Amend CSHB 4402 (house committee report) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTION to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____.  Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 39.02301 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.02301.  OPTIONAL USE OF WRITING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT. (a) A school district may elect to use a writing portfolio assessment to assess writing performance for students enrolled in the district as an alternative to administering the portion of a reading assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) or English I or English II end-of-course assessment instrument under Section 39.023(c) that is not presented in a multiple choice format.
(b)  A school district that elects to use a writing portfolio assessment under this section shall design the assessment in consultation with a public or private institution of higher education and submit the assessment to the agency for approval. The agency shall approve the assessment if the assessment is:
(1)  determined by the public or private institution of higher education that consulted on the design of the assessment to be valid and reliable; and
(2)  designed to assess:
(A)  a student's mastery of the essential knowledge and skills in writing through timed writing samples;
(B)  improvement of a student's writing skills from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year;
(C)  a student's ability to follow the writing process from rough draft to final product; and
(D)  a student's ability to produce more than one type of writing style.
(c)  A school district that elects to use a writing portfolio assessment under this section may adopt a policy allowing the assessment to be scored by a classroom teacher assigned to the same campus as the student to whom the assessment is administered. The district may coordinate with the regional education service center for the district's region in grading the assessments.
(d)  A school district that elects to use a writing portfolio assessment under this section is not required to administer the portion of a reading assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) or English I or English II end-of-course assessment instrument under Section 39.023(c) that is not presented in a multiple choice format during the period the district is administering the writing portfolio assessment. The agency shall, to the greatest extent practicable, apply cost savings that result from the exemption under this subsection to offset the costs accrued under this section.
(e)  The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.