_Chapter 7 - Preview of 2006 and Beyond_

This section provides information about future plans for the standard procedures for the state accountability system to the extent these plans are known in the spring of 2005. The purpose is to inform educators in advance so districts and campuses can be adequately prepared for changes that will take place in 2006 and in later years. The phase-in schedule for the accountability standards will be reevaluated annually; any changes will be announced with as much advance notice as possible.

Additions, deletions, and modifications beyond those discussed here are possible. State legislative action may also affect the accountability system ratings, reports, sanctions, and rewards. At this point in time, such action cannot be predicted.

The changes described below are by year for the years 2006 and 2007. The discussion of 2008 and beyond is grouped together. Changes described for any given year are based on a comparison to the immediately preceding year.

Accountability System for 2006

Texas Assessment of Knowledge And Skills (Taks)

Student Passing Standard. In 2006, the student passing standard will move to Panel Recommendation (PR) for the grade 11 test. All other grades have been at PR since 2005.

Accountability Standards. In 2006, the Academically Acceptable standards will increase from 50% to 60% for reading/ELA, writing, and social studies; from 35% to 40% for mathematics; and, from 25% to 35% for science. The standards for Recognized (for all subjects) and Exemplary (for all subjects) will remain the same, at 70% and 90%, respectively.

State-Developed Alternative Assessment II (SDAA II)

Student Passing Standard. The standard for meeting ARD expectations will continue to be set locally, consistent with state statute.

Accountability Standards. Standards for this indicator for 2006 will be determined in 2005-06 when data are available from the first administration (2005).

Required Improvement. Required Improvement for SDAA II will be available for 2006 when analysis of gains made between 2005 and 2006 is possible.

Inclusion of Campuses. Rating campuses that have only SDAA II results will be considered.

Completion Rate I

GED Recipients. Beginning with the class of 2005 (students whose cohort entered 9th grade in 2001-02), only graduates and continuing students (students who return to school for a fifth year) will count as high school completers for the accountability completion rate. While GED recipients from the class of 2005 will not be considered dropouts, they will also not be considered completers; GED recipients will be in the denominator but not the numerator. This definitional change will increase the rigor of the indicator beginning with the 2006 accountability system. See Table 10: Completion Rate Transition on page 71.

Accountability Standards. The standards for 2006 are held constant from 2005 while the definition of a completer is changing.

Annual Dropout Rate

No changes are anticipated for this indicator for 2006.

Additional Features

Required Improvement. The Required Improvement methodology will be reevaluated in 2006.

Exceptions. The Exceptions Provision will be reevaluated in 2006.

Underreported Students. In 2006, the percent of underreported students that can prevent a district from being rated Exemplary or Recognized will decrease from 5.0% to 2.0%.

Districts with Academically Unacceptable Campuses. Whether or not campuses rated Alternative Education:Academically Unacceptable can prevent a district from receiving a rating of Exemplary or Recognized will be considered.

Gold Performance Acknowledgments

College Readiness-Texas Success Initiative. A new indicator of college readiness, the Texas Success Initiative (TSI), will be used for the GPA in 2006 for the first time. The TSI will replace the TAAS/TASP equivalency indicator. Campuses and districts may be acknowledged on the TSI separately for ELA and mathematics. All students and each student group meeting minimum size criteria are evaluated. The minimum size criteria parallel the size criteria applied to other GPA indicators. The 2006 standard for the College Readiness - TSI indicator is 50% for both ELA and mathematics.

RHSP/DAP. The standards will increase for the RHSP/DAP indicator, from 60.0% in 2005 to 70.0% in 2006.

SAT. Changes by the College Board to the SAT assessments will require review of this indicator's definition and standards during 2006. These changes will first affect graduates in the class of 2006, whose results will be used in the 2007 accountability system.

Accountability System for 2007

Texas Assessment of Knowledge And Skills (Taks)

Accountability Standards. In 2007, the Academically Acceptable standards will increase from 40% to 45% for mathematics, and from 35% to 40% for science. The Academically Acceptable standards for reading/ELA, writing, and social studies remain the same at 60%. The standard for Recognized (for all subjects) will move from 70% to 75% in 2007. Exemplary will remain the same, at 90%.

TAKS Commended. Measures that incorporate TAKS Commended Performance into the accountability ratings will be developed in 2006 and used for ratings by 2007. When this takes place, these indicators may be removed from the Gold Performance Acknowledgment system.

State-Developed Alternative Assessment II (SDAA II)

Accountability Standards. Standards for this indicator for 2007 are yet to be determined.

