Texas Education Code § 39.023. Adoption and Administration of Instruments.
(a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess essential knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics, social studies, and science. Except as provided by Subsection (a-2), all students, other than students assessed under Subsection (b) or (l) or exempted under Section 39.027, shall be assessed in:
(1) mathematics, annually in grades three through eight;
(2) reading, annually in grades three through eight;
(3) social studies, in grade eight;
(4) science, in grades five and eight; and
(5) any other subject and grade required by federal law.
(a-1) The agency shall develop assessment instruments required under Subsection (a) in a manner that allows, to the extent practicable:
(1) the score a student receives to provide reliable information relating to a student's satisfactory performance for each performance standard under Section 39.0241; and
(2) an appropriate range of performances to serve as a valid indication of growth in student achievement.
(a-2) Except as required by federal law, a student is not required to be assessed in a subject otherwise assessed at the student's grade level under Subsection (a) if the student:
(1) is enrolled in a course in the subject intended for students above the student's grade level and will be administered an assessment instrument adopted or developed under Subsection (a) that aligns with the curriculum for the course in which the student is enrolled; or
(2) is enrolled in a course in the subject for which the student will receive high school academic credit and will be administered an end-of-course assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (c) for the course.
(a-3) The agency may not adopt or develop a criterion-referenced assessment instrument under this section based on common core state standards as defined by Section 28.002(b-1). This subsection does not prohibit the use of college advanced placement tests or international baccalaureate examinations as those terms are defined by Section 28.051.
(a-4) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), the State Board of Education by rule may designate sections of a mathematics assessment instrument for a grade level that:
(1) may be completed with the aid of technology; and
(2) must be completed without the aid of technology.
(a-5)-(a-10) Expired.
(a-11) Before an assessment instrument adopted or developed under Subsection (a) may be administered under that subsection, the assessment instrument must, on the basis of empirical evidence, be determined to be valid and reliable by an entity that is independent of the agency and of any other entity that developed the assessment instrument.
(a-12) An assessment instrument adopted or developed under Subsection (a) may not have more than three parts. A part of an assessment instrument must be designed so that:
(1) if administered to students in grades three and four, 85 percent of students will be able to complete that part within 60 minutes; and
(2) if administered to students in grades five through eight, 85 percent of students will be able to complete that part within 75 minutes.
(a-13) The amount of time allowed for administration of an assessment instrument adopted or developed under Subsection (a) may not exceed eight hours, and the administration may occur in multiple parts over more than one day.
(a-14) Subsections (a-12) and (a-13) do not apply to the administration of assessment instruments for a grade level if, as a result of the time restriction imposed, the assessment instrument no longer:
(1) complies with federal law; or
(2) is valid and reliable, based on findings and recommendations made by the advisory committees established under Section 39.02302.
(a-15) Subsections (a-12) and (a-13) do not apply to a classroom portfolio method used to assess writing performance.
(a-16) An assessment instrument under this section may not be administered to a kindergarten student except for the purpose of determining whether the student is entitled to the benefit of the Foundation School Program as provided under this code.
(b) The agency shall develop or adopt appropriate criterion-referenced alternative assessment instruments to be administered to each student in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, for whom an assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (a), even with allowable accommodations, would not provide an appropriate measure of student achievement, as determined by the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee, including assessment instruments approved by the commissioner that measure growth. The assessment instruments developed or adopted under this subsection, including the assessment instruments approved by the commissioner, must, to the extent allowed under federal law, provide a district with options for the assessment of students under this subsection. The agency may not adopt a performance standard that indicates that a student's performance on the alternate assessment does not meet standards if the lowest level of the assessment accurately represents the student's developmental level as determined by the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee.
(b-1) The agency, in conjunction with appropriate interested persons, shall redevelop assessment instruments adopted or developed under Subsection (b) for administration to significantly cognitively disabled students in a manner consistent with federal law. An assessment instrument under this subsection may not require a teacher to prepare tasks or materials for a student who will be administered such an assessment instrument. A classroom portfolio method used to assess writing performance may require a teacher to prepare tasks and materials.
