By: Paxton  S.B. No. 1261
         (In the Senate - Filed February 27, 2023; March 9, 2023,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
  April 24, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 12, Nays 0; April 24, 2023,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1261 By:  Campbell
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to accelerated instruction provided to public school
  students who fail to achieve satisfactory performance on certain
  assessment instruments.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Section 28.0211, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 28.0211.  [ACCELERATED LEARNING COMMITTEE;]
  ACCELERATED INSTRUCTION; MODIFIED TEACHER ASSIGNMENT.
         SECTION 2.  Section 28.0211, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-4), (a-5), (f), (f-1), (f-2),
  (f-3), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), and (n) and adding Subsections
  (a-7), (a-8), (a-9), (a-10), (a-11), (a-12), (a-13), (b), (b-1),
  (i-1), (l), (q), and (r) to read as follows:
         (a)  To ensure that each student achieves at least
  satisfactory performance on each assessment instrument
  administered under Section 39.023, a [A] school district shall
  ensure that the district's curricular and instructional systems
  provide instruction to all students that:
               (1)  is consistently aligned with the essential
  knowledge and skills for the applicable subject area and grade
  level; and
               (2)  strategically and timely addresses deficiencies
  in the prerequisite essential knowledge and skills for the
  applicable subject area and grade level [establish an accelerated
  learning committee described by Subsection (c) for each student who
  does not perform satisfactorily on:
               [(1)  the third grade mathematics or reading assessment
  instrument under Section 39.023;
               [(2)  the fifth grade mathematics or reading assessment
  instrument under Section 39.023; or
               [(3)  the eighth grade mathematics or reading
  assessment instrument under Section 39.023].
         (a-1)  Each time a student fails to perform satisfactorily on
  an assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(a) or
  (l) in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth grade or
  an end-of-course assessment instrument administered under Section
  39.023(c), other than an assessment instrument developed or adopted
  based on alternative academic achievement standards, the school
  district in which the student attends school shall provide to the
  student accelerated instruction in the applicable subject area
  during the subsequent summer or school year and, subject to
  Subsection (a-7), either:
               (1)  allow the student to be assigned a classroom
  teacher who is certified as a master, exemplary, or recognized
  teacher under Section 21.3521 for the subsequent school year in the
  applicable subject area; or
               (2)  provide the student supplemental instruction
  under Subsection (a-4).
         (a-4)  If a district receives funding under Section 29.0881
  or 48.104, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental
  Appropriations Act, 2021 (Div. M, Pub. L. No. 116-260), or the
  American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-2), then
  supplemental instruction provided by a school district under
  Subsection (a-1)(2) must:
               (1)  include targeted instruction in the essential
  knowledge and skills for the applicable grade levels and subject
  area;
               (2)  be provided in addition to instruction normally
  provided to students in the grade level in which the student is
  enrolled;
               (3)  be provided [for no less than 30 total hours]
  during the subsequent summer or school year:
                     (A)  to each student for no less than:
                           (i)  15 hours; or
                           (ii)  30 hours for a student whose
  performance on the applicable assessment instrument was
  significantly below satisfactory, as defined by commissioner rule;
                     (B)  for an average of no less than 30 hours per
  student for all students receiving supplemental instruction; and
                     (C)  [,] unless the instruction is provided to a
  student fully during summer, [include instruction] no less than
  once per week during the school year, except as otherwise provided
  by commissioner rule to account for school holidays or shortened
  school weeks;
               (4)  be designed to assist the student in achieving
  satisfactory performance in the applicable grade level and subject
  area;
               (5)  include effective instructional materials
  designed for supplemental instruction;
               (6)  be provided to a student individually or in a group
  of no more than four [three] students, unless the parent or guardian
  of each student in the group authorizes a larger group;
               (7)  be provided by a person with training in the
  applicable instructional materials for the supplemental
  instruction and under the oversight of the school district; and
               (8)  to the extent possible, be provided by one person
  for the entirety of the student's supplemental instruction period.
