| IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED |
April 11, 2001
TO THE SUPERINTENDENT/ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:
SUBJECT: State Testing Requirements for Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students in Grades 3-8
Governor Rick Perry has signed Senate Bill 676 into law,
effective immediately. This legislation modifies the state testing
requirements for LEP students in Grades 3-8 and affects the spring
2001 administrations of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS)
and the State-Developed Alternative Assessment (SDAA). These changes
primarily affect recent immigrants to U.S. schools.
The major provisions of Senate Bill 676 are as follows:
- The language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC) may now grant certain immigrants in Grades 3-8 an exemption on the basis of limited English proficiency during their first three years of enrollment in U.S. schools.
- Spanish-speaking LEP students may not be administered TAAS in Spanish for longer than three years.
- The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is charged with developing rules and procedures for the LPAC to follow to ensure that students are included in the assessments at the earliest practical date.
In order to implement this legislation immediately, commissioner rules for this spring's test administrations are being adopted on an emergency basis. The rules and the relevant statute are attached, along with a list of related questions and answers. This information may also be found at www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment.
Districts will need to have LPAC meetings to determine the need for changes to the test status of students affected by this legislation. For the April testing, districts will indicate the appropriate test status of students on the test answer documents following normal procedures. Districts will also be permitted to retroactively exempt eligible LEP students enrolled in Grades 4 or 8 who took a TAAS or SDAA writing test in February 2001.
In addition, to accommodate the late notice of this policy, there will be a special corrections period to allow errors concerning a student's LEP exemption status to be corrected in time to be reflected in the accountability ratings data. After test materials have been returned, districts will have until May 10, 2001, to send these corrections to the test contractor. LEP exemption corrections for both the February and April test administrations will be allowed. After May 10, however, corrections or appeals related to the LEP exemption status of students will not be permitted for accountability ratings purposes. Note that corrections made after test materials are returned will not be reflected in the May test results. The attached list of questions and answers contains detailed information about the correction procedures and implications for score reporting.
Student Assessment Division staff is providing assistance with the new assessment requirements by conducting TETN videoconferences for regional education service centers. In addition, the Student Assessment Division will update the web page regularly with new questions and answers or other information that may be helpful to districts.
I recognize that this emergency legislation places unusual administrative demands on districts given that little time remains before the April testing. However, the legislation is in response to concerns that the previous exemption policy was too restrictive. The new law reflects the efforts of educators, policymakers, and citizens to ensure that the testing requirements uphold the purpose of the assessments by providing appropriate and accurate measures both of student learning and of the quality of our educational programs.
I appreciate your understanding and cooperation in administering these new requirements. If you have any questions, please contact the TEA Student Assessment Division at (512) 463-9536 or the Bilingual Education Program Unit at (512) 475-3555.
Sincerely,
Jim Nelson
Commissioner of Education
Enclosures:
(1) 19 TAC §101. Assessment, Subchapter AA. Commissioner's Rules
(2) Questions and Answers Relating to the Implementation of Senate
Bill 676
(3) Senate Bill 676
c: TAAS District and Regional Coordinators
For further information on this topic, contact the TEA Student Assessment Division at (512) 463-9536 or the Bilingual Education Program Unit at (512) 475-3555.