Amend CSHB 4 (house committee report) as follows:

(1)  On page 1, between lines 10 and 11, insert the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill:

SECTION ____.  Section 11.185(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b)  Each plan adopted under Subsection (a) must:

(1)  identify annual goals for students in each group evaluated under the closing the gaps domain under Section 39.053(c)(3);

(2)  include annual goals for aggregate student growth on the third grade reading language arts or mathematics assessment instrument, as applicable, administered under Section 39.023 or on an alternative assessment instrument determined by the board of trustees;

(3)  provide for targeted professional development for classroom teachers in kindergarten or first, second, or third grade who are assigned to campuses that the board of trustees identifies as not meeting the plan's goals;

(4)  assign at least one district-level administrator or employee of the regional education service center for the district's region to:

(A)  coordinate implementation of the plan; and

(B)  submit an annual report to the board of trustees on the district's progress toward the goals set under the plan; and

(5)  be reviewed annually by the board of trustees at a public meeting.

SECTION ____.  Section 21.4552(c), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(c)  The commissioner shall adopt criteria for selecting teachers who may attend a literacy achievement academy. In adopting selection criteria under this subsection, the commissioner shall:

(1)  require a teacher to attend a literacy achievement academy if the teacher provides instruction in reading, mathematics, science, or social studies to students at the sixth, seventh, or eighth grade level at a campus that fails to satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e) on the basis of student performance on the reading language arts assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(a) to students in any grade level at the campus;

(2)  grant priority to teachers employed by a school district at a campus at which 50 percent or more of the students enrolled are educationally disadvantaged; and

(3)  provide a process through which a teacher not employed at a campus described by Subdivision (2) may attend the academy if the academy has available space and the school district employing the teacher pays the costs of the teacher's attendance.

(2)  On page 1, line 19, between "reading" and the open bracket, insert "language arts".

(3)  On page 1, between lines 20 and 21, insert the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill:

SECTION ____.  Section 29.056(g), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(g)  A district may transfer an emergent bilingual student out of a bilingual education or special language program for the first time or a subsequent time if the student is able to participate equally in a regular all-English instructional program as determined by:

(1)  agency-approved tests administered at the end of each school year to determine the extent to which the student has developed oral and written language proficiency and specific language skills in English;

(2)  satisfactory performance on the reading language arts assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) or [an English language arts assessment instrument under Section] 39.023(c), as applicable, with the assessment instrument administered in English, or, if the student is enrolled in the first or second grade, an achievement score at or above the 40th percentile in the reading and language arts sections of an English standardized test approved by the agency; and

(3)  agency-approved criterion-referenced tests and the results of a subjective teacher evaluation.

SECTION ____.  Section 29.1543, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 29.1543.  EARLY EDUCATION REPORTS. The agency shall produce and make available to the public on the agency's Internet website annual district and campus-level reports containing information from the previous school year on early education in school districts and open-enrollment charter schools. A report under this section must contain:

(1)  the information required by Section 29.1532(c) to be reported through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS);

(2)  a description of the diagnostic reading instruments administered in accordance with Section 28.006(c) or (c-2);

(3)  the number of students who were administered a diagnostic reading instrument administered in accordance with Section 28.006(c) or (c-2);

(4)  the number of students whose scores from a diagnostic reading instrument administered in accordance with Section 28.006(c) or (c-2) indicate reading proficiency;

(5)  the number of kindergarten students who were enrolled in a prekindergarten program in the previous school year in the same district or school as the district or school in which the student attends kindergarten;

(6)  the number and percentage of students who perform satisfactorily on the third grade reading language arts or mathematics assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023, disaggregated by whether the student was eligible for free prekindergarten under Section 29.153;

(7)  the number of students described by Subdivision (6) who attended kindergarten in the district, disaggregated by:

(A)  whether the student met the kindergarten readiness standard on the reading instrument adopted under Section 28.006;

(B)  whether the student attended prekindergarten in the district; and

(C)  the type of prekindergarten the student attended, if applicable; and

(8)  the information described by Subdivisions (6) and (7) disaggregated by whether the student is educationally disadvantaged.

(4)  On page 3, line 7, between "reading" and the underlined comma, insert "language arts".

(5)  On page 4, strike lines 1 through 3 and substitute "amending Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (a-11), (a-12), (a-13), (b), (b-1), (c), (c-1), (c-8), (g), (h), and (n) and adding Subsections (a-5), (a-10), (o-1), (q), and (r) to read as follows:".

(6)  On page 4, line 10, between "reading" and the comma, insert "language arts".

(7)  On page 4, line 16, between "reading" and the comma, insert "language arts".

(8)  On page 5, line 14, between "reading" and "assessment", insert "language arts".

(9)  On page 6, strike lines 3 through 5 and substitute "state curriculum standards and a student's annual through-year instructional growth;".

(10)  On page 6, strike lines 6 and 7 and reletter subsequent paragraphs of the subdivision accordingly.

