LASO Cycle 2

Milestones

Reminder: HQIM Learning Labs 

Sign up to visit one an Innovator Learning Lab! Learning Labs provide you an opportunity to visit an Innovator district to see students engaged with rigorous, grade level content in real time and learn what planning happens in the background to implement HQIM effectively. HQIM Learning Labs will be hosted in fall 2024 and spring 2025. The Innovator Website has instructions with how to request a visit!  

Past Due: Roadmap Planning Tool

Milestone date was 8/16. If you need an extension, ask your AP to fill out the extension request on the deliverable survey. 

Reminders & Next Steps

Community of Practice

CoPs are an essential time for district leaders engaged in the Strong Foundations Planning grant to come together to share best practices and challenges. You won’t want to miss our spotlight districts, Stafford MSD & Borger ISD talk about their experiences in the Strong Foundations Planning grant! A reminder that attendance for at least one district leader is required at monthly Community of Practice meetings. There are two options for attendance:

• Thursday, September 19 at 11:00am (for districts with 800 or less students) - Meeting Registration - Zoom
• Friday, September 20 at 9:00am (for districts with over 800 students) - Meeting Registration - Zoom 

Make-up any missed CoPs by following the instructions on the CoP Make-up Form. 

Action Items

• PAST DUE: SFI Contact Form
  • Complete the SFI Contact Form to create a roster for all participants at your LEA.
• PAST DUE: HQIM Implementation Goals and Progress Monitoring Plan
  • Submit completed plan to your approved provider. 
• PAST DUE: Action Plan 1: Creating Conditions for Success
  •  Submit completed action plan to your approved provider.  
• Due Friday, September 13: Submit SFI Pre-Implementation Survey
  • See more information in the Reminders and Next Steps section. 
• Professional Learning and Flexible Supports 
  • Plan with your approved provider (Product Advisor) for the delivery of professional learning and flexible supports for district and school leaders, coaches, and teachers.  
• Collaborate with Implementation Advisor
  • Collaborate with your approved provider to receive support for developing upcoming action plans, to schedule school-based Learning Walks, and for on-going leadership coaching.
  • Submit completed Action Plans to your approved provider (Implementation Advisor) by the date agreed upon. 
• Learning Walks: Learning Walks are observations conducted by leadership teams that focus on systems-level implementation to identify patterns and trends that inform system-level change management.
  • Learning Walk Resources:
    • Implementation Advisor Quarterly Walkthrough Tool
    • HQIM Implementation Data Collection Tool
    • The Learning Walks Companion Guide provides guidance, questions, and action strategies to support productive and impactful learning walk cycles

Reminders and Next Steps 

SFI Pre-Implementation Survey

To better understand your experiences, the TEA team will be asking every participant from your LEA to complete 5 surveys this year. These surveys should take participants about 10-15 minutes to complete.

• Action required: Please send the appropriate links to the members of your team who should complete them. 
  • Teacher pre-implementation survey
  • Coach pre-implementation survey
  • Leader pre-implementation survey
• Note: participants who were on the roster you submitted to TEA have already received communications from the Strong Foundation Implementation (SFI) Team via Qualtrics with a direct link to the survey on August 12. They do not need to take the survey again.  
• Survey participation is a crucial element of program success and continuous improvement of the grant, please ensure noreply@tea.texas.gov is whitelisted for all participants at your LEA/schools. Doing so prevents important SFI emails from being marked as spam and being routed to your junk folder. Read more about how to whitelist email addresses.

Reminder: Upcoming Leader Community of Practice (CoP) Opportunities 

The SFI Implementation Team is excited to announce the opportunity to join a community of practice for leaders to collaborate, reflect, and share experiences. Sign up for Leader CoP Sessions and please invite other district and school leaders who would like to participate. 

• The SFI Executive Leader CoP sessions provide collaborative learning for district executive leaders implementing HQIM. It is a platform for leaders to engage in short bouts of new learning from a featured keynote speaker, while also experiencing focused small-group discussions.
• Executive Leader CoP Sessions
  • October 10, 2024, 9:00–10:30 a.m. - Communicating the Instructional Vision to Stakeholders
  • January 9, 2025, 9:00–10:30 a.m. - Aligning Educator Experience, Selection, Support, and Collaboration to HQIM
  • March 13, 2025, 9:00–10:30 a.m. - Focusing on Continuous Improvement and Sustaining Implementation 
• The SFI School Leader CoP sessions allow school and program leaders to continuously improve HQIM practices on campus while building their capacity as instructional leaders. Leaders who attend these sessions will foster resiliency in their schools as they are equipped to support the strong continued use of HQIM for students. Each session will be delivered twice to provide flexibility in the leaders’ attendance.
• School Leader CoP Sessions:
  • September 17 and 19, 2024, 10:00–11:30 a.m. - Campus-Based Instructional Coherence and Instructional Management
  • November 5 and 8, 2024, 10:00–11:30 a.m. - Instructional Leadership in HQIM Implementation
  • February 18 and 20, 2025, 10:00–11:30 a.m. - Sustaining the Change and Synthesizing the Learning 

Reminder: HQIM Learning Labs 

Sign up to visit one an Innovator Learning Lab! Learning Labs provide you an opportunity to visit an Innovator district to see students engaged with rigorous, grade level content in real time and learn what planning happens in the background to implement HQIM effectively. HQIM Learning Labs will be hosted in fall 2024 and spring 2025. The Innovator Website has instructions with how to request a visit.

