Bill: HB 1164, 84(R) - 2015

Committee

House Public Education

Vote Recommendation

Vote Recommendation Economic Freedom Property Rights Personal Responsibility Limited Government Individual Liberty
Yes Neutral Neutral Neutral Positive Neutral

Author(s)

Gary VanDeaver

Bill Caption

Relating to the assessment of public school students in writing and English language arts.

Fiscal Notes

State Impact

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB1164, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a positive impact of $30,720,000 through the biennium ending August 31, 2017.

Local Government Impact

School districts, open-enrollment charter schools, the Job Corps Diploma Program, and juvenile justice alternative education programs would be required to assess writing using any method deemed appropriate, including a portfolio assessment. Costs would vary amongst districts and programs given the range of options available to assess writing. School districts and open-enrollment charter schools may also experience varying savings from eliminating the administration of grades four and seven writing assessments.

Bill Analysis

HB 1164 would amend code to require each school district to evaluate student writing achievement in grades four, seven, and at the end of English 1 and English 2 secondary-level courses and to use any method the district determines is appropriate for assessment. The school district would be required to provide written notice to the parent or individual in the parental relation of the student's writing assessment. A report would be required concerning the district's student performance on writing assessments and must be posted online and filed with the district board of trustees.

Other conforming changes are made to other programs, such as the three year high school diploma pilot plan, the Job Corps diploma plan, and the Texas Juvenile Justice Department educational program to comply with the local district writing assessment requirement.

This would replace the requirement of statewide standardized tests for writing.

Vote Recommendation Notes

05/25/2015 update:

Minor changes were made to this bill that does not affect our vote recommendation. The second chamber sponsor is Senator Garcia.

First chamber recommendation:

This bill affirms the principle of limited government. Standardized testing often does not measure a student's true abilities, and therefore, can unjustly hinder a student's educational progress. This bill would remove the requirement for statewide standardized testing for writing and allow districts more control over how to best assess a student's writing performance, which could take the form of portfolio and more accurately show how well a student can write. For these reasons, we support HB 1164 due to the removal of standardized testing regulation and the emphasis on local control.


Source URL (retrieved on 03/29/2024 07:03 AM): http://reports.texasaction.com/bill/84r/hb1164?print_view=true