Bill Text: TX HB659 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to state assessment instruments administered in public schools.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-19 - Left pending in committee [HB659 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB659-Introduced.html

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83R5063 PAM-F
By: Strama H.B. No. 659

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state assessment instruments administered in public
schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 28.014(c) and (f), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(c) The agency, in consultation with the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board, shall adopt an end-of-course
assessment instrument for each course developed under this section
to ensure the rigor of the course. A school district shall, in
accordance with State Board of Education rules, administer the
end-of-course assessment instrument to a student enrolled in a
course developed under this section. Each school district shall
adopt a policy that requires a student's performance on the
end-of-course assessment instrument to account for 15 percent of
the student's second semester [final] grade for the course in
accordance with commissioner rule adopted under Section
39.023(c-7). [A student's performance on an end-of-course
assessment instrument administered under this subsection may be
used, on a scale of 0-40, in calculating whether the student
satisfies the graduation requirements established under Section
39.025.]
(f) To the extent applicable, the commissioner shall draw
from curricula and instructional materials developed under Section
[Sections] 28.008 [and 61.0763] in developing a course and related
instructional materials under this section. Not later than
September 1, 2010, the State Board of Education shall adopt
essential knowledge and skills for each course developed under this
section. The State Board of Education shall make each course
developed under this section and the related instructional
materials available to school districts not later than the
2014-2015 school year. [As required by Subsection (c), a school
district shall adopt a policy requiring a student's performance on
an end-of-course assessment instrument administered under that
subsection to account for 15 percent of the student's grade for a
course developed under this section not later than the 2014-2015
school year.] This subsection expires September 1, 2015.
SECTION 2. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c), (c-3), (e), and (h) and adding Subsection
(c-7) to read as follows:
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment
instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, Algebra II,
geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, English I, English II,
English III, world geography, world history, and United States
history. The Algebra I, Algebra II, and geometry end-of-course
assessment instruments must be administered with the aid of
technology. A school district shall comply with State Board of
Education rules regarding administration of the assessment
instruments listed in this subsection and shall adopt a policy that
requires a student's performance on an end-of-course assessment
instrument for a course listed in this subsection in which the
student is enrolled to account for 15 percent of the student's
second semester [final] grade for the course. If a student retakes
an end-of-course assessment instrument for a course listed in this
subsection, as provided by Section 39.025, a school district is not
required to use the student's performance on the subsequent
administration or administrations of the assessment instrument to
determine the student's [final] grade for the course. If a student
is in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29,
the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee shall
determine whether any allowable modification is necessary in
administering to the student an assessment instrument required
under this subsection. The State Board of Education shall
administer the assessment instruments. The State Board of
Education shall adopt a schedule for the administration of
end-of-course assessment instruments that complies with the
requirements of Subsection (c-3).
(c-3) In adopting a schedule for the administration of
assessment instruments under this section, the State Board of
Education shall require:
(1) assessment instruments administered under
Subsection (a) to be administered on a schedule so that the first
assessment instrument is administered at least two weeks later than
the date on which the first assessment instrument was administered
under Subsection (a) during the 2006-2007 school year; and
(2) the spring administration of end-of-course
assessment instruments under Subsection (c) to occur in each school
district during the final [not earlier than the first full] week of
the school year [in May], except that the spring administration of
the end-of-course assessment instruments in English I Writing,
English II Writing, and English III Writing must be permitted to
occur at an earlier date.
(c-7) The commissioner by rule shall:
(1) adopt a statewide standardized procedure to
convert and use end-of-course assessment instrument performance
for purposes of determining course grades in a manner that provides
uniformity across school districts throughout this state; and
(2) require each school district to use the procedure
adopted under Subdivision (1) in determining second semester course
grades as provided by Subsection (c) and Section 28.014(c).
(e) Under rules adopted by the State Board of Education,
each [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.
(h) The agency shall notify school districts and campuses of
the results of assessment instruments administered under this
section [at the earliest possible date determined by the State
Board of Education but] not later than the 21st day after the date
the assessment instrument is administered [beginning of the
subsequent school year].
SECTION 3. Section 39.0234, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.0234. ADMINISTRATION OF ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS BY
COMPUTER. (a) The agency shall ensure that assessment instruments
required under Section 39.023 are capable of being administered by
computer. Except as provided by Subsection (b), the [The]
commissioner may not require a school district or open-enrollment
charter school to administer an assessment instrument by computer.
(b) A school district, including a disciplinary alternative
education program provided by the district, or a juvenile justice
alternative education program shall provide to a student eligible
to retake an end-of-course assessment instrument the opportunity to
retake that assessment instrument by computer at any reasonable
time. The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to administer
this subsection.