Program Updates

The TLG awards have been extended until June 30 (previously April 30) to give LEAs more time to use their funds. This means there are two more months in the grant cycle to purchase devices or internet access. The extension benefits the students by providing them with more time to access digital content for the rest of the school year.

Engagement Opportunities

We value our partners in the field and want to stay connected! Whether it’s through site visits, review opportunities, or focus groups, we offer various ways for you to connect with TEA and contribute to the field of education. If you are interested in participating in engagement opportunities, fill out our interest form!

Program Updates

Program Updates

Total Funding Available : $25 Million​                           

Range of Award​: In-Kind Supports Only​

Total Grantees​: 200+ LEAs ​

Timeline​: Ready to Launch for ​Spring of 23-24; Must start by Fall of 24-25              

Next Steps

• Fall Kickoff Webinar (optional)
  • September 12th | 11:00-12:00 P.M. CST
  • Register for Fall Kickoff Webinar
• Fall Kickoff Office Hours (optional)
  • September 19th | 10:00-11:00 A.M. CST
  • Meeting link for Fall Kickoff Office Hours
• Submit Sample Schedules (via Google Form emailed to main POC)
  • Due no later than 30 days after start date. (required)​
• Data Monitoring Plan (via Google Form emailed to main POC)
  • Due no later than 30 days after start date. (required)
• All licenses must be accessed by 10/31/24
  • May result in a reduction in non-accessed licenses or possible removal from the provider selected if zero access has occurred.

Program Updates

TEA's first APCSP Grantee Quarterly Convening

This first convening is scheduled for March 28, 1PM CST. Convening attendance is required for at least one person from each grant-awarded district. The meeting will be to support specific assurances including the naming of a program management Point Person for the grant, the completion of the eGrants process, the submission of a budget, the APCSP course description, and identifying strategies that worked and those that did not. We will discuss district goals, where we are now, and strategies to attain our goals. Convenings will always include the sharing of challenges, their solutions, and celebrations. Register for convening here!

Next Steps

AP CSP Course Description

Write a District Course Catalog description for 2024-2025.

Create a College Board Account

The AP CSP course was developed by the College Board to help meet an imminent need for a computer science prepared workforce.

To offer the AP CSP course, a school must have staff to manage the AP program for the school or district, at least one administrator and one teacher.

• School administrators must have an account to verify and approve teachers, access the course approval process through the AP Audit, and order AP exams.
• Teachers must have an account with the College Board to access the course approval process through the AP Audit, submit a syllabus, and gain access to course resources including daily videos, ppt presentations, content reviews, practice exams, and question banks.
• Students must have an account to access AP Classroom and AP CSP resources, take practice exams and complete teacher assignments. The College Board student account also provides access to scholarship information and additional college and career planning tools and resources.

Program Updates

Attend the Make-up Grant Kick-Off Call  

Date: March 20, 2024, at 1:00 PM CT

If a representative from your LEA was unable to make the grant kick-off call on March 11th, please register for the make-up call scheduled for March 20th at 1:00 PM.

Visit and bookmark the ADSY SLA Hub 

On the ADSY SLA hub, you’ll find all things related to grant requirements, program design resources, and your LEA’s ADSY SLA folder with a copy of your Strategic Plan for completion by the May 15th deadline.

Complete the ADSY SLA Contact Survey 

Complete the ADSY SLA contact survey to update information for the point of contact serving as the ADSY Summer Learning Accelerator Project Manager for the district and include any additional personnel that will be involved in the work. 

Optional: Attend Office Hours

Attending office hours is a great way to receive additional support while planning for your LEAs first ADSY SLA summer program!

Available Dates:

• Friday, April 5 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
• Friday, April 19 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
• Thursday, May 2 11:00 AM- 12:00 PM

Optional: Grant Supports | Design and Implementation Partner/ Technical Assistance

• Recording and Slides from the Vendor Fair of ADSY-Approved Vendors 
• If your LEA is interested in partnering with a technical assistance provider to assist in planning your summer program, we suggest contacting your chosen TA Provider from the list promptly.
• For the recording- you can begin the Vendor Presentation at 5:16.

