Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1416 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	H.B. No. 1416
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to accelerated instruction provided to public school
6	6	students who fail to achieve satisfactory performance on certain
7	7	assessment instruments.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. The heading to Section 28.0211, Education Code,
10	10	is amended to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 28.0211. [ACCELERATED LEARNING COMMITTEE;]
12	12	ACCELERATED INSTRUCTION; MODIFIED TEACHER ASSIGNMENT.
13	13	SECTION 2. Section 28.0211, Education Code, is amended by
14	14	amending Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-4), (a-5), (f), (f-1), (f-2),
15	15	(f-3), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), and (n) and adding Subsections
16	16	(a-7), (a-8), (a-9), (a-10), (a-11), (a-12), (a-13), (a-14), (b),
17	17	(b-1), (i-1), (l), (q), and (r) to read as follows:
18	18	(a) To ensure that each student achieves at least
19	19	satisfactory performance on each assessment instrument
20	20	administered under Section 39.023, a [A] school district shall
21	21	ensure that the district's curricular and instructional systems
22	22	provide instruction to all students that:
23	23	(1) is consistently aligned with the essential
24	24	knowledge and skills for the applicable subject area and grade
25	25	level; and
26	26	(2) strategically and timely addresses deficiencies
27	27	in the prerequisite essential knowledge and skills for the
28	28	applicable subject area and grade level [establish an accelerated
29	29	learning committee described by Subsection (c) for each student who
30	30	does not perform satisfactorily on:
31	31	[(1) the third grade mathematics or reading assessment
32	32	instrument under Section 39.023;
33	33	[(2) the fifth grade mathematics or reading assessment
34	34	instrument under Section 39.023; or
35	35	[(3) the eighth grade mathematics or reading
36	36	assessment instrument under Section 39.023].
37	37	(a-1) Each time a student fails to perform satisfactorily on
38	38	an assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(a) or
39	39	(l) in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth grade or
40	40	an end-of-course assessment instrument administered under Section
41	41	39.023(c), other than an assessment instrument developed or adopted
42	42	based on alternative academic achievement standards, the school
43	43	district in which the student attends school shall provide to the
44	44	student accelerated instruction in the applicable subject area
45	45	during the subsequent summer or school year and, subject to
46	46	Subsections (a-7) and (a-8), either:
47	47	(1) allow the student to be assigned a classroom
48	48	teacher who is certified as a master, exemplary, or recognized
49	49	teacher under Section 21.3521 for the subsequent school year in the
50	50	applicable subject area; or
51	51	(2) provide the student supplemental instruction
52	52	under Subsection (a-4).
53	53	(a-4) If a district receives funding under Section 29.0881
54	54	or 48.104, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental
55	55	Appropriations Act, 2021 (Div. M, Pub. L. No. 116-260), or the
56	56	American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-2), then
57	57	supplemental instruction provided by a school district under
58	58	Subsection (a-1)(2) must:
59	59	(1) include targeted instruction in the essential
60	60	knowledge and skills for the applicable grade levels and subject
61	61	area;
62	62	(2) be provided in addition to instruction normally
63	63	provided to students in the grade level in which the student is
64	64	enrolled;
65	65	(3) be provided [for no less than 30 total hours]
66	66	during the subsequent summer or school year:
67	67	(A) to each student for no less than:
68	68	(i) 15 hours; or
69	69	(ii) 30 hours for a student whose
70	70	performance on the applicable assessment instrument was
71	71	significantly below satisfactory, as defined by commissioner rule;
72	72	and
73	73	(B) [,] unless the instruction is provided to a
74	74	student fully during summer, [include instruction] no less than
75	75	once per week during the school year, except as otherwise provided
76	76	by commissioner rule to account for school holidays or shortened
77	77	school weeks;
78	78	(4) be designed to assist the student in achieving
79	79	satisfactory performance in the applicable grade level and subject
80	80	area;
81	81	(5) include effective instructional materials
82	82	designed for supplemental instruction;
83	83	(6) be provided to a student individually or in a group
84	84	of no more than four [three] students, unless the parent or guardian
85	85	of each student in the group authorizes a larger group;
86	86	(7) be provided by a person with training in the
87	87	applicable instructional materials for the supplemental
88	88	instruction and under the oversight of the school district; and
89	89	(8) to the extent possible, be provided by one person
90	90	for the entirety of the student's supplemental instruction period.
