House Bill 4545 Overview
House Bill 4545 was recently passed in the 87th Regular Legislative Session. The new statute is effective, as of June 2021, with acceleration of instruction practices required during the current school year for all students, based on results from STAAR results. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will be providing support and guidance for local education agencies (LEAs) during the summer in a few venues.

Retention and Retesting 
HB 4545 establishes requirements for accelerated instruction for students who do not pass the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®). At a high level, the legislation includes:

• Elimination of grade retention and retesting requirements in grades 5 and 8
• For any student who does not pass the STAAR test in grades 3, 5, or 8 in math or reading, a new LEA requirement to establish an accelerated learning committee to develop an individual educational plan for the student and monitor progress

Accelerated Instruction (AI)
For any student who does not pass the STAAR test in grades 3–8 or STAAR (EOC) end-of-course assessments, clarification of prior accelerated instruction requirements, specifying that it must include either:

• Being assigned a classroom teacher who is a certified master, an exemplary, or recognized teacher or
• Receiving supplemental instruction (tutoring) before or after school, or embedded in the school day

Accelerated instruction delivered in the summer will only satisfy the HB 4545 requirements if the criteria for accelerated instruction were met.

Accelerated Learning Committees: LEAs are required to establish accelerated learning committees (ALCs) for students who did not pass the STAAR test in grades 3, 5, or 8 math or reading beginning at the start of the 2021-2022 school year and beyond.  LEAs started establishing these committees and developing individual student plans in the summer for two reasons:

• Completing this work in the summer will position LEAs to start implementing plans before the start of the school year based on the latest testing results.
• Under HB 4545, parents have the right to request a different teacher. Establishing the ALC in the summer would provide a window of opportunity to address in advance parent requests for different teachers and manage staffing and parents'