Understanding the Texas Accountability System

1. Understanding the Texas Accountability System

2. Brief History 1979-2011 • 1979 Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) • 1985 Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) • 1990 Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). • 1998 Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) • 2003 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) • 2011 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or (STAAR)

3. AEIS System History • In the early 1980s, Governor Mark White appointed Ross Perot as the chair for the Select Committee on Public Education. This was the beginning the political movement of accountability in Texas. • Compete with other states academically. • Increase under represented populations at state universities. • Increase overall human capital in Texas to encourage businesses to come to Texas.

4. AEIS v. NCLB

5. Accountability

6. When subjects are evaluated? • Reading/ELA = Grades 3-11 • Writing = Grades 4, 7 • Social Studies = Grades 8, 10, 11 • Mathematics = Grades 3-11 • Science = Grades 5, 8, 10, 11

7. What populations are evaluated? • Performance is evaluated for All Students and the following student groups: • African American • Hispanic • White • Economically Disadvantaged • Why not Asians?

8. Minimum Size Requirements? • All Students. These results are always evaluated regardless of the number of examinees. • 30/50/10 • Fewer than 30 students tested… not evaluated. • Between 30 to 49 students and the student group comprises at least 10% of all students… evaluated. • More than 50 students tested… evaluated.

9. October Subset • For the TAKS, only the performance of students enrolled on the last day of October are considered in the ratings. • This is referred to as the accountability subset, “as of” date, October subset, PEIMS date or the mobility adjustment. • Campuses are held accountable only for those students reported to be enrolled at the campus in the fall and tested at the same campus in the second semester. • However, districts are held accountable for campus to campus transfers. If a student transfers out of district the district is relieved of the responsibility for that student.

10. Completion Rate (Grades 9-12) • Districts and campuses that have served grades 9 through 12 for five or more years. • Students who first attended grade 9 in the 2004-05 school year and have completed or are continuing their education four years later. • “04-05 Cohort” • To count as a "completer" a student must have received a high school diploma with his/her class (or earlier) or have re-enrolled in the fall the following year. • Exemplary – 95.0% • Recognized – 85.0% • Academically Acceptable –75.0%

11. Dropout Rate (Grades 7 and 8) • The dropout rate is used to evaluate campuses and districts with students in grades 7 and/or 8. • This is a one-year measure, calculated by summing the number of dropouts across the two grades. • The standard for the Annual Dropout Rate is 2.0% or less. • Any district or campus with a rate higher than 2.0% that does not demonstrate Required Improvement will be rated Academically Unacceptable.

12. The “Gates”

13. Required Improvement • Campuses and districts may achieve a higher rating using Required Improvement. • It can be applied to three base indicators – TAKS, Completion, and Dropout Rate – to raise a rating from Academically Unacceptable to Academically Acceptable or from Academically Acceptable to Recognized. • All calculations for Required Improvement are done automatically by TEA. • The campus or district must have shown enough improvement on last years measure to be able to meet the current years standard in two years.

14. Example • Perry Elementary school scored a 71% in the area of economically disadvantaged science in 2010. What would be the minimum they would have to score in 2011 in order to obtain the recognized standard by using required improvement? Actual Change = Performance in 2011 - Performance in 10 Required Improvement = Standard for 2011 – Performance in 10 2

15. Example • Perry Middle School scored a 71% in the area of economically disadvantaged science in 2010. What would be the minimum they would have to score in 2011 in order to obtain the recognized standard by using required improvement? Actual Change = X - 71 Required Improvement = 75 – 71 = 4 = 2 2 2 X = 73

16. Texas Projection Measure • The Texas Projection Measure (TPM) was new for 2009. • After Required Improvement has been evaluated, TPM is applied. • Estimate of whether a student is likely to pass a TAKS test in a future grade.

17. Exceptions • Campuses or districts may also be able to “gate up” one final time after being evaluated under Required Improvement and TPM. • The Exceptions Provision provides relief to larger campuses and districts with more diverse student populations who are evaluated on more measures. • Up to four Exceptions may be used to gate up to Acceptable, Recognized. • Only one exception may be used to gate up to Exemplary.