Teacher incentive pay plan
The District Awards for Teacher Excellence (DATE) incentive grant program is open to all campuses and will be fully implemented in the 2008-09 school year (see Incentive Pay for more information).
Post-secondary success
A new measure of progress toward preparation for post-secondary success will be included in the Academic Excellence Indicator System by the 2008-09 school year.
End-of-course (EOC) exams
Beginning with 9th grade students in the 2011-12 school year, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests will be phased out at the high school level and replaced with 12 EOC exams. TAKS testing for grades 3-8 will continue.
Recent legislation requires that in order to graduate in the recommended and advanced high school programs, 9th grade students in the 2011-12 school year and thereafter must earn a cumulative score within each of the four core subject areas (English language arts, math, science and social studies) equal to earning an average grade of 70 on each exam. Students in the minimum high school program must also earn a cumulative score within each of the four core subject areas equal to earning a grade of 70 on each exam in order to graduate, but will only be required to take the EOC exams for courses required by the minimum high school program. Students scoring below 70 will receive accelerated instruction and have the opportunity to be re-tested. Students must score at least 60 on an individual test in order to count the score toward the cumulative number. The score a student achieves on the EOC exam will be worth 15% of the student’s overall grade for that course.
If a school district finds that a student, on completion of grade 11, is unlikely to achieve the required cumulative score, the district must require the student to take the corresponding content-area college preparation course, if available, and the EOC exam for that course. The EOC exam would be scored on a scale of 40 points, and those points could be added to the cumulative score. TEA will adopt EOC exams for each of the college preparation courses necessary under this requirement.
The commissioner of education must determine a method by which a student’s satisfactory performance on Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Scholastic Assessment tests or other rigorous tests can be substituted for an EOC exam and used toward the cumulative points required to graduate.
Limits on field testing
TEA must conduct separate field testing of existing tests no more than once every other year effective with the 2008-09 school year. TEA must notify each school district before the beginning of the school year of any required participation in field testing. Additionally, TEA is required to conduct a study of the sample size and sample procedures used in field testing and the feasibility of conducting stand-alone field testing in the fall of the school year, with a report on the results due by Dec. 1, 2008.
State accountability system
The Select Committee on Public School Accountability was established to review the accountability system and make recommendations regarding how the system should be structured. The Legislature will be required to adopt a new public accountability system aligned with the new assessments by Sept. 1, 2011.
Elective Bible courses
Recently passed legislation requires school districts to offer an elective course on the Old and New Testaments to students in grade 9 and above beginning with the 2009-10 school year. The course is added to the required curriculum as an enrichment course.
Parenting and paternity awareness program
School districts must offer a parenting and paternity awareness program to be used in the district’s high school health curriculum beginning in the 2008-09 school year, if such a program is not already available. The program must address parenting skills and responsibilities, including child support; relationship skills, including marriage preparation; and prevention of family violence.
Career and technical education
A panel was established to review the career and technical education curriculum and to make recommendations to the SBOE by Nov. 1, 2008, regarding increasing the rigor of, and participation in, career and technical education. The SBOE shall revise the career and technical education TEKS accordingly by Sept. 1, 2009, and schools shall implement the new curriculum in the 2010-11 school year.
College credit
Each district must implement a program by fall 2008 in which students may earn the equivalent of 12 semester credit hours of college credit in high school.
College readiness
By Sept. 1, 2011, the vertical teams established by the commissioner of education will recommend college-readiness standards and expectations to address what students must know and be able to do to succeed in entry-level courses in higher education, evaluate whether current high school curriculum requirements successfully prepare students for college-level course work, develop instructional strategies for teaching courses in high school to prepare students for college success, and jointly develop English language arts, math, science and social studies courses to be offered by fall 2009 to students who need additional assistance in preparing for college success.
High school allotment
This program provides $275 per student in grades 9-12 for high school reforms such as college-readiness programs, advanced academic courses and the four-by-four curriculum. Starting in the 2008-09 school year, a school district can use these funds for grades 6-12 if the district is rated exceptional under the “measure of progress toward post-secondary success” indicator, and if the district’s completion rates meet or exceed those needed for an exemplary rating. |
