A look ahead: programs for 2010 and beyond

State accountability system

Many major revisions to the state accountability system will be implemented in the 2011-12 school year. Most changes center on the incorporation of college readiness standards, graduation requirements, testing and sanctions/interventions.

New state assessments

Beginning in the 2011-12 school year, a new generation of student tests will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) will be used for the 12 end-of-course (EOC)
assessments mandated by SB 1031 in 2007 and the new grade 3-8 assessments mandated by HB 3 in the 2009 legislative session. The new tests will be significantly more rigorous than previous tests and will measure a student’s performance and academic growth.

Students who are 9th graders in the 2011-12 school year will be the first class required to meet EOC testing requirements in order to graduate. These testing requirements include achieving a cumulative score determined by the commissioner of education
on all EOC exams administered to the student in a subject area. Additionally, students in the recommended high school program must pass the Algebra II and English Language Arts III EOC exams, with the passing standard set by the commissioner. The score a student achieves on each EOC exam will be worth 15 percent of the student’s overall grade for that course.

Student assessment data portal

TEA is required to establish a student assessment data portal for use by school districts, teachers, parents, students and public institutions of higher education. The estimated completion date is fall 2011.

Limits on testing

Separate field testing of existing tests can be conducted no more than once every other year. TEA must notify each school district before the beginning of the school year of any required participation in field testing. During the 2009-10 school year,
TEA collected data through the administration of EOC field tests to a sufficiently large sample of students throughout the state for the purpose of setting performance standards for the EOC exams. Additionally, districts are prohibited from administering
any locally required test designed to prepare students for state-administered tests on more than 10 percent of instructional days; campus site-based decision making committees may approve an even lower percentage of days.

Career and technical education

A panel established in 2007 to review the career and technical education curriculum made recommendations to the State Board of Education regarding streamlining the number of career and technical education courses as well as increasing the rigor of, and participation in, career and technical education. The SBOE revised the career and technical education TEKS accordingly, and schools must implement the new curriculum in the 2010-11 school year. Additionally, the SBOE approved certain rigorous career and technology courses to be used, after the completion of Algebra II and physics, to comply with math and science requirements of the recommended and distinguished high school programs.

Elective Bible courses

School districts are required to offer curriculum on the Old and New Testaments to students in grades K-12; a district could offer this information through an elective course for students in grade 9 and above, but is not required to do so. Districts may choose to incorporate this curriculum into an existing foundation class, in a manner similar to including economics instruction in a social studies course.

Parenting and paternity awareness program

School districts must offer an SBOE-developed parenting and paternity awareness program in the high school health curriculum and may also offer this program in middle or junior high school. The program must address parenting skills and responsibilities, including child support; relationship skills, including marriage
preparation; and prevention of family violence. A student under the age of 14 must receive parental permission to participate in the program. Please note that the Legislature and the SBOE removed health from the list of requirements under the three graduation programs. However, local school districts still retain the authority to require students to take health; if offered, it must include a parenting and paternity awareness component.

Electronic/open-source textbooks

In 2009, the Legislature passed two bills providing new options for selection of instructional materials and giving districts the flexibility to determine if their students need traditional hardbound textbooks or electronic instructional materials. HB 4294 required the commissioner of education to adopt a list of electronic textbooks and technological equipment that districts may purchase. Though these electronic textbooks must meet certain minimum requirements before placement on the commissioner’s list, there are few restrictions on a district’s ability to purchase once the textbooks are on the commissioner’s list. Prior to purchasing an electronic textbook, a district must first purchase a classroom set of SBOE-adopted materials. A classroom set is the total count of SBOE-adopted textbooks on the conforming or nonconforming list (including both print and electronic textbooks) necessary to provide one copy to each student during the class period. Under HB 2488, districts also may purchase state-developed open-source textbooks. Open-source textbooks are electronic textbooks that are available for download online at no charge to the student, with no requirement to purchase an unlock code, membership, or other access or user code. TEA is currently soliciting offers for state-developed open-source textbooks for Literature I-IV and English as a Second Language I and II, but no materials are available to purchase for fall 2010.

Project Share

TEA’s new online initiative, Project Share, launched its first phase in spring 2010 with online delivery and ongoing support of existing and new professional development for teachers. Project Share will provide an online venue for educators to collaborate,
share and tailor professional development to meet individual needs. Teachers will also be able to monitor student progress through assessment tools, archive course content and curriculum syllabi, and post individual content for students. In August 2010,
Project Share is scheduled to begin testing ePortfolios that will allow teachers to assess students using methods other than pencil/paper assessments by giving students the opportunity to showcase work representing a wider range of their capabilities. For more information, visit the TEA website.