Sec. 29.081.  COMPENSATORY, INTENSIVE, AND ACCELERATED INSTRUCTION.  (a)  Each school district shall use the student performance data resulting from the basic skills assessment instruments and achievement tests administered under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, to design and implement appropriate compensatory, intensive, or accelerated instructional services for students in the district's schools that enable the students to be performing at grade level at the conclusion of the next regular school term.
(b)  Each district shall provide accelerated instruction to a student enrolled in the district who has taken an end-of-course assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023(c) and has not performed satisfactorily on the assessment instrument or who is at risk of dropping out of school.
(b-1)  Each school district shall offer before the next scheduled administration of the assessment instrument, without cost to the student, additional accelerated instruction to each student in any subject in which the student failed to perform satisfactorily on an end-of-course assessment instrument required for graduation.
(b-2)  A district that is required to provide accelerated instruction under Subsection (b-1) shall separately budget sufficient funds, including funds under Section 48.104, for that purpose.
(b-3)  A district shall evaluate the effectiveness of accelerated instruction programs under Subsection (b-1) and annually hold a public hearing to consider the results.
(c)  Each school district shall evaluate and document the effectiveness of the accelerated instruction in reducing any disparity in performance on assessment instruments administered under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, or disparity in the rates of high school completion between students at risk of dropping out of school and all other district students.
(d)  For purposes of this section, "student at risk of dropping out of school" includes each student who:
(1)  is under 26 years of age and who:
(A)  except as provided by Subsection (h) or if retained for prekindergarten under Section 28.02124, was not advanced from one grade level to the next for one or more school years;
(B)  if the student is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in the current semester;
(C)  did not perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument administered to the student under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and who has not in the previous or current school year subsequently performed on that instrument or another appropriate instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of the level of satisfactory performance on that instrument;
(D)  if the student is in prekindergarten, kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the current school year;
(E)  is pregnant or is a parent;
(F)  has been placed in an alternative education program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the preceding or current school year;
(G)  has been expelled in accordance with Section 37.007 during the preceding or current school year;
(H)  is currently on parole, probation, deferred prosecution, or other conditional release;
(I)  was previously reported through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out of school;
(J)  is an emergent bilingual student, as defined by Section 29.052;
(K)  is in the custody or care of the Department of Family and Protective Services or has, during the current school year, been referred to the department by a school official, officer of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;
(L)  is homeless;
(M)  resided in the preceding school year or resides in the current school year in a residential placement facility in the district, including a detention facility, substance abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital, halfway house, cottage home operation, specialized child-care home, or general residential operation;
(N)  has been incarcerated or has a parent or guardian who has been incarcerated, within the lifetime of the student, in a penal institution as defined by Section 1.07, Penal Code; or
(O)  is enrolled in a school district or open-enrollment charter school, or a campus of a school district or open-enrollment charter school, that is designated as a dropout recovery school under Section 39.0548; or
(2)  regardless of the student's age, participates in an adult education program provided under the adult high school charter school program under Subchapter G, Chapter 12.
(d-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (d)(1)(A), a student is not considered a student at risk of dropping out of school if the student did not advance from prekindergarten or kindergarten to the next grade level only as the result of the request of the student's parent.
(e)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school may use a private or public community-based dropout recovery education program or education management organization to provide alternative education programs for students at risk of dropping out of school.  The program may be offered in person at a campus, remotely, or through a hybrid of in-person and remote instruction.
(e-1)  An in-person, campus-based dropout recovery education program must:
(1)  provide not less than four hours of instructional time per day;
(2)  employ as faculty and administrators persons with baccalaureate or advanced degrees;
(3)  provide at least one instructor for each 28 students;
(4)  perform satisfactorily according to performance indicators and accountability standards adopted for alternative education programs by the commissioner; and
(5)  comply with this title and rules adopted under this title except as otherwise provided by this subsection.
