Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3583 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R9832 CAE-D
2	2	By: Miller of Fort Bend H.B. No. 3583
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a pilot program in certain school districts exempting
8	8	those districts from administering standard assessment instruments
9	9	and authorizing alternative assessment instruments.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Section 39.042 to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 39.042. ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS PILOT
14	14	PROGRAM. (a) The commissioner by rule shall develop and implement
15	15	a pilot program under which participating school districts are
16	16	exempt from administering assessment instruments under Section
17	17	39.023 and administer alternative assessment instruments.
18	18	(b) A school district may apply to the commissioner to
19	19	participate in the pilot program established under this section.
20	20	The commissioner shall select for participation in the pilot
21	21	program one school district located in each of the regional
22	22	education service center areas. To be eligible to apply for the
23	23	pilot program under this section, a school district must have a
24	24	student enrollment of 70,000 or more. If a regional education
25	25	service center area does not have a school district with student
26	26	enrollment of 70,000 or more, the commissioner shall select the
27	27	district in the area with the highest student enrollment that has
28	28	applied for participation in the pilot program.
29	29	(c) A school district selected by the commissioner as a
30	30	participant in the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium under
31	31	Section 7.0561 may not participate in the pilot program established
32	32	under this section.
33	33	(d) The commissioner by rule shall adopt procedures to
34	34	designate alternative assessment instruments that may be used by a
35	35	school district participating in the pilot program to evaluate
36	36	student achievement. The procedures adopted by the commissioner
37	37	must provide that the following assessment instruments may be
38	38	administered by a participating school district as an alternative
39	39	assessment instrument:
40	40	(1) ACT Plan;
41	41	(2) Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS);
42	42	(3) National Assessment of Educational Progress
43	43	(NAEP);
44	44	(4) Program for International Student Assessment
45	45	(PISA);
46	46	(5) PSAT; and
47	47	(6) Texas Success Initiative (TSI Diagnostic Test).
48	48	(e) From funds appropriated for that purpose, the
49	49	commissioner by rule shall establish a grant program under which
50	50	participating school districts receive grants to implement the
51	51	pilot program to administer alternative assessment instruments.
52	52	(f) A school district that receives a grant under this
53	53	section may use grant funds to implement an alternative system of
54	54	student assessment using commissioner-approved alternative
55	55	assessment instruments.
56	56	(g) Each participating school district shall report to the
57	57	agency student performance on alternative assessment instruments
58	58	the district administers under the pilot program.
59	59	(h) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
60	60	administer this section.
61	61	SECTION 2. The commissioner of education shall establish
62	62	the pilot program under Section 39.042, Education Code, as added by
63	63	this Act, not later than September 1, 2015.
64	64	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
65	65	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
66	66	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
67	67	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
68	68	Act takes effect September 1, 2015.