H.B. No. 1613
AN ACT
relating to the alignment of college readiness standards and
expectations and essential knowledge and skills and the use to
satisfy requirements concerning high school end-of-course
assessment instruments of performance demonstrating satisfaction
of certain college readiness benchmarks on certain assessment
instruments designated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.008(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The State Board of Education shall incorporate college
readiness standards and expectations approved by the commissioner
of education and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
under Subsection (b) into the essential knowledge and skills
identified by the board under Section 28.002(c). The State Board of
Education shall develop and by rule adopt a chart that clearly
indicates the alignment of the college readiness standards and
expectations with the essential knowledge and skills identified by
the board under Section 28.002(c).
SECTION 2. 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 3. Not later than January 1, 2016, the State Board
of Education shall adopt a chart as prescribed by Section
28.008(d), Education Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 4. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1613 was passed by the House on May 8,
2015, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 1, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1613 on May 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 1,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1613 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor