82R7141 KKA-D
By: Shapiro S.B. No. 518
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to initiatives designed to improve performance of public
school students enrolled at the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade
levels.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.041, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (e), (f), (f-1), and (f-2) to read as follows:
(e) In proposing rules under Subsection (b)(2), the board
shall ensure that a person seeking to teach a subject in the
foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1) above the fifth
grade level is required to hold a certificate that indicates the
person's mastery of the specific subject taught. To achieve this
result, the board:
(1) shall issue the following classes of certificates:
(A) English language arts: Early Childhood-Grade
6;
(B) English language arts: Grades 6-12;
(C) mathematics: Early Childhood-Grade 6;
(D) mathematics: Grades 6-12;
(E) science: Early Childhood-Grade 6;
(F) science: Grades 6-12;
(G) social studies: Early Childhood-Grade 6; and
(H) social studies: Grades 6-12; and
(2) may not issue a generalist certificate that
authorizes a person to teach a subject in the foundation curriculum
under Section 28.002(a)(1) above the fifth grade level.
(f) Subsection (e) applies to initial certificates issued
on or after September 1, 2012. Subsection (e) does not affect the
validity of a certificate issued before that date or the
eligibility of a person holding such a certificate for subsequent
renewals of the certificate in accordance with board rules.
(f-1) In implementing Subsection (e), the board shall
ensure that:
(1) the subject area examinations administered to
persons seeking Early Childhood-Grade 6 certificates under
Subsection (e)(1) in English language arts, mathematics, science,
or social studies are sufficiently rigorous to ensure that persons
receiving those certificates are prepared to instruct students at a
level that enables the students to meet desired student performance
standards;
(2) the subject area examinations administered to
persons seeking Grades 6-12 certificates under Subsection (e)(1) in
English language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies are
at least as rigorous as the examinations administered before
September 1, 2012, to persons seeking Grades 8-12 certificates to
teach in those subject areas; and
(3) the pedagogy examinations administered to persons
seeking certificates under Subsection (e)(1) are revised to ensure
rigor and relevance for each elementary, middle or junior high, and
high school examination and a person seeking such a certificate is
not permitted to take an Early Childhood-Grade 12 pedagogy
examination.
(f-2) Subsection (f-1) and this subsection expire September
1, 2013.
SECTION 2. Section 21.4551, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) In addition to the components described by Subsection
(b), the commissioner shall ensure that each academy developed and
made available under this section includes a component on providing
students with writing instruction.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.015 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.015. HIGH SCHOOL READINESS PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The
agency shall develop and implement a high school readiness pilot
program under which:
(1) a participating school with students enrolled at
the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels shall enroll all
students at those levels in a student advisory class; and
(2) a participating high school shall provide annual
high school orientation sessions for parents of students who are
enrolled at the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels in the high
school's attendance zone.
(b) An application to participate in the program may be
submitted by an individual school or by a school district on behalf
of multiple schools located in the district. To be eligible to
participate in the component of the program described by Subsection
(a)(1), a school must:
(1) be a school for which the district in which the
school is located receives funding under Title I of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.)
or be a school that, as determined by the commissioner, is a
low-performing school under Chapter 39 or has a high percentage of
students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by
Section 29.081(d); and
(2) have students enrolled at the seventh and eighth
grade levels.
(c) The agency shall develop standards and guidelines for
the student advisory class. The standards and guidelines must:
(1) at a minimum, require that the class provide
instruction about:
(A) school culture;
(B) school procedures;
(C) test-taking skills;
(D) study skills;
(E) positive academic behaviors;
(F) civic and community responsibility; and
(G) high school and college readiness;
(2) permit the class to be offered as an electronic
course through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A;
and
(3) provide that the class be taught, if practicable,
by an educator who does not instruct the enrolled students in other
course work.
(d) The agency shall develop standards and guidelines for
the high school orientation session. An orientation session must:
(1) prepare a parent for the transition to high school
of the parent's child;
(2) allow a parent to meet and interact with high
school teachers and administrators;
(3) provide a parent with information regarding:
(A) high school curriculum, including the
curriculum requirements for the minimum, recommended, and advanced
high school programs under Section 28.025; and
(B) high school options available to the parent's
child, including any high school magnet programs, academies, or
similar special programs available in the district;
(4) address the role of the parent in assisting the
parent's child in performing successfully in high school; and
(5) provide a parent with a written document that
addresses frequently asked questions from parents regarding the
transition to high school.
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.100 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.100. EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION;
ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM AND FINANCIAL SANCTIONS. (a) In this
section, "compensatory education funding" means amounts to which a
school district is entitled under Section 42.152.
(b) Each year a school with students enrolled at the sixth,
seventh, or eighth grade level shall identify the students at each
of those grade levels who are at risk of dropping out of school, as
defined by Section 29.081(d), or who are likely to become at risk of
dropping out of school, as determined in accordance with rules
adopted by the commissioner.
(c) Not later than July 1 of each year, a school with
students enrolled at a grade level from which students are promoted
to high school must provide each high school to which students at
the school are promoted with:
(1) the names of students entering the high school at
the beginning of the next school year that have been identified
under Subsection (b); and
(2) if applicable, the specific interventions used
with each student named under Subdivision (1).
(d) Each year a school with students enrolled at the sixth,
seventh, or eighth grade level shall determine and report to the
agency:
(1) the specific interventions that the school will
use to address the needs of students at risk of dropping out of
school, as defined by Section 29.081(d), who are enrolled at the
school at the sixth, seventh, or eighth grade level;
(2) the amount of compensatory education funding that
will be used to pay the costs of each intervention; and
(3) the total amount of compensatory education funding
that is allocated to the school by the school district.
(e) The commissioner shall develop an accountability system
to ensure that compensatory education funding used for the benefit
of students enrolled at the sixth, seventh, or eighth grade level
who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Section
29.081(d), is efficiently spent on effective interventions. In
developing the system, the commissioner shall establish:
(1) academic progress standards for those students
designed to close the achievement gap between those students and
students not at risk; and
(2) financial sanctions to be imposed against a
district if students do not meet the standards established under
Subdivision (1).
(f) As a form of financial sanction described by Subsection
(e)(2), the commissioner shall withhold from a district's
compensatory education funding an amount determined by the
commissioner, not to exceed in any year an amount equal to 10
percent of the district's total compensatory education funding
entitlement for that year attributable to students enrolled at the
sixth, seventh, or eighth grade level.
(g) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 5. Section 42.152, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (t) to read as follows:
(t) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
the commissioner shall withhold a portion of a district's allotment
provided under Subsection (a) as required by Section 29.100(f).
SECTION 6. The commissioner of education shall implement
Section 21.4551(b-1), Education Code, as added by this Act,
beginning with reading academies offered on or after January 1,
2012.
SECTION 7. The Texas Education Agency shall develop
standards and guidelines for the student advisory class and high
school orientation session in compliance with Section 28.015,
Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as possible after the
effective date of this Act. The agency shall fully implement the
pilot program required by Section 28.015, Education Code, as added
by this Act, not later than the 2012-2013 school year.
SECTION 8. Sections 29.100 and 42.152(t), Education Code,
as added by this Act, apply beginning with the 2012-2013 school
year.
SECTION 9. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
SECTION 10. 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.