         (a-5)  Each school district shall establish a process
  allowing for the parent or guardian of a student who fails to
  perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
  Subsection (a-1) [(a)] to make a request for district consideration
  that the student be assigned to a particular classroom teacher in
  the applicable subject area for the subsequent school year, if more
  than one classroom teacher is available.
         (a-7)  The requirements under Subsection (a-1)(1) or (2) do
  not apply to a student who is retained at a grade level for the
  school year in which those requirements would otherwise apply.
         (a-8)  A parent or guardian of a student to whom supplemental
  instruction will be provided under Subsection (a-1)(2) and who
  either was administered and failed to perform satisfactorily on an
  assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a-1) or was
  administered a beginning-of-year assessment instrument aligned
  with the essential knowledge and skills for the applicable subject
  area, including a student to whom Subsection (b) applies, may elect
  to reduce or remove a requirement for that instruction under
  Subsection (a-4) by submitting a written request to the school
  district. A school district may not encourage or direct a parent or
  guardian to make an election under this subsection that would allow
  the district to:
               (1)  not provide supplemental instruction to the
  student; or
               (2)  provide supplemental instruction in a group larger
  than authorized under Subsection (a-4)(6).
         (a-9)  A school district is not required to provide
  accelerated instruction under Subsection (a-1) to a student who,
  instead of being administered an assessment instrument specified
  under Subsection (a-1), was administered a substitute assessment
  instrument in accordance with other law or agency rule authorizing
  the use of the substitute assessment instrument for purposes of
  satisfying the requirements concerning the applicable assessment
  instrument under Subsection (a-1).
         (a-10)  The agency shall approve one or more automated or
  other augmented methods for providing supplemental instruction
  under Subsection (a-1)(2) that may be used in lieu of some or all of
  the individual or group instruction required under Subsection
  (a-4)(6), as appropriate for the applicable grade level and subject
  area and a student's academic deficiency. The agency may approve a
  method under this subsection only if evidence indicates that the
  method is more effective than the individual or group instruction
  required under Subsection (a-4)(6). The commissioner shall adopt
  rules regarding when a method approved under this subsection may be
  used and the requirements under Subsection (a-4) for which the
  method may be substituted.
         (a-11)  For the purpose of providing tutoring services as
  part of the district's accelerated instruction program, a school
  district may use a service provider that is not on a list of service
  providers approved by the agency if the district can demonstrate to
  the commissioner that use of the service provider results in
  measurable improvement in student outcomes.
         (a-12)  A school district that is required to provide to a
  student accelerated instruction under Subsection (a-1) or
  supplemental instruction under Subsection (a-1)(2) is not required
  to provide additional instruction under either provision to the
  student based on the student's failure to perform satisfactorily on
  an assessment instrument administered as an optional assessment in
  the same subject area in which the district is required to provide
  the student the accelerated or supplemental instruction.
         (a-13)  A school district shall provide to the parent or
  guardian of a student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an
  assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a-1) notice that
  the student is not performing on grade level in the applicable
  subject area. Notwithstanding Subsection (h), the district must
  provide the notice at a parent-teacher conference or, if the
  district is unable to provide the notice at a parent-teacher
  conference, make a good faith effort to provide the notice in
  person. The agency shall develop and provide to school districts a
  model notice in plain language for use under this section.
         (b)  For each student who does not perform satisfactorily on
  an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a-1) for two
  or more consecutive school years, the school district the student
  attends shall develop an accelerated education plan as described by
  Subsection (f).
         (b-1)  A school district shall make a good faith attempt to
  provide to the parent or guardian of a student to whom Subsection
  (b) applies a parent-teacher conference with the student's primary
  teacher at the start and end of the subsequent school year. At the
  conference, the district shall provide the student's parent or
  guardian with:
               (1)  the notice required under Subsection (a-13); and
               (2)  an explanation of:
                     (A)  the accelerated instruction to which the
  student is entitled under this section; and
                     (B)  the accelerated education plan that must be
  developed for the student under Subsection (f) and the manner in
  which the parent or guardian may participate in developing the
  plan.
