TEA will not rate districts, campuses in 2020

The Texas Education Agency received approval from U.S. Department of Education this week to waive statewide assessment and accountability requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, for the 2019-20 school year. Additionally, for 2020 state academic accountability, all districts and campuses will receive a label of Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster.

“While we continuously work to ensure our “A-F” accountability system paints an accurate picture of school performance, these unprecedented circumstances have forced all of us to change and adapt,” Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in a statement. “Given we won’t have underlying information to assess performance, we won’t be assigning accountability letter grades for the 2019-20 school year.”

While no ratings will be issued in 2020, an overall rating or domain rating of D or F in 2019 and an overall rating or domain rating of D or F in 2021 will be considered to be consecutive for the determination of multiple-year unacceptable status. Morath also said as with other Not Rated labels, when a district or campus receives a Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster label, the district or campus shall continue to implement the previously ordered sanctions and interventions.

If a campus has been ordered to prepare a turnaround plan and then receives a rating of Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster, that campus is strongly encouraged, but not required, to implement the approved turnaround plan. Campuses identified for comprehensive support and improvement, targeted support and improvement, and additional targeted support in 2019 will maintain that label and interventions for 2020-21.