91	91	(a-5) Each school district shall establish a process
92	92	allowing for the parent or guardian of a student who fails to
93	93	perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
94	94	Subsection (a-1) [(a)] to make a request for district consideration
95	95	that the student be assigned to a particular classroom teacher in
96	96	the applicable subject area for the subsequent school year, if more
97	97	than one classroom teacher is available.
98	98	(a-7) The requirements under Subsection (a-1)(1) or (2) do
99	99	not apply to a student who is retained at a grade level for the
100	100	school year in which those requirements would otherwise apply.
101	101	(a-8) A school district may not be required to provide
102	102	supplemental instruction under Subsection (a-1)(2) to a student in
103	103	more than two subject areas per school year. If the district would
104	104	otherwise be required to provide supplemental instruction to a
105	105	student in more than two subject areas for a school year, the
106	106	district shall prioritize providing supplemental instruction to
107	107	the student in mathematics and reading, or Algebra I, English I, or
108	108	English II, as applicable, for that school year.
109	109	(a-9) A parent or guardian of a student to whom supplemental
110	110	instruction will be provided under Subsection (a-1)(2) and who
111	111	either was administered and failed to perform satisfactorily on an
112	112	assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a-1) or was
113	113	administered a beginning-of-year assessment instrument aligned
114	114	with the essential knowledge and skills for the applicable subject
115	115	area, including a student to whom Subsection (b) applies, may elect
116	116	to modify or remove a requirement for that instruction under
117	117	Subsection (a-4) by submitting a written request to an
118	118	administrator of the campus at which the student is enrolled. A
119	119	school district may not encourage or direct a parent or guardian to
120	120	make an election under this subsection that would allow the
121	121	district to:
122	122	(1) not provide supplemental instruction to the
123	123	student; or
124	124	(2) provide supplemental instruction in a group larger
125	125	than authorized under Subsection (a-4)(6).
126	126	(a-10) A school district is not required to provide
127	127	accelerated instruction under Subsection (a-1) to a student who,
128	128	instead of being administered an assessment instrument specified
129	129	under Subsection (a-1), was administered a substitute assessment
130	130	instrument in accordance with other law or agency rule authorizing
131	131	the use of the substitute assessment instrument for purposes of
132	132	satisfying the requirements concerning the applicable assessment
133	133	instrument under Subsection (a-1).
134	134	(a-11) The agency shall approve one or more products that
135	135	use an automated, computerized, or other augmented method for
136	136	providing supplemental instruction under Subsection (a-1)(2) that
137	137	may be used in lieu of some or all of the individual or group
138	138	instruction required under Subsection (a-4)(6), as appropriate for
139	139	the applicable grade level and subject area and a student's
140	140	academic deficiency. The agency may approve a product under this
141	141	subsection only if evidence indicates that the product is more
142	142	effective than the individual or group instruction required under
143	143	Subsection (a-4)(6). The commissioner shall adopt rules regarding
144	144	when a product approved under this subsection may be used and the
145	145	requirements under Subsection (a-4) for which the product may be
146	146	substituted.
147	147	(a-12) For the purpose of providing accelerated instruction
148	148	or supplemental instruction under this section, a school district
149	149	may use a service provider that is not on a list of service
150	150	providers approved by the agency if the district can demonstrate to
151	151	the commissioner that use of the service provider results in
152	152	measurable improvement in student outcomes.
