Bill Text: TX HB1867 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the creation of the Texas Commission on Assessment and Accountability.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-11 - Referred to Public Education [HB1867 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB1867-Introduced.html
By: González of El Paso | H.B. No. 1867 |
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relating to the creation of the Texas Commission on Assessment and | ||
Accountability. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. TEXAS COMMISSION ON ASSESSMENT AND | ||
ACCOUNTABILITY. (a) The Texas Commission on Assessment and | ||
Accountability is established to develop and make recommendations | ||
for improvements to the current public school assessment and | ||
accountability systems. | ||
(b) The commission is composed of 19 members, consisting of | ||
the following: | ||
(1) four members appointed by the governor; | ||
(2) seven members appointed by the lieutenant | ||
governor; | ||
(3) seven members appointed by the speaker of the | ||
house of representatives; and | ||
(4) a member of the State Board of Education, as | ||
designated by the chair of that board. | ||
(c) The members appointed by the governor must have an | ||
interest in public education and include at least: | ||
(1) one person who is a current classroom teacher in a | ||
grade and subject with a required state assessment and at least 10 | ||
years of teaching experience at a high-poverty campus; | ||
(2) one person who is a member of the business | ||
community; and | ||
(3) one person who is a member of the civic community. | ||
(d) The appointments made by the lieutenant governor and the | ||
speaker of the house of representatives must each consist of: | ||
(1) three members of the applicable legislative | ||
chamber; | ||
(2) a superintendent in the public school system; | ||
(3) an elected member of the board of trustees of a | ||
school district; | ||
(4) a parent of a student in the public school system; | ||
and | ||
(5) a public school district staff member who serves | ||
on the Accountability Technology Advisory Committee established by | ||
rule. | ||
(e) In making appointments under Subsections (b)(1), (2), | ||
and (3), the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the | ||
house of representatives shall coordinate to ensure that the | ||
membership of the commission reflects, to the extent possible, the | ||
ethnic and geographic diversity of this state. | ||
SECTION 2. PRESIDING OFFICER AND MEMBERS. (a) The governor | ||
shall designate the presiding officer of the commission. | ||
(b) A member may not be an employee, contractor, consultant, | ||
or vendor of the Texas Education Agency or a Regional Education | ||
Service Center. | ||
SECTION 3. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT. A member of the | ||
commission is not entitled to compensation for service on the | ||
commission but is entitled to reimbursement for actual and | ||
necessary expenses incurred in performing commission duties. | ||
SECTION 4. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND FUNDING. (a) Staff | ||
members of the Texas Education Agency shall provide administrative | ||
support for the commission. The agency, with assistance as | ||
necessary from the Higher Education Coordinating Board, shall | ||
provide data and analysis as requested by the commission, including | ||
data available in the Education Research Centers. | ||
(b) Funding for the administrative and operational expenses | ||
of the commission shall be provided by appropriation to the agency | ||
for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 5. RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) The commission shall | ||
develop recommendations under this subchapter to address issues | ||
related to the public school statewide assessment system, | ||
including: | ||
(1) test construction and administration methods that | ||
ensure validity, readability, and fairness for all students; | ||
(2) assessment options to inform instruction | ||
throughout the school year; | ||
(3) any disproportionate impact of assessments on | ||
students receiving each tier of the compensatory education | ||
allotment and other special populations, and appropriate policy | ||
responses; | ||
(4) the costs and instructional time devoted to | ||
state-required assessments, and options to minimize those effects | ||
and combine assessments with classroom instruction; and | ||
(5) privacy, security, and confidentiality protocols | ||
for student information in online instruction and assessment. | ||
(b) The commission shall develop recommendations under this | ||
subchapter to address issues related to the public school academic | ||
accountability rating system, including: | ||
(1) characteristics and measures of effective schools | ||
beyond state-required assessments and ways to incorporate those | ||
characteristics and measures into a fairer accountability system; | ||
(2) the correlation of accountability results with | ||
student special populations, including educationally disadvantaged | ||
and not educationally disadvantaged, for each Domain Rating and | ||
Overall Rating, and the effect of enrollment in charter schools and | ||
magnet or other voluntary programs on the composition of campus | ||
student populations and accountability measures; and | ||
(3) the appropriateness and effectiveness of current | ||
district and campus sanctions and any correlation with campuses or | ||
districts serving particular student populations. | ||
(c) The commission shall include and consider | ||
recommendations made by the existing Accountability Technical and | ||
Policy Advisory Committees established by rule. | ||
(b) The commission may establish one or more working groups | ||
composed of not more than five members of the commission to study, | ||
discuss, and address specific policy issues and recommendations to | ||
refer to the commission for consideration. | ||
SECTION 6. REPORT. Not later than December 31, 2022, the | ||
commission shall prepare and deliver a report to the governor and | ||
the legislature that recommends statutory changes to improve the | ||
public school assessment and accountability systems. | ||
SECTION 7. PUBLIC MEETINGS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION. (a) The | ||
commission may hold public meetings as needed to fulfill its duties | ||
under this subchapter. | ||
(b) The commission is subject to Chapters 551 and 552, | ||
Government Code. |