88R6139 JES-D
By: Rosenthal H.B. No. 2661
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eliminating the requirement to use public school
assessment instruments as indicators of achievement under the
public school accountability system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.0258(j), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(j) Notwithstanding any action taken by an individual
graduation committee under this section, a school district shall
administer an end-of-course assessment instrument to any student
who fails to perform satisfactorily on an end-of-course assessment
instrument as provided by Section 39.025(b). [For purposes of
Section 39.053(c)(1), an assessment instrument administered as
provided by this subsection is considered an assessment instrument
required for graduation retaken by a student.]
SECTION 2. Section 29.062(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The legislature recognizes that compliance with this
subchapter is an imperative public necessity. Therefore, in
accordance with the policy of the state, the agency shall evaluate
the effectiveness of programs under this subchapter based on the
achievement indicators adopted under Section 39.053(c)[, including
the results of assessment instruments]. The agency may combine
evaluations under this section with federal accountability
measures concerning emergent bilingual students.
SECTION 3. Section 29.190(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A student is entitled to a subsidy under this section
if:
(1) the student:
(A) successfully completes the career and
technology program of a school district in which the student
receives training and instruction for employment; or
(B) is enrolled in a special education program
under Subchapter A; and
(2) the student passes a certification examination to
qualify for a license or certificate that is an industry
certification for purposes of Section 39.053(c)(1)(C)
[39.053(c)(1)(B)(v)], administered while the student is enrolled
in a school district.
SECTION 4. Section 39.033(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An agreement under this section must require the private
school to:
(1) as determined appropriate by the commissioner,
provide to the commissioner the information described by Section
[Sections 39.053(c) and] 39.301(c); and
(2) maintain confidentiality in compliance with
Section 39.030.
SECTION 5. Sections 39.053(c), (g), (g-1), (g-2), (g-3),
and (g-4), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) School districts and campuses must be evaluated based on
three domains of indicators of achievement adopted under this
section that include:
(1) in the student achievement domain, indicators of
student achievement that must include [:
[(A) for evaluating the performance of districts
and campuses generally:
[(i) an indicator that accounts for the
results of assessment instruments required under Sections
39.023(a), (c), and (l), as applicable for the district and campus,
including the results of assessment instruments required for
graduation retaken by a student, aggregated across grade levels by
subject area, including:
[(a) for the performance standard
determined by the commissioner under Section 39.0241(a), the
percentage of students who performed satisfactorily on the
assessment instruments, aggregated across grade levels by subject
area; and
[(b) for the college readiness
performance standard as determined under Section 39.0241, the
percentage of students who performed satisfactorily on the
assessment instruments, aggregated across grade levels by subject
area; and
[(ii) an indicator that accounts for the
results of assessment instruments required under Section
39.023(b), as applicable for the district and campus, including the
percentage of students who performed satisfactorily on the
assessment instruments, as determined by the performance standard
adopted by the agency, aggregated across grade levels by subject
area; and
[(B) for] evaluating the performance of high
school campuses and districts that include high school campuses,
indicators that account for:
(A) [(i) students who satisfy the Texas Success
Initiative (TSI) college readiness benchmarks prescribed by the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under Section 51.334 on
an assessment instrument in reading or mathematics designated by
the coordinating board under that section;
[(ii) students who satisfy relevant
performance standards on advanced placement tests or similar
assessments;]
[(iii)] students who earn dual course
credits in the dual credit courses;
(B) [(iv)] students who enlist in the armed
forces of the United States or the Texas National Guard;
(C) [(v)] students who earn industry
certifications;
(D) [(vi)] students admitted into postsecondary
industry certification programs that require as a prerequisite for
entrance successful performance at the secondary level;
(E) [(vii)] students whose successful completion
of a course or courses under Section 28.014 indicates the student's
preparation to enroll and succeed, without remediation, in an
entry-level general education course for a baccalaureate degree or
associate degree;
(F) [(viii)] students who successfully met
standards on a composite of indicators that through research
indicates the student's preparation to enroll and succeed, without
remediation, in an entry-level general education course for a
baccalaureate degree or associate degree;
(G) [(ix)] high school graduation rates,
computed in accordance with standards and definitions adopted in
compliance with the Every Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. Section
6301 et seq.) subject to the exclusions provided by Subsections
(g), (g-1), (g-2), (g-3), and (g-4);
(H) [(x)] students who successfully completed an
OnRamps dual enrollment course;
(I) [(xi)] students who successfully completed a
practicum or internship approved by the State Board of Education;
(J) [(xii)] students who are awarded an
associate degree; and
(K) [(xiii)] students who successfully completed
a program of study in career and technical education;
(2) in the school progress domain, indicators for
effectiveness in promoting student learning, which must include[:
[(A) for assessment instruments, including
assessment instruments under Subdivisions (1)(A)(i) and (ii), the
percentage of students who met the standard for improvement, as
determined by the commissioner; and
[(B) for] evaluating relative performance, by
comparing the performance of districts and campuses [compared] to
similar districts or campuses; and
(3) in the closing the gaps domain, the use of
disaggregated data to demonstrate the differentials among students
from different racial and ethnic groups, socioeconomic
backgrounds, and other factors, including:
(A) students formerly receiving special
education services;
(B) students continuously enrolled; and
(C) students who are mobile.