153	153	(a-13) A school district that is required to provide to a
154	154	student accelerated instruction under Subsection (a-1) or
155	155	supplemental instruction under Subsection (a-1)(2) is not required
156	156	to provide additional instruction under either provision to the
157	157	student based on the student's failure to perform satisfactorily on
158	158	an assessment instrument administered as an optional assessment in
159	159	the same subject area in which the district is required to provide
160	160	the student the accelerated or supplemental instruction.
161	161	(a-14) A school district shall provide to the parent or
162	162	guardian of a student who fails to perform satisfactorily on an
163	163	assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a-1) notice that
164	164	the student is not performing on grade level in the applicable
165	165	subject area. Notwithstanding Subsection (h), the district must
166	166	provide the notice at a parent-teacher conference or, if the
167	167	district is unable to provide the notice at a parent-teacher
168	168	conference, by another means. The agency shall develop and provide
169	169	to school districts a model notice in plain language for use under
170	170	this section.
171	171	(b) For each student who does not perform satisfactorily on
172	172	an assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a-1) for two
173	173	or more consecutive school years in the same subject area, the
174	174	school district the student attends shall develop an accelerated
175	175	education plan as described by Subsection (f).
176	176	(b-1) A school district shall make a good faith attempt to
177	177	provide to the parent or guardian of a student to whom Subsection
178	178	(b) applies a parent-teacher conference with the student's primary
179	179	teacher at the start and end of the subsequent school year. At the
180	180	conference, the district shall provide the student's parent or
181	181	guardian with:
182	182	(1) the notice required under Subsection (a-14); and
183	183	(2) an explanation of:
184	184	(A) the accelerated instruction to which the
185	185	student is entitled under this section; and
186	186	(B) the accelerated education plan that must be
187	187	developed for the student under Subsection (f) and the manner in
188	188	which the parent or guardian may participate in developing the
189	189	plan.
190	190	(f) Not [An accelerated learning committee described by
191	191	Subsection (c) shall, not] later than the start of the subsequent
192	192	school year, a school district shall develop an accelerated
193	193	education [educational] plan for each [the] student to whom
194	194	Subsection (b) applies that provides the necessary accelerated
195	195	instruction to enable the student to perform at the appropriate
196	196	grade or course level by the conclusion of the school year. The
197	197	plan:
198	198	(1) must:
199	199	(A) identify the reason the student did not
200	200	perform satisfactorily on the applicable assessment instrument
201	201	specified under Subsection (a-1); and
202	202	(B) notwithstanding Subsection (a-4)(3)(A),
203	203	require the student to be provided with no less than 30 hours, or a
204	204	greater number of hours if appropriate, of supplemental instruction
205	205	under Subsection (a-4) for each consecutive school year in which
206	206	the student does not perform satisfactorily on the assessment
207	207	instrument in the applicable subject area specified under
208	208	Subsection (a-1); and
209	209	(2) may require that, as appropriate to ensure the
210	210	student performs satisfactorily on the assessment instrument in the
211	211	applicable subject area specified under Subsection (a-1) at the
212	212	next administration of the assessment instrument:
213	213	(A) the district expand the times in which
214	214	supplemental instruction under Subsection (a-4) is available to the
215	215	student;
216	216	(B) the student be assigned for the school year
217	217	to a specific teacher who is better able to provide accelerated
218	218	instruction; and
219	219	(C) the district provide any necessary
220	220	additional resources to the student.
221	221	(f-1) The accelerated education [educational] plan under
222	222	Subsection (f) must be documented in writing, and a copy must be
223	223	provided to the student's parent or guardian.
224	224	(f-2) During the school year, the student shall be monitored
225	225	to ensure that the student is progressing in accordance with the
226	226	accelerated education plan developed under Subsection (f). [The
227	227	district shall administer to the student the assessment instrument
228	228	for the grade level in which the student is placed at the time the
229	229	district regularly administers the assessment instruments for that
230	230	school year.]
231	231	(f-3) The board of trustees of each school district shall
232	232	adopt a policy consistent with the grievance procedure adopted
233	233	under Section 26.011 to allow a parent to contest the content or
234	234	implementation of an accelerated education [educational] plan
235	235	developed under Subsection (f).
