By: Herrero H.B. No. 4591
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eliminating state-required assessment instruments and
certain end-of-course assessment instruments.
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-2), repealing Subsections (a) and
(c-3) and adding Subsection (q) to read as follows:
[(a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate
criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess
essential knowledge and skills in reading, writing, mathematics,
social studies, and science. Except as provided by Subsection
(a-2), all students, other than students assessed under Subsection
(b) or (l) or exempted under Section 39.027, shall be assessed in:
(1) mathematics, annually in grades three through
seven without the aid of technology and in grade eight with the aid
of technology on any assessment instrument that includes algebra;
(2) reading, annually in grades three through eight;
(3) [writing, including spelling and grammar, in
grades four and seven;
[(4) social studies, in grade eight;
[(5)] science, in grades five and eight; and
[(6)] any other subject and grade required by federal
law.]
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment
instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, biology,
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 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 is
not required to [shall] comply with State Board of Education rules
regarding administration of the assessment instruments adopted
under [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-2) The agency may not adopt end-of-course assessment
instruments for courses for which end-of-course assessment
instruments are not adopted under [not listed in] Subsection (c). A
student's performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument
adopted under this subsection is not subject to the performance
requirements established under Subsection (c) or Section 39.025.
[(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
instruments in English I and English II must be permitted to occur
at an earlier date.]
(q) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or other
law, Texas is not required to comply with the Every Student Succeeds
Act (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.).
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 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. Section 39.203(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) In addition to the distinction designations described
by Subsections (a) and (b), a campus that satisfies the criteria
developed under Section 39.204 shall be awarded a distinction
designation by the commissioner for outstanding performance in
academic achievement in reading [English language arts],
mathematics, or science[, or social studies].
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020
school year.
SECTION 5. 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.