88R14461 AMF-D
By: West S.B. No. 2295
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to accelerated instruction provided for public school
students who fail to achieve satisfactory performance on certain
assessment instruments, indicators under the public school
accountability system, and performance standards in public
schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.0211, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (a-4), (c), (f),
(f-4), and (o) and adding Subsection (a-7) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-7), each [A school
district shall establish an accelerated learning committee
described by Subsection (c) for each student who does not perform
satisfactorily on:
[(1) the third grade mathematics or reading assessment
instrument under Section 39.023;
[(2) the fifth grade mathematics or reading assessment
instrument under Section 39.023; or
[(3) the eighth grade mathematics or reading
assessment instrument under Section 39.023.
[(a-1) Each] time a student fails to perform satisfactorily
on a mathematics or reading [an] assessment instrument administered
under Section 39.023(a) in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or
seventh[, or eighth] grade, the school district in which the
student attends school shall provide to the student, during the
subsequent summer or school year, accelerated instruction in the
applicable subject area that includes instruction in the essential
knowledge and skills the student must master to perform
satisfactorily on the subsequent assessment instrument for the
applicable subject area [during the subsequent summer or school
year] and either:
(1) allow the student to be assigned a classroom
teacher who is certified as a master, exemplary, or recognized
teacher under Section 21.3521 for the subsequent school year in the
applicable subject area; or
(2) provide the student supplemental instruction
under Subsection (a-4).
(a-1) A school district is only required to provide
supplemental instruction under this section if state or federal
funds are provided or made available for the purpose, including by
appropriation, under Section 29.0881, under the Coronavirus
Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (Div. M,
Pub. L. No. 116-260), or under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
(Pub. L. No. 117-2).
(a-2) Accelerated instruction provided during the following
school year under Subsection (a) [(a-1)] may:
(1) require participation of the student before or
after normal school hours; and
(2) be provided during instructional periods in the
school day designated for supplemental instruction in the
foundation curriculum and enrichment curriculum adopted under
Section 28.002 for the grade level in which the student is enrolled.
(a-3) In providing accelerated instruction under Subsection
(a) [(a-1)], a district may not remove a student, except under
circumstances for which a student enrolled in the same grade level
who is not receiving accelerated instruction would be removed,
from:
(1) core instruction in the foundation curriculum and
enrichment curriculum adopted under Section 28.002 for the grade
level in which the student is enrolled; or
(2) recess or other physical activity that is
available to other students enrolled in the same grade level.
(a-4) If a district receives funding under Section 29.0881,
the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations
Act, 2021 (Div. M, Pub. L. No. 116-260), or the American Rescue Plan
Act of 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-2), then supplemental instruction
provided by a school district under Subsection (a) [(a-1)(2)] must:
(1) include targeted instruction in the essential
knowledge and skills for the applicable grade levels and subject
area;
(2) be provided in addition to instruction normally
provided to students in the grade level in which the student is
enrolled;
(3) be provided according to a schedule the district
determines is most effective for the student [for no less than 30
total hours during the subsequent summer or school year and, unless
the instruction is provided fully during summer, include
instruction no less than once per week during the school year];
(4) be designed to assist the student in achieving
satisfactory performance in the applicable grade level and subject
area;
(5) include effective instructional materials
designed for supplemental instruction;
(6) be provided to a student individually or in a group
of no more than five [three] students, unless the parent or guardian
of each student in the group authorizes a larger group;
(7) be provided by a person with training in the
applicable instructional materials for the supplemental
instruction and under the oversight of the school district; and
(8) to the extent possible, be provided by one person
for the entirety of the student's supplemental instruction period.
(a-7) A school district may not provide accelerated
instruction under this section to a student if the student's parent
or guardian submits a written request to exempt the student from the
instruction.
(c) An accelerated learning committee shall be established
after [After] a student fails to perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument specified under Subsection (a) in two
consecutive school years, an accelerated learning committee shall
be established. The accelerated learning committee shall be
composed of the principal or the principal's designee, the
student's parent or guardian, and the teacher of the subject of an
assessment instrument on which the student failed to perform
satisfactorily. The district shall notify the parent or guardian
of the time and place for convening the accelerated learning
committee and the purpose of the committee.
(f) An accelerated learning committee described by
Subsection (c) shall, not later than the 30th day after the first
day of the [start of the subsequent] school year in which the
committee is required to be established, develop an educational
plan for the student that provides the necessary accelerated
instruction to enable the student to perform at the appropriate
grade level by the conclusion of the school year.
(f-4) If a student for whom an accelerated learning
committee has been established under Subsection (c) [who] fails to
perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument [specified
under Subsection (a) fails] in the subsequent school year [to
perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument] in the same
subject, the superintendent of the district, or the
superintendent's designee, shall meet with the student's
accelerated learning committee to:
(1) identify the reason the student did not perform
satisfactorily; and
(2) determine, in order to ensure the student performs
satisfactorily on the assessment instrument at the next
administration of the assessment instrument, whether:
(A) the educational plan developed for the
student under Subsection (f) must be modified to provide the
necessary accelerated instruction for that student; and
(B) any additional resources are required for
that student.
(o) This section does not require the administration of a
fifth [or eighth] grade assessment instrument in mathematics or
reading [a subject] under Section 39.023(a) to a student enrolled
in the fifth [or eighth] grade[, as applicable,] if the student[:
[(1)] is enrolled in a course in the subject intended
for students above the student's grade level and will be
administered an assessment instrument adopted or developed under
Section 39.023(a) that aligns with the curriculum for the course in
which the student is enrolled[; or
[(2) is enrolled in a course in the subject for which
the student will receive high school academic credit and will be
administered an end-of-course assessment instrument adopted under
Section 39.023(c) for the course].
