84R1712 PAM-D
By: Guillen H.B. No. 1613
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of performance on certain assessment
instruments designated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board to satisfy requirements concerning high school end-of-course
assessment instruments.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.025, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a-1) and adding Subsection (a-2) to read as
follows:
(a-1) A student enrolled in a college preparatory
mathematics or English language arts course under Section 28.014
who satisfies the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) college readiness
benchmarks prescribed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board under Section 51.3062(f) on an assessment instrument
designated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under
Section 51.3062(c) administered at the end of the college
preparatory mathematics or English language arts course satisfies
the requirements concerning and is exempt from the administration
of the Algebra I or the English I and English II [an] end-of-course
assessment instruments, as applicable, [in an equivalent course] as
prescribed by Section 39.023(c), even if the student did not
perform satisfactorily on a previous administration of the
applicable end-of-course assessment instrument [Subsection (a)]. A
student who fails to perform satisfactorily on the assessment
instrument designated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board under Section 51.3062(c) administered as provided by this
subsection may retake that assessment instrument for purposes of
this subsection or may take the appropriate end-of-course
assessment instrument.
(a-2) The commissioner shall determine a method by which a
student's satisfactory performance on an advanced placement test,
an international baccalaureate examination, an SAT Subject Test,
the SAT, the ACT, or any nationally recognized norm-referenced
assessment instrument used by institutions of higher education to
award course credit based on satisfactory performance on the
assessment instrument shall be used to satisfy the requirements
concerning an end-of-course assessment instrument in an equivalent
course as prescribed by Subsection (a). The commissioner shall
determine a method by which a student's satisfactory performance on
the PSAT or the ACT-Plan shall be used to satisfy the requirements
concerning an end-of-course assessment instrument in an equivalent
course as prescribed by Subsection (a). A student who fails to
perform satisfactorily on a test or other assessment instrument
authorized under this subsection, other than the PSAT or the
ACT-Plan, may retake that test or other assessment instrument for
purposes of this subsection or may take the appropriate
end-of-course assessment instrument. A student who fails to
perform satisfactorily on the PSAT or the ACT-Plan must take the
appropriate end-of-course assessment instrument. The commissioner
shall adopt rules as necessary for the administration of this
subsection.
SECTION 2. 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, 2015.