81R288 KKA-D
By: Raymond H.B. No. 541
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to assessment of public school students receiving special
education services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.0211, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (n) to read as follows:
(n) This section does not apply to a student who
participates in a district's special education program under
Subchapter A, Chapter 29.
SECTION 2. Sections 39.023(a), (c), (d), (e), and (l),
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate
criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess
essential knowledge and skills in reading, writing, mathematics,
social studies, and science. All students, except students
assessed under Subsection [(b) or] (l) or exempted under Section
39.027, shall be assessed in:
(1) mathematics, annually in grades three through
seven without the aid of technology and in grade eight with the aid
of technology on any assessment instrument that includes algebra;
(2) reading, annually in grades three through eight;
(3) writing, including spelling and grammar, in grades
four and seven;
(4) social studies, in grade eight;
(5) science, in grades five and eight; and
(6) any other subject and grade required by federal
law.
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment
instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, Algebra II,
geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, English I, English II,
English III, world geography, world history, and United States
history. The Algebra I, Algebra II, and geometry end-of-course
assessment instruments must be administered with the aid of
technology. A school district shall comply with State Board of
Education rules regarding administration of the assessment
instruments listed in this subsection and shall adopt a policy that
requires a student's performance on an end-of-course assessment
instrument for a course listed in this subsection in which the
student is enrolled to account for 15 percent of the student's final
grade for the course. If a student retakes an end-of-course
assessment instrument for a course listed in this subsection, as
provided by Section 39.025, a school district is not required to use
the student's performance on the subsequent administration or
administrations of the assessment instrument to determine the
student's final grade for the course. [If a student is in a special
education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, the student's
admission, review, and dismissal committee shall determine whether
any allowable modification is necessary in administering to the
student an assessment instrument required under this subsection or
whether the student should be exempted under Section
39.027(a)(2).] The State Board of Education shall administer the
assessment instruments. The State Board of Education shall adopt a
schedule for the administration of end-of-course assessment
instruments that complies with the requirements of Subsection
(c-3).
(d) The commissioner may participate in multistate efforts
to develop voluntary standardized end-of-course assessment
instruments. The commissioner by rule may require a school
district to administer an end-of-course assessment instrument
developed through the multistate efforts. [The admission, review,
and dismissal committee of a student in a special education program
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, shall determine whether any
allowable modification is necessary in administering to the student
an end-of-course assessment instrument or whether the student
should be exempted under Section 39.027(a)(2).]
(e) Under rules adopted by the State Board of Education,
every third year, the agency shall release the questions and answer
keys to each assessment instrument administered under Subsection
(a), [(b),] (c), (d), or (l) after the last time the instrument is
administered for that school year. To ensure a valid bank of
questions for use each year, the agency is not required to release a
question that is being field-tested and was not used to compute the
student's score on the instrument. The agency shall also release,
under board rule, each question that is no longer being
field-tested and that was not used to compute a student's score.
(l) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules for the
administration of the assessment instruments adopted under
Subsection (a) in Spanish to students in grades three through six
who are of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section
29.052, whose primary language is Spanish, and who are not
otherwise exempt from the administration of an assessment
instrument under Section 39.027(a)(3) or (4). Each student of
limited English proficiency whose primary language is Spanish[,
other than a student to whom Subsection (b) applies,] may be
assessed using assessment instruments in Spanish under this
subsection for up to three years or assessment instruments in
English under Subsection (a). The language proficiency assessment
committee established under Section 29.063 shall determine which
students are administered assessment instruments in Spanish under
this subsection.
SECTION 3. Section 39.024(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The [Except as otherwise provided by this subsection,
the] State Board of Education shall determine the level of
performance considered to be satisfactory on the assessment
instruments. [The admission, review, and dismissal committee of a
student being assessed under Section 39.023(b) shall determine the
level of performance considered to be satisfactory on the
assessment instruments administered to that student in accordance
with criteria established by agency rule.]
SECTION 4. Section 39.027(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A student may be exempted from the administration of an
assessment instrument under:
(1) Section 39.023(a) [or (b)] if the student is
eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 [and
the student's individualized education program does not include
instruction in the essential knowledge and skills under Section
28.002 at any grade level];
(2) Section 39.023(c) or (d) if the student is
eligible for a special education program under Section 29.003 [and:
[(A) the student's individualized education
program does not include instruction in the essential knowledge and
skills under Section 28.002 at any grade level; or
[(B) the assessment instrument, even with
allowable modifications, would not provide an appropriate measure
of the student's achievement as determined by the student's
admission, review, and dismissal committee];
(3) Section 39.023(a) or (l) for a period of up to one
year after initial enrollment in a school in the United States if
the student is of limited English proficiency, as defined by
Section 29.052, and has not demonstrated proficiency in English as
determined by the assessment system under Subsection (e); or
(4) Section 39.023(a) or (l) for a period of up to two
years in addition to the exemption period authorized by Subdivision
(3) if the student has received an exemption under Subdivision (3)
and:
(A) is a recent unschooled immigrant; or
(B) is in a grade for which no assessment
instrument in the primary language of the student is available.
SECTION 5. Section 39.0302(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) During an agency investigation or audit of a school
district under Section 39.0301(e) or (f), an accreditation
investigation under Section 39.075(a)(7) [39.075(a)(8)], or an
investigation by the State Board for Educator Certification of an
educator for an alleged violation of an assessment instrument
security procedure established under Section 39.0301(a), the
commissioner may issue a subpoena to compel the attendance of a
relevant witness or the production, for inspection or copying, of
relevant evidence that is located in this state.
