By: Shapiro S.B. No. 518
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to initiatives designed to improve performance of public
school students, including initiatives specifically for 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) at the seventh
grade level or above is required to hold a certificate that
indicates the person's mastery of the specific subject taught. To
achieve this result, the board shall not issue a generalist
certificate that authorizes a person to teach a subject in the
foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1) at the seventh
grade level or above.
(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 the subject area examinations administered to persons
seeking certificates at the seventh grade level and above in
English language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies are
at least as rigorous as the examinations administered before
September 1, 2013, to persons seeking Grades 8-12 certificates to
teach in those subject areas.
(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. Subsection (d), Section 29.081, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(d) For purposes of this section, "student at risk of
dropping out of school" includes each student who is under 21 years
of age and who:
(1) was not advanced from one grade level to the next
for one or more school years;
(2) if the student is in grade 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or
12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in
two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester
in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such
an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in
the current semester;
(3) did not perform satisfactorily on an assessment
instrument administered to the student under Subchapter B, Chapter
39, and who has not in the previous or current school year
subsequently performed on that instrument or another appropriate
instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of the level of
satisfactory performance on that instrument;
(4) if the student is in prekindergarten,
kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on
a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the
current school year;
(5) is pregnant or is a parent;
(6) has been placed in an alternative education
program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the preceding or
current school year;
(7) has been expelled in accordance with Section
37.007 during the preceding or current school year;
(8) is currently on parole, probation, deferred
prosecution, or other conditional release;
(9) was previously reported through the Public
Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out
of school;
(10) is a student of limited English proficiency, as
defined by Section 29.052;
(11) is in the custody or care of the Department of
Protective and Regulatory Services or has, during the current
school year, been referred to the department by a school official,
officer of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;
(12) is homeless, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section
11302, and its subsequent amendments; or
(13) resided in the preceding school year or resides
in the current school year in a residential placement facility in
the district, including a detention facility, substance abuse
treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital,
halfway house, or foster group home.
SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.100 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.100. EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION.
(a) Each year a school with students enrolled at the sixth,
seventh, or eighth grade level shall:
(1) 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; and
(2) determine the specific interventions that the
school will use to address the needs of students at each of those
grade levels who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined
by Section 29.081(d).
(b) 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 (a)(1); and
(2) if applicable, the specific interventions used
with each student named under Subdivision (1).
(c) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 6. Subsection (c-1), Section 42.152, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), funds allocated under
this section may be used to fund in proportion to the percentage of
students served by the program that meet the criteria in Section
29.081(d) or (g):
(1) an accelerated reading instruction program under
Section 28.006(g); [or]
(2) a program for treatment of students who have
dyslexia or a related disorder as required by Section 38.003; or
(3) an extended learning time program grounded in
practices that are proven effective in improving student retention
and performance and in preparing students for future college and
career readiness.
SECTION 7. The commissioner of education shall implement
Subsection (b-1), Section 21.4551, Education Code, as added by this
Act, beginning with reading academies offered on or after January
1, 2012.
SECTION 8. 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 9. Section 29.100, Education Code, as added by this
Act, applies beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.
SECTION 10. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
SECTION 11. 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.