81R8757 CAS-F
By: Shapiro S.B. No. 1362
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a Texas Youth Commission comprehensive plan to improve
student reading skills and behavior.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 30, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 30.106 to read as follows:
Sec. 30.106. READING AND BEHAVIOR PLAN. (a) Because
learning and behavior are inextricably linked and learning and
improved behavior correlate with decreased recidivism rates, the
Texas Youth Commission shall not only fulfill the commission's
duties under state and federal law to provide general and special
educational services to students in commission educational
programs but also shall implement a comprehensive plan to improve
the reading skills and behavior of those students.
(b) To improve the reading skills of students in Texas Youth
Commission educational programs, the commission shall:
(1) adopt a reliable battery of reading assessments
that:
(A) are based on a normative sample appropriate
to students in commission educational programs;
(B) are designed to be administered on an
individual basis; and
(C) allow school employees to:
(i) evaluate performance in each essential
component of effective reading instruction, including phonemic
awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension; and
(ii) monitor progress in areas of
deficiency specific to an individual student; and
(iii) provide reading performance data;
(2) administer the assessments adopted under
Subdivision (1):
(A) at periodic intervals not to exceed 12
months, to each student in a commission educational program; and
(B) at least 15 days and not more than 30 days
before a student is released from the commission;
(3) provide at least 60 minutes per school day of
individualized reading instruction to each student in a commission
educational program who exhibits deficits in reading on the
assessments adopted under Subdivision (1):
(A) by trained educators with expertise in
teaching reading to struggling adolescent readers; and
(B) through the use of scientifically based,
peer-reviewed reading curricula that:
(i) have proven effective in improving the
reading performance of struggling adolescent readers;
(ii) address individualized and
differentiated reading goals; and
(iii) include each of the essential
components of effective reading instruction, including phonemic
awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension;
(4) require each teacher in a commission regular or
special educational program who teaches English language arts,
reading, mathematics, science, social studies, or career and
technology education to be trained in incorporating content area
reading instruction using empirically validated instructional
methods that are appropriate for struggling adolescent readers; and
(5) evaluate the effectiveness of the commission's
plan to increase reading skills according to the following
criteria:
(A) an adequate rate of improvement in reading
performance, as measured by monthly progress monitoring using
curricular-based assessments in each of the essential components of
effective reading instruction, including phonemic awareness,
phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension;
(B) a significant annual rate of improvement in
reading performance, disaggregated by subgroups designated under
commission rule, as measured using the battery of reading
assessments adopted under Subdivision (1); and
(C) student ratings of the quality and impact of
the reading plan under this subsection, as measured on a student
self-reporting instrument.
(c) To increase the positive social behaviors of students in
Texas Youth Commission educational programs and to create an
educational environment that facilitates learning, the commission
shall:
(1) adopt system-wide classroom and individual
positive behavior supports that incorporate a continuum of
prevention and intervention strategies that:
(A) are based on current behavioral research; and
(B) are systematically and individually applied
to students consistent with the demonstrated level of need;
(2) require each teacher and other educational staff
member in a commission educational program to be trained in
implementing the positive behavior support system adopted under
Subdivision (1); and
(3) adopt valid assessment techniques to evaluate the
effectiveness of the positive behavior support system according to
the following criteria:
(A) documentation of school-related disciplinary
referrals, disaggregated by the type, location, and time of
infraction and by subgroups designated under commission rule;
(B) documentation of school-related disciplinary
actions, including time-out, placement in security, and use of
restraints and other aversive control measures, disaggregated by
subgroups designated under commission rule;
(C) validated measurement of systemic positive
behavioral support interventions; and
(D) the number of minutes students are out of the
regular classroom because of disciplinary reasons.
(d) The Texas Youth Commission shall consult with faculty
from institutions of higher education who have expertise in reading
instruction for adolescents, in juvenile corrections, and in
positive behavior supports to develop and implement the plan under
Subsections (b) and (c).
(e) Not later than December 1, 2010, the Texas Youth
Commission shall report to the legislature concerning:
(1) the effectiveness of the commission's reading plan
based on the criteria specified by Subsection (b)(5); and
(2) the implementation of the positive behavior
support system plan under Subsection (c).
(f) Not later than December 1, 2012, the Texas Youth
Commission shall report to the legislature concerning the
effectiveness of the positive behavior support system based on the
criteria specified by Subsection (c)(3).
(g) Subsections (e) and (f) and this subsection expire
January 1, 2013.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than November 1, 2009, the Texas
Youth Commission shall adopt the battery of reading assessments as
required by Section 30.106(b), Education Code, as added by this
Act.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2010, the Texas Youth
Commission shall begin administering the battery of reading
assessments as required by Section 30.106(b), Education Code, as
added by this Act.
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, 2009.