TO:	Honorable Jimmie Don Aycock, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:	Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB2836 by Ratliff (Relating to state assessment instruments administered in grades three through eight in public schools.), As Introduced

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2014	$9,140,000
2015	$7,730,000
2016	$7,730,000
2017	$9,230,000
2018	$9,230,000

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would require any criterion-referenced assessment instruments to be established empirically to be valid and reliable by an entity that is independent of the test developer and the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

The bill would eliminate writing assessments in grades four and seven and social studies assessment in grade eight.

The bill would require criterion-referenced assessment instruments to be designed to measure only readiness standards, defined to mean only those standards that are essential for success in the current grade or course.

The bill would require assessments in grades three through five to be designed such that 85 percent of students complete the assessment within 120 minutes; assessments in grades six through eight shall be designed such that 85 percent of students complete the assessment within 180 minutes; and the maximum time allowed for an assessment is eight hours, to be completed in one calendar day.

Methodology

Based on information provided by TEA, the savings estimated from the elimination of the assessments would be $9.3 million, including $4.4 million to eliminate the grade 4 writing assessment, $3.6 million to eliminate the grade 7 writing assessment, and $1.3 million to eliminate the grade 8 social studies assessment.

Based on information provided by TEA, it would cost $20,000 per fiscal year to contract with an entity to review the assessment instruments to determine whether they are established empirically to be valid and reliable.

The estimated cost to develop the readiness standards would be $1.5 million in fiscal year 2015 and $1.5 million in fiscal year 2016.

Based on information provided by TEA, the requirement that assessments should fit within certain time limits would require a study in fiscal year 2014 at an estimated cost of $90,000. Based on the results of the study, there could be additional costs to redevelop certain assessments in fiscal years 2015 and beyond to modify the identified assessments to fit within the prescribed time limits.

Local Government Impact

School districts and open-enrollment charter schools would no longer be required to proctor the writing assessments in grades four and seven and the social studies assessment in grade eight.