_Section I - The Basics: Base Indicators_ |
To determine ratings, the 2004 accountability rating system for Texas public schools and districts uses four base indicators:
The TAKS indicator is the percent of students who scored high enough to meet the standard to pass the test. This is calculated as the number of students who met the TAKS student passing standard divided by the number tested. Results for the English version of the TAKS (grades 3-11) and the Spanish version (grades 3-6) are summed across grades for each subject. Results for each subject tested are evaluated separately to determine ratings.
Who is evaluated for TAKS: Districts and campuses that test students on any TAKS subject:
- Reading/ELA - Reading is tested in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9; English language arts is tested in grades 10 & 11. Note that this is a combined indicator. It includes all students tested on and passing either the TAKS reading test or the TAKS English language arts test. The first two administrations of grade 3 TAKS reading results are included. See Reading/ELA Combined and Grade 3 Reading in Other Information below.
- Writing - Writing is tested in grades 4 & 7.
- Social Studies - Social Studies is tested in grades 8, 10, & 11.
- Mathematics - Mathematics is tested in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11.
- Science - Science is tested in grades 5, 10, & 11.
Standard: The Academically Acceptable standard varies by subject, while the Recognized and Exemplary standards are the same for all subjects:
- Exemplary - At least 90% of students tested passing for every subject.
- Recognized - At least 70% of students tested passing for every subject.
- Academically Acceptable - Varies by subject:
- Reading/ELA - At least 50% of students tested passing.
- Writing - At least 50% of students tested passing.
- Social Studies - At least 50% of students tested passing.
- Mathematics - At least 35% of students tested passing.
- Science - At least 25% of students tested passing.
Student Groups: Performance is evaluated for All Students and the following student groups: African American, Hispanic, White, and Economically Disadvantaged.
Methodology:
| number of students tested in [TAKS subject] |
Minimum Size Requirements:
- All Students. These results are always evaluated, regardless of the number of examinees. However, districts and campuses with a small number of total students tested on TAKS will receive Special Analysis:
- Districts and campuses with fewer than 10 total students tested; and
- Districts and campuses with fewer than 30 total students tested that have an initial rating of Academically Unacceptable, Recognized, or Exemplary.
- See Section VI - Special Issues and Circumstances for more detailed information about Special Analysis.
- Student Groups.
- Any student group with fewer than 30 students tested is not evaluated.
- If there are 30 to 49 students within the student group and the student group comprises at least 10% of All Students, it is evaluated.
- If there are at least 50 students within the student group, it is evaluated.
- Student group size is calculated subject by subject. For this reason the number of student groups evaluated will sometimes vary. For example, an elementary school with grades 3, 4, & 5 tested may have enough Hispanic students to be evaluated on reading and mathematics, but not enough to be evaluated on writing (tested in grade 4 only) or science (tested in grade 5 only).
Year of Data: 2004 (Spring TAKS Administration)
Data Source: Pearson Educational Measurement
Other Information:
- Special Education. Performance of special education students who take the TAKS is included in this measure.
- Testing Window. Results for students given a make-up test within the testing window are included in the accountability indicators.
- Reading/ELA Combined. Reading (grades 3-9) and ELA (grades 10-11) results are combined and evaluated as a single subject. This only affects districts and those campuses that offer both the 9th grade and grades 10 and/or 11. For these, counts of reading and ELA students who met the standard are summed and divided by the total number taking reading or ELA.
- TAKS Spanish. The TAKS tests are given in Spanish in reading and mathematics for grades 3, 4, 5, and 6; writing in grade 4; and science in grade 5. To determine a rating, performance on these tests is combined with performance on the English-language TAKS.
- Student Passing Standards. To determine whether the student counts as a passer, the student must meet the passing standard adopted by the State Board of Education (SBOE) for the current year. For 2004 the student passing standard is 1 standard error of measurement (SEM) below the panel recommendation (PR) for students in grades 3-10 and 2 SEM below PR for students in grade 11. The table below shows the grades and subjects assessed and the applicable student passing standard.
| Subjects | Grades | 2004 Student Passing Standard |
| Reading ELA ELA |
3 - 9 10 11 |
1 SEM 1 SEM 2 SEM |
| Writing | 4, 7 |
1 SEM |
| Mathematics | 3 - 10 11 |
1 SEM 2 SEM |
|
Social Studies |
8, 10 11 |
1 SEM 2 SEM |
|
Science
|
5, 10 11 |
1 SEM 2 SEM |
- Sum of All Grades Tested. Results for each subject are summed across grades. This refers to the grades tested at the particular campus or district. For example, the percent passing for TAKS reading in an elementary school with a grade span of K-5 is calculated as:
| number of students who took the reading test in grades 3, 4, & 5 |
- Grade 3 Reading. Third grade reading performance is the cumulative percent passing calculated by combining the March and April administrations of the TAKS. Students must be tested on the same campus for both administrations in order for the results of the April test to be used in the campus measure. Students must be tested in the same district for both administrations in order for the results of the April test to be used in the district measure. Students new to the campus or district in April are not included in this measure. See Table 2: Accountability Subset below, for more information.
