Information for Districts, Campuses, and Charter Schools with Areas of Need Identified through the 2018 State and Federal Accountability System

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ACTION REQUIRED

August 17, 2018

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

SUBJECT: Information for Districts, Campuses, and Charter Schools with Areas of Need Identified through the 2018 State and Federal Accountability System

The purpose of this correspondence is to provide information regarding requirements under Texas Education Code (TEC) Chapters 39 and §39A and agency resources to support the improvement of campus performance.
 

Identification for Interventions

The state accountability system evaluates performance according to three domains, student achievement, school progress, and closing the gaps, which are explained in the 2018 Accountability Manual. Districts or campuses must engage in the continuous improvement process if:  

• a local educational agency (LEA), including those evaluated under alternative education accountability, was assigned an overall rating of D or F or received a rating of a D or F in any domain;
• a campus, including alternative education campuses, was assigned rating of Improvement Required (IR) for overall performance;
• a campus was identified as in need of Comprehensive Support; or
• a district, campus, or charter school has an appeal of a 2018 accountability rating pending, (See State Accountability Rating Appeals).

For questions related to the rating of campuses and districts, please contact the Department of Performance Reporting at (512) 463-9704 or performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov.

Intervention Requirements

Requirements for Districts with an Overall Rating of F
Districts that are rated F in 2018 must determine who will serve as the District Coordinator of School Improvement (DCSI), and who will serve on the district leadership team (DLT). The DCSI’s contact information needs to be created or updated in the contacts tab of Intervention, Stage and Activity Manager (ISAM) application and the superintendent’s attestation statement regarding the DCSI’s qualifications must be submitted by August 31, 2018.

The DCSI and DLT will collaboratively engage in the continuous improvement process and submit the resulting targeted improvement plan and progress reports to the agency.

Intervention requirements differ for districts and charter schools with a single campus (single-campus districts) and for districts and charter schools with more than one campus (multi-campus districts).  Single-campus districts will implement the interventions required for an IR campus as noted in the section below, while multi-campus districts will engage in the district-level interventions described in this section.
Requirements for Districts with an Overall Rating of D or F in any Domain
Districts with an overall rating of a D or that receive a rating of a D or F in any domain will develop and   implement a targeted improvement plan approved by the board of trustees of the district per TEC §39.101. Districts will engage in the continuous improvement process to develop the targeted improvement plan and retain the plan locally. Although no submissions or progress reporting are specified now, the TEA may request the submission of the targeted improvement plan that contains these intervention activities.

Requirements for all campuses rated Improvement Required (IR)
Per Title 19 of the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §97.1063 and TEC §39A.052, a campus identified as IR shall:

• identify members of the campus intervention team (CIT), which is composed of the professional service provider (PSP) and district coordinator of school improvement (DCSI);
• identify members of the campus leadership team (CLT); and
• complete required trainings and interventions as outlined in the Intervention Calendars posted on the Division of School Improvement webpage.

Collaboratively, the CIT and the CLT will perform the intervention duties reflected in statute, which include engaging in the continuous improvement process evidenced by a targeted improvement plan and progress reports submitted to the agency.

After carefully reviewing the job descriptions for the PSP and DCSI, the district or charter school may submit names of the recommended DCSI and PSP for each IR campus to TEA. The DCSI’s contact information needs to be created or updated in the contacts tab of ISAM and the superintendent’s attestation statement regarding the DCSI’s qualifications must be submitted by August 31, 2018.

Requirements for campuses Identified for Comprehensive Support
Districts that have campuses that have been identified for Comprehensive Support will name a DCSI and PSP and engage in the continuous improvement process. Intervention activities include ESC continuous improvement training, PSP submissions, mid-year funding report (Title I campuses only), and development of a targeted improvement plan with progress reports submitted to the agency. If a campus is identified as both IR and Comprehensive Support, please follow the intervention requirements for IR.

Requirements for campuses Identified for Targeted Support
Campuses will not be identified for Targeted Support until 2019.

Requirements for campuses Identified for Additional Targeted Support
Districts that have campuses that have been identified for Additional Targeted Support will engage in the continuous improvement process to address the Closing the Gaps Domain indicator(s) that led to the identification. The intervention activities that are designed to address the indicator(s) should be included in the campus’ TEC §11.252 improvement plan. Although no submissions or progress reporting are specified now, the TEA may request the submission of the campus TEC §11.252 plan that contains these intervention activities.

Performance-Based Monitoring Analysis System (PBMAS)

Additional communication regarding PBMAS will be sent at a later date. Districts and charter schools staged for PBMAS will be required to designate a DCSI, establish a DLT to engage in the continuous improvement framework, and develop improvement strategies for implementation in the district targeted improvement plan to address the areas of low performance identified in the PBMAS report.

Additional Resources, Training, and Technical Assistance

We encourage you to work toward closely with your regional ESC for technical assistance, resources, guidance, and training. Various regions of the state will address school improvement needs using vetted partners and/or regionally developed pilot programs. If applicable, more information will be provided regionally.

Additional information regarding accountability, intervention requirements, and resources are found on the Division of School Improvement webpage.

For further questions related to this school improvement communication, please contact Lizette Ridgeway in the Division of School Improvement at SIDivision@tea.texas.gov or 512-463-5226.

Sincerely,

C. Lizette Ridgeway
Director, Division of School Improvement Texas Education Agency

CLR/sh