Final decisions on new state accountability system framework

The following is a description of the Commissioner’s final decisions on the new state A-F Accountability Framework.

Domain 1: Student Achievement

Elementary and Middle Schools

Indicators: Performance of all students on all STAAR subjects (including STAAR A, STAAR Alt 2) and performance on substitute assessments, results of which will be included in “Meets Grade Level” category.

English learners in their first year in U.S. schools are excluded from Student Achievement domain calculations unless they were administered STAAR Alternate 2. STAAR Alternate 2 assessments are included in all domains without regard to years in U.S. schools.

TEA is seeking a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education for ELs in their second year in U.S. schools — changes to the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) prevent the calculation of a reliable ELL progress measure in 2018. In 2019, ELs in their second year in U.S. schools will be included using an ELL progress measure.

Unschooled asylees, unschooled refugees, and students with interrupted formal education (SIFEs) are not included in state accountability until their sixth year of enrollment in U.S. schools.

Domain score calculation: Average of number/percent of students scoring Approaches, Meets and Masters. The average must be at least 60 in order to achieve an A. (The average of the three levels is very close to the percentage of students who achieve the Meets Grade Level standard. The Meets Grade Level standard equates to a 60 percent chance of completing one year of college without remediation which seems most appropriate in alignment with the Higher Education Coordinating Board’s goal of 60x30TX: By 2030, at least 60 percent of Texans ages 25–34 will have a certificate or degree.)

• 100% of Domain 1/Student Achievement score for elementary and middle schools based on the above calculation.
• 40% of Domain 1/Student Achievement score for high schools/districts based on the above calculation.

High Schools/School Districts

Indicators: STAAR (per above), graduation rates, and college/career/military readiness indicators.

For purposes of Domain 1 for the 2017-18 school year, the CCMR indicators are:

• Students who meet Reading/ELA and Math TSI standard on TSIA, ACT, SAT or Meet either Math or ELA TSI standard on TSIA, ACT, SAT, and complete and receive credit for college preparatory course in ELA or Math (as long as both Reading/ELA and Math are included)
• Students who earn at least a 3 on AP or at least a 4 on IB exams in any subject
• Students who earn three hours of dual-course credits in ELA or Mathematics or nine hours in any subject (includes technical courses)
• Students who enlist in the military (enlistment standard encompasses academic readiness (ASVAB), physical fitness, and character screening)
• Students who earn approved industry certification
• Students who are awarded an associate’s degree while in high school
• Graduates with Completed IEP and Workforce Readiness (special education students) (not required by HB 22)
• CTE coherent sequence coursework completion and at least one course aligned with approved industry-based certifications (one-half point credit) for those graduates not receiving industry-based certification* (not required by HB 22)

*only for graduates who meet no other CCMR indicator, during 2020-21; must receive credit for pathway of courses toward industry-based certification, completely discontinued starting in 2022

HB 22 also includes additional CCMR indicators for which feasible ways to define and include in the accountability system have yet to be determined by TEA; but which are planned to be included in the future. Those are:

• Students who are admitted to a postsecondary industry certification program
• Students who successfully meet the standards on a composite of indicators that indicate the student’s preparation to enroll and succeed, without remediation, in an entry-level general education course for a baccalaureate or associate degree
• Students who successfully complete an OnRamps dual enrollment course (plan to include in 2018-19 school year)

Computing CCMR indicators: Denominator comprising all annual graduates; numerator comprising every graduate who accomplishes any one indicator (one point is given for each annual graduate who accomplishes any one of the CCMR indicators except for the CTE coherent sequence graduates who earn ½ point credit).

Graduation rate: Best of four-year, five-year, or six-year longitudinal graduation rates.

Domain score calculation: STAAR= 40%, CCMR = 40%, graduation or annual dropout rates = 20%.

Domain 2: School Progress

Part A: Student Growth

Takes into account STAAR progress measure for all students on STAAR reading and math tests, including STAAR-Alt 2 and STAAR A. Substitute test results not included because they do not have a STAAR progress measure.

