This Week in Performance Reporting: January 10, 2020

Good afternoon, Performance Reporting bulletin members.

Have a coworker who needs to sign up? Bulletin subscriptions can be managed on TEA’s website at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/TXTEA/subscriber/new.

What’s New in Performance Reporting

A–F Accountability

The 2018–19 School Report Cards (SRC) are now available on the Texas Education Agency’s website at http://tea.texas.gov/perfreport/src/index.html. The purpose of the SRC is to inform parents and guardians about a campus’ individual characteristics and academic performance.

Distribution to Campuses. TEA has notified each principal that the SRC for his or her campus is available. It is, however, the district’s responsibility to provide the SRC to each campus for distribution to parents and guardians.

Distribution to Parents. Each campus must send a copy of the SRC to the parent or guardian of each of its students within six weeks of its release. Due to the timing of the release, districts have the flexibility to start the six weeks clock after the holiday break. The campus may provide the SRC in the same way that it sends other official communications to parents and guardians, such as including the SRC in a weekly folder sent home with each student, mailing it to the student's residence, providing it at a parent-teacher conference, or enclosing it with the student’s report card. Districts may distribute the SRC electronically if they can ensure that parents and guardians are notified that the SRC is available and that they are able to access it. A campus or district must provide a printed copy (in color or black and white) to anyone who cannot access the electronic version.

Proposed Amendment to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State Plan

TEA will submit an amendment to adjust the Closing the Gaps domain graduation rate methodology used in the academic accountability system, as well as the methodology used to identify schools for support and improvement.

For additional information, please see the December 19, 2019 To the Administrator Addressed letter.

TSDS PEIMS Fall Resubmission

January 16, 2020, is the resubmission due date for local education agencies (LEAs) to make corrections to data submitted for the PEIMS Fall Submission (Submission 1). LEAs are not required to send a resubmission of PEIMS data. The period between the first submission (December 5, 2019) and the resubmission deadline is an extension provided to all LEAs to review their original submission for any errors and make corrections.

If an LEA does not submit corrections during the resubmission window, or if the data is not free of fatal errors, TEA will use the PEIMS data sent for the first submission. Immediately following the closure of a collection, the data is loaded to TEA databases and made available to agency staff for state and federal accountability and reporting.

As the resubmission deadline approaches, it is a good time for districts to review local data submission procedures to confirm clean and accurate data were submitted during the fall collection. Accurate and timely data are the cornerstone of a fair and reliable accountability system. As such, Performance Reporting staff has made targeted efforts to stress the importance of quality TSDS PEIMS data submissions. TSDS PEIMS data is used throughout the A–F accountability system and in reports produced by Performance Reporting.

Local Accountability System

TEA will offer region-specific webinars beginning in February through early March. The hour-long webinar will introduce district responsibilities, statute requirements, local accountability system plan development, how to get started, and more! Time will also be allotted for participant questions.

Interested participants need to attend only a single webinar. Multiple dates and times are offered to allow participants flexibility and choice when registering for a region-specific webinar. Districts are encouraged to register for a webinar associated with their education service center to facilitate communication among districts within a region.

Please reach out to the local accountability system team at LAS@tea.texas.gov, call (512) 463-9704, or check the website if you have questions.

Assessment Scoring and Reporting

Reports for the December 2019 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR^®) EOC administration are scheduled to be posted by Friday, January 17. STAAR Report Cards, rosters, summary reports, and data files can be accessed through the STAAR Assessment Management System. The raw score to scale score conversion tables will be posted here. Results for this administration will be posted in the Student Portal and the Teacher Portal by January 20, 2020.

Reminder: The STAAR Report Cards for the December 2019 EOC administration will be available online only. No printed copies will be sent.

To ensure that state and federal reporting of assessment data is delivered error-free, accurate and consistent records must be maintained for all students who take the STAAR. The first and last name, PEIMS ID number, and date of birth indicated on a student’s answer document or online testing record are used to match that student’s test information to his or her records in the STAAR Assessment Management System. Districts are responsible for resolving inconsistent student information, missing student information, and mismatches between the most recently submitted answer document and records in the STAAR Assessment Management System. The window for resolving data problems for the December 2019 STAAR EOC administration opened on December 17, 2019. All resolutions must be completed by January 24, 2020, to be reflected in the final region and state reports.

Districts may continue to resolve student data problems for up to one year after each test administration. Districts that resolve problems after the January 24, 2020, deadline will receive updated STAAR Report Cards and data files, but changes will not be reflected in statewide reports.

For questions or help with accessing and interpreting STAAR, STAAR Alternate 2, TELPAS, and TELPAS Alternate results, districts and parents can email assessment.reporting@tea.texas.gov or call (512) 463-9704.

This Week’s FAQ

Regarding the proposed amendment to the graduation rate methodology used in the Closing the Gaps domain, will student groups be required to show growth even after meeting the 94.0 percent long-term target?

No, any student group with a graduation rate at or above 94.0 percent would meet the requirement as mentioned in step 1. Steps 2–4 would only apply if the student group did not meet the 94.0 percent long-term target. The following graduation rate flowchart summarizes the proposed graduation rate methodology. 

Accountability Winter/Spring Learning Webinars

Thank you to everyone who participated in our learning webinar series in 2019. Performance Reporting is happy to announce the continuation of our learning webinar series beginning in February. These presentations will review the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) data download, the identification of schools for improvement, and the College, Career, or Military Readiness Outcomes Bonus. This series is designed for audiences who are not familiar with the topics or need training on the most crucial components.

All webinars are offered through Zoom, a free video conference service. You can sign up using a Zoom, Google, or Facebook login. If you don't have an account, you can sign up for free.

If you were unable to participate in a webinar, you can view archived recordings at this link.

Accountability Winter/Spring Learning Webinar Dates

Utilizing the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) Data Download—February 7, 2020 at 1:00 pm 

Understanding the Identification of Schools for Improvement—March 10, 2020 at 1:00 pm 

Understanding the College, Career, or Military Readiness (CCMR) Outcomes Bonus —May 8, 2020 at 1:00 pm 

Employment Opportunity in Performance Reporting

The Performance Reporting Division is looking for someone to join our team. Interested and qualified candidates can apply for the following positions:

Accountability Policy Specialist

The Accountability Policy Specialist reports to the Manager of Policy and Communications in the Performance Reporting Division. This position will support TEA’s strategic priority of improving low-performing schools by providing support to local education agencies. The Accountability Policy Specialist will oversee the development and the adoption of administrative rules that govern the state academic accountability system and analyze proposed legislation related to academic accountability. This position will assist with outreach and training to ensure that ESCs, district staff, and other stakeholders understand and benefit from the accountability system. The Accountability Policy Specialist will work under limited supervision, with considerable latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment.

SAS Programmer/Data Analyst (Programmer III)

Performance Reporting is hiring one SAS Programmer/Data Analyst. This role will perform highly complex SAS and computer programming work in support of the state and federal accountability system. The Programmer III works under limited supervision, with considerable latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment.

Performance Reporting Calendar

January—2019 TAPR advanced data downloads are released

January 20—TEA closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

 

Contact Information
Texas Education Agency
Performance Reporting Division
(512) 463-9704
performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov