HBA-MSH C.S.H.B. 2118 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2118 By: Olivo Public Education 4/8/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, a student is required to pass the exit-level Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) tests before being allowed to graduate from high school. Twenty percent of students fail the exitlevel TAAS tests, many of whom subsequently dropout without receiving a diploma. C.S.H.B. 2118 creates alternative graduation criteria for students who do not pass the TAAS tests. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the commissioner of education in SECTION 1 (Section 28.025 Education Code) and SECTION 2 of this bill. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2118 amends the Education Code to require the commissioner of education to prescribe by rule no later than June 1, 2002 compensatory alternative graduation criteria that a student may meet to graduate and receive a diploma without complying with provisions requiring satisfactory performance on a secondary exit-level assessment instrument. The bill provides that the criteria include a student's grade point average beginning in grande nine, current class ranking, individual and combined scores using only the student's highest scores on the assessment instruments, and overall academic performance in grades 9-12. The bill requires a committee composed of the student's high school principal or a designee and two certified teachers in the student's district who teach at the high school level to determine whether a student has met the alternative graduation criteria. The bill requires the commissioner to adopt rules no later than June 1, 2002 relating to the selection and operation of a committee, including notification of the student and the student's high school registrar of the committee's decision. The bill sets forth provisions relating to when the committee is required to make its determination. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. The Act applies beginning with the 2002-2003 school year. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2118 differs from the original by adding provisions relating to when a committee is required to determine if a student has met alternative graduation criteria (criteria). The substitute provides that the criteria must be compensatory and include a student's current class ranking rather than 12th grade class ranking and a student's combined highest scores on assessment instruments rather than just the combined scores. The substitute specifies that the two teachers on the committee that determines whether a student has met the criteria be certified teachers.