GoArts News March 1, 2011:
Senator Shapiro Champions TAKS Pull-out Relief: SB 140 Advances from the Senate Education Committee
The Senate Education Committee voted SB 140 out of its committee on March 1, 2011. Sponsored by Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), this bill would curtail the practice of pulling students out of regular classes to receive additional tutoring--primarily for TAKS remediation. TCQAE Chair Robert Floyd testified before the committee, shared statewide accounts of TAKS pull-out, and provided documentation of this practice so detrimental to students' fine arts education. The bill will now go to the full Senate for consideration.
Press Release (PDF download)
Bill Changes:
The Texas Education Code section 25.092(a) would be amended in part as follows (additions are underlined) :
Except as provided by this section, a student in any grade level from kindergarten through grade 12 may not be given credit or a final grade for a class unless the student is in attendance for at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered.
Rationale:
Current law states that a student may not be given credit for a class unless the student is in attendance for at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered. Some school districts have misinterpreted credit to mean high school credit for graduation, but credit actually applies to all grade levels (K-12) and all academic disciplines.
As a result of this confusion, the practice of pulling students from fine arts and other enrichment classes for tutoring on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) has become increasingly widespread—sometimes for as much as half or more of the days that the classes are offered. Students are receiving grades and class credit for courses they do not attend and they are missing out on the valuable knowledge that these courses provide.
As proposed, SB 140 prohibits students in any grade level from K-12 from being given credit or a final grade for a class unless the student is in attendance for at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered.