By: Strama, Villarreal, Otto, Anchia, H.B. No. 742
Villalba
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to measures to evaluate and improve student participation
and performance in public schools and open-enrollment charter
schools, including a grant program for certain school districts to
provide summer instruction primarily for students who are
educationally disadvantaged.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 7, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 7.064 to read as follows:
Sec. 7.064. ANNUAL REPORT CONCERNING STUDENT HOURS. (a)
For each school year, the commissioner shall prepare a report that
compiles the information submitted to the commissioner by school
districts and open-enrollment charter schools under Sections
11.179 and 12.104(b-1), respectively.
(b) Not later than August 1 of each year, the commissioner
shall submit the report prepared under Subsection (a) to the:
(1) governor;
(2) lieutenant governor;
(3) speaker of the house of representatives; and
(4) presiding officers of the standing committees of
the senate and house of representatives having primary jurisdiction
over primary and secondary education.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 11, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 11.179 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.179. STUDENT HOURS REPORTING REQUIREMENT. (a) Not
later than July 1 of each year, the board of trustees of an
independent school district shall prepare and submit to the
commissioner a report for the school year that ended during the
preceding calendar year that, for each class and for each grade
level at each district campus, indicates the average and total
number of hours students spent on campus:
(1) receiving classroom instruction;
(2) receiving special instruction, disaggregated by
the type of instruction; and
(3) participating in school-sponsored or
school-related activities, disaggregated by the type of activity in
which the students engaged.
(b) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary for
purposes of this section.
SECTION 3. Section 12.104, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) The governing body of an open-enrollment charter
school shall comply with the student hours reporting requirement as
provided by Section 11.179 as though:
(1) the open-enrollment charter school were an
independent school district; and
(2) an open-enrollment charter school campus were a
school district campus.
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.091 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.091. GRANT PROGRAM FOR DISTRICTS THAT HAVE HIGH
ENROLLMENT OF EDUCATIONALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS AND THAT
PROVIDE SUMMER INSTRUCTION. (a) In this section:
(1) "New teacher" means a teacher who:
(A) will be teaching for the first time during
the next school year; or
(B) first began teaching:
(i) during the preceding two years; or
(ii) in the school district in which the
teacher is currently employed during the preceding year.
(2) "Program" means the grant program for school
districts to provide summer instruction primarily for students who
are educationally disadvantaged, as established under this
section.
(b) The commissioner shall establish and administer a
competitive program to provide grants to not more than 10 school
districts to use in providing instructional programs to students in
prekindergarten through eighth grade during the period in which
school is recessed for the summer. The program shall be designed to:
(1) encourage participation in the program by a
district's most educationally disadvantaged students;
(2) close the academic achievement gap between
students who are educationally disadvantaged and students who are
not educationally disadvantaged;
(3) ensure that during the period in which school is
recessed for the summer, students participating in the program
retain knowledge and skills learned during the school year and
continue learning;
(4) provide apprenticeship, mentorship, and other
professional development opportunities for new teachers and
student teachers; and
(5) add to the compensation of a district's highest
performing teachers by providing those teachers with summer
employment teaching students, new teachers, and student teachers.
(c) To be eligible to participate in the program, a school
district must:
(1) have an enrollment of students who are
educationally disadvantaged that is greater than 50 percent of
total district enrollment;
(2) apply to the commissioner in the manner and within
the time prescribed by commissioner rule; and
(3) provide as part of the application materials a
plan that is designed to achieve the purposes described by
Subsections (b)(1) through (5).
(d) In selecting from among eligible school districts to
participate in the program, the commissioner shall select those
districts that provide plans under Subsection (c)(3) that are the
most innovative and represent a variety of approaches so that the
effectiveness of various plans can be compared and evaluated.
