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No significant fiscal implication to the State.
Local Government
The bill would require districts to submit relevant data to TEA in order
to assess the campuses and district in community and student
engagement. Districts could incur costs associated with implementing the
provisions of the bill. These costs would vary by school district.
HB 2804 would require the Commissioner of Education to adopt a set of performance indicators of the quality of learning and achievement. The bill would amend the accountability indicators in Education Code and would require the Commissioner to assign a separate rating for five domains.
The first domain would contain the results of statewide standardized tests and end-of-course tests, as well as the results of tests for certain students of limited English proficiency and certain students in special education programs.
The bill would provide that the second domain consists of the percentages of students who met certain standards for annual improvement on the tests included in the first domain.
The bill would provide that the third domain consists of the student academic achievement differentials among students from different racial and ethnic groups and socioeconomic backgrounds.
The bill would provide that the fourth domain consists of any additional indicators of student achievement not associated with performance on standardized tests that are determined appropriate for consideration by the commissioner in consultation with educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers.
The bill would establish that the fifth domain consists of the three programs or specific categories of performance related to community and student engagement locally selected and evaluated.
05/25/2015 update:
Minor changes were made that do not affect our recommendation. The second chamber sponsor is Senator Larry Taylor.
First chamber recommendation:
The purpose of this legislation is to create an alternative or additional mechanism for evaluating public school performance using benchmarks beyond standardized test scores. Since the government is responsible for the quality of public schools, adding additional indicators and ratings for school districts that may help achieve a better understanding of school performance and growth is likely a good idea. It remains to be seen whether this legislation will achieve that aim.
While we do continue to support the concept of a rigorous system of evaluation to ensure that schools perform at or above expectations, we disagree with the criteria outlined in the fifth evaluation domain. The purpose of public school is to educate students, not to turn them into community activists. That type of social engagement can be taught in the home or by other institutions on a voluntary basis outside of the school environment.
We are neutral on HB 2804.
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