- Exit-level TAKS. Grade 11 results are not restricted to first-time test takers. Students repeating the 11th grade who are re-taking the TAKS exit-level test during the spring administration are included (as long as the students are part of the accountability subset). Results for students in grades other than grade 11 who take the exit-level TAKS are not included.
- Rounding of Met Standard Percent. The Met Standard calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to whole numbers. For example, 49.877% is rounded to 50%; 79.4999% is rounded to 79%; and 89.5% is rounded to 90%.
- Rounding of Student Group Percent. The Student Group calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to whole numbers. For example, 9.5% is rounded to 10%.
The SDAA assesses special education students in grades 3-8 who are receiving instruction in the state's curriculum but for whom the TAKS test is an inappropriate measure of their academic progress. SDAA tests are given in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics. Students are assessed at their appropriate instructional levels, as determined by their Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committees.
The SDAA is administered on the same schedule as TAKS and is designed to measure annual growth based on appropriate expectations for each student, as decided by the student's ARD committee.
A single performance indicator is evaluated for SDAA. The indicator sums across grades (3-8) and across subjects. This indicator is not based on the number of students tested but on the number of tests taken. It is calculated as the number of tests meeting ARD committee expectations divided by the number of SDAA tests for which ARD expectations were established. Students who take multiple SDAA tests are included multiple times (for each and every SDAA test they take).
Who is evaluated for SDAA: Districts and campuses that test students on any SDAA subject.
Standard:
- Exemplary - Results on at least 90% of tests taken meet ARD expectations.
- Recognized - Results on at least 70% of tests taken meet ARD expectations.
- Academically Acceptable - Results on at least 50% of tests taken meet ARD expectations.
Student Groups: Performance for the percent Meeting ARD Expectations is evaluated for All Students only. Student group performance is not evaluated separately.
Methodology:
| number of SDAA tests taken |
Minimum Size Requirements:
- SDAA performance is evaluated for districts and campuses with results from 30 or more tests (summed across grades and subjects).
- Since SDAA is administered for three subjects (reading, writing, and mathematics) and the results are summed across subjects as well as grades, the minimum size requirement of 30 tests can represent as few as 10 students.
- There is no Special Analysis done on SDAA performance.
- Student groups are not evaluated separately.
Year of Data: 2004 (Spring SDAA Administration)
Data Source: Pearson Educational Measurement
Other Information:
- Grade 3 SDAA. Because meeting ARD expectations is based on improvement from the prior year's baseline results, grade 3 performance can only be used in cases where a prior year baseline exists, such as when a student is repeating the third grade.
- Students Tested in both SDAA and TAKS. In some cases, students may take both the SDAA and TAKS. For example, a grade 6 student may take the TAKS for mathematics, but the SDAA for reading. In that case, the student's performance is included in both indicators.
- Rounding of Met ARD Expectation Percent. The Met ARD Expectation calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to whole numbers. For example, 49.877% is rounded to 50%; 79.4999% is rounded to 79%; and 89.5% is rounded to 90%.
For the TAKS and SDAA indicators, only the performance of students enrolled on the PEIMS fall "as-of" date of October 31, 2003, are considered in the ratings. This is referred to as the accountability subset (sometimes also referred to as the "October" subset or the mobility adjustment). This adjustment is not applied to any other indicator.
An adjustment for mobility has existed in the Texas accountability system since 1994. In the past, the subset was applied at the district level; that is, mobile student results were removed from the accountability results if the student moved across district boundaries between the fall and the time of their last test.
-NEW- Beginning with 2004, the definition has been expanded. Students who move from campus to campus within a district are also excluded from the campus's TAKS and SDAA results. No campus is held accountable for students who move between campuses after the PEIMS as-of date and before their last test, even if they stay within the same district. Specifically, the subsets are calculated as follows:
Campus-level accountability subset: If a student is reported in membership at one campus on October 31, 2003 but then moves to another campus before the last TAKS or SDAA test, that student's performance is removed from the accountability results for both campuses, whether the campuses are in the same district or different districts. Campuses are held accountable only for those students reported to be enrolled in the campus in the fall and tested in the same campus in the second semester.
District-level accountability subset: If a student was in one district on October 31, 2003 but then moved to another district before the last TAKS or SDAA test, that student's performance is taken out of the accountability subset for both districts. However, if the student moved from campus to campus within the district, his or her performance is included in that district's results, even though it does not count for either campus. This means that district performance results do not match the sum of the campus performance results.