(e) A grant awarded under this section may be funded only
with money appropriated for the program and any gifts, grants, or
donations made to the agency that may be used for and that the
commissioner applies to funding the program. The commissioner, in
accordance with commissioner rule and based on the amount available
for the program, shall determine the amount of each grant awarded
under this section. A school district awarded a grant under this
section may use the grant only for implementing and administering a
plan as described by Subsection (c)(3), including providing
compensation to teachers in accordance with Subsection (b)(5) and
commissioner rule.
(f) Each school district participating in the program
shall, in the manner and within the time prescribed by commissioner
rule, provide to the agency an annual written report that includes:
(1) a detailed description of the district's plan, as
implemented;
(2) the number and grade levels of participating
students;
(3) demographic information for participating
students, including the percentage of students of each applicable
race and ethnicity, the percentage of educationally disadvantaged
students, the percentage of students of limited English proficiency
as defined by Section 29.052, the percentage of students enrolled
in a school district special education program under Subchapter A,
and the percentage of students enrolled in a district bilingual
education program under Subchapter B;
(4) school attendance rates for participating
students, before, during, and after program participation, as
applicable;
(5) specific information that demonstrates whether
the purposes described by Subsections (b)(2) and (3) have been
achieved, including the results of assessment instruments
administered under Section 39.023 for participating students,
before, during, and after program participation, as applicable;
(6) aggregate results of assessment instruments
administered under Section 39.023 for students of participating
classroom teachers, new teachers, and student teachers, before,
during, and after program participation by the students, as
applicable;
(7) information regarding the manner in which teachers
are selected for participation in the program and the manner in
which teachers are compensated for their participation;
(8) statistical information for participating
classroom teachers, new teachers, and student teachers, including
the number of years employed in the teaching profession, the number
of years teaching in the district in which the program is provided,
the category and class of educator certification held, the highest
level of academic degree earned, race, ethnicity, and gender;
(9) information regarding whether:
(A) the program is provided on a full-day or
half-day basis;
(B) the program is voluntary or mandatory for
educationally disadvantaged students;
(C) the district has partnered with an outside
provider to provide any supplemental service;
(D) the district provides transportation to
participating students; and
(E) the district offers the program to students
who are not educationally disadvantaged and, if so, under what
circumstances;
(10) information on retention in the teaching
profession of the participating teachers, including new teachers
and student teachers; and
(11) any other information required by commissioner
rule.
(g) The agency shall contract with an experienced and
recognized third-party program evaluator to determine and prepare a
report regarding the effectiveness of the program. The evaluator's
report must include the evaluator's best effort to project the cost
and academic effects of implementing the best practices of the
program in school districts throughout this state and must describe
the effectiveness of the program in:
(1) improving academic performance among
participating students;
(2) improving the professional development and
performance of new teachers; and
(3) rewarding and retaining the highest performing
teachers.
(h) Using information reported under Section 11.179 and the
report under Subsection (g), the agency shall conduct a study that
compares the academic performance of students in each school
district that participates in the program with the academic
performance of students in at least 10 districts that do not
participate in the program to determine the type and amount of
instruction and student participation in school-sponsored or
school-related activities that most contribute to improved
academic performance.
(i) Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year,
the agency shall submit to each member of the legislature a report
specifically describing the results of the program. The report may
be in the form of a summary of the information required under
Subsections (f), (g), and (h).
(j) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
administer this section.
SECTION 5. (a) Not later than August 1, 2014, the
commissioner of education shall submit a report concerning the
2012-2013 school year, as required by Section 7.064, Education
Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than July 1, 2014, the board of trustees of a
school district shall submit to the commissioner of education a
report concerning the 2012-2013 school year, as required by Section
11.179, Education Code, as added by this Act.
(c) Not later than July 1, 2014, the governing body of an
open-enrollment charter school shall submit to the commissioner of
education a report concerning the 2012-2013 school year, as
required under Section 12.104(b-1), Education Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 6. The commissioner of education shall establish
the grant program under Section 29.091, Education Code, as added by
this Act, beginning with the 2013-2014 school year.
SECTION 7. 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, 2013.