, the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score. The minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score is the sum of the scale score that indicates satisfactory performance on that assessment instrument, as determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a), plus the minimum number of points that when added to the scale score produces a score that, within a three percent margin of error, is predictive that a student achieving that score would achieve satisfactory performance on an assessment instrument in the same subject administered to the student during the following school year.

(a-5) A student shall be assessed in grade four in a subject for which an assessment instrument is administered under Subsection (a) in grade three if, on the final assessment instrument in that subject administered under Subsection (a) to the student in grade three during the preceding school year, the student did not achieve a score equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score for that assessment instrument, as determined under Subsection (a-3).

(a-6) A student shall be assessed in grade six in a subject for which an assessment instrument is administered under Subsection (a)(1) or (2) in grade five if, on the final assessment instrument in that subject administered under Subsection (a)(1) or (2) to the student in grade five during the preceding school year, the student did not achieve a score equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score for that assessment instrument, as determined under Subsection (a-3).

(a-7) A student shall be assessed in grade seven in a subject for which an assessment instrument was administered under Subsection (a-5) to the student in grade six if, on the final assessment instrument in that subject administered to the student in grade six during the preceding school year, the student did not achieve a score equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score for that assessment instrument, as determined under Subsection (a-3).

(a-8) A student assessed in mathematics under Subsection (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6) shall be assessed without the aid of technology.

(a-9) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may, for its own use in determining whether students are performing at a satisfactory level, administer to a student at the appropriate grade level, other than a student required to be assessed, an assessment instrument developed for purposes of Subsection (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6). At the request of a district or open-enrollment charter school, the agency shall provide, allow for the administration of, and score each assessment instrument administered under this subsection in the same manner and at the same cost as for assessment instruments required to be administered under the applicable subsection. The results of an assessment instrument administered under this subsection may not be included as an indicator of student achievement under Section 39.053 or any other provision.

(a-10) If there is a conflict between this section and a federal law or regulation as a result of forgoing under this section certain administration of assessment instruments to students who have recently performed successfully on assessment instruments assessing the same subject, the commissioner shall seek a waiver from the application of the conflicting federal law or regulation. In seeking a waiver, the commissioner shall submit all relevant data, including data relating to:

(1) the likelihood that a student who achieves a score on an assessment instrument equal to or greater than the minimum satisfactory adjusted scale score for that assessment instrument, as determined under Subsection (a-3), will, in subsequent years, perform satisfactorily on assessment instruments in the same subject;

(2) the costs associated with ongoing assessment of students who have proven likely to perform successfully on subsequent assessment instruments; and

(3) the benefit of redirecting resources from assessment of students who have proven likely to perform successfully on subsequent assessment instruments toward enabling lower performing students to perform successfully on assessment instruments after one school year.

(a-11) Before an assessment instrument adopted or developed under Subsection (a) may be administered under that subsection, the assessment instrument must, on the basis of empirical evidence, be determined to be valid and reliable by an entity that is independent of the agency and of any other entity that developed the assessment instrument.

(a-12) An assessment instrument adopted or developed under Subsection (a) must be designed so that:

(1) if administered to students in grades three through five, 85 percent of students will be able to complete the assessment instrument within 120 minutes; and

(2) if administered to students in grades six through eight, 85 percent of students will be able to complete the assessment instrument within 180 minutes.

(a-13) The amount of time allowed for administration of an assessment instrument adopted or developed under Subsection (a) may not exceed eight hours, and the administration may occur on only one day.

(b) The agency shall develop or adopt appropriate criterion-referenced alternative assessment instruments to be administered to a [each] student in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, for whom an assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (a) or, to the extent applicable, Subsection (a-4), (a-5), or (a-6), even with allowable accommodations, would not provide an appropriate measure of student achievement, as determined by the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee, including assessment instruments approved by the commissioner that measure growth. The assessment instruments developed or adopted under this subsection, including the assessment instruments approved by the commissioner, must, to the extent allowed under federal law, provide a district with options for the assessment of students under this subsection. The agency may not adopt a performance standard that indicates that a student's performance on the alternate assessment does not meet standards if the lowest level of the assessment accurately represents the student's developmental level as determined by the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee.