Examples of how the accountability subset criteria are applied are provided below. Note that these apply to both SDAA and TAKS performance results.
| Student
Situation |
In
Whose Accountability Subset? |
| General | |
| 1. Grade 9 student is enrolled at campus A in the fall and tests there on TAKS reading and mathematics in April. | This student's results affect the rating of both campus A and the district. |
| 2. Grade 6 student is enrolled in district A in the fall and moves to district B at the semester break. The student is tested on TAKS reading and mathematics in April. | This student's results do not affect the rating of either campus or district. Results are reported to district B. |
| 3. Grade 6 student is enrolled at campus Y (district A) in the fall and then moves to campus Z (district A) at the semester break. The student is tested on TAKS reading and mathematics in April. | This student's results do not affect the rating of campus Y or Z, but they do affect district A. Results for both tests are reported to campus Z. |
| 4. Grade 6 student is reported in enrollment in district A at campus Z, but is withdrawn for home schooling on November 10th. Parents re-enroll the student at the same campus on April 1. The student is tested in TAKS reading and mathematics in April. | Performance on both tests is reported and included in the ratings evaluation for campus Z and district A. The fact that the student was enrolled on the "as of" date and tested in the same campus and district are the criteria for determining the accountability subset. |
| Both SDAA and TAKS | |
| 5. Grade 6 student in special education enrolls in campus A in the fall, remains for the entire school year, and is tested on campus A. The student's ARD committee has directed that she be tested in reading on the SDAA and in mathematics on the TAKS. | Performance on both tests is reported and included in the rating evaluation for campus A and the district. This student's reading results are included with the school and district's SDAA performance, and the mathematics results contribute to the TAKS results. |
| Mobility between Writing and other tests | |
| 6. Grade 4 student enrolls in campus A in the fall and takes the TAKS writing test there in February. The student then transfers to campus B in the same district and tests on TAKS reading and mathematics in April. | This student's results do not affect the rating of campus A or B. Although writing was assessed at the same campus where the student was enrolled in the fall, the writing results are attributed to the campus where the student tested last. The results affect the district. Results for all tests are reported to campus B. |
| 7. Grade 4 student enrolls in campus A in the fall and takes the writing TAKS there in February. The student then transfers to campus B in a different district and tests on TAKS reading and mathematics in April. | This student's results do not affect the rating of either campus or district. Test results are attributed to the campus where the student tested last. Results for all tests are reported to campus B. |
| 8. Grade 7 student is reported in enrollment in district A and takes the writing test in that district at campus Y. In March, the student transfers to district B and takes the remaining Grade 7 TAKS tests there. The answer documents submitted by district B use different name spellings than did the one submitted by district A. | To the test contractor these are two different students, not the same one. Performance on the student's writing test is reported to district A and counts toward its rating and the rating of campus Y. The student's results in reading and mathematics are reported to district B but do not contribute to the rating of either the district or the campus where the student tested because the student was not there in the fall. |
| 9. Grade 7 student is reported in enrollment in district A and takes the writing test in that district at campus Z. In March, the student moves out of state. | Performance on the student's writing test counts toward the rating of district A and the rating of campus Z. |
| Grade 3 Reading | |
| 10. Grade 3 student takes reading on March 3rd at campus A where she was enrolled in the fall, passes the test and moves to campus B (in the same district) where, in April, she takes and fails the mathematics test. | This student's results do not affect the rating of campus A or B. The reading results from the March test are reported to campus A, even though mathematics results are reported to campus B. Results from both the reading and mathematics tests affect the district. |
| 11. Grade 3 student takes reading on March 3rd at campus A where he was enrolled in the fall, fails the test and moves to campus B (in the same district) where he retests in April and passes. | This student's results do not affect the rating of campus A or B. The reading results from the March test are reported to campus A, even though mathematics results are reported to campus B. Results from both the reading and mathematics tests affect the district. |
| 12. Grade 3 student takes TAKS reading in March at campus A where she was enrolled in the fall, fails the test, stays in campus A where she takes the SDAA reading and the TAKS mathematics tests in April. | This student's TAKS reading and mathematics results will affect the TAKS performance for campus A and the district. The SDAA results are only used if ARD expectations were established the prior year for this student (which is unlikely). |
| 13. Grade 3 student enrolls in campus A in the fall, but then moves to campus B (in the same district) in December. On March 3rd the student takes the reading test there, and passes. In early April the student moves back to campus A, where he takes and passes the mathematics test. | This student's reading results do not affect the rating of campus A or B, but the mathematics results affect the rating of campus A. The reading results from the March test are reported to campus B, and the mathematics results are reported to campus A. Results from both the reading and mathematics tests affect the district. |
| Spanish TAKS | |
| 14. Grade 6 limited English proficient student enrolls in campus A in the fall, remains for the entire school year, and is tested on campus A. However, the student's LPAC committee has directed that she be tested in reading on the Spanish TAKS and in mathematics on the English TAKS. | Performance on both tests is reported and included in the rating evaluation for campus A and the district. Results on both English and Spanish versions of the TAKS contribute to the overall passing rate. |
This longitudinal rate shows the percent of students who first attended ninth grade in the 1999-2000 school year who completed or who are continuing their education four years later. Known as the 1999-2000 cohort, these students' progress was tracked over the four years using data provided to TEA by districts.
