Action Required: 2024 Notification of Accountability Pairing Requirements

To the Superintendent Addressed: 

The 2024 campus pairing registration for state academic accountability is now open. It closes at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 3, 2024.  

All campuses serving prekindergarten through grade 12 must receive an academic accountability rating. Campuses that do not serve any grade level in which STAAR assessments are administered are paired with another campus in the same district or the district itself for accountability purposes. A campus may pair with its district and be evaluated on the district’s results.  

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) analyzes TSDS PEIMS fall enrollment data to determine which campuses need to be paired. Campuses that serve only grades not tested on the STAAR (i.e., PK, K, grade 1, or grade 2) need to be paired with either another campus in the district or the district itself.

Districts may use the prior-year pairing relationship or select a new relationship by completing the pairing form in the TEA Login (TEAL) Accountability application. If a district does not indicate a pairing preference, pairing decisions will be made by TEA. For campuses that have been paired in the past, staff assumes that the prior pairing relationship still applies. For campuses in need of pairing for the first time, pairing selections should be based on the guidelines below. 

Charter school campuses and alternative education campuses (AECs) registered for evaluation by alternative education accountability (AEA) provisions are not paired with another campus. Likewise, traditional campuses are not paired with AECs. 

Paired data are not used for distinction designations indicators; therefore, paired campuses cannot earn distinction designations. 

Campus Pairing Guidelines 

• Campuses that are paired should have a “feeder” relationship and serve students in contiguous grades. For example, a kindergarten (K) through grade 2 campus should be paired with the campus that serves grade 3 in which its students will be enrolled following grade 2.  
• When a campus being paired is a PK or K campus with a “feeder” relationship to a campus that also requires a pairing (e.g., a grade 1-2 campus), both campuses should pair with the same campuses that serve grades 3 in which their students will be enrolled following grade 2.  
• A campus may be paired with its district instead of with another campus. This option is suggested for cases in which the campus has no clear relationship with another campus in the district. A campus paired with its district is assigned the same rating as the district. Note the pairing with a district is not required; districts may select another campus for pairing.  
• Multiple pairings are possible. If several K-2 campuses feed the same 3-5 campuses, all the K-2 campuses may pair with that 3-5 campus.  
• Districts may change pairings from year to year. Any changes should, however, be based on establishing the most appropriate pairing relationship. For example, a change in attendance zones that affects feeder patterns may cause a district to change pairing. A change in pairing relationship does not change accountability ratings assigned in previous years to either campus.  
• Alternative Education Accountability (AEA) campuses cannot be selected as a campus paired with. 

How to Complete the Pairing Process 

• Log on to TEAL at https://tealprod.tea.state.tx.us/.
• If you have access to TEAL Accountability, you will see Accountability listed as one of the web applications.
• Click the Performance Reporting tab, Academic Accountability, then Campus Pairing.
  • If Pairing Information is Correct: If a campus was paired in 2023, the campus or district to which it was paired will be shown in the Paired With box. If you do not need to make any changes, simply click Submit.
  • If Pairing Information Needs to be Updated: If a pairing relationship needs to be changed, click the drop-down menu shown inside the Paired With box. All the campuses in your district, as well as the district itself, will be listed. Please review the pairing guidelines and make the appropriate selection. Once you have made your selection, click Submit.
  • If New Pairing Information is Required: Click the drop-down menu shown inside the Paired With box. All the campuses in your district, as well as the district itself, will be listed. Please review the pairing guidelines above and make the appropriate selection. Once you have made your selection, click Submit.

If you have questions regarding pairing, see Chapter 7 of the Preliminary 2024 Accountability Manual or contact the Performance Reporting Division at (512) 463-9704 or performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov.

Thank you.