Bill Text: TX HB977 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the creation of a Texas Commission on Assessment and Accountability.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-02 - Referred to Public Education [HB977 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB977-Introduced.html

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88R2773 ANG-F
By: VanDeaver H.B. No. 977

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of a Texas Commission on Assessment and
Accountability.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 39A, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter H to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H. TEXAS COMMISSION ON ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Sec. 39A.351. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "commission"
means the Texas Commission on Assessment and Accountability.
Sec. 39A.352. TEXAS COMMISSION ON ASSESSMENT AND
ACCOUNTABILITY. (a) The commission 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:
(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:
(A) in a grade and subject for which an
assessment instrument required under Section 39.023 is
administered; and
(B) with at least 10 years of teaching experience
at a school that receives federal funding under Title I, Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et
seq.);
(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 Technical 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.
Sec. 39A.353. PRESIDING OFFICER AND MEMBERS. (a) The
governor shall designate the presiding officer of the commission.
(b) A commission member may not be an employee, contractor,
consultant, or vendor of the agency or a regional education service
center.
Sec. 39A.354. 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.
Sec. 39A.355. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND FUNDING. (a) The
agency shall provide administrative support for the commission.
The agency, with assistance as necessary from the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board, shall provide data and analysis as
requested by the commission, including data available in the
education research centers established under Section 1.005.
(b) Funding for the administrative and operational expenses
of the commission shall be provided by legislative appropriation
made to the agency for that purpose.
Sec. 39A.356. 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 the
administration of state-required assessment instruments, and
options for minimizing those costs and that time by combining
assessments and classroom instruction; and
(5) privacy, security, and confidentiality protocols
regarding the student information of a student receiving online
instruction or 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 assessment instruments and ways to
incorporate those characteristics and measures into a fairer
accountability system;
(2) the correlation of accountability results with
special student populations, including educationally disadvantaged
students and students who are not educationally disadvantaged, for
each domain rating and overall rating, and the effect of enrollment
in open-enrollment charter schools and magnet or other voluntary
programs on the composition of student populations of district
campuses and the application of accountability measures; and
(3) the appropriateness and effectiveness of current
district and campus sanctions and any correlation between sanctions
imposed and campuses or districts serving particular student
populations.
(c) The commission shall include and consider
recommendations made by the existing Accountability Technical
Advisory Committee and Accountability Policy Advisory Committee
established by rule.
(d) 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.
Sec. 39A.357. REPORT. Not later than December 31, 2024, 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.
Sec. 39A.358. 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.
SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any other law, the commissioner
of education may not assign A through F ratings to an independent
school district or district campus under Chapter 39A, Education
Code, following the 2022-2023 school year. Sanctions in effect
under Chapter 39A, Education Code, continue in effect after the
effective date of this Act but may not be increased, and additional
sanctions may not be imposed.
SECTION 3. For purposes of a sanction imposed by the
commissioner of education on an independent school district or a
district campus under Chapter 39A, Education Code, based on
multi-year performance measures, the 2022-2023 school year does not
interrupt a series of measures continuing in effect from the
2021-2022 school year.
SECTION 4. Nothing in this Act prohibits the commissioner
of education from reducing or suspending an existing sanction based
on meeting performance standards adopted by rule or under Section
11.174, Education Code.
SECTION 5. (a) The commissioner of education shall apply to
the federal government for appropriate waivers or amendments to the
application of federal law as necessary to allow implementation of
this Act.
(b) The commissioner of education may take appropriate
measures to assess students and evaluate academic performance
following the 2022-2023 school year only to the extent required by
federal law.
(c) For purposes of district or campus sanction based on
multi-year performance measures, the 2022-2023 school year may not
be considered but will not interrupt a series of measures
continuing from the 2021-2022 school year.
SECTION 6. 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.