86R2229 GCB-D
By: Tinderholt H.B. No. 525
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the limitation on administration and use of certain
assessment instruments in public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (c), 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;
and
(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, 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 assessment instruments
adopted or developed under Subsection (a) to assess writing in
grades four and seven, an assessment instrument adopted or
developed under Subsection (a) to assess social studies in grade
eight, and end-of-course assessments adopted under Subsection (c)
for secondary-level courses in English II and United States
history, as those subsections 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. 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 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.