|
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to public school assessment, performance standards, and |
|
course requirements. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 28.025(c-5), Education Code, is amended |
|
to read as follows: |
|
(c-5) A student may earn a performance acknowledgment on the |
|
student's diploma and transcript by satisfying the requirements for |
|
that acknowledgment adopted by the State Board of Education by |
|
rule. An acknowledgment under this subsection may be earned: |
|
(1) for outstanding performance: |
|
(A) in a dual credit course; |
|
(B) in bilingualism and biliteracy; |
|
(C) on a college advanced placement test or |
|
international baccalaureate examination; [or] |
|
(D) on an established, valid, reliable, and |
|
nationally norm-referenced preliminary college preparation |
|
assessment instrument used to measure a student's progress toward |
|
readiness for college and the workplace; or |
|
(E) on an established, valid, reliable, and |
|
nationally norm-referenced assessment instrument used by colleges |
|
and universities as part of their undergraduate admissions process |
|
[the PSAT, the ACT-Plan, the SAT, or the ACT]; or |
|
(2) for earning a state recognized or nationally or |
|
internationally recognized business or industry certification or |
|
license. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by |
|
adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows: |
|
(e-1) The agency may defer releasing assessment instrument |
|
questions and answer keys as required by Subsection (e) to the |
|
extent necessary to develop additional assessment instruments. |
|
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is |
|
amended by adding Section 39.02315 to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 39.02315. REPORTING RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS |
|
FOR OUT-OF-STATE TRANSFER STUDENTS. (a) For assessment |
|
instruments required to be administered under Section 39.023, the |
|
agency shall adopt procedures to ensure that the results of the |
|
assessment instruments administered to students who transfer from a |
|
school district in another state to a school district in this state |
|
are reported to each school district separately from the results of |
|
assessment instruments administered to other students. |
|
(b) The commissioner by rule shall: |
|
(1) ensure that the results of assessment instruments |
|
administered to students who transfer from a school district in |
|
another state to a school district in this state reported under |
|
Subsection (a) are properly identified in agency systems that |
|
report and track academic performance of students; and |
|
(2) adopt procedures for reporting and tracking data |
|
relating to students who transfer from a school district in another |
|
state to a school district in this state. |
|
SECTION 4. Sections 39.025(a), (f), and (g), Education |
|
Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
(a) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring a student |
|
in the foundation high school program under Section 28.025 to be |
|
administered an [each] 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 a scale score that |
|
indicates satisfactory performance, as determined by the |
|
commissioner under Section 39.0241(a), on each end-of-course |
|
assessment instrument administered to the student [listed under
|
|
Section 39.023(c)]. For each scale score required under this |
|
subsection that is not based on a 100-point scale scoring system, |
|
the commissioner shall provide for conversion, in accordance with |
|
commissioner rule, of the scale score to an equivalent score based |
|
on a 100-point scale scoring system. A student may not receive a |
|
high school diploma until the student has performed satisfactorily |
|
on 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. |
|
(f) The commissioner shall by rule adopt a transition plan |
|
to implement the amendments made by Chapter 1312 (S.B. No. 1031), |
|
Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, replacing |
|
general subject assessment instruments administered at the high |
|
school level with end-of-course assessment instruments. The rules |
|
must provide for the end-of-course assessment instruments adopted |
|
under Section 39.023(c) to be administered beginning with students |
|
entering the ninth grade during the 2011-2012 school year. During |
|
the period under which the transition to end-of-course assessment |
|
instruments is made: |
|
(1) for students entering a grade above the ninth |
|
grade during the 2011-2012 school year, the commissioner shall |
|
retain, administer, and use for purposes of accreditation and other |
|
campus and district accountability measures under this chapter the |
|
assessment instruments required by Section 39.023(a) or (c), as |
|
that section existed before amendment by Chapter 1312 (S.B. |
|
No. 1031), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007; and |
|
(2) a student subject to Subdivision (1) may not |
|
receive a high school diploma unless the student has performed |
|
satisfactorily on each required assessment instrument administered |
|
under Section 39.023(c) as that section existed before amendment by |
|
Chapter 1312 (S.B. No. 1031), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular |
|
Session, 2007[; and
|
|
[(3)
the agency may defer releasing assessment
|
|
instrument questions and answer keys as required by Section
|
|
39.023(e) to the extent necessary to develop additional assessment
|
|
instruments]. |
|
(g) Rules adopted under Subsection (f) must require that |
|
each student who will be subject to the requirements of Subsection |
|
(a) is entitled to notice of the specific requirements applicable |
|
to the student. Notice under this subsection must be provided not |
|
later than the date the student enters the eighth grade. |
|
[Subsection (f) and this subsection expire September 1, 2015.] |
|
SECTION 5. The following provisions of the Education Code |
|
are repealed: |
|
(1) Section 39.023(o); |
|
(2) Section 39.0233(c); and |
|
(3) Section 39.025(b-2). |
|
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2015-2016 |
|
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 on the 91st day after the last day of the |
|
legislative session. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
|
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 2349 was passed by the House on May |
|
11, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 0, 1 present, not |
|
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. |
|
No. 2349 on May 29, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 2, |
|
2 present, not voting. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 2349 was passed by the Senate, with |
|
amendments, on May 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays |
|
0. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
APPROVED: __________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
__________________ |
|
Governor |