By: Bell of Kaufman, Buckley, VanDeaver, H.B. No. 4402
      Landgraf, Talarico, et al.
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the administration of certain assessment instruments,
  the accountability rating system for assessing campus and district
  performance, public school career and technology education
  programs, and an extracurricular and cocurricular allotment under
  the Foundation School Program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 29.182(b), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  The state plan must include procedures designed to
  ensure that:
               (1)  all secondary and postsecondary students have the
  opportunity to participate in career and technology education
  programs;
               (2)  the state complies with requirements for
  supplemental federal career and technology education funding;
               (3)  career and technology education is established as
  a part of the total education system of this state and constitutes
  an option for student learning that provides a rigorous course of
  study consistent with the required curriculum under Section 28.002
  and under which a student may receive specific education in a career
  and technology program that:
                     (A)  incorporates competencies leading to
  academic and technical skill attainment;
                     (B)  leads to:
                           (i)  an industry-recognized license,
  credential, or certificate; or
                           (ii)  at the postsecondary level, an
  associate or baccalaureate degree;
                     (C)  includes opportunities for students to earn
  college credit for coursework; and
                     (D)  includes, as an integral part of the program,
  participation by students and teachers in activities of career and
  technical student organizations supported by the agency and the
  State Board of Education; [and]
               (4)  a school district provides, to the greatest extent
  possible, to a student participating in a career and technology
  education program opportunities to enroll in dual credit courses
  designed to lead to a degree, license, or certification as part of
  the program; and
               (5)  courses of study in a Junior Reserve Officer
  Training Corps program or Leadership Officer Training Corps program
  are provided as part of a career and technology education program.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 39.023(e), (h), and (o), Education
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (e)  Under rules adopted by the State Board of Education,
  every [third] year, the agency shall release the questions and
  answer keys to each assessment instrument administered under
  Subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), or (l), excluding any assessment
  instrument administered to a student for the purpose of retaking
  the assessment instrument, after the last time the instrument is
  administered for that school year. To ensure a valid bank of
  questions for use each year, the agency is not required to release a
  question that is being field-tested and was not used to compute the
  student's score on the instrument. The agency shall also release,
  under board rule, each question that is no longer being
  field-tested and that was not used to compute a student's score.
  [During the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years, the agency shall
  release the questions and answer keys to assessment instruments as
  described by this subsection each year.]
         (h)  The agency shall notify school districts and campuses of
  the results of assessment instruments administered under this
  section not later than the 21st day after the last date on which the
  assessment instrument may be [is] administered, except that the
  agency may delay the notification if necessary to maintain validity
  and reliability standards. The school district shall disclose to
  each district teacher the results of assessment instruments
  administered to students taught by the teacher in the subject for
  the school year in which the assessment instrument is administered.
         (o)  The agency shall adopt or develop optional interim
  assessment instruments for each subject or course for each grade
  level for which a through-year assessment instrument under Section
  39.0236 is not required [subject to assessment under this section].
  A school district or open-enrollment charter school may not be
  required to administer interim assessment instruments adopted or
  developed under this subsection. An interim assessment instrument:
               (1)  must be:
                     (A)  when possible, predictive of the assessment
  instrument for the applicable subject or course for that grade
  level required under this section; and
                     (B)  administered electronically; and
               (2)  may not be used for accountability purposes.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 39.02301 to read as follows:
         Sec. 39.02301.  OPTIONAL USE OF WRITING PORTFOLIO
  ASSESSMENT. (a) A school district may elect to use a writing
  portfolio assessment to assess writing performance for students
  enrolled in the district as an alternative to administering the
  portion of a reading assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a)
  or English I or English II end-of-course assessment instrument
  under Section 39.023(c) that is not presented in a multiple choice
  format.
         (b)  A school district that elects to use a writing portfolio
  assessment under this section shall design the assessment in
  consultation with a public or private institution of higher
  education and submit the assessment to the agency for approval. The
  agency shall approve the assessment if the assessment is:
               (1)  determined by the public or private institution of
  higher education that consulted on the design of the assessment to
  be valid and reliable; and
               (2)  designed to assess:
                     (A)  a student's mastery of the essential
  knowledge and skills in writing through timed writing samples;
                     (B)  improvement of a student's writing skills
  from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year;
                     (C)  a student's ability to follow the writing
  process from rough draft to final product; and
                     (D)  a student's ability to produce more than one
  type of writing style.
         (c)  A school district that elects to use a writing portfolio
  assessment under this section may adopt a policy allowing the
  assessment to be scored by a classroom teacher assigned to the same
  campus as the student to whom the assessment is administered. The
  district may coordinate with the regional education service center
  for the district's region in grading the assessments.