236	236	(g) This section does not preclude the retention at a grade
237	237	level, in accordance with state law or school district policy, of a
238	238	student who performs satisfactorily on an assessment instrument
239	239	specified under Subsection (a-1) [(a)].
240	240	(h) In each instance under this section in which a school
241	241	district is specifically required to provide notice or a written
242	242	copy to a parent or guardian of a student, the district shall make a
243	243	good faith effort to ensure that such notice or copy is provided
244	244	either in person or by regular mail and that the notice or copy is
245	245	clear and easy to understand and is written in English or the parent
246	246	or guardian's native language.
247	247	(i) The admission, review, and dismissal committee of a
248	248	student who participates in a district's special education program
249	249	under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, and who does not perform
250	250	satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
251	251	Subsection (a-1) shall, at the student's next annual review
252	252	meeting, review the student's participation and progress in, as
253	253	applicable, accelerated instruction provided under Subsection (a),
254	254	supplemental instruction provided under Subsection (a-1)(2), or an
255	255	accelerated education plan developed under Subsection (f). The
256	256	student's parent may request, or the district may schedule, an
257	257	additional committee meeting if a committee member believes that
258	258	the student's individualized education program needs to be modified
259	259	based on the requirements under this section. If the district
260	260	refuses to convene a committee meeting requested by the student's
261	261	parent under this subsection, the district shall provide the parent
262	262	with written notice explaining the reason the district refuses to
263	263	convene the meeting [(a) and administered under Section 39.023(a)
264	264	or (b) must meet to determine the manner in which the student will
265	265	participate in an accelerated instruction program under this
266	266	section].
267	267	(i-1) If a student who attends school in a homebound or
268	268	other off-campus instructional arrangement, including at a
269	269	residential treatment campus or state hospital, is unable to
270	270	participate in an accelerated instruction program required under
271	271	this section due to the student's condition, the school district
272	272	may determine that the student be provided the accelerated
273	273	instruction when the student attends school in an on-campus
274	274	instructional setting. If the student's condition prevents the
275	275	student from attending school in an on-campus instructional setting
276	276	for the school year during which the accelerated instruction is
277	277	required to be provided to the student, the district is not required
278	278	to provide the accelerated instruction to the student for that
279	279	school year.
280	280	(j) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
281	281	shall provide students required to attend accelerated programs
282	282	under this section with transportation to those programs if the
283	283	programs occur outside of regular school hours, unless the district
284	284	or school does not operate, or contract or agree with another entity
285	285	to operate, a transportation system.
286	286	(k) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
287	287	implement this section, including rules for required reporting
288	288	necessary to support student transfers.
289	289	(l) The agency shall monitor and evaluate the effectiveness
290	290	of the accelerated instruction required under this section.
291	291	(n) Except as requested under Subsection (a-5) or provided
292	292	by Subsection (n-1), a student for whom an accelerated education
293	293	plan must be developed [who fails to perform satisfactorily on an
294	294	assessment instrument specified] under Subsection (b) [(a) and is
295	295	promoted to the next grade level] must be assigned, in each [the
296	296	subsequent] school year and [in each] subject covered by the
297	297	accelerated education plan, [in which the student failed to perform
298	298	satisfactorily on an assessment instrument specified under
299	299	Subsection (a)] to an appropriately certified teacher who meets all
300	300	state and federal qualifications to teach that subject and grade.
301	301	(q) The commissioner may waive the requirements under this
302	302	section regarding accelerated instruction for a school district for
303	303	each school year in which at least 60 percent of the students who
304	304	received accelerated instruction during the school year
305	305	immediately preceding the previous school year, including at least
306	306	60 percent of students whose performance on the applicable
307	307	assessment instrument was significantly below satisfactory, as
308	308	defined by commissioner rule, performed satisfactorily in the
309	309	previous school year on the assessment instrument in each subject
310	310	in which the student previously failed to perform satisfactorily.
