82R10010 CAS-D
By: Eissler, Aycock, Guillen, Shelton, H.B. No. 500
et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to end-of-course assessment instruments administered to
public high school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.023(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(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. A district [and] shall adopt
a policy addressing whether [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 will be used by the
district in determining [to account for 15 percent of] the
student's final grade for the course and, if so, the manner in which
the student's performance on an end-of-course assessment
instrument will be used in determining 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 shall act in accordance with
district policy concerning whether [is not required] to use and, if
so, the manner in which to use the student's performance on the
subsequent administration or administrations of the assessment
instrument in determining [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. 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).
SECTION 2. Section 39.025, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (a-2), (b), (b-2), (f), and (g) and
adding Subsection (a-4) to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring a student
participating in the recommended or advanced high school program to
be administered each end-of-course assessment instrument listed in
Section 39.023(c) and requiring a student participating in the
minimum high school program to be administered an end-of-course
assessment instrument listed in Section 39.023(c) only for a course
in which the student is enrolled and for which an end-of-course
assessment instrument is administered. Except as otherwise
provided by Subsection (a-2), (a-4), or (d), to receive a high
school diploma a [A] student is required to achieve, in each subject
in the foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1), a
cumulative score that is at least equal to the product of the number
of end-of-course assessment instruments administered to the
student in that subject and a scale score that indicates
satisfactory performance, as determined by the commissioner under
Section 39.0241(a). A student must achieve a minimum score as
determined by the commissioner to be within a reasonable range of
the scale score under Section 39.0241(a) on an end-of-course
assessment instrument for the score to count towards the student's
cumulative score. For purposes of this subsection, a student's
cumulative score is determined using the student's highest score on
each end-of-course assessment instrument administered to the
student. For each scale score required under this subsection that
is not based on a 100-point scale scoring system, the commissioner
shall provide for conversion, in accordance with commissioner rule,
of the scale score to an equivalent score based on a 100-point scale
scoring system. [A student may not receive a high school diploma
until the student has performed satisfactorily on the end-of-course
assessment instruments in the manner provided under this
subsection.] This subsection does not require a student to
demonstrate readiness to enroll in an institution of higher
education.
(a-2) In lieu of satisfying [addition to] the cumulative
score requirements under Subsection (a), to graduate under the
recommended high school program, a student must achieve a score
that meets or exceeds the score determined by the commissioner
under Section 39.0241(a) on end-of-course assessment instruments
for the following:
(1) English III;
(2) [and] Algebra II;
(3) biology, chemistry, or physics; and
(4) world geography, world history, or United States
history [end-of-course assessment instruments to graduate under
the recommended high school program].
(a-4) In lieu of satisfying the cumulative score
requirements under Subsection (a), to graduate under the minimum
high school program, a student must achieve a score that meets or
exceeds the score determined by the commissioner under Section
39.0241(a) on end-of-course assessment instruments for the
following:
(1) English III;
(2) Algebra I;
(3) biology, chemistry, or physics; and
(4) world geography, world history, or United States
history.
(b) Each time an end-of-course assessment instrument is
administered, a student who failed to achieve a minimum score under
Subsection (a) may [shall] retake the assessment instrument. A
student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an Algebra II or
English III end-of-course assessment instrument under the college
readiness performance standard, as provided under Section
39.024(b), may retake the assessment instrument. [Any other student
may retake an end-of-course assessment instrument for any reason.]
A student is not required to retake a course as a condition of
retaking an end-of-course assessment instrument.
(b-2) If a school district determines that a student, on
completion of grade 11, is unlikely to achieve the cumulative score
requirements for one or more subjects prescribed by Subsection (a)
for receiving a high school diploma or to satisfy the alternative
score requirements under Subsection (a-2) or (a-4), as applicable
for receiving a high school diploma, the district shall require the
student to enroll in an appropriate [a corresponding] content-area
college preparatory course for which an end-of-course assessment
instrument has been adopted, if available. A student who enrolls in
a college preparatory course described by this subsection shall be
administered an end-of-course assessment instrument for the
course, with the end-of-course assessment instrument scored on a
scale as determined by the commissioner not to exceed 20 percent of
the cumulative score requirements required to graduate as
determined under Subsection (a). A student may use the student's
score on the end-of-course assessment instrument for the college
preparatory course towards satisfying the [cumulative] score
requirements prescribed by this section, as applicable to the
student [Subsection (a)].
(f) The commissioner shall by rule adopt a transition plan
to implement the amendments made by Chapter 1312 (S.B. No. 1031),
Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, replacing
general subject assessment instruments administered at the high
school level with end-of-course assessment instruments. The rules
must provide for the end-of-course assessment instruments adopted
under Section 39.023(c) to be administered beginning with students
entering the ninth grade during the 2011-2012 school year. During
the period under which the transition to end-of-course assessment
instruments is made:
(1) for students entering a grade above the ninth
grade during the 2011-2012 school year and to the extent necessary
for purposes of Subdivision (5), the commissioner shall retain,
administer, and use for purposes of accreditation and other campus
and district accountability measures under this chapter the
assessment instruments required by Section 39.023(a) or (c), as
that section existed before amendment by Chapter 1312 (S.B. No.
1031), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007;
(2) a student subject to Subdivision (1) may not
receive a high school diploma unless the student has performed
satisfactorily on each required assessment instrument administered
under Section 39.023(c) as that section existed before amendment by
Chapter 1312 (S.B. No. 1031), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2007; [and]
(3) the agency may defer releasing assessment
instrument questions and answer keys as required by Section
39.023(e) to the extent necessary to develop additional assessment
instruments;
(4) a student entering ninth grade during the
2011-2012 or 2012-2013 school year shall be administered each
end-of-course assessment instrument listed in Section 39.023(c)
for a course in which the student is enrolled and for which an
end-of-course assessment instrument is administered;
(5) a student subject to Subdivision (4) may not
receive a high school diploma unless the student:
(A) achieves a score that meets or exceeds the
score determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a) on
end-of-course assessment instruments for the following:
(i) English III;
(ii) Algebra II;
(iii) biology, chemistry, or physics; and
(iv) world geography, world history, or
United States history; or
(B) has performed satisfactorily on each
required assessment instrument administered under Section
39.023(c), as that section existed before amendment by Chapter 1312
(S.B. No. 1031), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session,
2007; and
(6) a student entering ninth grade during the
2013-2014 school year or a later school year may not receive a high
school diploma unless the student has satisfied the requirements of
Subsection (a), (a-2), (a-3), or (a-4), as applicable to the
student.
(g) Rules adopted under Subsection (f) must require that
each student who will be subject to the requirements of Subsection
(a), (a-2), (a-3), (a-4), or (f)(4) is entitled to notice of the
specific requirements applicable to the student. Notice under this
subsection must be provided not later than the date the student
enters the eighth grade. Subsection (f) and this subsection expire
September 1, 2017 [2015].
SECTION 3. (a) A school district policy adopted under
Section 39.023(c), Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies
beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
(b) Section 39.025(b), Education Code, as amended by this
Act, applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
SECTION 4. 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.