Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1724 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Patrick, et al. S.B. No. 1724
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2013; March 11, 2013, read
3	3	first time and referred to Committee on Education; March 25, 2013,
4	4	reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
5	5	following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; March 25, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1724 By: Patrick
7	7
8	8
9	9	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
10	10	AN ACT
11	11	relating to end-of-course assessment instruments administered to
12	12	public high school students and other measures of secondary-level
13	13	performance.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. Section 29.081, Education Code, is amended by
16	16	adding Subsections (b-1), (b-2), and (b-3) to read as follows:
17	17	(b-1) Each district shall offer additional accelerated
18	18	instruction to each student in any subject in which that student has
19	19	failed an end-of-course assessment that the student is required to
20	20	pass in order to graduate before the next scheduled test
21	21	administration without any cost to the student.
22	22	(b-2) A district which is required to provide accelerated
23	23	instruction under Subsection (b-1) shall separately budget
24	24	sufficient funds, including funds under Section 42.152, for that
25	25	purpose. A district may not budget funds received under Section
26	26	42.152 for any other purpose until it has adopted a budget to
27	27	support additional accelerated instruction under Subsection (b-1).
28	28	(b-3) A district shall evaluate the effectiveness of
29	29	accelerated instruction programs under Subsection (b-1) and hold a
30	30	public hearing once each year to consider the results.
31	31	SECTION 2. Subsections (c) and (c-3), Section 39.023,
32	32	Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
33	33	(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment
34	34	instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I,[Algebra II,
35	35	geometry,] biology, [chemistry, physics,] English I, English II,
36	36	[English III, world geography, world history,] and United States
37	37	history. The Algebra I [, Algebra II, and geometry] end-of-course
38	38	assessment instrument [instruments] must be administered with the
39	39	aid of technology. The English I and English II end-of-course
40	40	assessment instruments must each assess essential knowledge and
41	41	skills in both reading and writing in the same assessment
42	42	instrument. A school district shall comply with State Board of
43	43	Education rules regarding administration of the assessment
44	44	instruments listed in this subsection [and shall adopt a policy
45	45	that requires a student's performance on an end-of-course
46	46	assessment instrument for a course listed in this subsection in
47	47	which the student is enrolled to account for 15 percent of the
48	48	student's final grade for the course. If a student retakes an
49	49	end-of-course assessment instrument for a course listed in this
50	50	subsection, as provided by Section 39.025, a school district is not
51	51	required to use the student's performance on the subsequent
52	52	administration or administrations of the assessment instrument to
53	53	determine the student's final grade for the course]. If a student
54	54	is in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29,
55	55	the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee shall
56	56	determine whether any allowable modification is necessary in
57	57	administering to the student an assessment instrument required
58	58	under this subsection. The State Board of Education shall
59	59	administer the assessment instruments. The State Board of
60	60	Education shall adopt a schedule for the administration of
61	61	end-of-course assessment instruments that complies with the
62	62	requirements of Subsection (c-3).
63	63	(c-3) In adopting a schedule for the administration of
64	64	assessment instruments under this section, the State Board of
65	65	Education shall require:
66	66	(1) assessment instruments administered under
67	67	Subsection (a) to be administered on a schedule so that the first
68	68	assessment instrument is administered at least two weeks later than
69	69	the date on which the first assessment instrument was administered
70	70	under Subsection (a) during the 2006-2007 school year; and
71	71	(2) the spring administration of end-of-course
72	72	assessment instruments under Subsection (c) to occur in each school
73	73	district not earlier than the first full week in May, except that
74	74	the spring administration of the end-of-course assessment
75	75	instruments in English I and[,] English II[, and English III] must
76	76	be permitted to occur at an earlier date.
77	77	SECTION 3. Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-2), (b), and (b-2),
78	78	Section 39.025, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
79	79	(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring a student
80	80	[participating] in the foundation [recommended or advanced] high
81	81	school program under Section 28.025 to be administered each
82	82	end-of-course assessment instrument listed in Section 39.023(c)
83	83	[and requiring a student participating in the minimum high school
84	84	program to be administered an end-of-course assessment instrument
85	85	listed in Section 39.023(c) only for a course in which the student
86	86	is enrolled and for which an end-of-course assessment instrument is
87	87	administered]. A student is required to achieve[, in each subject
88	88	in the foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1), a
89	89	cumulative score that is at least equal to the product of the number
90	90	of end-of-course assessment instruments administered to the
91	91	student in that subject and] a scale score that indicates
92	92	satisfactory performance, as determined by the commissioner under
93	93	Section 39.0241(a), on each end-of-course assessment instrument
94	94	listed under Section 39.023(c). [A student must achieve a minimum
95	95	score as determined by the commissioner to be within a reasonable
96	96	range of the scale score under Section 39.0241(a) on an
97	97	end-of-course assessment instrument for the score to count towards
98	98	the student's cumulative score. For purposes of this subsection, a
99	99	student's cumulative score is determined using the student's
100	100	highest score on each end-of-course assessment instrument
101	101	administered to the student.] A student may not receive a high
102	102	school diploma until the student has performed satisfactorily on
103	103	the end-of-course assessment instruments in the manner provided
104	104	under this subsection. This subsection does not require a student
105	105	to demonstrate readiness to enroll in an institution of higher
106	106	education.
