86R14053 GCB-D
By: Reynolds H.B. No. 3618
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eliminating certain state-required end-of-course
assessment instruments not required by federal law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and (c-3) and adding Subsection (q) to
read as follows:
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment
instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, biology, and
English I[, English II, and United States history]. The Algebra I
end-of-course assessment instrument must be administered with the
aid of technology. The English I [and English II] end-of-course
assessment instrument [instruments] must [each] assess essential
knowledge and skills in both reading and writing in the same
assessment instrument and must provide a single score. A school
district shall comply with State Board of Education rules regarding
administration of the assessment instruments listed in this
subsection. If a student is in a special education program under
Subchapter A, Chapter 29, the student's admission, review, and
dismissal committee shall determine whether any allowable
modification is necessary in administering to the student an
assessment instrument required under this subsection. The State
Board of Education shall administer the assessment instruments.
The State Board of Education shall adopt a schedule for the
administration of end-of-course assessment instruments that
complies with the requirements of Subsection (c-3).
(c-3) In adopting a schedule for the administration of
assessment instruments under this section, the State Board of
Education shall require:
(1) assessment instruments administered under
Subsection (a) to be administered on a schedule so that the first
assessment instrument is administered at least two weeks later than
the date on which the first assessment instrument was administered
under Subsection (a) during the 2006-2007 school year; and
(2) the spring administration of end-of-course
assessment instruments under Subsection (c) to occur in each school
district not earlier than the first full week in May, except that
the spring administration of the end-of-course assessment
instrument [instruments] in English I [and English II] must be
permitted to occur at an earlier date.
(q) This subsection applies to end-of-course assessment
instruments adopted under Subsection (c) for secondary-level
courses in English II and United States history, as that subsection
existed before amendment by __.B. No.___, Acts of the 86th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2019. The agency may retain
assessment instruments described by this subsection, but may not
require a school district to administer those assessment
instruments. A school district may choose to administer an
assessment instrument described by this subsection. An assessment
instrument described by this subsection administered by a school
district may not be used for accountability purposes to measure the
performance of the district or a district campus.
SECTION 2. Section 39.025(a-1), Education Code, is amended
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 51.334 on an assessment instrument designated
by the coordinating board under that section 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]
end-of-course assessment instrument [instruments], as applicable,
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. A student who
fails to perform satisfactorily on the assessment instrument
designated by the coordinating board under Section 51.334
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.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020
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, 2019.