By: Paxton S.B. No. 2527

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to early assessment and interventions for school district students.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 28.0071 to read as follows:

Sec. 28.0071. EARLY MATHEMATICS ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT. (a) The commissioner shall adopt a list of approved or developed mathematics instruments that a school district may use to assess a student's mathematics skills in kindergarten through third grade.

(b) The mathematics instruments on the list adopted under Subsection (a) must:

(1) be designed to be administered at least at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year;

(2) align with best practices for early mathematics assessment;

(3) be based on scientific research concerning foundational numeracy skills in mathematics;

(4) allow for statewide comparison of student performance;

(5) be grade-level and developmentally appropriate for the intended grade for which the instrument will be administered;

(6) assess performance of students in foundational numeracy skills components of the essential knowledge and skills adopted under Section 28.002 for mathematics;

(7) be capable of monitoring student progress in a manner that allows school district staff to identify foundational numeracy skills in need of targeted instruction;

(8) assess whether a student's performance in foundational numeracy skills indicates that the student is at risk, as determined by the commissioner, of not achieving satisfactory performance on the third grade mathematics assessment administered under Section 39.023;

(9) allow a school to district to generate a report regarding a student's mathematics progress that is in plain language that may be distributed to the student's parent in English, Spanish or, to the extent practicable, any other languages spoken by the parent.

(c) The commissioner shall:

(1) update the list of mathematics instruments adopted under Subsection (a) not less than once every four years;

(2) ensure the list of mathematics instruments adopted under Subsection (a) includes multiple instruments;

(3) develop a process by which a school district may submit an instrument to the commissioner for approval; and

(4) make publicly available the criteria for the evaluation and approval of an instrument submitted to the commissioner.

(d) The commissioner may allow a school district to substitute:

(1) an interim assessment instrument adopted or developed under Section 39.023(o) for an instrument adopted under this section; or

(2) a third grade assessment instrument adopted or developed under Section 39.023 for an instrument adopted under this section that is administered at the end of the school year for a third grade student.

(e) A school district shall administer a mathematics instrument on the list adopted under Subsection (a) to each student in kindergarten through third grade in accordance with requirements established by the commissioner under this section.

(f) The superintendent of each school district shall:

(1) report to the commissioner and the board of trustees of the district the results of a mathematics instrument administered to students under this section; and

(2) not later than the 30th calendar day after the date on which the results of a mathematics instrument are available, report, in writing or electronically, to a student's parent or guardian:

(A) the student's results on the instrument; and

(B) the report described by Subsection (b)(9).

(f) If a student's results on two consecutive mathematics instruments administered under this section indicate that the student is at risk, as determined by the commissioner, of not achieving satisfactory performance in foundational numeracy, the student's school district shall:

(1) develop and implement a mathematics improvement plan for the student;

(2) communicate, in writing or electronically, the student's improvement plan to the student's parent or guardian; and

(3) provide regular updates to the student and parents on the progress made by the student until the student is no longer determined to be at risk, as determined by the commissioner, of not achieving satisfactory performance in foundational numeracy.

(g) A school district shall provide mathematics intervention services to a student described by Subsection (f) in accordance with the mathematics improvement plan developed for the student under that subsection until the student demonstrates proficiency in mathematics on a mathematics instrument administered under this section or on an assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(a).

(h) A student's parent or guardian may submit a written request to the administrator of the campus at which the student is enrolled to opt the student out of the administration of a mathematics instrument required under this section. A school district may not encourage or direct a parent or guardian to submit a written request under this subsection.

(i) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

(j) The agency may not use data collected from a mathematics instrument administered under this section in evaluating the performance of a school district or campus under Section 39.054.

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

SECTION 3. 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, 2025.