81R24604 CAS-F
By: Farrar H.B. No. 4091
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4091:
By: Jackson C.S.H.B. No. 4091
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an intensive reading improvement program that school
districts may provide for students of limited English proficiency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.069 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.069. OPTIONAL INTENSIVE READING IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM. (a) A school district may provide to students of limited
English proficiency, in accordance with this section, a reading
improvement program that is designed to:
(1) enable students to read proficiently; and
(2) increase the likelihood that students will
graduate from high school.
(b) A program under this section must:
(1) include a research-based curriculum designed to
guide students toward reading proficiency;
(2) include assessments that are approved by the
agency and designed to measure growth in a student's vocabulary and
reading comprehension;
(3) provide individualized, intensive, and
accelerated instruction;
(4) be aligned with the required curriculum under
Section 28.002;
(5) include a comprehensive system of support for
teachers that includes in-person training, access to online
professional development, and ongoing consultation throughout the
school year; and
(6) include teacher training materials and other
teacher training resources, including resource guides, to assist
teachers in enabling students of limited English proficiency to
meet state performance expectations, including performance
expectations on assessment instruments administered under
Subchapter B, Chapter 39.
(c) The results of assessments required under Subsection
(b)(2) must be accessible through an Internet data management
system:
(1) to appropriate teachers and administrators; and
(2) in English and Spanish, to the parent of a student
participating in the program.
(d) A program under this section may include computer-based
instruction that makes available additional reading practice for
students participating in the program.
(e) A school district providing a program under this section
shall begin providing instruction under the program to a student of
limited English proficiency before the student enters the seventh
grade.
(f) A school district providing a program under this section
shall begin providing instruction under the program to a student of
limited English proficiency within six weeks of the student's
initial enrollment in a district school at a grade level at which
the district provides the program to other students of limited
English proficiency.
(g) Not later than January 31 and June 1 of each school year,
a school district providing a program under this section shall
submit to the agency a written report on the progress in reading of
students participating in the district's program. The commissioner
by rule may specify the format of and information to be provided in
the report. The agency also may collect information from each
district providing a program under this section to evaluate program
effectiveness.
SECTION 2. Section 39.024(e), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) The commissioner shall retain a portion of the total
amount of funds allotted under Section 42.152(a) that the
commissioner considers appropriate to finance activities under
Subsection [Subsections] (c) and may retain a portion for
activities under Section 29.069 [Subsection (d)] and for other
intensive programs of instruction for students of limited English
proficiency offered by school districts and shall reduce each
district's allotment proportionately.
SECTION 3. Section 39.024(d), Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2009-2010
school year.
SECTION 5. 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, 2009.