107	107	(a-1) The commissioner by rule shall determine a method by
108	108	which a student's satisfactory performance on an advanced placement
109	109	test, international baccalaureate examination, an SAT Subject
110	110	Test, or another assessment instrument determined by the
111	111	commissioner to be at least as rigorous as an end-of-course
112	112	assessment instrument adopted under Section 39.023(c) may be used
113	113	as a factor in determining whether the student satisfies the
114	114	requirements of Subsection (a)[, including the cumulative score
115	115	requirement of that subsection]. The commissioner by rule may
116	116	determine a method by which a student's satisfactory performance on
117	117	a Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT) [assessment] or a
118	118	preliminary American College Test (ACT) [assessment] may be used as
119	119	a factor in determining whether the student satisfies the
120	120	requirements of Subsection (a).
121	121	(a-2) In addition to the [cumulative] score requirements on
122	122	the end-of-course assessment instruments required for graduation
123	123	under Subsection (a), to graduate under the foundation high school
124	124	program with a distinguished achievement endorsement, a student
125	125	must achieve a scale score on an advanced placement test, an
126	126	international baccalaureate examination, the Scholastic Assessment
127	127	Test (SAT), an SAT Subject Test, the American College Test (ACT), or
128	128	another nationally recognized assessment instrument that indicates
129	129	readiness to enroll in an institution of higher education, as
130	130	determined by the commissioner. The commissioner may not permit
131	131	the use of performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument
132	132	adopted under Section 39.023(c) to satisfy the requirement under
133	133	this subsection [meets or exceeds the score determined by the
134	134	commissioner under Section 39.0241(a) for English III and Algebra
135	135	II end-of-course assessment instruments to graduate under the
136	136	recommended high school program].
137	137	(b) Each time an end-of-course assessment instrument
138	138	adopted under Section 39.023(c) is administered, a student who
139	139	failed to achieve a [minimum] score requirement under Subsection
140	140	(a) may [shall] retake the assessment instrument. [A student who
141	141	fails to perform satisfactorily on an Algebra II or English III
142	142	end-of-course assessment instrument under the college readiness
143	143	performance standard, as provided under Section 39.024(b), may
144	144	retake the assessment instrument.] Any other student may retake an
145	145	end-of-course assessment instrument for any reason. A student is
146	146	not required to retake a course as a condition of retaking an
147	147	end-of-course assessment instrument.
148	148	(b-2) If a school district determines that a student, on
149	149	completion of grade 11, is unlikely to achieve the [cumulative]
150	150	score requirement under this section [requirements] for one or more
151	151	end-of-course assessment instruments [subjects] prescribed under
152	152	[by] Subsection (a) for receiving a high school diploma, the
153	153	district shall require the student to enroll in a corresponding
154	154	content-area college preparatory course for which an end-of-course
155	155	assessment instrument has been adopted, if available. A student
156	156	who enrolls in a college preparatory course described by this
157	157	subsection shall be administered an end-of-course assessment
158	158	instrument for the course, with the end-of-course assessment
159	159	instrument scored on a scale as determined by the commissioner [not
160	160	to exceed 20 percent of the cumulative score requirements required
161	161	to graduate as determined under Subsection (a)]. A student may use
162	162	the student's score on the end-of-course assessment instrument for
163	163	the college preparatory course towards satisfying the [cumulative]
164	164	score requirement under this section [requirements prescribed by
165	165	Subsection (a)].
166	166	SECTION 4. The following sections of the Education Code are
167	167	repealed:
168	168	(1) Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and
169	169	(i), Section 39.024;
170	170	(2) Subsection (a-2), Section 39.0241;
171	171	(3) Section 39.0242;
172	172	(4) Subsection (a-3), Section 39.025; and
173	173	(5) Subsection (q-1), Section 51.3062.
174	174	SECTION 5. Section 39.025, Education Code, as amended by
175	175	this Act, as related to reducing end-of-course testing
176	176	requirements, applies only to students who have entered or will
177	177	enter the ninth grade during the 2011-2012 school year or a later
178	178	school year.
179	179	SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2013-2014
180	180	school year.
181	181	SECTION 7. (a) Subject to Subsection (b) of this section,
182	182	this Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of
183	183	two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by
184	184	Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not
185	185	receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes
186	186	effect September 1, 2013.
187	187	(b) This Act takes effect as provided by Subsection (a) of
188	188	this section only if Senate Bill No. 3, Acts of the 83rd
189	189	Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, becomes law. If that bill does
190	190	not become law, this Act has no effect.
191	191	* * * * *