English Learners in their first year in U.S. schools are excluded from School Progress domain calculations unless they were administered STAAR Alternate 2. TEA is seeking a waiver from the USDE for ELs in their second year in U.S. schools — changes to the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) prevent the calculation of a reliable ELL progress measure in 2018. In 2019, ELs in their second year in U.S. schools will be included using an ELL progress measure.

Unschooled asylees and refugees, as well as students with interrupted formal education (SIFEs) are not included in state accountability until their sixth year of enrollment in U.S. schools.

Computing Part A score: Numerator comprising calculation based on point system in which schools earn 0, 1/2 , or 1 point based on which of many different scenarios a student’s performance on reading/Math STAAR falls into when compared to the student’s performance on the reading/Math STAAR the previous year. (For example, ½ point given for every student who maintains “Meets” or “Approaches” from year to year; 1 point given for every student who meets “Expected” or “Accelerated” STAAR progress measure; 1 point given for student who maintains “Masters” year to year, etc.) Denominator is the number of all reading/math tests taken.

Part B: Relative Performance

For elementary and middle schools, compares a school’s Domain 1/Student Achievement score to elementary and middle schools with similar percentages of economically disadvantaged students.

For high schools/districts, averages the high school’s/district’s results for the STAAR and CCMR components of Domain 1/Student Achievement and compares those to results for high schools/districts with similar percentages of economically disadvantaged students.

Computing Part B score: Results of comparison done above are represented as a point on a scatter plot along with the performance of other like campus types on these same measures. A trend line representing the average of this comparison will be drawn across the scatter plot. A school’s Part B score will be determined based on where the school’s performance falls within a series of “A-F” bands which will be established based on sliding cut points (TBD) above and below the average line.

Domain Score calculation: Step 1: Calculate a scaled score for both Part A/School Progress, and Part B/Relative Performance. Step 2: Take the higher scaled score for either Part A or Part B. The higher scaled score is used to calculate the School Progress domain rating.

Domain 3: Closing the Gaps

This domain aligns with the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act; accordingly this is the only domain using disaggregated results for student subpopulations in order to measure achievement differentials among these subpopulations; also definitions are different for some of the indicators used in this domain that are also used in other domains.

Specific examples include:

• Graduation rates: unlike Texas state law, federal law does not include the National Center for Education Statistics definition of “dropout” or allow exclusions of students in special situations from the graduation rate calculation. Additionally, although Texas state law provides for the use of 5- and 6-year adjusted cohort graduation rates, federal law places burdensome requirements on states choosing to use these, and accordingly, Texas chose not to do so.
• English Language Learners’ performance: unlike Texas state law, federal law does not allow excluding unschooled asylees/refugees in their second-fifth year of enrollment).

However, as with the other domains, English Learners in their first year in U.S. schools are excluded from Closing the Gaps domain calculations unless they were administered STAAR Alternate 2. TEA is seeking a waiver from the USDE for ELs in their second year in U.S. schools — changes to the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) prevent the calculation of a reliable ELL progress measure in 2018. In 2019, ELs in their second year in U.S. schools will be included using an ELL progress measure.

In addition to including the results from the 11 student subpopulations required by ESSA, this domain also includes students formerly receiving special education services, continuously enrolled students, and students who are mobile.

Finally, Domain 3 is the only domain in which ESSA’s 95% student participation rate in assessments is required. Calculation of the 95% participation rate includes substitute assessment performance, and should the participation status for the all-students group or any student group fall below 95 percent, the denominator used for calculating the Closing the Gaps Academic Achievement component is adjusted to include the necessary number of assessments to meet the 95 percent threshold.

