Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) Application and Information

House Bill (HB) 3 was passed by the 86^th Texas Legislature and established district local optional teacher designation systems and the Teacher Incentive Allotment.  On Monday, March 30, 2020, the agency will release information related to district designation systems.  The information can be found on www.tea.texas.gov/TIA. 

In addition to the upcoming information, updated National Board information, the 2019-2020 list of rural campuses, and a list of districts that submitted an LOI for TIA can be found on www.tea.texas.gov/TIA. 

Performance Standards

To implement the Teacher Incentive Allotment, House Bill 3 required the setting of “performance and validity standards” to ensure that the identification of highly effective teachers under the three designation categories – Master, Exemplary, and Recognized – yield reliable and comparable results across the state.  

All cohort applicants will be expected to use performance standards along with district teacher observation and student growth data to determine which teachers qualify for designations.  Part of the data validation process will include a review of the accuracy of how district systems align their designations to the statewide performance standards.  

District Designation System Application

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is excited to announce the application posting for District Local Designation Systems for Cohorts A, B, and C on www.tea.texas.gov/TIA.  If approved, districts will be able to designate teachers as Recognized, Exemplary, or Master.  Districts that choose to participate are charged with developing local teacher designation systems that measure teacher effectiveness based, at a minimum, on both teacher observation and student growth data.  Districts that are approved through the system application process will be required to undergo data validation, which will be conducted by Texas Tech University, before final approval is issued. 

The following will post on March 30^th:

• System application for Cohort A
• System application for Cohort B
• System application for Cohort C
• Data submission directions for Cohort A
• Application instruction manual by cohort
• System approval rubric
• Cohort C teacher survey directions

In response to school closures, application timelines for Cohort A have been extended and the Cohort C teacher survey is optional for applicants.  Visit www.tea.texas.gov/TIA for more details. 

Questions and Contact:

If you have any questions about the upcoming posted documents or general questions, please reach out to the Teacher Incentive Allotment team at tia@tea.texas.gov.