HBA-GUM C.S.H.B. 3675 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3675 By: Garcia Public Education 4/27/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Students of limited English proficiency who enroll in public schools are often instructed in English for one or more years due to a shortage of bilingual education teachers. Current law does not provide an assessment system to evaluate the academic progress of these students. C.S.H.B. 3675 provides an assessment system to evaluate the academic progress of bilingual students who are being instructed in English. This substitute requires that the performance assessment of the specified students be included in the academic excellence indicator system, the campus report card, and a performance report. C.S.H.B. 3675 also repeals Section 7.055(a)(33), Education Code, relating to the requirement that the commissioner of education develop and propose to the legislature a specified assessment system. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the State Board of Education in SECTION 1 (Section 39.023, Education Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 39.023, Education Code, by amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsections (l) and (m), as follows: (a) Adds language to require the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to develop appropriate specified criterion-referenced assessment instruments. Includes Subsection (l) among the exemptions from this subsection. (e) Includes the assessment instrument under Subsection (l) among the assessment instruments for which TEA is required to release the questions and answer keys. (l) Requires the State Board of Education (board) to adopt rules for the administration of the assessment instruments adopted under Subsection (a) in Spanish to students of limited English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052 (Definitions), and whose primary language is Spanish. Requires that each student of limited English proficiency whose primary language is Spanish, other than a student to whom Subsection (b) (relating to special educational program for students with disabilities) applies, be assessed using assessment instruments in Spanish under this subsection or assessment instruments in English under Subsection (a). (m) Requires TEA to initially release, under Subsection (e), the questions and answer key to each assessment instrument administered under Subsection (l) after the last administration of an assessment instrument in the third school year in which the instrument is administered. Provides that this subsection expires September 1, 2005. SECTION 2. Amends Section 39.024(b), Education Board, to provide that an intensive program under Section 39.023(a), (c), or (l) is to be designed to enable the students under this section to attain a standard of annual growth specified by TEA. SECTION 3. Amends Section 39.027, Education Code, by amending Subsections (a) and (e) and adding Subsection (f), as follows: (a)(3) Adds language to provide that a student may be exempted from the administration of an assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) (Adoption and Administration of Instruments) if the student has a primary language other than Spanish. (e) Requires the commissioner of education (commissioner) to develop an assessment system to be used for evaluating the academic progress, including reading proficiency in English, of students of limited English proficiency. Requires that the performance under an assessment system under this subsection of students to whom Subsection (a)(3) applies, be included in the academic excellence indicator system under Section 39.051 (Academic Excellence Indicators), the campus report card under Section 39.052 (Campus Report Card), and the performance report under Section 39.053 (Performance Report). Requires TEA to compile data on the performance under the assessment system under this subsection of the applicable students and the performance of those students to be included in the campus report card and the performance report. (f) Redesignated from existing Subsection (e). SECTION 4. Amends Section 39.051(b), Education Code, to include Section 39.023(l) among the results of assessment instruments that must be included in the academic performance indicator. SECTION 5. Repealer: Section 7.055(b)(33) , Education Code (relating to the requirement that the commissioner develop and propose to the legislature a specified assessment system). SECTION 6. (a) Requires the board to administer assessment instruments in accordance with rules adopted under Section 39.023(l), Education Code, for students in grades three through six not later than the 1999-2000 school year, and grades seven and eight not later than the 2002-2003 school year. (b) Requires that the performance of students under an assessment instrument prescribed under Section 39.023(l), Education Code, to be included in the accountability system as provided by Section 39.051(b), Education Code, for students in grades three through six not later than the 1999-200 school year, and grades seven and eight not than the 2003-2004 school year. (c) Provides that Section 39.027(a)(3), Education Code, applies to students in grades three through six beginning with the 1999-2000 school year, and grades seven and eight beginning with the 2002-2003 school year. SECTION 7. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute modifies the original in SECTION1 (Section 39.023, Education Code) to specify in proposed Subsection (l) that the board is required to adopt rules for the administration of assessment instruments in Spanish to students of limited English proficiency whose primary language is Spanish. The substitute requires that a student with limited English proficiency whose primary language is Spanish, and who is not a student in a special educational program due to a disability, be assessed using assessment instruments for students of limited English proficiency in Spanish, or assessment instruments in English designed to assess competencies in reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and science. The substitute deletes proposed language requiring TEA to adopt or develop assessment instruments to assess the English reading proficiency of students as provided by board rule, and requiring TEA to adopt or develop and the board to administer the assessment instruments to applicable students not later than the 2002-2003 school year. Furthermore, the substitute requires TEA to initially release the questions and answer key to each assessment instrument (for students of limited English proficiency) administered, rather than adopted or developed, after a specified date, and provides that the requirement to release those questions and answer keys expires September 1, 2005, rather than September 1, 2003. The substitute modifies SECTION 2 to make a conforming change with respect to the assessment instruments discussed in proposed Subsection (l). The substitute modifies SECTION 3 (Section 39.027, Education Code) of the original by providing that a student may be exempted from the administration of an assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) (Adoption and Administration of Instruments) if the student has a primary language other than Spanish, rather than if the student meets the criteria for exemption established by board rule. The substitute requires the commissioner to develop an assessment system to be used for evaluating the academic progress, including reading proficiency in English, of students of limited English proficiency, rather for evaluating the academic progress of students whose primary language is Spanish who are instructed in English because of a shortage of teachers with teaching certificates and endorsements appropriate for bilingual education instruction or for English as a second language instruction at the secondary level. The substitute deletes the date by which the performance under the assessment instruments of the applicable students must be included in certain specified documents. The substitute requires TEA to compile data on the performance under the assessment system of the applicable students and the performance of those students to be included in certain specified documents. The substitute deletes proposed Subsections (f) and (g), relating to the assessment of a student of limited English proficiency who is enrolling for the first time in a public school, and defining "student of limited English proficiency," and redesignating existing Subsection (e), respectively. New Subsection (f), redesignated from existing Subsection (e), defines "average daily attendance." The substitute redesignates SECTION 4 of the original to SECTION 5 of the substitute. In SECTION 4, the substitute amends Section 39.051(b), Education Code, to include assessment instruments for students with limited English proficiency among the results of assessment instruments that must be included in the academic performance indicator. SECTION 5 of the original is deleted, regarding the applicability of proposed Section 39.027(f), Education Code, which the substitute deletes. In SECTION 6, the original sets forth the dates by which the board is required to administer assessment instruments in accordance with rules adopted under Section 39.023(l), Education Code. For a more complete analysis please see the Section-by-Section Analysis of this document. The substitute redesignates SECTION 6 (emergency clause and effective date) of the original as SECTION 7.