82R8329 KKA-D
By: Villarreal H.B. No. 1307
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to alternative assessment of certain public school
students under the public school accountability system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.0221 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.0221. ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT PILOT PROGRAM. (a)
The agency shall develop and implement an alternative assessment
pilot program in accordance with this section.
(b) A school campus at which students are enrolled at the
sixth, seventh, or eighth grade level is eligible to apply to
participate in the program unless the campus has received an
unacceptable performance rating during any of the three school
years preceding the date of application.
(c) The commissioner shall select from the applicants not
more than 20 school campuses to participate in the program. In
making selections, the commissioner shall seek to select applicants
that reflect the geographic and ethnic diversity of the public
schools in this state.
(d) The agency shall establish and facilitate a process
through which appropriate teachers from each participating school
campus work collectively to develop common alternative assessment
instruments to be administered to students enrolled at the sixth,
seventh, or eighth grade level at each participating campus. The
alternative assessment instruments:
(1) must include components designed to assess whether
students can apply the content they learn to new problems and
situations, with a focus on inquiry and explanations of ideas;
(2) must address the use of:
(A) planning skills, such as generating ideas,
gathering information, focusing research, and organizing
information;
(B) processing skills, such as drawing
inferences, interpreting, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating;
and
(C) critical and creative thinking processes,
such as oral discourse, research, critical analysis, critical
literacy, and metacognition;
(3) must be designed so that not more than 50 percent
of the grade given to a student for performance on an assessment
instrument is based on multiple choice questions; and
(4) may include any combination of examinations,
quizzes, group or individual projects, laboratory work,
portfolios, oral presentations, exhibitions, or other components.
(e) The agency shall provide appropriate training in
developing, administering, and scoring the alternative assessment
instruments to affected teachers at participating school campuses.
(f) Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, the
participating school campuses shall administer the alternative
assessment instruments to students enrolled at the sixth, seventh,
or eighth grade level who would otherwise be required to be assessed
under Section 39.023 using assessment instruments adopted or
developed under that section. The campuses shall also score the
alternative assessment instruments. The alternative assessment
instruments must be administered according to a schedule adopted by
the commissioner, provided that the schedule permits components of
the alternative assessment instruments to be administered
throughout the school year.
(g) The agency shall audit the student's scores on the
alternative assessment instruments.
(h) To the extent feasible, student performance on the
alternative assessment instruments administered under this section
shall be considered for purposes of district and campus
accountability under this chapter in the same manner as student
performance on assessment instruments adopted or developed under
Section 39.023.
(i) The commissioner may adopt rules necessary to implement
this section.
(j) Not later than December 1, 2015, the agency shall submit
a report regarding the program to the governor, lieutenant
governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and presiding
officer of the standing committee of each house of the legislature
with primary jurisdiction over public education. The report must:
(1) compare the performance, including performance on
assessment instruments and other measures of academic performance,
of students before participation in the program with the
performance of students after participation in the program;
(2) address the impact of the program on:
(A) academic performance;
(B) performance on assessment instruments;
(C) school attendance;
(D) student retention;
(E) curriculum enhancement; and
(F) teacher professional satisfaction; and
(3) include recommendations regarding retaining,
modifying, or expanding the program.
SECTION 2. 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, 2011.