Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2086 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R11468 CAS-F
2	2	By: Davis, Wendy S.B. No. 2086
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the essential high school program and to the curriculum
8	8	requirements for the recommended and advanced public high school
9	9	programs.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Sections 28.025(a), (b), (b-1), (e), and (g),
12	12	Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) The State Board of Education by rule shall determine
14	14	curriculum requirements for the essential [minimum], recommended,
15	15	and advanced high school programs that are consistent with the
16	16	required curriculum under Section 28.002.
17	17	(b) A school district shall ensure that each student enrolls
18	18	in the courses necessary to complete the curriculum requirements
19	19	identified by the State Board of Education under Subsection (a) for
20	20	the recommended or advanced high school program unless the student,
21	21	the student's parent or other person standing in parental relation
22	22	to the student, and a school counselor or school administrator
23	23	agree that the student should be permitted to take courses under the
24	24	essential [minimum] high school program.
25	25	(b-1) The State Board of Education by rule shall require
26	26	that:
27	27	(1) [except as provided by Subsection (b-2),] the
28	28	curriculum requirements for the recommended and advanced high
29	29	school programs under Subsection (a) include a requirement that
30	30	students successfully complete:
31	31	(A) a science and mathematics curriculum that
32	32	prescribes, among other requirements established by the board,
33	33	successful completion of four courses in mathematics and four
34	34	courses in science, from among courses approved for each subject by
35	35	the board [of the foundation curriculum under Section
36	36	28.002(a)(1)];
37	37	(B) a career and technology curriculum
38	38	that prescribes, among other requirements established by the
39	39	board, successful completion of four career and technology courses,
40	40	three courses in mathematics, and three courses in science, from
41	41	among courses approved for each subject by the board; or
42	42	(C) a humanities curriculum that prescribes,
43	43	among other requirements established by the board, successful
44	44	completion of:
45	45	(i) courses in English language arts,
46	46	social studies, languages other than English, and fine arts, from
47	47	among courses approved for each subject by the board; and
48	48	(ii) three courses in mathematics and three
49	49	courses in science from among courses approved for each subject by
50	50	the board; and
51	51	(2) one or more courses offered in the required
52	52	curriculum for the recommended and advanced high school programs
53	53	include a research writing component.
54	54	(e) Each school district shall report the academic
55	55	achievement record of students who have completed an essential [a
56	56	minimum], recommended, or advanced high school program on
57	57	transcript forms adopted by the State Board of Education. The
58	58	transcript forms adopted by the board must be designed to clearly
59	59	differentiate between each of the high school programs and identify
60	60	whether a student received a diploma or a certificate of coursework
61	61	completion.
62	62	(g) If a student, other than a student permitted to take
63	63	courses under the essential [minimum] high school program as
64	64	provided by Subsection (b), is unable to complete the recommended
65	65	or advanced high school program solely because necessary courses
66	66	were unavailable to the student at the appropriate times in the
67	67	student's high school career as a result of course scheduling, lack
68	68	of enrollment capacity, or another cause not within the student's
69	69	control, the school district shall indicate that fact on the
70	70	student's transcript form described by Subsection (e).
71	71	SECTION 2. Section 39.025(a), Education Code, is amended to
72	72	read as follows:
73	73	(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring a student
74	74	participating in the recommended or advanced high school program to
75	75	be administered each end-of-course assessment instrument listed in
76	76	Section 39.023(c) and requiring a student participating in the
77	77	essential [minimum] high school program to be administered an
78	78	end-of-course assessment instrument listed in Section 39.023(c)
79	79	only for a course in which the student is enrolled and for which an
80	80	end-of-course assessment instrument is administered. A student is
81	81	required to achieve, in each subject in the foundation curriculum
82	82	under Section 28.002(a)(1), a cumulative score that is at least
83	83	equal to the product of the number of end-of-course assessment
84	84	instruments administered to the student in that subject and 70,
85	85	with each end-of-course assessment instrument scored on a scale of
86	86	100. A student must achieve a score of at least 60 on an
87	87	end-of-course assessment instrument for the score to count towards
88	88	the student's cumulative score. For purposes of this subsection, a
89	89	student's cumulative score is determined using the student's
90	90	highest score on each end-of-course assessment instrument
91	91	administered to the student. A student may not receive a high
92	92	school diploma until the student has performed satisfactorily on
93	93	the end-of-course assessment instruments in the manner provided
94	94	under this subsection. This subsection does not require a student
95	95	to demonstrate readiness to enroll in an institution of higher
96	96	education.
97	97	SECTION 3. Section 28.025(b-2), Education Code, is
98	98	repealed.
99	99	SECTION 4. Not later than January 1, 2010, the State Board
100	100	of Education shall adopt rules as required by Section 28.025(b-1),
101	101	Education Code, as amended by this Act. The rules shall provide
102	102	that the curriculum requirements for the recommended and advanced
103	103	high school programs adopted under that subsection apply to a
104	104	student regardless of the school year in which the student entered
105	105	the ninth grade.
106	106	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
107	107	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
108	108	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
109	109	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
110	110	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.