85R3049 GCB-F
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 61
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school accountability for bilingual education
and English as a second language and other special language
programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.062, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.062. COMPLIANCE. (a) The legislature recognizes
that compliance with this subchapter is an imperative public
necessity. Therefore, in accordance with the policy of the state,
the agency shall evaluate the effectiveness of programs under this
subchapter based on the following data, disaggregated by campus and
school district or open-enrollment charter school, which each
district and open-enrollment charter school shall collect and
provide to the agency:
(1) the achievement indicators adopted under Sections
39.053(c)(1)-(4), including the results of assessment instruments;
(2) the difference in grade-level retention rates
between students of limited English proficiency and students who
have not previously been classified as students of limited English
proficiency;
(3) any significant difference in performance on
assessment instruments required under Sections 39.023(a), (c), and
(l), as applicable, between students of limited English proficiency
at the campus or in the district or open-enrollment charter school
being evaluated and the state average performance on those
assessment instruments of students who have not previously been
classified as students of limited English proficiency; and
(4) any significant difference in the dropout rate for
grade levels 9 through 12 between students of limited English
proficiency at the campus or in the district or open-enrollment
charter school being evaluated and the state average dropout rate
of students who have not previously been classified as students of
limited English proficiency.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for a school district
campus with fewer than 30 students enrolled in bilingual education
or English as a second language or other special language programs,
the agency shall evaluate information specified under Subsection
(a) only at the district level.
(b-1) The agency may combine but may not replace evaluations
under this section with federal accountability measures concerning
students of limited English proficiency.
(b-2) Each lead monitor evaluating the effectiveness of
programs under this subchapter must be appropriately certified by
the State Board for Educator Certification as provided for under
Section 29.061 for teaching English as a second language. An
emergency endorsement issued under Section 29.061(a) is not
considered appropriate certification for purposes of this
subsection.
[(b) The areas to be monitored shall include:
[(1) program content and design;
[(2) program coverage;
[(3) identification procedures;
[(4) classification procedures;
[(5) staffing;
[(6) learning materials;
[(7) testing materials;
[(8) reclassification of students for either entry
into regular classes conducted exclusively in English or reentry
into a bilingual education or special education program; and
[(9) activities of the language proficiency
assessment committees.]
(c) To ensure the effectiveness of programs under this
subchapter, the agency shall intervene in a school district,
campus, or open-enrollment charter school program if, as a result
of an evaluation under Subsection (a), the agency determines the
program is ineffective [Not later than the 30th day after the date
of an on-site monitoring inspection, the agency shall report its
findings to the school district or open-enrollment charter school
and to the division of accreditation].
(d) The agency shall notify a school district, any
appropriate campus, or an open-enrollment charter school that is
found in noncompliance in writing of an intervention under
Subsection (c)[,] not later than the 30th day after the first day
[date] of the intervention [on-site monitoring. The district or
open-enrollment charter school shall take immediate corrective
action].
(d-1) To evaluate program effectiveness further, a school
district, campus, or open-enrollment charter school with a program
determined under this section to be ineffective shall immediately
review and provide to the agency a report concerning the following
factors:
(1) procedures for identification of students of
limited English proficiency;
(2) procedures for placement of students in a program
under this subchapter;
(3) student assessment procedures, including
assessment of:
(A) English language proficiency; and
(B) academic achievement in, as defined by
commissioner rule, core content areas;
(4) provision of instruction under the program,
including assessment of the quality of instruction and whether the
program is being implemented as designed;
(5) credentials of instructional staff, including:
(A) appropriate certification of teachers
providing English language development or content area instruction
to students of limited English proficiency; and
(B) the amount of instruction provided by
teachers who hold emergency endorsements or who are teaching
outside the teacher's area of specialization;
(6) professional development provided to content area
teachers serving students of limited English proficiency;
(7) curricular materials considered by language,
school, and grade used in providing instruction to students of
limited English proficiency;
(8) if applicable, district-level program evaluation
procedures, including procedures for:
(A) ongoing district-level monitoring to
identify program components needing improvement and implementing
identified improvements; and
(B) identifying and closing any academic
achievement gap between students of limited English proficiency and
students who have not previously been classified as students of
limited English proficiency;
(9) a rate of parental denial of approval of a
student's entry into or placement in a program under this
subchapter that is at least 150 percent greater than the state
average rate of parental denial;
(10) any variance of greater than 20 percent between
the percentage of students identified as students of limited
English proficiency and the percentage of students who speak a
language other than English at home, as determined by the home
language survey administered to all students new to a campus,
district, or open-enrollment charter school as provided by Section
29.056(a)(1); and
(11) reclassification of students for either entry
into regular classes conducted exclusively in English or reentry
into a bilingual education or special education program.
(d-2) On completion of the review under Subsection (d-1),
the campus, district, or open-enrollment charter school shall
designate annual program improvement goals that:
(1) are designed to improve academic achievement in
the core content areas by students of limited English proficiency;
and
(2) are based on the extent of any academic
achievement gap identified under Subsection (d-1)(8)(B), with
incremental improvement goals established according to the size of
the achievement gap.
(d-3) The agency shall review annual improvement in a
program under this subchapter as measured by the goals designated
under Subsection (d-2). The agency shall take appropriate
corrective action for a campus, school district, or open-enrollment
charter school program that fails to meet one or more annual
improvement goals for two or more consecutive school years.
(e) If a campus, school district, or open-enrollment
charter school program under this subchapter fails to satisfy
appropriate standards adopted by the commissioner for purposes of
Subsection (d-3) [(a)], the agency shall apply sanctions, which may
include the removal of accreditation, loss of foundation school
funds, or both.
(f) The commissioner shall adopt rules consistent with this
section as necessary to administer this section.
SECTION 2. Section 42.006, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) The commissioner shall adopt rules to ensure that,
through the Public Education Information Management System, the
agency collects and maintains data regarding:
(1) whether a student is or while enrolled in a public
school in this state has ever been classified as a student of
limited English proficiency;
(2) the school year in which a student described by
Subdivision (1) first entered ninth grade;
(3) the date a student described by Subdivision (1)
was classified as a student of limited English proficiency;
(4) if applicable, the date a student classified as a
student of limited English proficiency exits a program under
Subchapter B, Chapter 29; and
(5) the status of a student described by Subdivision
(1) as:
(A) a continuing student;
(B) a high school graduate;
(C) a recipient of a high school equivalency
certificate; or
(D) a dropout.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018
school year.
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, 2017.