By: VanDeaver H.B. No. 3668
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eliminating certain state-required assessment
instruments and certain end-of-course assessment instruments not
required by federal law, removal of high-stakes on children and
temporary suspension of accountability determinations including
criterion for promotion or graduation of a public school student.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.023(a), Education Code, as effective
until September 1, 2021 and as effective September 1, 2021, is
amended 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
eight;
(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.
SECTION 2. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and adding Subsection (q) to read as
follows:
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment
instruments for secondary-level courses in reading, mathematics,
and science only as necessary to comply with the Every Student
Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.) to be administered
only as necessary to meet the minimum requirements of that Act
[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, but may include one or more
parts that prohibit the use 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 and must
provide a single score]. A school district 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. An end-of-course
assessment instrument may be administered in multiple parts over
more than one day. 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).
(q) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or other
law, if changes made to the Every Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C.
Section 6301 et seq.) reduce the number or frequency of assessment
instruments required to be administered to students, the State
Board of Education shall adopt rules reducing the number or
frequency of assessment instruments administered to students under
state law, and the commissioner shall ensure that students are not
assessed in subject areas or in grades that are no longer required
to meet the minimum requirements of that Act.
SECTION 3. 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 mathematics or reading [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 4. 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 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.0239 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.0239. ADMINISTRATION OF ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS AND
TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF CERTAIN ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES DURING
DISASTER. (a) If a school district is located wholly or partly in
the area of a disaster declared by the president of the United
States under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.) or by the governor
under Chapter 418, Government Code, during a school year in which
district operations, including in-person attendance, are
disrupted, the commissioner shall apply to the United States
Department of Education for a waiver of the requirement under the
Every Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.) to
administer assessment instruments during that school year for the
affected district.
(b) If the United States Department of Education fails to
grant a waiver requested under Subsection (a), the assessment
instruments shall be administered as required under Section 39.023
during the applicable school year, but, notwithstanding any other
law, the commissioner may not consider the results of the
assessment instruments for purposes of:
(1) evaluating school district or campus performance
under this chapter for the affected district for the applicable
school year, including in determining:
(A) the performance rating to assign to the
district or the district's campuses under Section 39.054; or
(B) whether to impose any intervention or
sanction authorized by Chapter 39A after the applicable school year
on the district or the district's campuses; or
(2) determining a student's qualification for
promotion or graduation.
SECTION 6. Section 28.021 and Section 28.0211, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 28.021. STUDENT ADVANCEMENT.
(c) In determining promotion under Subsection (a), a school
district shall consider:
(3) the student's score on an assessment instrument
administered under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (l), to the extent
applicable; and
(e) The commissioner shall provide guidelines to districts
based on best practices that a district may use when considering
factors for promotion.
Sec. 28.0211. SATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE ON ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENTS REQUIRED; ACCELERATED INSTRUCTION. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b) or (e), a student may not be promoted to:
(1) the sixth grade program to which the student would
otherwise be assigned if the student does not perform
satisfactorily on the fifth grade mathematics and reading
assessment instruments under Section 39.023; or
(2) the ninth grade program to which the student would
otherwise be assigned if the student does not perform
satisfactorily on the eighth grade mathematics and reading
assessment instruments under Section 39.023.
(a-2) A student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) and who is
promoted to the next grade level must complete accelerated
instruction required under Subsection (a-1) before placement in the
next grade level. A student who fails to complete required
accelerated instruction may not be promoted.
(b) A school district shall provide to a student who
initially fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment
instrument specified under Subsection (a) at least two additional
opportunities to take the assessment instrument. A school district
may administer an alternate assessment instrument to a student who
has failed an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a)
on the previous two opportunities. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, a student may be promoted if the student
performs at grade level on an alternate assessment instrument under
this subsection that is appropriate for the student's grade level
and approved by the commissioner.
(e) A student who, after at least three attempts, fails to
perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
Subsection (a) shall be retained at the same grade level for the
next school year in accordance with Subsection (a). The student's
parent or guardian may appeal the student's retention by submitting
a request to the grade placement committee established under
Subsection (c). The school district shall give the parent or
guardian written notice of the opportunity to appeal. The grade
placement committee may decide in favor of a student's promotion
only if the committee concludes, using standards adopted by the
board of trustees, that if promoted and given accelerated
instruction, the student is likely to perform at grade level. A
student may not be promoted on the basis of the grade placement
committee's decision unless that decision is unanimous. The
commissioner by rule shall establish a time line for making the
placement determination. This subsection does not create a
property interest in promotion. The decision of the grade placement
committee is final and may not be appealed.
Sec. 39.025. SECONDARY-LEVEL PERFORMANCE REQUIRED.
(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring a student
in the foundation high school program under Section 28.025 to be
administered an end-of-course assessment instrument listed in
Section 39.023(c) only for a course in which the student is enrolled
and for which an end-of-course assessment instrument is
administered. A student is required to achieve a scale score that
indicates satisfactory performance, as determined by the
commissioner under Section 39.0241(a), on each end-of-course
assessment instrument administered to the student. For each scale
score required under this subsection that is not based on a
100-point scale scoring system, the commissioner shall provide for
conversion, in accordance with commissioner rule, of the scale
score to an equivalent score based on a 100-point scale scoring
system. A student may not receive a high school diploma until the
student has performed satisfactorily on end-of-course assessment
instruments in the manner provided under this subsection. This
subsection does not require a student to demonstrate readiness to
enroll in an institution of higher education.
