| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to requiring school districts to administer college |
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| 8 | 8 | | readiness assessment instruments to certain students at state cost. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Sections 39.0261(a) and (e), Education Code, are |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) In addition to the assessment instruments otherwise |
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| 13 | 13 | | authorized or required by this subchapter: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) each school year and at state cost, a school |
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| 15 | 15 | | district may administer to students in the spring of the eighth |
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| 16 | 16 | | grade an established, valid, reliable, and nationally |
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| 17 | 17 | | norm-referenced preliminary college preparation assessment |
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| 18 | 18 | | instrument for the purpose of diagnosing the academic strengths and |
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| 19 | 19 | | deficiencies of students before entrance into high school; |
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| 20 | 20 | | (2) each school year and at state cost, a school |
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| 21 | 21 | | district may administer to students in the 10th grade an |
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| 22 | 22 | | established, valid, reliable, and nationally norm-referenced |
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| 23 | 23 | | preliminary college preparation assessment instrument for the |
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| 24 | 24 | | purpose of measuring a student's progress toward readiness for |
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| 25 | 25 | | college and the workplace; [and] |
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| 26 | 26 | | (3) each school year and at state cost, a school |
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| 27 | 27 | | district shall administer to students in a grade level determined |
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| 28 | 28 | | by the commissioner who have been administered the Algebra I |
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| 29 | 29 | | end-of-course assessment or English I and English II end-of-course |
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| 30 | 30 | | assessments as described by Section 39.023(a-2)(2) one of the |
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| 31 | 31 | | valid, reliable, and nationally norm-referenced assessment |
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| 32 | 32 | | instruments used by colleges and universities as part of their |
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| 33 | 33 | | undergraduate admissions processes for the purpose of fulfilling |
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| 34 | 34 | | federal requirements regarding assessment at the high school level; |
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| 35 | 35 | | and |
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| 36 | 36 | | (4) high school students in the spring of the 11th |
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| 37 | 37 | | grade or during the 12th grade, other than students administered an |
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| 38 | 38 | | assessment instrument under Subdivision (3), may select and take |
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| 39 | 39 | | once, at state cost, one of the valid, reliable, and nationally |
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| 40 | 40 | | norm-referenced assessment instruments used by colleges and |
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| 41 | 41 | | universities as part of their undergraduate admissions processes. |
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| 42 | 42 | | (e) Subsection (a)(4) [(a)(3)] does not prohibit a high |
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| 43 | 43 | | school student in the [spring of the] 11th grade or during the 12th |
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| 44 | 44 | | grade from selecting and taking, at the student's own expense, one |
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| 45 | 45 | | of the valid, reliable, and nationally norm-referenced assessment |
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| 46 | 46 | | instruments used by colleges and universities as part of their |
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| 47 | 47 | | undergraduate admissions processes [more than once]. |
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| 48 | 48 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020 |
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| 49 | 49 | | school year. |
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| 50 | 50 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 51 | 51 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 52 | 52 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 53 | 53 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 54 | 54 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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