By: Paxton S.B. No. 2527
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to early assessment and interventions for school district
students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.0071 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.0071. EARLY MATHEMATICS ASSESSMENT AND
IMPROVEMENT. (a) The commissioner shall adopt a list of approved
or developed mathematics instruments that a school district may use
to assess a student's mathematics skills in kindergarten through
third grade.
(b) The mathematics instruments on the list adopted under
Subsection (a) must:
(1) be designed to be administered at least at the
beginning, middle, and end of the school year;
(2) align with best practices for early mathematics
assessment;
(3) be based on scientific research concerning
foundational numeracy skills in mathematics;
(4) allow for statewide comparison of student
performance;
(5) be grade-level and developmentally appropriate
for the intended grade for which the instrument will be
administered;
(6) assess performance of students in foundational
numeracy skills components of the essential knowledge and skills
adopted under Section 28.002 for mathematics;
(7) be capable of monitoring student progress in a
manner that allows school district staff to identify foundational
numeracy skills in need of targeted instruction;
(8) assess whether a student's performance in
foundational numeracy skills indicates that the student is at risk,
as determined by the commissioner, of not achieving satisfactory
performance on the third grade mathematics assessment administered
under Section 39.023;
(9) allow a school to district to generate a report
regarding a student's mathematics progress that is in plain
language that may be distributed to the student's parent in
English, Spanish or, to the extent practicable, any other languages
spoken by the parent.
(c) The commissioner shall:
(1) update the list of mathematics instruments adopted
under Subsection (a) not less than once every four years;
(2) ensure the list of mathematics instruments adopted
under Subsection (a) includes multiple instruments;
(3) develop a process by which a school district may
submit an instrument to the commissioner for approval; and
(4) make publicly available the criteria for the
evaluation and approval of an instrument submitted to the
commissioner.
(d) The commissioner may allow a school district to
substitute:
(1) an interim assessment instrument adopted or
developed under Section 39.023(o) for an instrument adopted under
this section; or
(2) a third grade assessment instrument adopted or
developed under Section 39.023 for an instrument adopted under
this section that is administered at the end of the school year
for a third grade student.
(e) A school district shall administer a mathematics
instrument on the list adopted under Subsection (a) to each student
in kindergarten through third grade in accordance with requirements
established by the commissioner under this section.
(f) The superintendent of each school district shall:
(1) report to the commissioner and the board of
trustees of the district the results of a mathematics instrument
administered to students under this section; and
(2) not later than the 30th calendar day after the date
on which the results of a mathematics instrument are available,
report, in writing or electronically, to a student's parent or
guardian:
(A) the student's results on the instrument; and
(B) the report described by Subsection (b)(9).
(f) If a student's results on two consecutive mathematics
instruments administered under this section indicate that the
student is at risk, as determined by the commissioner, of not
achieving satisfactory performance in foundational numeracy, the
student's school district shall:
(1) develop and implement a mathematics improvement
plan for the student;
(2) communicate, in writing or electronically, the
student's improvement plan to the student's parent or guardian; and
(3) provide regular updates to the student and parents
on the progress made by the student until the student is no longer
determined to be at risk, as determined by the commissioner, of not
achieving satisfactory performance in foundational numeracy.
(g) A school district shall provide mathematics
intervention services to a student described by Subsection (f) in
accordance with the mathematics improvement plan developed for the
student under that subsection until the student demonstrates
proficiency in mathematics on a mathematics instrument
administered under this section or on an assessment instrument
administered under Section 39.023(a).
(h) A student's parent or guardian may submit a written
request to the administrator of the campus at which the student is
enrolled to opt the student out of the administration of a
mathematics instrument required under this section. A school
district may not encourage or direct a parent or guardian to submit
a written request under this subsection.
(i) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section.
(j) The agency may not use data collected from a mathematics
instrument administered under this section in evaluating the
performance of a school district or campus under Section 39.054.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
school year.
SECTION 3. 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, 2025.