311	311	For purposes of determining whether a school district qualifies for
312	312	a waiver under this subsection, the commissioner shall:
313	313	(1) if a student received accelerated instruction in
314	314	more than one subject during the applicable school year, consider
315	315	the student's performance on the assessment instrument in each
316	316	subject separately from the student's performance on the assessment
317	317	instrument for each other subject; and
318	318	(2) by rule provide that a school district may not
319	319	qualify for a waiver if students who are receiving special
320	320	education services or are educationally disadvantaged are
321	321	overrepresented among the students in the district who received
322	322	accelerated instruction during the school year immediately
323	323	preceding the previous school year and did not perform
324	324	satisfactorily in the previous school year on the assessment
325	325	instrument in each applicable subject.
326	326	(r) Not later than the beginning of each school year, the
327	327	commissioner shall publish a list of school districts that qualify
328	328	for a waiver under Subsection (q).
329	329	SECTION 3. Section 29.0881(e), Education Code, is amended
330	330	to read as follows:
331	331	(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
332	332	that receives grant funds under this section may use the funds to:
333	333	(1) financially support or train or otherwise prepare
334	334	educators and other staff;
335	335	(2) pay for agreements with other entities to provide
336	336	prekindergarten services; or
337	337	(3) pay for accelerated instruction provided under
338	338	Section 28.0211 [or 28.0217].
339	339	SECTION 4. Section 39.025(b-1), Education Code, is amended
340	340	to read as follows:
341	341	(b-1) A school district shall provide each student who fails
342	342	to perform satisfactorily as determined by the commissioner under
343	343	Section 39.0241(a) on an end-of-course assessment instrument with
344	344	accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211 [28.0217] in the
345	345	subject assessed by the assessment instrument.
346	346	SECTION 5. The following provisions of the Education Code
347	347	are repealed:
348	348	(1) Sections 28.0211(c), (f-4), and (f-5); and
349	349	(2) Section 28.0217.
350	350	SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
351	351	28.0211, Education Code, apply beginning with assessment
352	352	instruments administered during the 2023 spring semester.
353	353	SECTION 7. The repeal by this Act of Section 28.0217,
354	354	Education Code, applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.
355	355	SECTION 8. (a) Notwithstanding any other section of this
356	356	Act, in a state fiscal year, the Texas Education Agency is not
357	357	required to implement a provision found in another section of this
358	358	Act that is drafted as a mandatory provision imposing a duty on the
359	359	agency to take an action unless money is specifically appropriated
360	360	to the agency for that fiscal year to carry out that duty. The Texas
361	361	Education Agency may implement the provision in that fiscal year to
362	362	the extent other funding is available to the agency to do so.
363	363	(b) If, as authorized by Subsection (a) of this section, the
364	364	Texas Education Agency does not implement the mandatory provision
365	365	in a state fiscal year, the agency, in its legislative budget
366	366	request for the next state fiscal biennium, shall certify that fact
367	367	to the Legislative Budget Board and include a written estimate of
368	368	the costs of implementing the provision in each year of that next
369	369	state fiscal biennium.
370	370	(c) This section and the suspension of the Texas Education
371	371	Agency's duty to implement a mandatory provision of this Act, as
372	372	provided by Subsection (a) of this section, expires and the duty to
373	373	implement the mandatory provision resumes on September 1, 2027.
374	374	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
375	375	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
376	376	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
377	377	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
378	378	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
379	379	______________________________ ______________________________
380	380	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
381	381	I certify that H.B. No. 1416 was passed by the House on April
382	382	20, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 1, 1 present, not
383	383	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
384	384	No. 1416 on May 19, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 1,
385	385	2 present, not voting.
386	386	______________________________
387	387	Chief Clerk of the House
388	388	I certify that H.B. No. 1416 was passed by the Senate, with
389	389	amendments, on May 16, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays
390	390	2.
391	391	______________________________
392	392	Secretary of the Senate
393	393	APPROVED: __________________
394	394	Date
395	395	__________________
396	396	Governor