Texas House Bill HB159

Texas 2025 - 89th 2nd C.S.

• Filed: 8/15/25
• Filed: 8/20/25

Summary

HB 159 would change how certain Texas public school assessments are used and administered. It directs the commissioner of education to seek a federal waiver so school districts could use interim, statewide assessments and adaptive, growth-based tests in place of the current required assessment instruments under Education Code Section 39.023 for the affected grades and subjects. The bill defines adaptive, growth-based assessments as tests that adjust difficulty to a student’s demonstrated ability and measure academic progress over time, and it requires at least one interim assessment at the beginning and one at the end of the school year, with the results combined into a single summative score under commissioner rules. The bill also limits how test results may be used in educator personnel decisions. It prohibits the results of assessments administered under Section 39.023(a), (b), or (n) from being used as the sole criterion for evaluating teacher performance or determining teacher compensation. In addition, it amends school accountability rules so that student improvement on these new assessments is measured from the beginning to the end of the school year for campus and district evaluation purposes. The changes would apply beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, and the commissioner must apply for the federal waiver by January 1, 2026.

Impact

HB 159 would amend the Texas Education Code by adding new provisions in Chapters 21 and 39 governing teacher evaluation, student assessment, and school accountability. If implemented, it would authorize districts to replace certain state-required assessments with locally adopted or developed interim and adaptive assessments, but only if the U.S. Department of Education grants the requested waiver from the federal requirement that all students take the same assessment instruments. The bill would also affect how assessment data can be used in accountability calculations and would bar using those scores as the sole basis for teacher evaluation or pay decisions.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text, the measure appears aimed at reducing reliance on standardized testing and giving districts more flexibility in assessment design. No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of legislative debate or vote sentiment in the available materials. The overall framing of the bill suggests a reform-oriented approach that may appeal to supporters of personalized assessment and educator fairness, while also preserving statewide oversight through commissioner rules and accountability measures.

Contention

The main points of contention are likely to be the shift away from uniform statewide testing and the need for a federal waiver. Supporters may favor adaptive, growth-based assessments as more responsive to student progress and less punitive for teachers, while critics may worry about comparability across districts, consistency of standards, and the administrative complexity of combining interim assessments into a summative score. Another likely issue is the bill’s effect on accountability: although it limits the use of test scores as the sole criterion for teacher evaluation or compensation, it still preserves a role for assessment results in school performance measures.