(a-2) The commissioner shall determine a method by which a
student's satisfactory performance on an advanced placement test,
an international baccalaureate examination, an SAT Subject Test,
the SAT, the ACT, or any nationally recognized norm-referenced
assessment instrument used by institutions of higher education to
award course credit based on satisfactory performance on the
assessment instrument shall be used to satisfy the requirements
concerning an end-of-course assessment instrument in an equivalent
course as prescribed by Subsection (a). The commissioner shall
determine a method by which a student's satisfactory performance on
the PSAT or the ACT-Plan shall be used to satisfy the requirements
concerning an end-of-course assessment instrument in an equivalent
course as prescribed by Subsection (a). A student who fails to
perform satisfactorily on a test or other assessment instrument
authorized under this subsection, other than the PSAT or the
ACT-Plan, may retake that test or other assessment instrument for
purposes of this subsection or may take the appropriate
end-of-course assessment instrument. A student who fails to
perform satisfactorily on the PSAT or the ACT-Plan must take the
appropriate end-of-course assessment instrument. The commissioner
shall adopt rules as necessary for the administration of this
subsection.
(a-3) A student who, after retaking an end-of-course
assessment instrument for Algebra I or English II, has failed to
perform satisfactorily as required by Subsection (a), but who
receives a score of proficient on the Texas Success Initiative
(TSI) diagnostic assessment for the corresponding subject for which
the student failed to perform satisfactorily on the end-of-course
assessment instrument satisfies the requirement concerning the
Algebra I or English II end-of-course assessment, as applicable.
This subsection expires September 1, 2023.
(a-4) The admission, review, and dismissal committee of a
student in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter
29, shall determine whether, to receive a high school diploma, the
student is required to achieve satisfactory performance on
end-of-course assessment instruments.
(a-5) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a student who has
failed to perform satisfactorily on end-of-course assessment
instruments in the manner provided under this section may receive a
high school diploma if the student has qualified for graduation
under Section 28.0258. This subsection expires September 1, 2023.
(b) Each time an end-of-course assessment instrument
adopted under Section 39.023(c) is administered, a student who
failed to achieve a score requirement under Subsection (a) may
retake the assessment instrument. A student is not required to
retake a course as a condition of retaking an end-of-course
assessment instrument.
(b-1) A school district shall provide each student who fails
to perform satisfactorily as determined by the commissioner under
Section 39.0241(a) on an end-of-course assessment instrument with
accelerated instruction in the subject assessed by the assessment
instrument.
(c) A student who has been denied a high school diploma
under this section and who subsequently performs at the level
necessary to comply with the requirements of this section shall be
issued a high school diploma.
(c-1) A school district may not administer an assessment
instrument required for graduation administered under this section
as this section existed:
(1) before September 1, 1999; or
(2) before amendment by Chapter 1312 (S.B. 1031), Acts
of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007.
(c-2) A school district may administer to a student who
failed to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument
described by Subsection (c-1) an alternate assessment instrument
designated by the commissioner. The commissioner shall determine
the level of performance considered to be satisfactory on an
alternate assessment instrument. The district may not administer
to the student an assessment instrument or a part of an assessment
instrument that assesses a subject that was not assessed in an
assessment instrument applicable to the student described by
Subsection (c-1). The commissioner shall make available to
districts information necessary to administer the alternate
assessment instrument authorized by this subsection. The
commissioner's determination regarding designation of an
appropriate alternate assessment instrument under this subsection
and the performance required on the assessment instrument is final
and may not be appealed.
(f-1) The commissioner shall establish satisfactory
performance levels for the SAT, the ACT, the Texas Success
Initiative (TSI) diagnostic assessment, and the current assessment
instrument or instruments administered for graduation purposes
that are equivalent in rigor to the performance level required to be
met under Subsection (a), as that subsection existed before
amendment by Chapter 1312 (S.B. No. 1031), Acts of the 80th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, that qualify a student subject
to Subsection (f)(1) to receive a high school diploma.
Notwithstanding Subsection (f), the commissioner is not required
after September 1, 2017, to maintain and administer assessment
instruments administered under Section 39.023(c), as that section
existed before amendment by Chapter 1312 (S.B. No. 1031), Acts of
the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007.
(f–2) A school district shall determine which assessment or
assessments described by Subsection (f-1) qualify a student subject
to Subsection (f)(1) to receive a high school diploma from the
district.
(g) Rules adopted under Subsection (f) must require that
each student who will be subject to the requirements of Subsection
(a) is entitled to notice of the specific requirements applicable
to the student. Notice under this subsection must be provided not
later than the date the student enters the eighth grade.
SECTION 7. Effective September 1, 2021, Education Code Sec.
28.0258 is repealed.
SECTION 8. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 9. 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, 2021.