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, biology, English I, English II, and United States history. The Algebra I end-of-course assessment instrument must be administered with the aid of technology, but may include one or more parts that prohibit the use of technology. The English I and English II end-of-course assessment instruments must each assess essential knowledge and skills in both reading and writing and must provide a single score. A school district shall comply with State Board of Education rules regarding administration of the assessment instruments listed in this subsection. If a student is in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee shall determine whether any allowable modification is necessary in administering to the student an assessment instrument required under this subsection. The State Board of Education shall administer the assessment instruments. An end-of-course assessment instrument may be administered in multiple parts over more than one day. The State Board of Education shall adopt a schedule for the administration of end-of-course assessment instruments that complies with the requirements of Subsection (c-3).
(c-1) The agency shall develop any assessment instrument required under this section in a manner that allows for the measurement of annual improvement in student achievement as required by Sections 39.034(c) and (d).
(c-2) The agency may adopt end-of-course assessment instruments for courses not listed in Subsection (c). A student's performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument adopted under this subsection is not subject to the performance requirements established under Subsection (c) or Section 39.025.
(c-3) Except as provided by Subsection (c-7) or as otherwise provided by this subsection, in adopting a schedule for the administration of assessment instruments under this section, the State Board of Education shall ensure that assessment instruments administered under Subsection (a) or (c) are not administered on the first instructional day of a week. On request by a school district or open-enrollment charter school, the commissioner may allow the district or school to administer an assessment instrument required under Subsection (a) or (c) on the first instructional day of a week if administering the assessment instrument on another instructional day would result in a significant administrative burden due to specific local conditions.
(c-4) To the extent practicable and subject to Section 39.024, the agency shall ensure that each end-of-course assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (c) is:
(1) developed in a manner that measures a student's performance under the college readiness standards established under Section 28.008; and
(2) validated by national postsecondary education experts for college readiness content and performance standards.
(c-5) A student's performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument required under Subsection (c) must be included in the student's academic achievement record.
(c-6) In adopting an end-of-course assessment instrument under this section, the agency shall consider the use of an existing assessment instrument that is currently available. The agency may use an existing assessment instrument that is currently available only if the assessment instrument:
(1) is aligned with the essential knowledge and skills of the subject being assessed; and
(2) allows for the measurement of annual improvement in student achievement as provided by Subsection (c-1).
(c-7) Subsection (c-3) does not apply to a classroom portfolio method used to assess writing performance if student performance under that method is less than 50 percent of a student's overall assessed performance in writing.
(c-8) Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, not more than 75 percent of the available points on an assessment instrument developed under Subsection (a) or (c) may be attributable to questions presented in a multiple choice format.
(c-9) The United States history end-of-course assessment instrument adopted under Subsection (c) must include 10 questions randomly selected by the agency from the civics test administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of the naturalization process under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.). The agency shall:
(1) ensure that the questions included in the assessment instrument align with the essential knowledge and skills adopted for the United States history course for which the instrument is administered; and
(2) annually issue a report:
(A) providing the questions included in the assessment instrument under this subsection and the answers to those questions; and
(B) detailing student performance on the questions included in the assessment instrument under this subsection, both statewide and disaggregated by school district and campus.
. . .
Last Amended:
86th Leg., Ch. 1315 (H.B. 3906), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2019
86th Leg., Ch. 1315 (H.B. 3906), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2019
86th Leg., Ch. 1282 (H.B. 1244), Sec. 1, June 14, 2019
87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 915 (H.B. 3607), Sec. 21.001(10), eff. September 1, 2021
87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 973 (S.B. 2066), Sec. 18, eff. September 1, 2021
87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1003 (H.B. 3261), Sec. 4, eff. June 18, 2021
Entered: October 22, 2021