(g) In computing dropout and completion rates such as high
school graduation rates under Subsection (c)(1)(G)
[(c)(1)(B)(ix)], the commissioner may not consider as a dropout a
student whose failure to attend school results from:
(1) the student's expulsion under Section 37.007; and
(2) as applicable:
(A) adjudication as having engaged in delinquent
conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision, as defined by
Section 51.03, Family Code; or
(B) conviction of and sentencing for an offense
under the Penal Code.
(g-1) In computing dropout and completion rates such as high
school graduation rates under Subsection (c)(1)(G)
[(c)(1)(B)(ix)], the commissioner shall exclude:
(1) students who are ordered by a court to attend a
high school equivalency certificate program but who have not yet
earned a high school equivalency certificate;
(2) students who were previously reported to the state
as dropouts, including a student who is reported as a dropout,
reenrolls, and drops out again, regardless of the number of times of
reenrollment and dropping out;
(3) students in attendance who are not in membership
for purposes of average daily attendance;
(4) students whose initial enrollment in a school in
the United States in grades 7 through 12 was as an unschooled asylee
or refugee as defined by Section 39.027(a-1);
(5) students who are detained at a county
pre-adjudication or post-adjudication juvenile detention facility
and:
(A) in the district exclusively as a function of
having been detained at the facility but are otherwise not students
of the district in which the facility is located; or
(B) provided services by an open-enrollment
charter school exclusively as the result of having been detained at
the facility;
(6) students who are incarcerated in state jails and
federal penitentiaries as adults and as persons certified to stand
trial as adults; and
(7) students who have suffered a condition, injury, or
illness that requires substantial medical care and leaves the
student:
(A) unable to attend school; and
(B) assigned to a medical or residential
treatment facility.
(g-2) In computing completion rates such as high school
graduation rates under Subsection (c)(1)(G) [(c)(1)(B)(ix)], the
commissioner shall exclude students who:
(1) are at least 18 years of age as of September 1 of
the school year as reported for the fall semester Public Education
Information Management System (PEIMS) submission and have
satisfied the credit requirements for high school graduation;
(2) have not completed their individualized education
program under 19 T.A.C. Section 89.1070(b)(2) and the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.);
and
(3) are enrolled and receiving individualized
education program services.
(g-3) In the computation of dropout and completion rates
such as high school graduation rates under Subsection (c)(1)(G)
[(c)(1)(B)(ix)], a student who is released from a juvenile
pre-adjudication secure detention facility or juvenile
post-adjudication secure correctional facility and fails to enroll
in school or a student who leaves a residential treatment center
after receiving treatment for fewer than 85 days and fails to enroll
in school may not be considered to have dropped out from the school
district or campus serving the facility or center unless that
district or campus is the one to which the student is regularly
assigned. The agency may not limit an appeal relating to dropout
computations under this subsection.
(g-4) For purposes of the computation of dropout and
completion rates such as high school graduation rates under
Subsection (c)(1)(G) [(c)(1)(B)(ix)], the commissioner shall
exclude a student who was reported as having dropped out of school
under Section 48.009(b-4), and the student may not be considered to
have dropped out from the school district or campus in which the
student was last enrolled.
SECTION 6. Sections 39.0548(b) and (c), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding Section 39.053(c)(1)(G)
[39.053(c)(1)(B)(ix)], the commissioner shall use the alternative
completion rate under this subsection to determine the graduation
rate indicator under Section 39.053(c)(1)(G) [39.053(c)(1)(B)(ix)]
for a dropout recovery school. The alternative completion rate
shall be the ratio of the total number of students who graduate,
continue attending school into the next academic year, or receive a
high school equivalency certificate to the total number of students
in the longitudinal cohort of students.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 39.053(c)(1)(G)
[39.053(c)(1)(B)(ix)], in determining the performance rating under
Section 39.054 of a dropout recovery school, the commissioner shall
include any student described by Section 39.053(g-1) who graduates
or receives a high school equivalency certificate.
SECTION 7. Section 39.055, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.055. STUDENT ORDERED BY A JUVENILE COURT OR STUDENT
IN RESIDENTIAL FACILITY NOT CONSIDERED FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
PURPOSES. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code except
to the extent otherwise provided under Section 39.053(g-3), for
purposes of determining the performance of a school district,
campus, or open-enrollment charter school under this chapter, a
student ordered by a juvenile court into a residential program or
facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Juvenile
Justice Department, a juvenile board, or any other governmental
entity or any student who is receiving treatment in a residential
facility is not considered to be a student of the school district in
which the program or facility is physically located or of an
open-enrollment charter school, as applicable. The performance of
such a student on an [assessment instrument or other] achievement
indicator adopted under Section 39.053 or reporting indicator
adopted under Section 39.301 shall be determined, reported, and
considered separately from the performance of students attending a
school of the district in which the program or facility is
physically located or an open-enrollment charter school, as
applicable.
SECTION 8. Section 39.0552, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.0552. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN SCHOOL
DISTRICT AND STATE HOSPITAL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY PURPOSES. A
memorandum of understanding between a school district and a state
hospital under which the district provides educational services to
a student who resides in the state hospital must provide that the
school district include the performance of the student on an
[assessment instrument or other] achievement indicator adopted
under Section 39.053 or a reporting indicator adopted under Section
39.301 in determining the performance of that school district.
SECTION 9. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Sections 39.053(c-2), (c-3), (d), and (d-1); and
(2) Section 39.0548(d).
SECTION 10. This Act applies beginning with the 2024-2025
school year.
SECTION 11. 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, 2023.