         (f)  Not [An accelerated learning committee described by
  Subsection (c) shall, not] later than the start of the subsequent
  school year, a school district shall develop an accelerated
  education [educational] plan for each [the] student to whom
  Subsection (b) applies that provides the necessary accelerated
  instruction to enable the student to perform at the appropriate
  grade level by the conclusion of the school year. The plan:
               (1)  must:
                     (A)  identify the reason the student did not
  perform satisfactorily on the applicable assessment instrument
  specified under Subsection (a-1); and
                     (B)  notwithstanding Subsections (a-4)(3)(A) and
  (B), require the student to be provided with no less than 30 hours,
  or a greater number of hours if appropriate, of supplemental
  instruction under Subsection (a-4) for each consecutive school year
  in which the student does not perform satisfactorily on the
  assessment instrument in the applicable subject area specified
  under Subsection (a-1); and
               (2)  may require that, as appropriate to ensure the
  student performs satisfactorily on the assessment instrument in the
  applicable subject area specified under Subsection (a-1) at the
  next administration of the assessment instrument:
                     (A)  notwithstanding Subsection (a-4)(6), the
  student be provided supplemental instruction under Subsection
  (a-4) individually or in a group of fewer than four students;
                     (B)  the district expand the times in which
  supplemental instruction under Subsection (a-4) is available to the
  student;
                     (C)  the student be assigned for the school year
  to a specific teacher who is better able to provide accelerated
  instruction; and
                     (D)  the district provide any necessary
  additional resources to the student.
         (f-1)  The accelerated education [educational] plan under
  Subsection (f) must be documented in writing, and a copy must be
  provided to the student's parent or guardian.
         (f-2)  During the school year, the student shall be monitored
  to ensure that the student is progressing in accordance with the
  accelerated education plan developed under Subsection (f).  The
  district shall administer to the student the assessment instrument
  for the grade level in which the student is placed at the time the
  district regularly administers the assessment instruments for that
  school year.
         (f-3)  The board of trustees of each school district shall
  adopt a policy consistent with the grievance procedure adopted
  under Section 26.011 to allow a parent to contest the content or
  implementation of an accelerated education [educational] plan
  developed under Subsection (f).
         (g)  This section does not preclude the retention at a grade
  level, in accordance with state law or school district policy, of a
  student who performs satisfactorily on an assessment instrument
  specified under Subsection (a-1) [(a)].
         (h)  In each instance under this section in which a school
  district is specifically required to provide notice or a written
  copy to a parent or guardian of a student, the district shall make a
  good faith effort to ensure that such notice or copy is provided
  either in person or by regular mail and that the notice or copy is
  clear and easy to understand and is written in English or the parent
  or guardian's native language.
         (i)  The admission, review, and dismissal committee of a
  student who participates in a district's special education program
  under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, and who does not perform
  satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
  Subsection (a-1) [(a) and administered under Section 39.023(a) or
  (b)] must [meet to] determine the manner in which the student will
  participate in an accelerated instruction program under this
  section. For a student for whom the committee determines
  participation in the required tutoring model for supplemental
  instruction under Subsection (a-4) is not appropriate, the
  committee must review the student's individualized education plan
  and adjust the plan as appropriate to target the areas in which the
  student did not perform satisfactorily on the assessment
  instrument.
         (i-1)  If a student who attends school in a homebound or
  other off-campus instructional arrangement is unable to
  participate in an accelerated instruction program required under
  this section due to the student's medical condition, the school
  district may determine that the student be provided the accelerated
  instruction when the student attends school in an on-campus
  instructional setting. If the student's medical condition prevents
  the student from attending school in an on-campus instructional
  setting for the school year during which the accelerated
  instruction is required to be provided to the student, the district
  is not required to provide the accelerated instruction to the
  student for that school year.
         (j)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school
  shall provide students required to attend accelerated programs
  under this section with transportation to those programs if the
  programs occur outside of regular school hours, unless the district
  or school does not operate, or contract or agree with another entity
  to operate, a transportation system.
