Requirement for Posting of Performance
Frequently Asked Questions
Updated August 21, 2020
Notice of Performance to the Public
Q: What does statute require of districts?
A: Texas Education Code requires the following:
- TEC, §39.361, requires districts to state whether one or more of its campuses have been awarded a distinction designation or is currently rated F and to provide an explanation of the significance of the information.
- TEC, §39.362, requires districts to post on the district website the current accreditation status and accountability ratings, Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR), and School Report Cards (SRC), as well as an explanation of the information, by the 10th day of each school year.
- TEC, §39.363, requires TEA to post the following by October 1 of each year:
- The performance rating assigned to each district and campus
- Each distinction designation awarded
- The financial accountability rating assigned to each district
Notice in Student Grade Report
Q: Do the campus accountability rating and distinction designations need to be printed on the student's report card?
A: This is a local decision. The law states that the first written notice of a student's performance that a school district gives during a school year must include a statement of whether the campus at which the student is enrolled has been awarded a distinction designation or has been identified as unacceptable (an F rating). All campuses were labeled Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster for 2020, and distinction designations were not awarded. Districts may choose to print this information on the student’s report card or provide this information via an insert or link to TXschools.gov or the 2020 Accountability Ratings System webpage.
Q: The first report the campus sends home is not a report card but a status report. Does the accountability information need to be provided at that time
A: The statutory language is: “The first written notice of a student’s performance....” The district will have to make the decision in relation to the content of the status report. The first report sent that applies to all students and contains an evaluation of their academic performance in all subjects should be used.
Q: DoesTEA have a sample letter with a brief and clear explanation that we can use?
A: No. However, TXschools.gov and the 2020 Accountability Ratings System webpage provide a brief message explaining that all districts and campuses were labeled Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster. Districts are also free to prepare their own explanatory materials.
Notice on District Web Site
Q: What specifically is "...the 10th day after the first day of instruction of each school year...?"
A: This is the 10th school day, or actual instructional day. It does not include weekends, holidays, or other non-instructional days.
Q: I have the accountability ratings for this year which I can post, but the school report cards aren't available yet. How can I post them?
A: Statute specifically requires that the district post "the most recent campus report card" on the website. That means that you must post the 2018–19 TAPR and 2018–19 SRC. The posting should be revised later in the year as more current information becomes available. Districts are free to note the date of a posted report and the approximate date of future revisions.
Q: Which reports need to be posted on our website at the beginning of the 2020–21 school year?
A: For 2020–21, districts must post
- the 2018–19 TAPR for the district;
- the 2018–19 SRC for each campus;
- the current accountability rating (Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster) and distinction designations (none), as of August 15, 2020, for each campus; and
- an explanation of the school accountability ratings such as the one-page overview of the 2019 state accountability system.
The district should update its website with 2019–20 reports as soon as they are available later in the fall.
Q: How exactly should districts post these reports?
A:Usually, districts save a PDF version of each report to the district server and make them available through a link on the district website.
Q: How long must these items remain on our website?
A: As statute does not specify an expiration date, these items should follow local district policy for web postings and should be updated annually with the release of new reports.