Texas Administrative Code › Title 19 - EDUCATION › Part 2 - TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY › Chapter 101 - ASSESSMENT › Subchapter CC - COMMISSIONER'S RULES CONCERNING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACADEMIC CONTENT AREAS TESTING PROGRAM › Division 3 - SECURITY OF ASSESSMENTS, REQUIRED TEST ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES › Section 101.3031 - Required Test Administration Procedures and Training Activities to Ensure Validity, Reliability, and Security of Assessments

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Security and confidentiality.
(1) All assessment instruments included in
					 the student assessment program are considered secure, and the contents of these
					 tests, including student information used or obtained in their administration,
					 are confidential.
(2) School
					 districts and campuses, the superintendent and campus principals in each school
					 district, open-enrollment charter schools and campuses, and the chief
					 administrative officer and campus principals of each charter school shall:
(A) implement and ensure compliance with
					 state test administration procedures and training activities;
(B) notify the Texas Education Agency (TEA)
					 as soon as the school district or charter school becomes aware of any alleged
					 or suspected violation of the security or confidential integrity of a test as
					 listed in paragraph (3) of this subsection;
(C) report all confirmed testing violations
					 to TEA within 10 working days of the school district or charter school becoming
					 aware of the violation in accordance with the reporting process stipulated in
					 the test administration materials;
(D) ensure that the only individuals with
					 access to secure test materials are school district or charter school employees
					 who have:
(i) met the requirements to
					 participate in the student assessment program;
(ii) received training in test security and
					 test administration procedures; and
(iii) signed an oath affirming they
					 understand their obligation to maintain and preserve the security and
					 confidentiality of all state assessments and student information, acknowledge
					 their responsibility to report any suspected testing violation, and are aware
					 of the range of penalties that may result from a violation of test security and
					 confidentiality or a departure from test administration procedures;
					 and
(E) ensure the
					 security of the test materials by:
(i)
					 verifying that all boxes of testing materials have been accounted for and match
					 the school district or charter school shipping notices upon receipt from the
					 state's testing contractor(s);
(ii)
					 requiring campuses to immediately inventory all testing materials received and
					 to notify the school district or charter school testing coordinator of any
					 shortages or discrepancies;
(iii)
					 immediately notifying the state's testing contractor(s) of any discrepancies
					 between the materials received and the school district, charter school, and
					 campus shipping notices;
(iv)
					 placing test booklets and answer documents in secure, limited-access, locked
					 storage when not in use;
(v)
					 collecting and destroying any scratch paper, graph paper, or reference
					 materials that students have written on, as well as any recordings, after the
					 completion of a test administration;
(vi) requiring that all secure materials
					 assigned to individual campuses have been accounted for and packaged in
					 accordance with the procedures for returning materials as detailed in the test
					 administration materials;
(vii)
					 requiring that all test item image cards and photocopies or reproductions of
					 secure test materials have been collected and returned to the school district
					 or charter school testing coordinator for return to the testing contractor(s);
					 and
(viii) maintaining inventory
					 and shipping records for five years.
(3) Violations of the security and
					 confidential integrity of a test include:
(A)
					 directly or indirectly assisting students with responses to test
					 questions;
(B) tampering with
					 student responses;
(C) falsifying
					 holistic ratings or student responses;
(D) viewing secure test content before,
					 during, or after an administration unless specifically authorized by TEA or by
					 the procedures outlined in the test administration materials;
(E) discussing or disclosing secure test
					 content or student responses;
(F)
					 scoring students' tests, either formally or informally;
(G) duplicating, recording, or electronically
					 capturing confidential test content unless specifically authorized by TEA or by
					 the procedures outlined in the test administration materials;
(H) responding to secure test
					 questions;
(I) fraudulently
					 exempting or preventing a student from participating in the administration of a
					 required state assessment;
(J)
					 receiving or providing unallowable assistance during calibration activities
					 (e.g., taking notes, providing answer sheets, or sharing answers);
(K) encouraging or assisting an individual to
					 engage in the conduct described in subparagraphs (A)-(J) of this paragraph or
					 in any other serious violation of security and confidentiality;
(L) failing to report to an appropriate
					 authority that an individual has engaged or is suspected of engaging in conduct
					 described in subparagraphs (A)-(K) of this paragraph or in any other serious
					 violation of security and confidentiality under this section;
(M) failing to implement sufficient
					 procedures to prevent student cheating; and
(N) failing to implement sufficient
					 procedures to prevent alteration of test documents by anyone other than the
					 student.
(4) If a school
					 district or charter school determines that a student has cheated or attempted
					 to cheat on a state assessment either by providing or receiving direct
					 assistance, the school district or charter school shall invalidate the
					 student's test results.
(5) Any
					 violation of test security or confidential integrity may result in the TEA:
(A) invalidating student test
					 results;
(B) referring certified
					 educators to the State Board for Educator Certification for sanctions in
					 accordance with Chapter 247 of this title (relating to Educators' Code of
					 Ethics) and Chapter 249 of this title (relating to Disciplinary Proceedings,
					 Sanctions, and Contested Cases); and
(C) lowering the school district's or charter
					 school's accreditation status or a school district's, charter school's, or
					 campus's accountability rating in accordance with Texas Education Code (TEC),
					 §39.003(d), or appointment of a monitor, conservator, or management team
					 to the school district or charter school in accordance with TEC, Chapter
					 39A.