         (k)  The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
  implement this section, including rules for required reporting
  necessary to support student transfers.
         (l)  The agency shall monitor and evaluate the effectiveness
  of the accelerated instruction required under this section.
         (n)  Except as requested under Subsection (a-5) or provided
  by Subsection (n-1), a student for whom an accelerated education
  plan must be developed [who fails to perform satisfactorily on an
  assessment instrument specified] under Subsection (b) [(a) and is
  promoted to the next grade level] must be assigned, in each [the
  subsequent] school year and [in each] subject covered by the
  accelerated education plan, [in which the student failed to perform
  satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
  Subsection (a)] to an appropriately certified teacher who meets all
  state and federal qualifications to teach that subject and grade.
         (q)  The commissioner may waive the requirements under this
  section regarding accelerated instruction for a school district for
  each school year in which at least 60 percent of the students who
  received accelerated instruction during the school year
  immediately preceding the previous school year, including at least
  60 percent of students whose performance on the applicable
  assessment instrument was significantly below satisfactory, as
  defined by commissioner rule, performed satisfactorily in the
  previous school year on the assessment instrument in each subject
  in which the student previously failed to perform satisfactorily.  
  For purposes of determining whether a school district qualifies for
  a waiver under this subsection, the commissioner shall:
               (1)  if a student received accelerated instruction in
  more than one subject during the applicable school year, consider
  the student's performance on the assessment instrument in each
  subject separately from the student's performance on the assessment
  instrument for each other subject; and
               (2)  by rule provide that a school district may not
  qualify for a waiver if students who are receiving special
  education services or are educationally disadvantaged are
  overrepresented among the students in the district who received
  accelerated instruction during the school year immediately
  preceding the previous school year and did not perform
  satisfactorily in the previous school year on the assessment
  instrument in each applicable subject.
         (r)  Not later than the beginning of each school year, the
  commissioner shall publish a list of school districts that qualify
  for a waiver under Subsection (q).
         SECTION 3.  Section 29.0881(e), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (e)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school
  that receives grant funds under this section may use the funds to:
               (1)  financially support or train or otherwise prepare
  educators and other staff;
               (2)  pay for agreements with other entities to provide
  prekindergarten services; or
               (3)  pay for accelerated instruction provided under
  Section 28.0211 [or 28.0217].
         SECTION 4.  Section 39.025(b-1), Education Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b-1)  A school district shall provide each student who fails
  to perform satisfactorily as determined by the commissioner under
  Section 39.0241(a) on an end-of-course assessment instrument with
  accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211 [28.0217] in the
  subject assessed by the assessment instrument.
         SECTION 5.  The following provisions of the Education Code
  are repealed:
               (1)  Sections 28.0211(c), (f-4), and (f-5); and
               (2)  Section 28.0217.
         SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
  28.0211, Education Code, apply beginning with assessment
  instruments administered during the 2023 spring semester.
         SECTION 7.  The repeal by this Act of Section 28.0217,
  Education Code, applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.
         SECTION 8.  (a) Notwithstanding any other section of this
  Act, in a state fiscal year, the Texas Education Agency is not
  required to implement a provision found in another section of this
  Act that is drafted as a mandatory provision imposing a duty on the
  agency to take an action unless money is specifically appropriated
  to the agency for that fiscal year to carry out that duty. The Texas
  Education Agency may implement the provision in that fiscal year to
  the extent other funding is available to the agency to do so.
         (b)  If, as authorized by Subsection (a) of this section, the
  Texas Education Agency does not implement the mandatory provision
  in a state fiscal year, the agency, in its legislative budget
  request for the next state fiscal biennium, shall certify that fact
  to the Legislative Budget Board and include a written estimate of
  the costs of implementing the provision in each year of that next
  state fiscal biennium.
         (c)  This section and the suspension of the Texas Education
  Agency's duty to implement a mandatory provision of this Act, as
  provided by Subsection (a) of this section, expires and the duty to
  implement the mandatory provision resumes on September 1, 2027.
         SECTION 9.  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, 2023.
 
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