| 1 | 1 | | 86R13815 MP-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Allen H.B. No. 4004 |
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| 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 a study on improving educational outcomes for public |
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| 8 | 8 | | school students of limited English proficiency. |
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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. Subchapter B, Chapter 29, Education Code, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended by adding Section 29.068 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 29.068. STUDY ON IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES FOR |
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| 13 | 13 | | STUDENTS OF LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY. (a) In this section, |
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| 14 | 14 | | "coordinating board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating |
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| 15 | 15 | | Board. |
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| 16 | 16 | | (b) The agency and the coordinating board jointly shall |
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| 17 | 17 | | conduct a study on improving educational outcomes for students of |
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| 18 | 18 | | limited English proficiency. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (c) The study must analyze: |
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| 20 | 20 | | (1) current practices of screening and placing |
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| 21 | 21 | | students of limited English proficiency in a bilingual education or |
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| 22 | 22 | | special language program under this subchapter; |
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| 23 | 23 | | (2) the ability of students of limited English |
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| 24 | 24 | | proficiency to access high quality prekindergarten programs |
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| 25 | 25 | | operated under Subchapter E-1, including how the prekindergarten |
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| 26 | 26 | | guidelines established by the agency may be better used to support |
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| 27 | 27 | | learning for those students; |
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| 28 | 28 | | (3) current practices for assessing English |
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| 29 | 29 | | proficiency, including the effectiveness of assessing English |
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| 30 | 30 | | proficiency: |
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| 31 | 31 | | (A) under the assessment system developed by the |
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| 32 | 32 | | commissioner under Section 39.027(e); |
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| 33 | 33 | | (B) with a reading instrument included on the |
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| 34 | 34 | | list adopted by the commissioner for use in diagnosing the reading |
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| 35 | 35 | | development and comprehension of kindergarten students under |
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| 36 | 36 | | Section 28.006(b); |
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| 37 | 37 | | (C) with the tools used by a language proficiency |
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| 38 | 38 | | assessment committee under Section 29.063 to monitor a student's |
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| 39 | 39 | | progress; and |
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| 40 | 40 | | (D) with a reading assessment instrument |
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| 41 | 41 | | administered under Section 39.023(a); |
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| 42 | 42 | | (4) the extent to which students of limited English |
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| 43 | 43 | | proficiency who are also eligible for a special education program |
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| 44 | 44 | | under Subchapter A are being provided equitable and quality early |
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| 45 | 45 | | learning experiences through early childhood special education |
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| 46 | 46 | | services; |
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| 47 | 47 | | (5) any difference in educational outcomes for |
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| 48 | 48 | | students of limited English proficiency enrolled in each |
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| 49 | 49 | | classification of bilingual education or special language program |
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| 50 | 50 | | under Section 29.066, including an analysis of any demographic |
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| 51 | 51 | | differences between the students primarily enrolled in each |
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| 52 | 52 | | classification of program; |
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| 53 | 53 | | (6) any barriers to or limitations on the |
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| 54 | 54 | | implementation by school districts of higher quality programming |
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| 55 | 55 | | for students of limited English proficiency; |
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| 56 | 56 | | (7) teacher preparation programs at public |
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| 57 | 57 | | institutions of higher education, including an analysis of: |
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| 58 | 58 | | (A) the course work and professional development |
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| 59 | 59 | | requirements associated with teaching certificates appropriate for |
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| 60 | 60 | | bilingual education instruction or for teaching English as a second |
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| 61 | 61 | | language issued under Section 29.061; and |
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| 62 | 62 | | (B) methods for recruiting classroom teachers |
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| 63 | 63 | | from diverse backgrounds to teach in bilingual education or special |
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| 64 | 64 | | language programs; and |
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| 65 | 65 | | (8) the feasibility of improving publicly available |
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| 66 | 66 | | data used to track the educational outcomes of students of limited |
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| 67 | 67 | | English proficiency. |
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| 68 | 68 | | (d) Not later than September 1, 2020, the agency and the |
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| 69 | 69 | | coordinating board jointly shall submit to the legislature a report |
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| 70 | 70 | | on the results of the study and any recommendations for legislative |
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| 71 | 71 | | or other action. |
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| 72 | 72 | | (e) This section expires September 1, 2021. |
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| 73 | 73 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 74 | 74 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 75 | 75 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 76 | 76 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 77 | 77 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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