Take note:

The Design and Implementation Partner selected will support LEAs in creating the ADSY SLA summer program Strategic Plan to meet goals and ensure high-quality summer programming at the designated PK-5 campuses. As your LEA deliberates on selecting a Design and Implementation Partner, we urge the district summer planning team to contemplate the specific areas of the Summer Learning Framework where they require support and to determine which D&I Partner will assist in achieving your summer program goals.   

Program Updates

Register for the CCRSM Leadership Summit

CCRSM Leadership Summit: This exciting annual event will convene the statewide CCRSM network. Join ECHS and P-TECH districts, campuses and their partners to collaborate with peers on innovative ideas as we elevate best practices across the CCRSM Network. We hope to see you this coming June 12th -14th, 2024 in Corpus Christi! Register Today!

Timely Topics

Outcomes-Based Measures for the 24 – 25 Program Application Cycle 

The refreshed ECHS Blueprint and P-TECH Blueprint were released in June 2023 and introduced the revised path to designation and updated CCRSM outcomes-based measures (OBM). To receive the designated status, programs with more than five years of operation must meet the revised OBMs.

Program Updates

Register for the CCRSM Leadership Summit

CCRSM Leadership Summit: This exciting annual event will convene the statewide CCRSM network. Join ECHS and P-TECH districts, campuses and their partners to collaborate with peers on innovative ideas as we elevate best practices across the CCRSM Network. We hope to see you this coming June 12th -14th, 2024 in Corpus Christi! Register Today!

Timely Topics

Outcomes-Based Measures for the 24 – 25 Program Application Cycle 

The refreshed ECHS Blueprint and P-TECH Blueprint were released in June 2023 and introduced the revised path to designation and updated CCRSM outcomes-based measures (OBM). To receive the designated status, programs with more than five years of operation must meet the revised OBMs.

Early College High School and Senate Bill 1887

During the 88th Legislative Session, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 8, which aims to improve the transferability and applicability of college credits across institutions. SB 8 amends the definition of Early College High School (ECHS) programs in Texas Education Code (TEC) §29.908 and creates the Texas Direct Degree.

Previous statute required ECHS programs to allow students the opportunity to earn a high school diploma and either an associate degree or at least 60 hours towards a baccalaureate degree. SB 1887 requires that ECHS students have the opportunity to earn either an applied or an academic associate degree. Existing ECHS programs are not required to change to their course offerings or pathway, if the ECHS is complying with the requirements that students have the opportunity to earn an associate degree.

Separately, SB 1887 creates the Texas Direct Associate Degree, which is awarded to students who complete the Texas Core Curriculum and one of the seven identified THECB fields of study. The Texas Direct degree allows students to transfer their courses as a block directly to their selected major. ECHS programs are not required to offer the Texas Direct Degree.

Program Updates

SAF Cycle 7 (LASO) Continuation Grant  

To receive SAF Cycle 7 (LASO) Continuation funding, eligible applicants must complete the application for either the 2024-2026 School Action Fund Continuation grant (original Planning grant recipients) or the 2024-2025 School Action Fund Implementation Continuation grant (original Implementation grant awardees).  

1) On the TEA Grant Opportunities website, search for the applicable School Action Fund grant (see above) in the Application Name field. Complete parts 1 (PDF) and part 2 (Excel) of the application.   

2) E-mail completed, signed applications to grantapplications@tea.texas.gov by 5:00 p.m. CT, May 28, 2024.  

Both Application Part 1 (PDF) and Application Part 2 (Excel) are required when submitting. The application may be signed with a digital ID, or it may be signed by hand and scanned. Then submit via email. 

Training Opportunities

Upcoming TEA Kindergarten–12 STEM Professional Development Dates

Leadership Training

This immersive professional development prepares campus administrators STEM leaders to shape, support, and sustain STEM initiatives within their district or campus. Participants will learn by doing, engaging directly in the instructional approaches most critical to the STEM endeavor: project-based learning, design-based challenges, and computational thinking. Working backward from a model vision for STEM education, the session culminates with leaders collaboratively planning for real-life implementation of STEM programming.  

• Region 13: May 30–31, 2024 Registration
• Region 10: June 11–12, 2024 Registration
• Region 15: June 17, 2024 Registration

Teacher Training 

This professional development prepares teachers for successful implementation of STEM instruction in their classrooms by immersing teachers directly in the role of STEM learner, engaging first-hand in high-impact STEM practices such as project-based learning, design-based challenges, and computational thinking. To better understand the role STEM plays in education, educators will make connections between the Texas STEM framework, STEM fluency skills, and contemporary workforce demands. Most importantly, educators will begin embedding these STEM strategies into what matters most—their daily work with students. 

• Region 17: June 13–14, 2024 Registration
• Region 13: June 12–14, 2024 Registration