By: González of El Paso H.B. No. 1867
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Texas Commission on Assessment and
Accountability.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. TEXAS COMMISSION ON ASSESSMENT AND
ACCOUNTABILITY. (a) The Texas Commission on Assessment and
Accountability is established to develop and make recommendations
for improvements to the current public school assessment and
accountability systems.
(b) The commission is composed of 19 members, consisting of
the following:
(1) four members appointed by the governor;
(2) seven members appointed by the lieutenant
governor;
(3) seven members appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives; and
(4) a member of the State Board of Education, as
designated by the chair of that board.
(c) The members appointed by the governor must have an
interest in public education and include at least:
(1) one person who is a current classroom teacher in a
grade and subject with a required state assessment and at least 10
years of teaching experience at a high-poverty campus;
(2) one person who is a member of the business
community; and
(3) one person who is a member of the civic community.
(d) The appointments made by the lieutenant governor and the
speaker of the house of representatives must each consist of:
(1) three members of the applicable legislative
chamber;
(2) a superintendent in the public school system;
(3) an elected member of the board of trustees of a
school district;
(4) a parent of a student in the public school system;
and
(5) a public school district staff member who serves
on the Accountability Technology Advisory Committee established by
rule.
(e) In making appointments under Subsections (b)(1), (2),
and (3), the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the
house of representatives shall coordinate to ensure that the
membership of the commission reflects, to the extent possible, the
ethnic and geographic diversity of this state.
SECTION 2. PRESIDING OFFICER AND MEMBERS. (a) The governor
shall designate the presiding officer of the commission.
(b) A member may not be an employee, contractor, consultant,
or vendor of the Texas Education Agency or a Regional Education
Service Center.
SECTION 3. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT. A member of the
commission is not entitled to compensation for service on the
commission but is entitled to reimbursement for actual and
necessary expenses incurred in performing commission duties.
SECTION 4. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND FUNDING. (a) Staff
members of the Texas Education Agency shall provide administrative
support for the commission. The agency, with assistance as
necessary from the Higher Education Coordinating Board, shall
provide data and analysis as requested by the commission, including
data available in the Education Research Centers.
(b) Funding for the administrative and operational expenses
of the commission shall be provided by appropriation to the agency
for that purpose.
SECTION 5. RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) The commission shall
develop recommendations under this subchapter to address issues
related to the public school statewide assessment system,
including:
(1) test construction and administration methods that
ensure validity, readability, and fairness for all students;
(2) assessment options to inform instruction
throughout the school year;
(3) any disproportionate impact of assessments on
students receiving each tier of the compensatory education
allotment and other special populations, and appropriate policy
responses;
(4) the costs and instructional time devoted to
state-required assessments, and options to minimize those effects
and combine assessments with classroom instruction; and
(5) privacy, security, and confidentiality protocols
for student information in online instruction and assessment.
(b) The commission shall develop recommendations under this
subchapter to address issues related to the public school academic
accountability rating system, including:
(1) characteristics and measures of effective schools
beyond state-required assessments and ways to incorporate those
characteristics and measures into a fairer accountability system;
(2) the correlation of accountability results with
student special populations, including educationally disadvantaged
and not educationally disadvantaged, for each Domain Rating and
Overall Rating, and the effect of enrollment in charter schools and
magnet or other voluntary programs on the composition of campus
student populations and accountability measures; and
(3) the appropriateness and effectiveness of current
district and campus sanctions and any correlation with campuses or
districts serving particular student populations.
(c) The commission shall include and consider
recommendations made by the existing Accountability Technical and
Policy Advisory Committees established by rule.
(b) The commission may establish one or more working groups
composed of not more than five members of the commission to study,
discuss, and address specific policy issues and recommendations to
refer to the commission for consideration.
SECTION 6. REPORT. Not later than December 31, 2022, the
commission shall prepare and deliver a report to the governor and
the legislature that recommends statutory changes to improve the
public school assessment and accountability systems.
SECTION 7. PUBLIC MEETINGS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION. (a) The
commission may hold public meetings as needed to fulfill its duties
under this subchapter.
(b) The commission is subject to Chapters 551 and 552,
Government Code.