Assessments

​

• Requires the TEA to make state assessment results available to parents by one click from the home page of a website maintained by the Agency

• Requires districts to provide access to the site through their parent portal and notify parents when the agency makes new results available

• Requires the TEA to create an instructionally-supportive statewide assessment program that provides for progress monitoring, is balanced, innovative, and streamlined, and is based on the TEKS

• Requires the new assessment system to begin in the 2027-2028 school year

• Requires the TEA to enter into an MOU with a public institution of higher education to study items proposed to be included in the required assessment to determine whether the items are written at the appropriate reading level for the grade and includes only passages, questions, answers or other content aligned with the TEKS for that subject and grade

• Requires the report to be provided to the legislature by December 1, 2028

• Requires the TEA to create BOY, MOY, and EOY assessments

• Requires the TEA to adopt optional, norm-referenced assessments that can be used in place of the BOY and MOY assessments developed by the TEA

• Requires BOY and MOY assessments to be adaptive to each student and measure individual student growth

• Requires any item included on an assessment to be approved by a committee of about 40 teachers from across the state who teach the grade level and subject area

  • At least 75% of the committee must agree the items is aligned with applicable TEKS, the item is appropriate for the grade level and subject, the item is free from bias and factual error and the students in the teacher's classroom would have the opportunity to learn the content in the item by the end of the year

• Requires the Commissioner to ensure satisfactory performance levels are set at levels consistent with performance levels for the previous school years

• Requires BOY and MOY assessments to be able to be completed by 85% of students without accommodations in 60 minutes for grades 3 and 4 or 75 minutes for grades 5-8

• Requires EOY assessments to be able to be completed by 85% of students without accommodations in 90 minutes for grades 3 and 4 or 105 minutes for grades 5-8

• Requires BOY assessments to be administered between the fourth Monday in August and September 30

• Requires MOY assessments to be administered between January 2 and February 21

• Requires EOY assessments to be administered between May 1 and May 30, except for writing portion of RLA assessments which must be administered between April 1 and April 15

• Requires assessment results to be reported to districts and campuses within 2 business days after the testing window and to include a diagnostic report including recommendations to improve the student's performance

• Prohibits districts from administering benchmark assessments other than those on the approved list by the Commissioner in grades 3-8 beginning in the 2029-2030 school year

​

Accountability

​

• Creates an Accountability Advisory Committee to advise the Commissioner including a member of the Governor's staff, a member of the Lieutenant Governor's staff, a member of the Speaker's staff, staff members of the Chair of each Education committee, a parent representative, an educator, and a business and industry representative

• Allows the Commissioner to exclude indicators he determines are not valid and reliable

• Makes completion of a JROTC and passing the ASVAB county as military ready

• Requires the Commissioner to develop a measure of student through-year instructional growth and improvement and present the measure to the accountability advisory committee by the 2032-2033 school year for consideration regarding possible incorporation of the measure into the accountability system

• Allows the Commissioner to modify indicators such that by the 15th year, the state ranks nationally in the top five in preparing students for postsecondary success on the NAEP

• Requires the Commissioner to increase cutscores only once every 5 years

• Requires the Commissioner to provide "What-if" ratings for the two years prior to increasing a cut-score

• Requires the agency to create a list of industry-based certifications that are aligned to a program of student, allow students to demonstrate mastery of the skills for the occupation, and can be obtained through a third-party certifying entity

• Requires the TEA to provide two-years' notice prior to removing an IBC from the list

• For students who are in a program of study aligned with a removed IBC, allows districts to continue to receive accountability benefits for that student for up to three years after the IBC is removed

• Allows a school district to provide information regarding local indicators of student engagement and workforce development to the TEA for reporting purposes only

• Requires the Commissioner to issue ratings every year and for sanctions to continue even in years where an individual campus or district is "Not Rated"

• Requires the Commissioner to adopt performance standards by July 15 for each upcoming year and if he fails to do so requires the ratings to be issued based on the standards for the prior year

• Requires the Commissioner to issue sanctions even if the assignment of performance ratings is enjoined

• Prohibits districts from challenging ratings based on failure to comply with the deadlines, but requires the Commissioner to report to the legislature any justification for failing to comply

• Prohibits districts from using funds to initiate or maintain an action or proceeding that includes a claim of ultra vires conduct