By: Shapiro S.B. No. 518
(In the Senate - Filed February 3, 2011; February 17, 2011,
read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
April 18, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 18, 2011,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 518 By: Shapiro
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. 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 5. 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 6. 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 7. Section 29.100, Education Code, as added by this
Act, applies beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.
SECTION 8. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
SECTION 9. 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.
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