88R787 KJE-D
 
  By: Shaheen H.B. No. 680
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the use of interim testing and adaptive, growth-based
  assessment instruments for certain required assessments of public
  school students and prohibiting the use of the results of certain
  required assessments of public school students for certain
  purposes.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 21.416 to read as follows:
         Sec. 21.416.  PROHIBITING USE OF CERTAIN ASSESSMENT
  INSTRUMENTS AS SOLE CRITERION IN TEACHER EVALUATION OR
  COMPENSATION.  The results of an assessment instrument administered
  under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (n) may not be used as the sole
  criterion in evaluating teacher performance or determining teacher
  compensation.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 39.0264 to read as follows:
         Sec. 39.0264.  SCHOOL DISTRICT ADOPTION AND ADMINISTRATION
  OF INTERIM TESTING AND ADAPTIVE, GROWTH-BASED ASSESSMENT
  INSTRUMENTS. (a) In this section, "adaptive, growth-based
  assessment instrument" means an assessment instrument that:
               (1)  adjusts the level of difficulty for each student
  during administration of the assessment instrument to match the
  knowledge and ability demonstrated by the student on the assessment
  instrument; and
               (2)  measures each student's academic progress over a
  period of time, regardless of the student's age, grade level, or
  performance in class.
         (b)  The commissioner shall apply to the United States
  Department of Education for a waiver of the requirement under the
  Every Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.) to
  administer the same assessment instruments to all public school
  students.
         (c)  If the United States Department of Education grants a
  waiver described by Subsection (b), a school district may adopt or
  develop assessment instruments in accordance with this section and
  administer those assessment instruments in lieu of the assessment
  instruments required under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (n) in each
  subject and at each grade level for which an assessment instrument
  is required to be administered under Section 39.023(a).
         (d)  Each assessment instrument administered under this
  section must be administered during the school year through
  statewide interim assessments. The results of the interim
  assessments for each subject shall be combined to determine a
  single summative score on that assessment instrument for each
  student in the manner established by commissioner rule.
         (e)  An assessment instrument administered under this
  section in an electronic format must be an adaptive, growth-based
  assessment instrument.
         (f)  In adopting or developing assessment instruments under
  this section, a school district may contract with a nonprofit
  organization that specializes in developing adaptive, growth-based
  assessment instruments.
         (g)  The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
  implement this section, including rules:
               (1)  providing the number and timing of the
  administration of the statewide interim assessments to be
  administered to a student for each assessment instrument described
  by Subsection (c), which must include at least:
                     (A)  one interim assessment administered at the
  beginning of the school year; and
                     (B)  one interim assessment administered at the
  end of the school year; and
               (2)  establishing the criteria necessary to ensure an
  assessment instrument is an adaptive, growth-based assessment
  instrument.
         (h)  A reference in law to an assessment instrument adopted
  or developed under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (n) includes an
  assessment instrument adopted or developed and administered by a
  school district in accordance with a waiver described by Subsection
  (b) and this section.
         SECTION 3.  Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (c-4) to read as follows:
         (c-4)  For purposes of Subsection (c)(2)(A), a student's
  improvement on an assessment instrument administered under Section
  39.0264 must be measured from the beginning of the school year for
  which the district or campus is being evaluated to the end of that
  school year.
         SECTION 4.  This Act applies beginning with the 2024-2025
  school year.
         SECTION 5.  Not later than January 1, 2024, the commissioner
  of education shall apply to the United States Department of
  Education for a waiver of the requirement under the Every Student
  Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.) to administer the same
  assessment instruments to all public school students.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.