Bill Text: TX SB1620 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to substitution of certain career and technology courses for certain mathematics and science courses otherwise required under the recommended high school program.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective immediately [SB1620 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SB1620-Enrolled.html
S.B. No. 1620 |
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relating to substitution of certain career and technology courses | ||
for certain mathematics and science courses otherwise required | ||
under the recommended high school program. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 21.044, Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 21.044. EDUCATOR PREPARATION. (a) The board shall | ||
propose rules establishing the training requirements a person must | ||
accomplish to obtain a certificate, enter an internship, or enter | ||
an induction-year program. The board shall specify the minimum | ||
academic qualifications required for a certificate. | ||
(b) In proposing rules under this section, the board shall | ||
specify that to obtain a certificate to teach an "applied STEM | ||
course," as that term is defined by Section 28.027, at a secondary | ||
school, a person must: | ||
(1) pass the certification test administered by the | ||
recognized national or international business and industry group | ||
that created the curriculum the applied STEM course is based on; and | ||
(2) have at a minimum: | ||
(A) an associate degree from an accredited | ||
institution of higher education; and | ||
(B) three years of work experience in an | ||
occupation for which the applied STEM course is intended to prepare | ||
the student. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 28, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 28.027 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 28.027. APPLIED SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND | ||
MATHEMATICS COURSES. (a) In this section, "applied STEM course" | ||
means an applied science, technology, engineering, or mathematics | ||
course offered as part of a school district's career and technology | ||
education curriculum. | ||
(b) The State Board of Education shall establish a process | ||
under which an applied STEM course may be reviewed and approved for | ||
purposes of satisfying the mathematics and science curriculum | ||
requirements for the recommended high school program imposed under | ||
Section 28.025(b-1)(1)(A) through substitution of the applied STEM | ||
course for a specific mathematics or science course otherwise | ||
required under the recommended high school program and completed | ||
during the student's fourth year of mathematics or science course | ||
work. The State Board of Education may only approve a course to | ||
substitute for a mathematics course taken after successful | ||
completion of Algebra I and geometry and after successful | ||
completion of or concurrently with Algebra II. The State Board of | ||
Education may only approve a course to substitute for a science | ||
course taken after successful completion of biology and chemistry | ||
and after successful completion of or concurrently with physics. | ||
(c) The process must provide that an applied STEM course is | ||
entitled to be approved for the purpose described by Subsection (b) | ||
if the course meets the following requirements: | ||
(1) the applied STEM course is part of a curriculum | ||
created by a recognized national or international business and | ||
industry group to prepare a student for a national or international | ||
business and industry certification or license; | ||
(2) the applied STEM course qualifies as: | ||
(A) a dual credit course; or | ||
(B) an articulated postsecondary course provided | ||
for local credit or articulated postsecondary advanced technical | ||
credit course provided for state credit; | ||
(3) the essential knowledge and skills covered in the | ||
applied STEM course are equivalent to the essential knowledge and | ||
skills covered in the mathematics or science course for which the | ||
applied STEM course is proposed to be approved for substitution; | ||
and | ||
(4) the applied STEM course: | ||
(A) provides substantial mathematics content or | ||
science content, as applicable, taught in an applied or symbolic | ||
format, that enables a student to develop relevant critical | ||
thinking skills necessary for preparation for employment or | ||
additional training in a career identified by the Texas Workforce | ||
Commission as a high-demand or emerging occupation; and | ||
(B) incorporates college and career readiness | ||
skills. | ||
(d) If an applied STEM course approved under this section is | ||
part of a coherent sequence of career and technology courses, a | ||
student is eligible to enroll in the applied STEM course for the | ||
purpose described in Subsection (b) only if the student has | ||
completed the prerequisite course work, if any, for the applied | ||
STEM course. | ||
SECTION 3. Subsection (b-2), Section 28.025, Education | ||
Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
(b-2) In adopting rules under Subsection (b-1), the State | ||
Board of Education shall allow a student to comply with the | ||
curriculum requirements for a mathematics course under Subsection | ||
(b-1)(1) taken after the successful completion of Algebra I and | ||
geometry and either after the successful completion of or | ||
concurrently with [ |
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under Subsection (b-1)(1) taken after the successful completion of | ||
biology and chemistry and either after the successful completion of | ||
or concurrently with [ |
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completing an advanced career and technical course designated by | ||
the State Board of Education as containing substantively similar | ||
and rigorous academic content. A student may use the option | ||
provided by this subsection for not more than two courses. | ||
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 61.0517 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 61.0517. APPLIED STEM COURSES. (a) In this section, | ||
"applied STEM course" means an applied science, technology, | ||
engineering, or mathematics course offered as part of a school | ||
district's career and technology education curriculum and | ||
approved, as provided by Section 28.027, by the State Board of | ||
Education for purposes of satisfying the mathematics and science | ||
curriculum requirements for the recommended high school program | ||
imposed under Section 28.025(b-1)(1)(A). | ||
(b) The board shall work with institutions of higher | ||
education to ensure that credit for an applied STEM course may be | ||
applied to relevant degree programs offered by institutions of | ||
higher education in this state. | ||
(c) The board shall include applied STEM courses in the | ||
board's review of courses considered for approval for offer by a | ||
public junior college or public technical institute. | ||
SECTION 5. Not later than September 1, 2012, the | ||
commissioner of education shall establish and implement the process | ||
required by Section 28.027, Education Code, as added by this Act. | ||
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, 2011. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1620 passed the Senate on | ||
April 28, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that | ||
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2011, by the | ||
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1620 passed the House, with | ||
amendment, on May 25, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 147, | ||
Nays 0, one present not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
Approved: | ||
______________________________ | ||
Date | ||
______________________________ | ||
Governor |