(e-2)  A remote or hybrid dropout recovery education program must:
(1)  include as a part of its curriculum credentials, certifications, or other course offerings that relate directly to employment opportunities in the state;
(2)  employ as faculty and administrators persons with baccalaureate or advanced degrees;
(3)  provide an academic coach and local advocate for each student;
(4)  use an individual learning plan to monitor each student's progress;
(5)  establish satisfactory requirements for the monthly progress of students according to standards set by the commissioner;
(6)  provide a monthly report to the student's school district or open-enrollment charter school regarding the student's progress;
(7)  perform satisfactorily according to performance indicators and accountability standards adopted for alternative education programs by the commissioner;
(8)  operate an in-person student engagement center at a location suitable for high school students; and 
(9)  comply with this title and rules adopted under this title except as otherwise provided by this subsection.
(e-3)  A dropout recovery education program under Subsection (e):
(1)  may be operated only by an entity that is accredited by the agency or a regional accrediting agency;
(2)  must offer or provide referrals for mental health services to students enrolled in the program; and
(3)  may not market directly to students enrolled in a traditional education program.
(e-4)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school may operate one campus-based dropout recovery education program under Subsection (e) for all students in the district or school.
(e-5)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school administrator or school counselor may refer a student to a dropout recovery education program under Subsection (e) if the administrator or counselor determines that enrollment in the program could prevent the student from dropping out of school.
(e-6)  Each year, a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall post on the district's or school's Internet website a report on measurable outcomes for each dropout recovery education program under Subsection (e) offered by the district or school.  The report must include the percentage of students enrolled in the program during the preceding school year who attained each of the following outcomes:
(1)  transfer to a traditional education program;
(2)  successful completion of the program;
(3)  dual credit; or
(4)  a credential of value.
(f)  The commissioner shall include a student who successfully completes a course offered through a program under Subsection (e) in the computation of the district's or school's average daily attendance for funding purposes.  For a student who successfully completes a remote course offered through the program, the commissioner shall include the student in the computation of the district's or school's average daily attendance with an attendance rate equal to:
(1)  the district's or school's average attendance rate for students successfully completing a course offered in person under the program; or
(2)  if the district or school does not offer courses in person under the program, the statewide average attendance rate for students successfully completing a course offered in person under a program under Subsection (e).
(g)  In addition to students described by Subsection (d), a student who satisfies local eligibility criteria adopted by the board of trustees of a school district may receive instructional services under this section.  The number of students receiving services under this subsection during a school year may not exceed 10 percent of the number of students described by Subsection (d) who received services from the district during the preceding school year.
(h)  The agency shall study whether students retained under Section 28.02124 should be considered at-risk.  The commissioner may adopt a rule excluding students retained by a parent or guardian under Section 28.02124 from being considered a "student at risk of dropping out of school" under Subsection (d)(1)(A).
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995.  Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1588, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1999;  Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 725, Sec. 1, 2, eff. June 13, 2001.
Amended by: 
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1312 (S.B. 1031), Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2007.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 690 (H.B. 2703), Sec. 1, eff. June 19, 2009.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 211 (H.B. 5), Sec. 20, eff. June 10, 2013.
Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 317 (H.B. 7), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2017.
Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1094 (H.B. 3706), Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2017.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 403 (S.B. 1746), Sec. 1, eff. June 2, 2019.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 597 (S.B. 668), Sec. 1.06, eff. June 10, 2019.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 943 (H.B. 3), Sec. 3.029, eff. September 1, 2019.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1060 (H.B. 1051), Sec. 2, eff. June 14, 2019.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 195 (S.B. 1615), Sec. 19, eff. May 31, 2021.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 478 (H.B. 572), Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 2021.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 887 (S.B. 1697), Sec. 5, eff. June 16, 2021.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 915 (H.B. 3607), Sec. 5.008, eff. September 1, 2021.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 973 (S.B. 2066), Sec. 16, eff. September 1, 2021.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 940 (S.B. 1647), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2023.