Bill Text: TX SB518 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to initiatives designed to improve performance of public school students, including initiatives specifically for students enrolled at the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-17 - Left pending in committee [SB518 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SB518-Engrossed.html
By: Shapiro | S.B. No. 518 |
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relating to initiatives designed to improve performance of public | ||
school students, including initiatives specifically for students | ||
enrolled at the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 21.041, Education Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsections (e), (f), (f-1), and (f-2) to read as follows: | ||
(e) In proposing rules under Subsection (b)(2), the board | ||
shall ensure that a person seeking to teach a subject in the | ||
foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1) at the seventh | ||
grade level or above is required to hold a certificate that | ||
indicates the person's mastery of the specific subject taught. To | ||
achieve this result, the board shall not issue a generalist | ||
certificate that authorizes a person to teach a subject in the | ||
foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1) at the seventh | ||
grade level or above. | ||
(f) Subsection (e) applies to initial certificates issued | ||
on or after September 1, 2012. Subsection (e) does not affect the | ||
validity of a certificate issued before that date or the | ||
eligibility of a person holding such a certificate for subsequent | ||
renewals of the certificate in accordance with board rules. | ||
(f-1) In implementing Subsection (e), the board shall | ||
ensure that the subject area examinations administered to persons | ||
seeking certificates at the seventh grade level and above in | ||
English language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies are | ||
at least as rigorous as the examinations administered before | ||
September 1, 2013, to persons seeking Grades 8-12 certificates to | ||
teach in those subject areas. | ||
(f-2) Subsection (f-1) and this subsection expire September | ||
1, 2013. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 21.4551, Education Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows: | ||
(b-1) In addition to the components described by Subsection | ||
(b), the commissioner shall ensure that each academy developed and | ||
made available under this section includes a component on providing | ||
students with writing instruction. | ||
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 28.015 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 28.015. HIGH SCHOOL READINESS PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The | ||
agency shall develop and implement a high school readiness pilot | ||
program under which: | ||
(1) a participating school with students enrolled at | ||
the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels shall enroll all | ||
students at those levels in a student advisory class; and | ||
(2) a participating high school shall provide annual | ||
high school orientation sessions for parents of students who are | ||
enrolled at the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels in the high | ||
school's attendance zone. | ||
(b) An application to participate in the program may be | ||
submitted by an individual school or by a school district on behalf | ||
of multiple schools located in the district. To be eligible to | ||
participate in the component of the program described by Subsection | ||
(a)(1), a school must: | ||
(1) be a school for which the district in which the | ||
school is located receives funding under Title I of the Elementary | ||
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.) | ||
or be a school that, as determined by the commissioner, is a | ||
low-performing school under Chapter 39 or has a high percentage of | ||
students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by | ||
Section 29.081(d); and | ||
(2) have students enrolled at the seventh and eighth | ||
grade levels. | ||
(c) The agency shall develop standards and guidelines for | ||
the student advisory class. The standards and guidelines must: | ||
(1) at a minimum, require that the class provide | ||
instruction about: | ||
(A) school culture; | ||
(B) school procedures; | ||
(C) test-taking skills; | ||
(D) study skills; | ||
(E) positive academic behaviors; | ||
(F) civic and community responsibility; and | ||
(G) high school and college readiness; | ||
(2) permit the class to be offered as an electronic | ||
course through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A; | ||
and | ||
(3) provide that the class be taught, if practicable, | ||
by an educator who does not instruct the enrolled students in other | ||
course work. | ||
(d) The agency shall develop standards and guidelines for | ||
the high school orientation session. An orientation session must: | ||
(1) prepare a parent for the transition to high school | ||
of the parent's child; | ||
(2) allow a parent to meet and interact with high | ||
school teachers and administrators; | ||
(3) provide a parent with information regarding: | ||
(A) high school curriculum, including the | ||
curriculum requirements for the minimum, recommended, and advanced | ||
high school programs under Section 28.025; and | ||
(B) high school options available to the parent's | ||
child, including any high school magnet programs, academies, or | ||
similar special programs available in the district; | ||
(4) address the role of the parent in assisting the | ||
parent's child in performing successfully in high school; and | ||
(5) provide a parent with a written document that | ||
addresses frequently asked questions from parents regarding the | ||
transition to high school. | ||