SECTION 6. Section 39.035(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Subject to Subsection (b), the agency may conduct field
testing of questions for any assessment instrument administered
under Section 39.023(a), [(b),] (c), (d), or (l) that is separate
from the administration of the assessment instrument not more
frequently than every other school year.
SECTION 7. Sections 39.051(b) and (b-1), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) Performance on the indicators adopted under this
section shall be compared to state-established standards. The
degree of change from one school year to the next in performance on
each indicator adopted under this section shall also be
considered. The indicators must be based on information that is
disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status
and must include:
(1) the results of assessment instruments required
under Sections 39.023(a), (c), and (l), aggregated by grade level
and subject area;
(2) dropout rates, including dropout rates and
district completion rates for grade levels 9 through 12, computed
in accordance with standards and definitions adopted by the
National Center for Education Statistics of the United States
Department of Education;
(3) high school graduation rates, computed in
accordance with standards and definitions adopted in compliance
with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Pub. L. No. 107-110);
(4) student attendance rates;
(5) the percentage of graduating students who attain
scores on the questions developed for end-of-course assessment
instruments under Section 39.0233(a) that are equivalent to a
passing score on the assessment instrument required under Section
51.3062;
(6) the percentage of graduating students who meet the
course requirements established for the recommended high school
program by State Board of Education rule;
(7) the results of the Scholastic Assessment Test
(SAT), the American College Test (ACT), articulated postsecondary
degree programs described by Section 61.852, and certified
workforce training programs described by Chapter 311, Labor Code;
(8) the percentage of students, aggregated by grade
level, provided accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211(c),
the results of assessments administered under that section, the
percentage of students promoted through the grade placement
committee process under Section 28.0211, the subject of the
assessment instrument on which each student failed to perform
satisfactorily, and the performance of those students in the school
year following that promotion on the assessment instruments
required under Section 39.023;
(9) for students who have failed to perform
satisfactorily on an assessment instrument required under Section
39.023(a) or (c), the numerical progress of those students grouped
by percentage on subsequent assessment instruments required under
those sections, aggregated by grade level and subject area;
(10) the percentage of students exempted, by exemption
category, from the assessment program generally applicable under
this chapter;
(11) the percentage of students of limited English
proficiency exempted from the administration of an assessment
instrument under Sections 39.027(a)(3) and (4);
(12) [the percentage of students in a special
education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, assessed through
assessment instruments developed or adopted under Section
39.023(b);
[(13)] the measure of progress toward preparation for
postsecondary success; and
(13) [(14)] the measure of progress toward dual
language proficiency under Section 39.034(b), for students of
limited English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052.
(b-1) Performance on the indicators described by
Subsections (b)(1), (2), (3), (8), (9), and (13) [(14)] must be
based on longitudinal student data that is disaggregated by the
bilingual education or special language program, if any, in which
students of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section
29.052, are or former students of limited English proficiency were
enrolled. If a student described by this subsection is not or was
not enrolled in specialized language instruction, the number and
percentage of those students shall be provided.
SECTION 8. Section 39.075(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall authorize special accreditation
investigations to be conducted:
(1) when excessive numbers of absences of students
eligible to be tested on state assessment instruments are
determined;
(2) when excessive numbers of allowable exemptions
from the required state assessment instruments are determined;
(3) in response to complaints submitted to the agency
with respect to alleged violations of civil rights or other
requirements imposed on the state by federal law or court order;
(4) in response to established compliance reviews of
the district's financial accounting practices and state and federal
program requirements;
(5) when extraordinary numbers of student placements
in disciplinary alternative education programs, other than
placements under Sections 37.006 and 37.007, are determined;
(6) in response to an allegation involving a conflict
between members of the board of trustees or between the board and
the district administration if it appears that the conflict
involves a violation of a role or duty of the board members or the
administration clearly defined by this code;
(7) [when excessive numbers of students in special
education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, are assessed
through assessment instruments developed or adopted under Section
39.023(b);
[(8)] in response to an allegation regarding or an
analysis using a statistical method result indicating a possible
violation of an assessment instrument security procedure
established under Section 39.0301, including for the purpose of
investigating or auditing a school district under that section; or
(8) [(9)] as the commissioner otherwise determines
necessary.
SECTION 9. Section 39.114(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A school district may use funds allocated under Section
42.2516(b)(3) on any instructional program in grades six through 12
other than an athletic program if:
(1) the district is recognized as exceptional by the
commissioner under the academic accountability indicator adopted
under Section 39.051(b)(12) [39.051(b)(13)]; and
(2) the district's completion rates for grades nine
through 12 meet or exceed completion rate standards required by the
commissioner to achieve a rating of exemplary under Section 39.072.
SECTION 10. Sections 28.0211(i), 28.0213(e), 39.023(b),
39.027(c), and 39.051(f), Education Code, are repealed.
SECTION 11. Not later than December 1, 2010, the Texas
Education Agency shall submit to the legislature a report that:
(1) identifies the anticipated consequences of
implementing the changes in law made by this Act regarding
assessment of students receiving special education services,
including any consequences arising from requirements imposed by
federal law regarding assessment of those students; and
(2) specifies the amount, if any, of federal funds
that would not be received as a result of implementing those changes
in law.
SECTION 12. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
(b) Section 11 of this Act takes effect September 1, 2010.