This Week in Performance Reporting: February 21, 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

Waiver Request for Accelerated Students

TEA requested a waiver from select statutes and regulations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, to broaden the advanced mathematics exception to include all middle school students administered end-of-course (EOC) assessments in mathematics, language arts, and science. This waiver requests that all middle school students enrolled in a high school level course be exempt from taking the grade level assessment in addition to the EOC assessment; thereby eliminating the double testing burden for accelerated students. As a reminder, the approval of this waiver would not exempt any sixth through eighth grade students enrolled in advanced courses from federal assessment requirements. However, it would align the assessment requirements with students’ instruction, where possible.  A copy of the waiver request is available on the TEA website at https://tea.texas.gov/about_tea/laws_and_rules/essa/every_student_succeeds_act/.

A proposed amendment to 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC), §101.3011, Implementation and Administration of Academic Content Area Assessment Instruments, will be published in April 2020. The proposed amendment will require, beginning in the 2020–21 school year, all students to be administered appropriate assessments to be used for federal accountability. This requirement includes administering an EOC assessment (not a grade-level assessment) to a middle school student who is completing instruction in the corresponding course. The EOC assessment may be used to fulfill the student’s graduation requirement and will be used for the campus’ and district’s federal accountability calculations. The proposed amendment would also require high school students who complete state testing requirements prior to high school to take once either the ACT or the SAT to fulfill federal testing requirements.  

Public Comment

TEA is accepting comments regarding this waiver request via email to performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov. The public comment period begins Friday, February 28, 2020, and ends Monday, March 30, 2020, at 5:00 PM (CT). Note that TEA will not respond to individual comments but will incorporate the comments as it is finalizing the waiver request before submission to the U.S. Department of Education.

Local Accountability System

TEA is offering region-specific webinars this month 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.

District timelines, including plan submission deadlines, are now posted on the local accountability website.

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

Raw score to scale score conversion tables for all state assessments are posted here. 

Parents can access their child’s assessment results in the Student Portal. Teachers and other authorized personnel can access student-level assessment results in the Teacher Portal. Assessment results at the campus/district/region/state level can be viewed in the Analytic Portal.

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

This Week’s FAQ

If a student transfers campuses/districts after meeting College Career or Military Readiness (CCMR) criteria, which campus/district receives the CCMR credit?

The district/campus from which the student graduates receives CCMR credit regardless of whether the student met the criteria while enrolled in that district/campus.

Accountability Winter/Spring Learning Webinars

The upcoming webinars will explain 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

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 

Performance Reporting Calendar

March 30 through April 10—2020 alternative education accountability registration 

April 27 through May 8—2020 pairing decisions submitted in TEAL

 

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