         (d)  A school district that elects to use a writing portfolio
  assessment under this section is not required to administer the
  portion of a reading assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a)
  or English I or English II end-of-course assessment instrument
  under Section 39.023(c) that is not presented in a multiple choice
  format during the period the district is administering the writing
  portfolio assessment. The agency shall, to the greatest extent
  practicable, apply cost savings that result from the exemption
  under this subsection to offset the costs accrued under this
  section.
         (e)  The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
  implement this section.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 39.02342 to read as follows:
         Sec. 39.02342.  PAPER ADMINISTRATION OF ASSESSMENT
  INSTRUMENTS ON REQUEST. (a)  Subject to Subsection (c), a school
  district shall administer an assessment instrument required under
  Section 39.023(a), (c), or (l) in paper format to any student whose
  parent or guardian requests the assessment instrument be
  administered to the student in paper format.
         (b)  A request for the administration of an assessment
  instrument in paper format to a student under this section must be
  submitted to the school district not later than December 1 of the
  school year in which the assessment instrument will be
  administered.
         (c)  The number of students enrolled at a school district who
  are administered an assessment instrument in paper format for any
  single administration under this section may not exceed three
  percent of the number of students enrolled in the district.  On
  receipt of more requests for administration of an assessment
  instrument than the maximum number permitted under this subsection,
  the district shall accept the requests in the order received until
  the maximum number is reached.
         SECTION 5.  Section 39.0236, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 39.0236.  THROUGH-YEAR [INTEGRATED FORMATIVE]
  ASSESSMENT [PILOT] PROGRAM. (a) Notwithstanding any other law and
  except as otherwise provided by commissioner rule, beginning with
  the 2027-2028 school year, the agency shall adopt or develop a
  through-year assessment for each subject and grade for which an
  assessment instrument is required under Section 39.023(a) or (c),
  including a through-year assessment in Spanish for administration
  to emergent bilingual students, as required under Section
  39.023(l), for each subject and grade level for which an assessment
  instrument in Spanish may be administered under that subsection. A
  through-year assessment adopted or developed under this section
  shall consist of the administration of not more than three
  assessment instruments over the course of a school year [The agency
  shall establish a pilot program in which participating school
  districts administer to students integrated formative assessment
  instruments for subjects or courses for a grade level subject to
  assessment under Section 28.006 or 39.023].
         (b)  The agency shall develop and implement a plan to
  transition each assessment instrument required under Sections
  39.023(a), (c), and (l) to a through-year assessment instrument
  beginning with the 2027-2028 school year. The plan must: 
               (1)  evaluate the administration of through-year
  assessment instruments in this state, including an analysis of
  instructional support improvements provided by school districts
  administering through-year assessment instruments; and 
               (2)  identify the actions necessary to improve the
  administration of through-year assessment instruments, including
  necessary changes to state law or policy [A school district may
  elect to participate in the pilot program].
         (c)  The agency may require a school district to:
               (1)  participate in a pilot program for the
  administration of through-year assessment instruments to district
  students; and
               (2)  report information to the agency regarding the
  implementation of through-year assessment instruments under this
  section [A school district's participation in the pilot program
  does not affect the district's obligations regarding the
  administration of assessment instruments required under Section
  39.023].
         (d)  The score on a through-year assessment instrument
  administered to a student in grades three through eight shall be
  calculated as a summative score of each instrument administered
  during the school year as part of the through-year assessment.  The
  commissioner shall adopt rules regarding the relative weights that
  must be given to each individual assessment instrument administered
  as part of the through-year assessment [Not later than December 1 of
  each even-numbered year, the agency shall submit to the governor,
  the lieutenant governor, and the members of the legislature a
  report on the pilot program that includes:
               [(1)  an analysis of whether the administration of
  integrated formative assessment instruments under the pilot
  program provided any improvement in instructional support during
  the preceding two school years; and
               [(2)  a determination of the feasibility of replacing
  the assessment instruments required under Section 39.023 with
  integrated formative assessment instruments].
         SECTION 6.  Section 39.0263, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  This section expires September 1, 2027. 
         SECTION 7.  Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (c) and (c-2) and adding Subsections (c-4) and
  (c-5) 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;
                           (iii)  an indicator that accounts for
  extracurricular and cocurricular student success in accordance
  with Section 39.0533;
                           (iv)  an indicator that accounts for
  successful completion of middle school career and technology
  education courses; and
                           (v)  an indicator that accounts for middle
  school student success in accelerated mathematics; and
                     (B)  for evaluating the performance of high school
  campuses and districts that include high school campuses,
  indicators that account for:
                           (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;
                           (iv)  students who demonstrate military
  readiness by:
                                 (a)  enlisting [enlist] in the armed
  forces of the United States or the Texas National Guard;
                                 (b)  achieving a passing score set by
  the applicable military branch on the Armed Services Vocational
  Aptitude Battery test; or
                                 (c)  successfully completing a Junior
  Reserve Officer Training Corps program;
                           (v)  students who earn industry
  certifications;
                           (vi)  students admitted into postsecondary
  industry certification programs that require as a prerequisite for
  entrance successful performance at the secondary level;
                           (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;
                           (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;
                           (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);
                           (x)  students who successfully completed an
  OnRamps dual enrollment course;
                           (xi)  students who successfully completed a
  practicum or internship approved by the State Board of Education;
                           (xii)  students who are awarded an associate
  degree; and
                           (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, 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 and [,] socioeconomic
  backgrounds[, and other factors, including:
                     [(A)  students formerly receiving special
  education services;
                     [(B)  students continuously enrolled; and
                     [(C)  students who are mobile].
