Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2527 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Paxton S.B. No. 2527
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6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to early assessment and interventions for school district
9	9	students.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Section 28.0071 to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 28.0071. EARLY MATHEMATICS ASSESSMENT AND
14	14	IMPROVEMENT. (a) The commissioner shall adopt a list of approved
15	15	or developed mathematics instruments that a school district may use
16	16	to assess a student's mathematics skills in kindergarten through
17	17	third grade.
18	18	(b) The mathematics instruments on the list adopted under
19	19	Subsection (a) must:
20	20	(1) be designed to be administered at least at the
21	21	beginning, middle, and end of the school year;
22	22	(2) align with best practices for early mathematics
23	23	assessment;
24	24	(3) be based on scientific research concerning
25	25	foundational numeracy skills in mathematics;
26	26	(4) allow for statewide comparison of student
27	27	performance;
28	28	(5) be grade-level and developmentally appropriate
29	29	for the intended grade for which the instrument will be
30	30	administered;
31	31	(6) assess performance of students in foundational
32	32	numeracy skills components of the essential knowledge and skills
33	33	adopted under Section 28.002 for mathematics;
34	34	(7) be capable of monitoring student progress in a
35	35	manner that allows school district staff to identify foundational
36	36	numeracy skills in need of targeted instruction;
37	37	(8) assess whether a student's performance in
38	38	foundational numeracy skills indicates that the student is at risk,
39	39	as determined by the commissioner, of not achieving satisfactory
40	40	performance on the third grade mathematics assessment administered
41	41	under Section 39.023;
42	42	(9) allow a school to district to generate a report
43	43	regarding a student's mathematics progress that is in plain
44	44	language that may be distributed to the student's parent in
45	45	English, Spanish or, to the extent practicable, any other languages
46	46	spoken by the parent.
47	47	(c) The commissioner shall:
48	48	(1) update the list of mathematics instruments adopted
49	49	under Subsection (a) not less than once every four years;
50	50	(2) ensure the list of mathematics instruments adopted
51	51	under Subsection (a) includes multiple instruments;
52	52	(3) develop a process by which a school district may
53	53	submit an instrument to the commissioner for approval; and
54	54	(4) make publicly available the criteria for the
55	55	evaluation and approval of an instrument submitted to the
56	56	commissioner.
57	57	(d) The commissioner may allow a school district to
58	58	substitute:
59	59	(1) an interim assessment instrument adopted or
60	60	developed under Section 39.023(o) for an instrument adopted under
61	61	this section; or
62	62	(2) a third grade assessment instrument adopted or
63	63	developed under Section 39.023 for an instrument adopted under
64	64	this section that is administered at the end of the school year
65	65	for a third grade student.
66	66	(e) A school district shall administer a mathematics
67	67	instrument on the list adopted under Subsection (a) to each student
68	68	in kindergarten through third grade in accordance with requirements
69	69	established by the commissioner under this section.
70	70	(f) The superintendent of each school district shall:
71	71	(1) report to the commissioner and the board of
72	72	trustees of the district the results of a mathematics instrument
73	73	administered to students under this section; and
74	74	(2) not later than the 30th calendar day after the date
75	75	on which the results of a mathematics instrument are available,
76	76	report, in writing or electronically, to a student's parent or
77	77	guardian:
78	78	(A) the student's results on the instrument; and
79	79	(B) the report described by Subsection (b)(9).
80	80	(f) If a student's results on two consecutive mathematics
81	81	instruments administered under this section indicate that the
82	82	student is at risk, as determined by the commissioner, of not
83	83	achieving satisfactory performance in foundational numeracy, the
84	84	student's school district shall:
85	85	(1) develop and implement a mathematics improvement
86	86	plan for the student;
87	87	(2) communicate, in writing or electronically, the
88	88	student's improvement plan to the student's parent or guardian; and
89	89	(3) provide regular updates to the student and parents
90	90	on the progress made by the student until the student is no longer
91	91	determined to be at risk, as determined by the commissioner, of not
92	92	achieving satisfactory performance in foundational numeracy.
93	93	(g) A school district shall provide mathematics
94	94	intervention services to a student described by Subsection (f) in
95	95	accordance with the mathematics improvement plan developed for the
96	96	student under that subsection until the student demonstrates
97	97	proficiency in mathematics on a mathematics instrument
98	98	administered under this section or on an assessment instrument
99	99	administered under Section 39.023(a).
100	100	(h) A student's parent or guardian may submit a written
101	101	request to the administrator of the campus at which the student is
102	102	enrolled to opt the student out of the administration of a
103	103	mathematics instrument required under this section. A school
104	104	district may not encourage or direct a parent or guardian to submit
105	105	a written request under this subsection.
106	106	(i) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
107	107	implement this section.
108	108	(j) The agency may not use data collected from a mathematics
109	109	instrument administered under this section in evaluating the
110	110	performance of a school district or campus under Section 39.054.
111	111	SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
112	112	school year.
113	113	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
114	114	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
115	115	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
116	116	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
117	117	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.