(11)  On page 6, between lines 26 and 27, insert the following:

(a-3)  The agency may not adopt or develop a nationally norm-referenced or 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.

(12)  On page 8, line 13, between "reading" and the underlined comma, insert "language arts".

(13)  On page 8, between lines 16 and 17, insert the following:

(b)  The agency shall [develop or] adopt appropriate nationally norm-referenced [criterion-referenced] alternative assessment instruments to be administered to each student in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, for whom an assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (a), 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.

(b-1)  The agency, in conjunction with appropriate interested persons, shall redevelop assessment instruments adopted [or developed] under Subsection (b) for administration to significantly cognitively disabled students in a manner consistent with federal law. An assessment instrument under this subsection may not require a teacher to prepare tasks or materials for a student who will be administered such an assessment instrument. A classroom portfolio method used to assess writing performance may require a teacher to prepare tasks and materials.

(14)  On page 8, line 18, between "reading" and the comma, insert "language arts".

(15)  Strike page 9, line 24, through page 10, line 21.

(16)  On page 10, between lines 21 and 22, insert the following:

(g)  The State Board of Education may adopt one appropriate, nationally recognized, norm-referenced assessment instrument in reading language arts and mathematics to be administered to a selected sample of students in the spring. If adopted, a norm-referenced assessment instrument must be a secured test. The state may pay the costs of purchasing and scoring the adopted assessment instrument and of distributing the results of the adopted instrument to the school districts. A district that administers the norm-referenced test adopted under this subsection shall report the results to the agency in a manner prescribed by the commissioner.

(17)  On page 11, between lines 5 and 6, insert the following:

(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 norm-referenced [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), 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 Subsection (a).

(18)  On page 12, line 4, immediately following "prekindergarten,", insert "kindergarten,".

(19)  On page 12, line 17, between "reading" and the open bracket, insert "language arts".

(20)  On page 13, line 1, between "reading" and the open bracket, insert "language arts".

(21)  On page 13, line 7, immediately following "reading", add "language arts".

(22)  On page 13, between lines 8 and 9, insert the following appropriately numbered SECTION to the bill:

SECTION ____.  Section 39.027(e), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(e)  The commissioner shall adopt a norm-referenced [develop an] assessment system that shall be used for evaluating the academic progress, including reading proficiency in English, of all emergent bilingual students, as defined by Section 29.052. A student who is exempt from the administration of an assessment instrument under Subsection (a)(1) or (2) who achieves reading proficiency in English as determined by the assessment system adopted [developed] under this subsection shall be administered the assessment instruments described by Sections 39.023(a) and (c). The performance under the assessment system adopted [developed] under this subsection of students to whom Subsection (a)(1) or (2) applies shall be included in the indicator systems under Section 39.301, as applicable, the performance report under Section 39.306, and the comprehensive biennial report under Section 39.332. This information shall be provided in a manner that is disaggregated by the bilingual education or special language program, if any, in which the student is enrolled.

(23)  On page 14, line 10, between "may" and "modify", insert "not".

(24)  On page 14, line 12, strike "only with the express approval of the legislature" and substitute "unless the legislature provides written approval for the modification".

(25)  On page 15, line 23, between "reading" and "or", insert "language arts".

(26)  On page 17, line 19, between "reading" and the underlined comma, insert "language arts".

(27)  On page 18, line 17, between "activities" and the underlined semicolon, insert "consistent with the findings of the extracurricular and cocurricular student activity indicator study required under Section 39.0533, as that section existed immediately before September 1, 2023".

(28)  On page 21, strike lines 6 through 9 and substitute the following:

(29)  On page 21, line 27, strike "reviews, adjusts, and recalculates" and substitute "shall review, adjust, and recalculate".

(30)  On page 22, strike line 4 and substitute the following:

(2)  the overall performance rating and each domain performance rating an elementary school, middle or junior high school, or high school campus receives has minimal

(31)  On page 23, line 20, immediately following "standards", add ". If the commissioner does not adopt performance standards by the date required under this subsection for a school year, district and campus performance ratings for that school year shall be based on the performance standards in effect for the preceding school year".

(32)  On page 25, immediately following line 27, insert the following:

(33)  On page 26, line 7, strike "[English language arts]" and substitute "[English] language arts".

(34)  On page 26, between lines 8 and 9, insert the following appropriately numbered SECTION:

SECTION ____.  Section 39A.064(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a)  Notwithstanding [Section 39A.0545(b) or] any other law, the commissioner may require a school district or open-enrollment charter school to comply with all requirements of the strong foundations grant program under Section 29.0881 at a campus that:

(1)  includes students at any grade level from prekindergarten through fifth grade;

(2)  is assigned an overall performance rating of D or F; and

(3)  is in the bottom five percent of campuses in the state based on student performance on the grade three reading language arts assessment administered under Section 39.023(a) during the previous school year, as determined by the commissioner.

(35)  Renumber SECTIONS of the bill accordingly.