         (c-2)  The commissioner by rule shall determine a method by
  which a student's performance may be included in determining the
  performance rating of a school district or campus under Section
  39.054 if, before the student graduates, the student[:
               [(1)]  satisfies the Texas Success Initiative (TSI)
  college readiness benchmarks prescribed by the Texas Higher
  Education Coordinating Board under Section 51.334 on an assessment
  instrument designated by the coordinating board under that section
  [; or
               [(2) performs satisfactorily on an assessment
  instrument under Section 39.023(c), notwithstanding Subsection (d)
  of this section].
         (c-4)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
  an indicator adopted under Subsection (c) may not be included in
  determining the performance rating of a school district or campus
  under Section 39.054 unless it has been determined to be valid and
  reliable by the commissioner and through a peer review process.
         (c-5)  Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, in
  calculating the performance of a campus providing instruction in
  grades three through eight in the student achievement domain under
  Subsection (c)(1):
               (1)  indicators adopted under Subsections (c)(1)(A)(i)
  and (ii) may not collectively contribute more than 80 percent of the
  score assigned to the campus; and
               (2)  indicators adopted under Subsections
  (c)(1)(A)(iii), (iv), and (v) may not collectively contribute more
  than 20 percent of the score assigned to the campus.
         SECTION 8.  Sections 39.0533(a), (b), and (c), Education
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, the [The]
  commissioner shall [study the feasibility of incorporating] adopt 
  for evaluating school district and campus performance under this
  subchapter an indicator that accounts for student participation in
  extracurricular and cocurricular activities as provided by Section
  39.053(c)(1)(A)(iii) [student activity].
         (b)  In adopting an indicator under Subsection (a), the
  commissioner may [If the commissioner determines that an
  extracurricular and cocurricular student activity indicator is
  appropriate, the commissioner may adopt the indicator.
         [(b)  To determine the feasibility of adopting an indicator
  under this section, the commissioner may] require a school district
  or campus to:
               (1)  participate in a pilot program implementing an
  indicator under Subsection (a); or
               (2)  implement components of and report requested
  information necessary to develop and implement an indicator under
  Subsection (a) [relating to extracurricular and cocurricular
  student activity].
         (c)  The commissioner shall [may] establish an advisory
  committee to assist in developing and [determining the feasibility
  of] incorporating the [an extracurricular and cocurricular student
  activity] indicator under Subsection (a) [for evaluating school
  district and campus performance].
         SECTION 9.  Section 39.054, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
         (f)  Notwithstanding any other law or regulation, for
  purposes of assigning school districts and campuses overall and
  domain performance ratings under Subsection (a) for the 2022-2023
  and 2023-2024 school years, the commissioner shall set the rating
  standards for the college, career, and military readiness
  indicators under Section 39.053(c)(1)(B) using the specific
  criteria and calculations for 2022 described by 19 T.A.C. Section
  97.1001(b) as that rule existed on January 1, 2023, including cut
  scores, scaling, and targets. If the commissioner determines that a
  waiver or authorization from the United States Department of
  Education is necessary for the implementation of this subsection,
  the commissioner shall request the waiver or authorization and may
  delay the implementation of this subsection until the waiver or
  authorization is granted. This subsection expires December 1, 2024.
         SECTION 10.  Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 39.0547 to read as follows:
         Sec. 39.0547.  LOCAL ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM GRANT PROGRAM.
  From money appropriated for that purpose, the agency shall provide
  grants to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools for
  the planning and implementation of local accountability systems
  under Section 39.0544.
         SECTION 11.  Subchapter C, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 48.116 to read as follows:
         Sec. 48.116.  EXTRACURRICULAR AND COCURRICULAR ALLOTMENT. A
  school district is entitled to an annual allotment for each student
  in average daily attendance equal to the basic allotment, or, if
  applicable, the sum of the basic allotment and the allotment under
  Section 48.101 to which the district is entitled, multiplied by
  .003.
         SECTION 12.  Sections 39.023(g) and 39.0533(d) and (e),
  Education Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 13.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
  this section, this Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school
  year.
         (b)  The expiration of Section 39.0263, Education Code,
  applies with respect to the statewide assessment program under
  Chapter 39 of that code, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year.
         SECTION 14.  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
  this section, 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.
         (b)  Section 48.116, Education Code, as added by this Act,
  takes effect September 1, 2023.