To count as a "completer" for the state accountability indicator, the student must have either:
1) graduated with the class of 2003 (or earlier), 2) attained a General Educational Development (GED) certificate by March 1, 2004, or 3) re-enrolled at the school in the fall of 2003.
Who is evaluated for Completion Rate:
- Districts and campuses that serve grades 9, 10, 11, and/or 12.
- Use of District Rate. Completion rate is evaluated for any campus that serves students in grades 9, 10, 11, or 12. However, a completion rate is calculated only for campuses or districts that have served grades 9 through 12 (inclusive) since 1999-2000. Campuses that serve only some of those grades, and campuses that have been in existence for fewer than five years will be evaluated using their district's completion rate. For example, a senior high school that only serves grades 11 and 12 is attributed the district's completion rate because it does not have its own.
Standard:
- Exemplary - At least 95.0% Completion Rate.
- Recognized - At least 85.0% Completion Rate.
- Academically Acceptable - At least 75.0% Completion Rate.
Student Groups: Performance is evaluated for All Students and the following student groups: African American, Hispanic, White, and Economically Disadvantaged.
Methodology:
| number in class (original cohort) |
Minimum Size Requirements:
- All Students. These results are evaluated if:
- there are at least 10 students in the class and
- there are at least 10 dropouts (non-completers).
- Student Groups. These results are evaluated if there are at least 10 dropouts (non-completers) within the student group and:
- at least 30 students within the student group; or
- if there are 30 to 49 students within the student group and the student group comprises at least 10% of All Students, it is evaluated; or
- if there are at least 50 students within the student group, it is evaluated.
Years of Data: GED records 1999-2004, continued enrollment in 2003-04, graduating class of 2003, grade 11 of 2001-02, grade 10 of 2000-01, grade 9 of 1999-2000. (Results are based on the original cohort, whether the students remain on grade level or not.)
Data Source: PEIMS enrollment data for 1999-2000 through 2003-04; PEIMS leaver data for 1999-2000 through 2003-04; PEIMS attendance data for 1997 through 2003; and General Educational Development records as of March 1, 2004.
Other Information:
- Transfers. Any student who transfers into the cohort is added to it, and any student who transfers out of the cohort is subtracted from it.
- Rounding. All calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to one decimal point. For example, 74.875% is rounded to 74.9%, not 75%. However, student group percents (minimum size requirements) are always rounded to whole numbers.
- Special Education. The completion status of special education students is included in this measure.
For accountability purposes, the annual dropout rate is used to evaluate campuses and districts with grades 7 and/or 8. As implied by the label, it is a one-year measure which calculates a rate, summed across the two grades.
Who is evaluated for Annual Dropout Rate: Districts and campuses that serve students in grades 7 and/or 8.
Standard:
- Exemplary - An Annual Dropout Rate of 0.2% or less.
- Recognized - An Annual Dropout Rate of 0.7% or less.
- Academically Acceptable - An Annual Dropout Rate of 2.0% or less.
Student Groups: Performance is evaluated for All Students and the following student groups: African American, Hispanic, White, and Economically Disadvantaged.
Methodology:
| number of grade 7-8 students who were in attendance at any time during the school year |
Minimum Size Requirements:
- All Students. These results are evaluated if:
- there are at least 10 students in grades 7-8 and
- there are at least 10 dropouts.
- Student Groups. These results are evaluated if there are at least 10 dropouts within the student group and:
- at least 30 students within the student group; or
- if there are 30 to 49 students within the student group and the student group comprises at least 10% of All Students, it is evaluated; or
- if there are at least 50 students within the student group, it is evaluated.
Year of Data: 2002-03
Data Source: PEIMS submission 1 (October 2003) and submission 3 (June 2003).
Other Information:
- Cumulative Attendance. A cumulative count of students is used in the denominator. This method for calculating the dropout rate neutralizes the effects of mobility by including in the denominator every student ever reported in attendance at the campus or district throughout the school year, regardless of length of stay.
- Rounding. All calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to one decimal point. For example, 2.49% is rounded to 2.5%, and 0.25% is rounded to 0.3%. However, student group percents (minimum size requirements) are always rounded to whole numbers.
- Special Education. Dropouts served in special education are included in this measure.
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