SECTION 4. Subsection (d), Section 29.081, Education Code, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
(d) For purposes of this section, "student at risk of | ||
dropping out of school" includes each student who is under 21 years | ||
of age and who: | ||
(1) was not advanced from one grade level to the next | ||
for one or more school years; | ||
(2) if the student is in grade 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or | ||
12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in | ||
two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester | ||
in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such | ||
an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in | ||
the current semester; | ||
(3) did not perform satisfactorily on an assessment | ||
instrument administered to the student under Subchapter B, Chapter | ||
39, and who has not in the previous or current school year | ||
subsequently performed on that instrument or another appropriate | ||
instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of the level of | ||
satisfactory performance on that instrument; | ||
(4) if the student is in prekindergarten, | ||
kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on | ||
a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the | ||
current school year; | ||
(5) is pregnant or is a parent; | ||
(6) has been placed in an alternative education | ||
program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the preceding or | ||
current school year; | ||
(7) has been expelled in accordance with Section | ||
37.007 during the preceding or current school year; | ||
(8) is currently on parole, probation, deferred | ||
prosecution, or other conditional release; | ||
(9) was previously reported through the Public | ||
Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out | ||
of school; | ||
(10) is a student of limited English proficiency, as | ||
defined by Section 29.052; | ||
(11) is in the custody or care of the Department of | ||
Protective and Regulatory Services or has, during the current | ||
school year, been referred to the department by a school official, | ||
officer of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official; | ||
(12) is homeless, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section | ||
11302, and its subsequent amendments; or | ||
(13) resided in the preceding school year or resides | ||
in the current school year in a residential placement facility in | ||
the district, including a detention facility, substance abuse | ||
treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital, | ||
halfway house, or foster group home. | ||
SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 29, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 29.100 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 29.100. EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION. | ||
(a) Each year a school with students enrolled at the sixth, | ||
seventh, or eighth grade level shall: | ||
(1) identify the students at each of those grade | ||
levels who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by | ||
Section 29.081(d), or who are likely to become at risk of dropping | ||
out of school, as determined in accordance with rules adopted by the | ||
commissioner; and | ||
(2) determine the specific interventions that the | ||
school will use to address the needs of students at each of those | ||
grade levels who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined | ||
by Section 29.081(d). | ||
(b) Not later than July 1 of each year, a school with | ||
students enrolled at a grade level from which students are promoted | ||
to high school must provide each high school to which students at | ||
the school are promoted with: | ||
(1) the names of students entering the high school at | ||
the beginning of the next school year that have been identified | ||
under Subsection (a)(1); and | ||
(2) if applicable, the specific interventions used | ||
with each student named under Subdivision (1). | ||
(c) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to | ||
implement this section. | ||
SECTION 6. Subsection (c-1), Section 42.152, Education | ||
Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
(c-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), funds allocated under | ||
this section may be used to fund in proportion to the percentage of | ||
students served by the program that meet the criteria in Section | ||
29.081(d) or (g): | ||
(1) an accelerated reading instruction program under | ||
Section 28.006(g); [ |
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(2) a program for treatment of students who have | ||
dyslexia or a related disorder as required by Section 38.003; or | ||
(3) an extended learning time program grounded in | ||
practices that are proven effective in improving student retention | ||
and performance and in preparing students for future college and | ||
career readiness. | ||
SECTION 7. The commissioner of education shall implement | ||
Subsection (b-1), Section 21.4551, Education Code, as added by this | ||
Act, beginning with reading academies offered on or after January | ||
1, 2012. | ||
SECTION 8. The Texas Education Agency shall develop | ||
standards and guidelines for the student advisory class and high | ||
school orientation session in compliance with Section 28.015, | ||
Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as possible after the | ||
effective date of this Act. The agency shall fully implement the | ||
pilot program required by Section 28.015, Education Code, as added | ||
by this Act, not later than the 2012-2013 school year. | ||
SECTION 9. Section 29.100, Education Code, as added by this | ||
Act, applies beginning with the 2012-2013 school year. | ||
SECTION 10. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this | ||
Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year. | ||
SECTION 11. 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. |