Accelerated Instruction: HB 1416 Overview and Optional Webinar Opportunity

Texas students have experienced academic growth post-Covid but learning acceleration is still critically needed, particularly in math. On the 2022 STAAR, 52% of students met grade level expectations in Reading Language Arts and only 40% of students met grade level in math.¹ 

Evidence suggests that high impact tutoring can have a significant impact on student outcomes for students.   

• A 2020 meta-analysis of 96 studies of high-quality tutoring programs found that students made 5 months of additional progress on average.²  
• The average effect of tutoring programs on student achievement is larger than the effects found in approximately 85% of studies evaluating education interventions and equivalent to moving a student at the 35th percentile of the achievement distribution to the 50th.³ 

Texas law requires all students who do not achieve approaches or higher on STAAR grades 3 through 8 or EOC assessments be provided accelerated instruction. These requirements, modified by House Bill 4545 of the 87th legislature and recently updated with the passage of House Bill 1416 in the 88th legislature, provide that qualifying students must be: 

• Assigned a TIA designated teacher for the subsequent school year in the applicable subject area; 

OR 

• Provided supplemental instruction aligned with the research on high impact tutoring in the TEKS for the applicable grade levels and subject area in the following manner: 
• No less than 15 or 30 hours depending on student performance and is provided in the summer or at least once per week in the school year; 
• Limited to two subjects per year, prioritizing math and RLA; 
• Provided in a group of no more than four students, unless the parent or guardian of each student in the group authorizes a larger group; 
• Designed to assist the student in achieving satisfactory performance in the applicable grade level and subject area and includes effective instructional materials designed for supplemental instruction; 
• Provided by a person with training in the applicable instructional materials for the supplemental instruction and provided by one person for the entirety of their accelerated instruction. 

House Bill 1416 updated accelerated instruction requirements from House Bill 4545 by: 

• Removing the requirement for Accelerated Learning Committees while requiring Accelerated Education Plan after student fails to achieve approaches or higher on two consecutive assessments in the same subject area 
• Limiting tutoring to 2 subjects and no longer including optional assessment administration  
• Increasing student to tutor ratio from 3:1 to 4:1 ratio for tutoring group size  
• Clarifying that students who take STAAR-Alt 2, are retained, or take substitute high school assessments aren't subject to requirements 
• Reducing minimum hour requirement from 30 to 15 for some students 
• Adding Local Education Agencies (LEAs) receiving compensatory education funding as a criteria for included LEAs (previously LEAs receiving funding from Strong Foundations Grant Program, CRRSAA or ARP) 
• Providing student to teacher ratio waivers for use of approved online curriculum (approvals available spring 2024) 
• Clarifying that parents may modify or remove supplemental instruction requirements with a letter to campus administrator 
• Clarifying that parents must be notified of student failure to perform on applicable tests 
• Requiring TEA to monitor implementation of accelerated instruction 

HB 1416 requires TEA to define requirements for students requiring 30 hours of supplemental instruction through the rulemaking process. TEA will propose rules that will provide that students who fall into the "Low Does Not Meet" category of STAAR performance receive no less than 30 hours of supplemental instruction. The rules will also provide that students in third grade who do not approach grade level or higher will be required to receive 30 hours of supplemental instruction. 

Final student-level results for the spring 2023 STAAR – including students in the “Low Does Not Meet” category - will be communicated on August 11th, 2023. Students falling in the "Low Does Not Meet" category for EOCs will be communicated on June 27th, 2023.  

The following supports are available for LEA personnel supporting HB 1416 implementation: 

• HB 1416 Webinar: TEA is hosting a webinar to provide an overview of HB 1416, review changes from HB 4545, and to walk through available supports for HB 1416 implementation on Thursday, July 13th from 10am CT to 11am CT interested attendees can register here. 
• Accelerated Instruction Webpage: TEA will provide accelerated instruction supports – including frequently asked questions and example resources from LEAs - on the TEA Accelerated Instruction webpage. Additional resources will be added as developed. 
• Direct Support: LEA personnel may reach out to accelerated.instruction@tea.texas.gov with questions or to provide resources which may be hosted on the TEA accelerated instruction webpage as a resource for other LEAs. 

References: 

¹Includes STAAR 3-8 Reading, English I and English II EOC Assessments and STAAR 3-8 Mathematics, Algebra I EOC Assessment Note: Results for grades 3-5 combine assessments given in Spanish and English. Results exclude STAAR-M, STAAR-L, STAAR-A, STAAR Alternate, STAAR Alternate 2 during any years they were offered. Participation in STAAR math and reading assessments in 2021 was 86%. Spring 2021 STAAR results are for learning and recovery planning only – no SSI grade promotion requirements or ratings for districts or campuses. There is no 2020 STAAR data because of cancellation of STAAR in spring 2020. | Source: 2012-2021 Spring STAAR Data 

²Nickow, Andre Joshua, Philip Oreopoulos, and Vincent Quan. (2020). The Impressive Effects of Tutoring on PreK-12 Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence. (EdWorkingPaper: 20-267). Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/eh0c-pc52;  

³Kraft, M. A. (2020). Interpreting effect sizes of education interventions. Educational Researcher, 49(4), 241-253.