SECTION 2. Section 29.0881(e), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that receives grant funds under this section may use the funds to:
(1) financially support or train or otherwise prepare
educators and other staff;
(2) pay for agreements with other entities to provide
prekindergarten services; or
(3) pay for accelerated instruction provided under
Section 28.0211 [or 28.0217].
SECTION 3. Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-2) to read as follows:
(a-2) The indicators adopted by the commissioner under
Subsection (a) must:
(1) for kindergarten through grade eight, include
indicators that:
(A) are not based on the results of an assessment
instrument; and
(B) comprehensively account for factors
affecting the quality of learning and achievement in those grades;
(2) for grades 9 through 12, include indicators that
are designed to encourage alignment of education to career
readiness; and
(3) include indicators for evaluating schools
according to a school's success in equitably educating students
across all campuses and achieving similar student outcomes for all
students.
SECTION 4. Section 39.054, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (a-4), (a-5), and (b) and adding
Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-4), the
commissioner shall adopt rules to evaluate school district and
campus performance and assign each district and campus [an overall
performance rating of A, B, C, D, or F. In addition to the overall
performance rating, the commissioner shall assign each district and
campus] a separate domain performance rating of A, B, C, D, or F for
each domain under Section 39.053(c). A [An overall or] domain
performance rating of A reflects exemplary performance. A [An
overall or] domain performance rating of B reflects recognized
performance. A [An overall or] domain performance rating of C
reflects acceptable performance. A [An overall or] domain
performance rating of D reflects performance that needs
improvement. A [An overall or] domain performance rating of F
reflects unacceptable performance. A district may not receive a
[an overall or] domain performance rating of A if the district
includes any campus with a corresponding [overall or] domain
performance rating of D or F. If a school district has been
approved under Section 39.0544 to assign campus performance ratings
and the commissioner has not assigned a campus a domain [an overall]
performance rating of D or F, the commissioner shall assign the
campus a domain [an overall] performance rating based on the school
district assigned performance rating under Section 39.0544.
(a-4) Notwithstanding any other law, the commissioner may
assign a school district or campus a domain [an overall]
performance rating of "Not Rated" if the commissioner determines
that the assignment of a performance rating of A, B, C, D, or F would
be inappropriate because:
(1) the district or campus is located in an area that
is subject to a declaration of a state of disaster under Chapter
418, Government Code, and due to the disaster, performance
indicators for the district or campus are difficult to measure or
evaluate and would not accurately reflect quality of learning and
achievement for the district or campus;
(2) the district or campus has experienced breaches or
other failures in data integrity to the extent that accurate
analysis of data regarding performance indicators is not possible;
(3) the number of students enrolled in the district or
campus is insufficient to accurately evaluate the performance of
the district or campus; or
(4) for other reasons outside the control of the
district or campus, the performance indicators would not accurately
reflect quality of learning and achievement for the district or
campus.
(a-5) Notwithstanding any other law, a domain [an overall]
performance rating of "Not Rated" is not included in calculating
consecutive school years of unacceptable performance ratings and is
not considered a break in consecutive school years of unacceptable
performance ratings for purposes of any provision of this code.
(b) For purposes of assigning school districts and campuses
[an overall and] a domain performance rating under Subsection (a),
the commissioner shall ensure that the method used to evaluate
performance is implemented in a manner that provides the
mathematical possibility that all districts and campuses receive an
A rating.
(f) For purposes of a provision of this title, a reference
to the overall performance rating of a district or campus means:
(1) for a school year before the 2023-2024 school
year, the overall performance rating assigned for the district or
campus for that year under this section as it existed before
amendment by Chapter ____ (_.B. No. ____), Acts of the 88th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2023; and
(2) for the 2023-2024 school year and each subsequent
school year, the highest of the three domain performance ratings
assigned to the district or campus under this section for that
school year.
SECTION 5. Sections 39.0544(a) and (e), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules regarding the
assignment of campus performance ratings by school districts and
open-enrollment charter schools. The rules:
(1) must require a district or school [, in assigning
an overall performance rating for a campus,] to incorporate:
(A) domain performance ratings assigned by the
commissioner under Section 39.054; and
(B) performance ratings based on locally
developed domains or sets of accountability measures;
(2) [may permit a district or school to assign weights
to each domain or set of accountability measures described in
Subdivision (1), as determined by the district or school, provided
that the domains specified in Subdivision (1)(A) must in the
aggregate account for at least 50 percent of the overall
performance rating;
[(3)] must require that each locally developed domain
or set of accountability measures:
(A) contains levels of performance that allow for
differentiation, with assigned standards for achieving the
differentiated levels;
(B) provides for the assignment of a letter grade
of A, B, C, D, or F; and
(C) meets standards for reliability and
validity;
(3) [(4)] must require that calculations for [overall
performance ratings and] each locally developed domain or set of
accountability measures be capable of being audited by a third
party;
(4) [(5)] must require that a district or school
produce a campus score card that may be displayed on the agency's
website; and
(5) [(6)] must require that a district or school
develop and make available to the public an explanation of the
methodology used to assign performance ratings under this section.
(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
authorized under this section to assign campus performance ratings
shall evaluate the performance of each campus as provided by this
section and assign each campus a performance rating of A, B, C, D,
or F [for overall performance and] for each locally developed
domain or set of accountability measures. Not later than a date
established by the commissioner, the district or school shall:
(1) report the performance ratings to the agency; and
(2) make the performance ratings available to the
public as provided by commissioner rule.
SECTION 6. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 28.0217;
(2) Section 39.025(b-1); and
(3) Sections 39.054(a-1) and (a-2).
SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
school year.
SECTION 8. 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.