On May 11, Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 149 (Seliger, R-Amarillo) into law to become effective immediately. ”While it is critical that the state appropriately holds public schools and districts accountable for delivering the best possible education, we must protect Texas students from being penalized as a result of evolving testing standards. SB 149 protects students from undue penalization, and guarantees that students who meet specified requirements are able to graduate, “ Abbott said in a statement.
Later this evening, the Texas Education Agency sent out a statement notifying administrators that emergency commissioner rules to amend the assessment graduation requirements per SB 149 have been filed with the Texas Register and are effective immediately. Click on the link to view the emergency commissioner’s rules.
CSSB 149 has revised the state’s assessment graduation requirements for students enrolled in the 11th or 12th grade for the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, or 2016-2017 school years. A student who has failed the end-of-course (EOC) assessment graduation requirements for no more than two courses may receive a Texas high school diploma if the student has qualified to graduate by means of an individual graduation committee (IGC). CSSB 149 requires the IGC to be composed of the principal or principal's designee; the teacher of the course for the EOC assessment on which the student failed to perform satisfactorily; the student's school counselor; and, as applicable, the student's parent or person standing in parental relation to the student, or the student, at the student's option, if the student is at least 18 years of age or is an emancipated minor.
Under the legislation, a student may not graduate under an IGC if the student did not take each required EOC assessment or a commissioner-approved substitute assessment for each course for which there is an EOC assessment.
As the provisions of CSSB 149 expire in September 2017, the 85th Texas Legislature will have an opportunity to determine whether the program has worked as intended.
More details can be found on the TEA website.
