January 27, 2021 Committee of the Full Board Item 7
Rule Review of 19 TAC Chapter 101, Assessment, Subchapter A, General Provisions, Subchapter B, Implementation of Assessments, and Subchapter C, Local Option
January 27, 2021
COMMITTEE OF THE FULL BOARD: DISCUSSION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: NO ACTION
SUMMARY: Texas Government Code (TGC), §2001.039, establishes a four-year rule review cycle for all state agency rules, including State Board of Education (SBOE) rules. This item presents the review of 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 101, Assessment, Subchapter A, General Provisions, Subchapter B, Implementation of Assessments, and Subchapter C, Local Option. The rules being reviewed address the development and administration of tests, voluntary assessment of private school students, the schedule for the release of tests, and administration and reporting of group-administered achievement tests.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: The statutory authority for the rule review is TGC, §2001.039. The statutory authority for 19 TAC Chapter 101, Subchapters A-C, is Texas Education Code (TEC), §§39.021, 39.022, 39.023, 39.025, 39.032, and 39.033.
TGC, §2001.039, requires a state agency to review and consider for readoption each of its rules.
TEC, §39.021, requires that the SBOE by rule establish the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) that all students should learn.
TEC, §39.022, requires that the SBOE by rule create and implement a statewide assessment program that is knowledge- and skills-based to ensure school accountability for student achievement.
TEC, §39.023, requires school districts to administer the Grades 3-8 state-developed assessments and the end-of-course assessments to all eligible students.
TEC, §39.025, requires a student to pass each end-of-course assessment listed in TEC, §39.023(c), only for a course in which the student is enrolled and for which an end-of-course assessment is administered in order to receive a Texas diploma.
TEC, §39.032, requires the SBOE to adopt rules to implement assessment instrument standards for group-administered achievement tests.
TEC, §39.033, allows for the voluntary assessment of private school students and requires the SBOE to determine the cost of administering the assessment instrument.
The full text of statutory citations can be found in the statutory authority section of this agenda.
FUTURE ACTION EXPECTED: The review of 19 TAC Chapter 101, Subchapters A-C, will be presented to the SBOE for adoption at the April 2021 meeting.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND JUSTIFICATION: The goal of the Texas assessment program is to measure and support student progress toward achieving academic success. The primary purpose of the state student assessment program is to provide an accurate measure of student achievement in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and science. Based on the requirements of the TEC, the assessment program evaluates the degree to which students have mastered the state-mandated curriculum, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
In 2007, the 80th Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 1031, and in 2009, the 81st Texas Legislature enacted House Bill (HB) 3, both of which made significant changes to the Texas student assessment program and required the development and implementation of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) program. With HB 2135 in 2011, the 82nd Texas Legislature further modified assessment requirements for students who test above grade level. HB 5, passed by the 83rd Texas Legislature in 2013, and HB 2349, passed by the 84th Texas Legislature in 2015, amended state assessment graduation requirements. In the 2016–2017 school year, to meet the legislative requirements of HB 743, 84th Texas Legislature, 2015, the total length of each STAAR® Grades 3–8 assessment was reduced. In response to these changes, the commissioner of education has adopted and amended rules as necessary to implement the legislative requirements for the STAAR® assessment program. The commissioner rules include student testing requirements, grade advancement requirements, testing requirements for graduation, released test requirements, and accelerated instruction requirements.
According to the TEC, the SBOE is responsible for adopting rules related to the general establishment of the assessment program for purposes of accountability. This SBOE requirement is met through the following rules in 19 TAC Chapter 101.
• In Subchapter A, §101.1, Scope of Rules, §101.3, Policy, and §101.5, Student Testing Requirements, establish the assessment program and require all students receiving instruction in the TEKS to be assessed.
• In Subchapter B, §101.25, Schedule, and §101.27, Administrative Procedures, specify that the commissioner will adopt a schedule for administering the assessments and require uniform administrative procedures. Section 101.31, Private Schools, establishes provisions for the voluntary assessment of private school students. As provided by TEC, §39.033(c), the SBOE approves the per-student costs for private schools that administer state assessments. Section 101.33, Release of Tests, establishes a release test schedule in accordance with TEC, §39.023(e).
• In Subchapter C, §101.101, Group-Administered Tests, governs the administration and renorming of local option group-administered assessments as authorized under TEC, §39.026 and §39.032.
ANTICIPATED REVISIONS TO RULES: At a future meeting, Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff plans to present an amendment to 19 TAC Chapter 101, Assessment, Subchapter B, Implementation of Assessments, §101.25, Schedule, to remove the reference to TEC, §39.023(c-3)(1) and (2), as those provisions were removed as a result of HB 3906, 86th Texas Legislature, 2019.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: TEA will file the notice of proposed review of 19 TAC Chapter 101, Subchapters A-C, with the Texas Register following the January 2021 SBOE meeting. TEA will accept comments as to whether the reasons for adopting 19 TAC Chapter 101, Subchapters A-C, continue to exist. The public comment period on the proposed rule review begins March 5, 2021, and ends April 9, 2021. The SBOE will take registered oral and written comments on this item at the appropriate committee meeting in April 2021 in accordance with the SBOE operating policies and procedures.
The filing of the notice of proposed review soliciting comments as to whether the reasons for adoption continue to exist would not preclude any amendments that may be proposed at different dates through a separate rulemaking process.
Staff Members Responsible:
Iris Tian, Director, Student Assessment
Julie Cole, Director of Policy and Publications, Student Assessment
Spencer Barr, Senior Policy Analyst, Student Assessment
Attachment:
Text of 19 TAC Chapter 101, Assessment, Subchapter A, General Provisions, Subchapter B, Implementation of Assessments, and Subchapter C, Local Option