Indicators

Academic Achievement in Reading, Math (required by ESSA): Percentage of assessments at/above Meets Grade Level for all students/subgroups

Growth in Reading/Math for elementary, middle school (required by ESSA): same as Domain 2/School Progress, Part A/Student Growth)

Graduation rates (required by ESSA): four-year Graduation Rate (without state exclusions) for high schools

EL proficiency status (required by ESSA): TELPAS progress rate (which is under development so TEA is requesting a waiver from using this indicator for 2018 accountability)

School Quality/Student Success (required by ESSA):

• High School = CCMR: same as for Domain 1
• Elementary/Middle School: Domain 1/Student Achievement: includes average of 3 performance levels (Approaches, Meets, Masters) on all STAAR tests for all students assessed on a campus

Domain score calculation: Long-term/interim performance targets/goals have been established by TEA for each of the above indicators for each of the required student subgroups (for targets/goals, click here)

Weighting of Indicators:

Elementary/Middle Schools Weight*

• Academic Achievement 30%
• STAAR Growth Status 50%
• English Language Proficiency 10%
• Student Achievement Domain Score: 10%
• STAAR Component Only

High schools/Districts Weight*

• Academic Achievement 50%
• Federal Graduation Status 10% (STAAR Growth Status if not available)
• English Language Proficiency 10%
• College, Career, and Military Readiness 30%
• (Student Achievement Domain Score: STAAR Component Only if not available)

Overall Domain 3 score: Cumulative performance for each component is based on the total number of eligible student groups that meet minimum-size criteria. The maximum number of measures met for each component is totaled and then divided by the total count of eligible measures, resulting in an overall percentage for each of the domain components. Percentages for each component are then weighted based on the district or campus type.

The weighted average will be scaled to grades A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D (60-69), and F (0-60) by creating grade cut points based on 2017 data.

Overall Ratings

1. Establish 0-100 scale for each domain outcome. (Raw component and domain scores are adjusted to scaled scores to align letter grades and scores used in the A–F academic accountability system to the common conception of letter grades.)
2. The higher scaled score of Part A: Student Growth or Part B: Relative Performance is used.
3. Weight the better outcome of the Student Achievement or the School Progress domain scaled score at 70 percent.
4. Weight Closing the Gaps scale score at 30 percent.

Total the weighted outcome of the two scaled scores to calculate the overall score. Again, overall rating will be scaled to grades A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D (60-69), and F (0-60) by creating grade cut points based on 2017 data. (Click here for more.)

For campuses, scaled score methodology used in 2018 accountability was developed based on a normal distribution of 90 percent Met Standard/Met Alternative Standard and 10 percent Improvement Required. According to TEA, initial cut scores for these two levels will be based on performance in the 2016-17 school year, and to the extent possible, these cut scores will remain static over five-year intervals. (Click here for more.)

Local accountability systems:

School districts can adopt local accountability systems for campuses rated “C” or higher; school districts can award ratings under the local accountability system, but the ratings must include the three domain performance ratings assigned to the campus by TEA to count for at least 50% of a campus’s overall rating.

Identification of bottom 5% of Title I schools and any high school failing to graduate at least 67 percent of students for comprehensive support/intervention (required by ESSA)

The weighted average for Domain 3 will be scaled to grades A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D (60-69), and F (0-60) by creating grade cut points based on 2017 data and will be used to determine the lowest 5% of schools.

Campuses that do not rank in the bottom five percent of the Closing the Gaps domain for two consecutive years and have increased a letter grade (for example, from F to D or from D to C) on the Closing the Gaps domain will be considered as having successfully exited comprehensive support status.

If a campus does not obtain a 67 percent four-year graduation rate for the All Students group, the campus will be automatically identified for comprehensive support and improvement.

Any Title I campus identified for targeted support and improvement for three consecutive years will be identified for comprehensive support and improvement the following school year.

TEA will annually identify campuses for comprehensive support and intervention beginning with the August 2018 accountability release, which is based on School Year 2017-2018 performance data.

Identification of schools for Targeted Support/Intervention (required by ESSA, beginning with the 2018-2019 ratings)

Student group achievement will be monitored annually through the Closing the Gaps domain.

Any campus that has one or more achievement gap(s) between individual student groups and the interim goals will be identified for targeted support and improvement.

TEA defines “consistently underperforming” as a school having one or more student groups that do not meet interim benchmark goals for three consecutive years.

Campuses will be identified for the first time in August 2019 based on 2017, 2018 and 2019 data.