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House Bill 5

The 83rd Regular Session of the Legislature passed HB 5 and became effective with the Governor’s signature in June 2013. This bill codified changes to the Texas Education Code (TEC) in a number of areas including curriculum, accountability, assessment and accreditation.

Senate Bill 149 

SB 149 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. This legislation enables an individual graduation committee (ICG) to determine if a student is eligible to receive a Texas high school diploma even if they have failed up to two end-of-course (EOC) assessment graduation requirements.

A – F Accountability System

The 85th Texas Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 22, categorizing the measures for academic performance into three areas: Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps. Districts will receive a rating of A, B, C, D, or F for overall performance, as well as for performance in each of the three established domains, beginning in August 2018. Campuses will receive A–F ratings beginning in August 2019.

 

In addition, the bill enables districts and charters to develop plans and indicators to locally rate campuses. Once a plan receives approval from the agency, districts and charters may use the locally developed criteria along with the three state domains to assign A–F ratings for each campus. Finally, HB 22 requires a legislative report, due January 1, 2019, showing the overall and domain performance ratings each campus would have received for the 2017–18 school year had the campus A–F ratings been in place.

Articulated and Dual Credit

Articulated credit is “college credit in escrow.” Articulation agreements, like dual credit agreements, give students the opportunity to simultaneously earn high school credit AND college credit for the course. However, students must graduate high school THEN enroll in the collaborating college to earn the articulated college credit.

 

High School courses offered for dual credit enable high school students to enroll in a college course and simultaneously earn high school credit AND college credit for the course. This course structure enables high school students to earn college credits hours before graduating from high school, making their transition to the collegiate campus smoother and their likelihood of graduating from college greater.

 

While there is a student cost associated with earning dual credit, there is no cost to the student to earn articulated credit.

End of Course (EOC) Testing

End of Course Testing (EOC) is required in English 1, English 2, Algebra 1, Biology and U.S. History. All Texas students must pass these five exams in order to graduate unless they have been exempted by an Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) Committee process. Beginning in Spring 2016, English 3 and Algebra 2 will be available for districts to administer as optional assessments.

EOC Assessments

View the Released Test Questions

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