(c-1) To the greatest extent practicable, the [The] agency shall develop any assessment instrument required under this section in a manner that allows for the measurement of annual improvement in student achievement as required by Sections 39.034(c) and (d).

(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 Subsections (a), (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6) [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 instruments in English I, English II, and English III must be permitted to occur at an earlier date.

(e) Under rules adopted by the State Board of Education, every third year, the agency shall release the questions and answer keys to each assessment instrument administered under Subsection (a), (a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (b), (c), (d), or (l), excluding any assessment instrument administered to a student for the purpose of retaking the assessment instrument, after the last time the instrument is administered for that school year. To ensure a valid bank of questions for use each year, the agency is not required to release a question that is being field-tested and was not used to compute the student's score on the instrument. The agency shall also release, under board rule, each question that is no longer being field-tested and that was not used to compute a student's score. During the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years, the agency shall release the questions and answer keys to assessment instruments as described by this subsection each year.

(l) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules for the administration of the assessment instruments adopted under Subsection (a) and, to the extent applicable, the assessment instruments adopted under Subsection (a-4) in Spanish to students in grades three, four, and [through] five who are of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052, whose primary language is Spanish, and who are not otherwise exempt from the administration of an assessment instrument under Section 39.027(a)(1) or (2). Each student of limited English proficiency whose primary language is Spanish, other than a student to whom Subsection (b) applies, may be assessed using assessment instruments in Spanish under this subsection for up to three years or assessment instruments in English under Subsection (a) and, as applicable, Subsection (a-4). The language proficiency assessment committee established under Section 29.063 shall determine which students are administered assessment instruments in Spanish under this subsection.

(m) The commissioner by rule shall develop procedures under which the language proficiency assessment committee established under Section 29.063 shall determine which students are exempt from the administration of the assessment instruments under Section 39.027(a)(1) or (2). The rules adopted under this subsection shall ensure that the language proficiency assessment committee provides that the exempted students are administered the assessment instruments under Subsections (a) and (c) and, to the extent applicable, Subsections (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6) at the earliest practical date.

(n) This subsection applies only to a student who is determined to have dyslexia or a related disorder and who is an individual with a disability under 29 U.S.C. Section 705(20) and its subsequent amendments. The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess the ability of and to be administered to each student to whom this subsection applies for whom the assessment instruments adopted under Subsection (a) and, to the extent applicable, the assessment instruments adopted under Subsections (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6), even with allowable modifications, would not provide an appropriate measure of student achievement, as determined by the committee established by the board of trustees of the district to determine the placement of students with dyslexia or related disorders. The committee shall determine whether any allowable modification is necessary in administering to a student an assessment instrument required under this subsection. The assessment instruments required under this subsection shall be administered on the same schedule as the assessment instruments administered under Subsections (a), (a-4), (a-5), and (a-6), as applicable [Subsection (a)].

(p) On or before September 1 of each year, the commissioner shall make the following information available on the agency's Internet website for each assessment instrument administered under Subsection (a), (a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (c), or (l):

(1) the number of questions on the assessment instrument;

(2) the number of questions that must be answered correctly to achieve satisfactory performance as determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a);

(3) the number of questions that must be answered correctly to achieve satisfactory performance under the college readiness performance standard as provided by Section 39.0241; and

(4) the corresponding scale scores.

SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect on any date not later than September 1, 2021, on which the commissioner of education:

(1) obtains any necessary waiver from the application of federal law or regulation conflicting with Section 39.023, Education Code, as amended by this Act, as required by Section 39.023(a-9), Education Code, as added by this Act; or

(2) receives written notification from the United States Department of Education that a waiver is not required.

(b) This Act applies beginning with the first school year that begins after the date on which this Act takes effect under Subsection (a) of this section.

(c) If the commissioner of education obtains any necessary waiver or receives written notification as described by Subsection (a) of this section, the commissioner shall certify that the commissioner has obtained the waiver or received notification that a waiver is not required, as applicable, and shall publish notice of that fact in the Texas Register as soon as practicable after obtaining the waiver or receiving notification.