SECTION 4. Sections 39.025(a), (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (b),
(b-2), and (e), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring a student
participating in the recommended or advanced high school program to
be administered each end-of-course assessment instrument listed in
Section 39.023(c) and requiring a student participating in the
minimum high school program to be administered an end-of-course
assessment instrument listed in Section 39.023(c) only for a course
in which the student is enrolled and for which an end-of-course
assessment instrument is administered. [A student is required to
achieve, in each subject in the foundation curriculum under Section
28.002(a)(1), a cumulative score that is at least equal to the
product of the number of end-of-course assessment instruments
administered to the student in that subject and a scale score that
indicates satisfactory performance, as determined by the
commissioner under Section 39.0241(a). A student must achieve a
minimum score as determined by the commissioner to be within a
reasonable range of the scale score under Section 39.0241(a) on an
end-of-course assessment instrument for the score to count towards
the student's cumulative score. For purposes of this subsection, a
student's cumulative score is determined using the student's
highest score on each end-of-course assessment instrument
administered to the student. A student may not receive a high
school diploma until the student has performed satisfactorily on
the end-of-course assessment instruments in the manner provided
under this subsection. This subsection does not require a student
to demonstrate readiness to enroll in an institution of higher
education.]
(a-1) The commissioner by rule shall determine a method by
which a student's satisfactory performance on an advanced placement
test, an international baccalaureate examination, an SAT Subject
Test, or another assessment instrument determined by the
commissioner to be at least as rigorous as an end-of-course
assessment instrument adopted under Section 39.023(c) may be used
as a factor in determining whether the student satisfies the
requirements of Subsection (a) and Subsection (a-2) or (a-3), as
applicable to the student[, including the cumulative score
requirement of that subsection]. The commissioner by rule may
determine a method by which a student's satisfactory performance on
a Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT) assessment or a
preliminary American College Test (ACT) assessment may be used as a
factor in determining whether the student satisfies the
requirements of Subsection (a) and Subsection (a-2) or (a-3), as
applicable to the student.
(a-2) A [In addition to the cumulative score requirements
under Subsection (a), a] student must achieve a score that meets or
exceeds the score determined by the commissioner under Section
39.0241(a) on [for] English II [III] and Algebra I [II]
end-of-course assessment instruments to graduate under the minimum
or recommended high school program.
(a-3) A [In addition to the cumulative score requirements
under Subsection (a), a] student must achieve a score that meets or
exceeds the score determined by the commissioner under Section
39.0241(a-1) on English II [III] and Algebra I [II] end-of-course
assessment instruments in order to graduate under the advanced high
school program.
(b) Each time an end-of-course assessment instrument is
administered, a student who failed to achieve the [a minimum] score
requirement under Subsection (a-2) or (a-3) may [Subsection (a)
shall] retake the assessment instrument. [A student who fails to
perform satisfactorily on an Algebra II or English III
end-of-course assessment instrument under the college readiness
performance standard, as provided under Section 39.024(b), may
retake the assessment instrument.] Any other student may retake an
end-of-course assessment instrument for any reason. A student is
not required to retake a course as a condition of retaking an
end-of-course assessment instrument.
(b-2) If a school district determines that a student, on
completion of grade 11, is unlikely to achieve the [cumulative]
score requirement under this section [requirements] for one or more
end-of-course assessment instruments as necessary [subjects
prescribed by Subsection (a)] for receiving a high school diploma,
the district shall require the student to enroll in a corresponding
content-area college preparatory course for which an end-of-course
assessment instrument has been adopted, if available. A student
who enrolls in a college preparatory course described by this
subsection shall be administered an end-of-course assessment
instrument for the course, with the end-of-course assessment
instrument scored on a scale as determined by the commissioner [not
to exceed 20 percent of the cumulative score requirements required
to graduate as determined under Subsection (a)]. A student may use
the student's score on the end-of-course assessment instrument for
the college preparatory course towards satisfying the [cumulative]
score requirement under this section [requirements prescribed by
Subsection (a)].
(e) The commissioner shall establish a required performance
level for an assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (d)
that is at least as rigorous as the performance level required to be
met under Subsection (a-2) or (a-3), as applicable to the student
[(a)].
SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2014, the commissioner
of education shall by rule adopt a statewide standardized procedure
for converting and using end-of-course assessment instrument
performance for purposes of determining course grades as provided
by Section 28.014(c), Education Code, as amended by this Act, and
Section 39.023(c-7), Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 6. (a) This Act applies beginning with the
2013-2014 school year.
(b) Section 39.025, Education Code, as amended by this Act,
applies only to students who have entered or will enter the ninth
grade during the 2011-2012 school year or a later school year.
SECTION 7. 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, 2013.