Completion Rate I

Accountability Standards. Standards for this indicator for 2007 are yet to be determined.

Methodology. The completion rate includes four types of students in the calculation:

• Graduates (class of 2006). No change: These students are in numerator and denominator.
• Continuing students (in 2006-07). No change: This includes students who are still enrolled in a public high school for a fifth year, whether in a regular program or alternative program. These students are in both the numerator and denominator.
• GED Recipients. No change from the 2006 accountability cycle: Students who receive GEDs are in the denominator as GED Recipients, but they are not in the numerator.
• Dropouts. A student coded with a dropout leaver code (and not found through the TEA exclusion process) is a dropout and is in the denominator but not the numerator. Beginning with dropouts from the 2005-06 school year (reported in 2006-07), TEA will use the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) definition of a dropout. Among other definitional changes, this means that a student who leaves the public school system in 2005-06 to attend a GED program elsewhere and does not receive a GED certificate by the deadline, will be counted as a dropout. If a student is still enrolled at a public school, even an in-school GED program, he or she will be defined as a continuing student.

Table 10: Completion Rate Transition

Annual Dropout Rate

Dropout Definition. Beginning with dropouts that occur during the 2005-06 school year (used for 2007 accountability), the definition of a dropout will change to the definition used by the National Center for Education Statistics of the USDE.

New Base Indicator

Proficiency Measure for English Language Learners. An indicator of English language proficiency for English language learners will be developed as a base indicator for state accountability ratings for use by 2007. The state indicator will build on the work done to define an annual measurable achievement objective (AMAO) required under Title III of NCLB, which incorporates performance on the Reading Proficiency Tests in English (RPTE). Accountability standards for this new indicator will be established in 2006 following analysis of the 2005 results.

Additional Features

Required Improvement. The Required Improvement methodology will be reevaluated. If appropriate, adjustments will be made, based on gains.

Exceptions. The Exceptions Provision will be reevaluated in 2007 to determine if any aspects need to be modified, such as allowing Exceptions for performance on the new base indicator (see above).

Underreported Students. In 2007, the percent of underreported students that can prevent a district from being rated Exemplary or Recognized will decrease from 2.0% to 1.5%.

Minimum Size Criteria

Student Group Minimums. In 2005, student groups were not evaluated if: (1) they had fewer than 30 students in the group, or (2) if there were 30 to 49 students in the group and they represented less than 10 percent of the total student population. If they had 50 or more students, the group was evaluated regardless of the percent it represents. For 2007 the rule may be reevaluated to exclude only groups with fewer than 30 students. If this change is made, the second category, groups of 30 to 49, would be included regardless of percent.

Gold Performance Acknowledgments

Acknowledgment Standards. The RHSP/DAP standard increases from 70.0% to 80.0% in 2007. Standards for other GPA indicators have not been determined for 2007 and beyond.

TAKS Commended. Measures that incorporate Commended Performance into the accountability ratings will be developed in 2006 and used for ratings by 2007. When this happens, these indicators may be removed from the Gold Performance Acknowledgment system.

Accountability System for 2008 and Beyond

Texas Assessment Of Knowledge And Skills (TAKS)

TAKS Science. The results of the grade 8 science assessment will be included in the accountability system beginning in 2008.

SSI and Grade 8 Reading and Mathematics. In 2008 the Student Success Initiative will go into effect for grade 8. These students will need to pass TAKS reading and mathematics in order to be promoted to grade 9. The tests will be administered multiple times, as with the other SSI grades. Results from both the first and second administrations of 8th grade reading and mathematics will be included in the TAKS reading/ELA and mathematics indicators, respectively, in the same way it is included for grade 5 SSI. Note that prior year results cannot be computed to be precisely comparable, since there will not be multiple administrations of 8th grade reading and mathematics in 2007. Any improvement calculations will be based on multiple administrations in 2008 compared to one administration in 2007.

Accountability Standards. In 2008, the Academically Acceptable standard for reading/ELA, writing, and social studies will increase from 60% to 65%. The standard for mathematics will increase from 45% to 50%. The standard for science will remain at 40%. In 2009, the Academically Acceptable standards will increase by five points for all subjects: to 70% for reading/ELA, writing, and social studies; to 55% for mathematics; and, to 45% for science. Also in 2009, the standard for Recognized (for all subjects) will increase to 80%. In 2010, the Academically Acceptable standards will increase to 60% and 50% for mathematics and science, respectively. Standards beyond 2010 are yet to be determined.

State-Developed Alternative Assessment II (SDAA II)

Accountability Standards. Standards for 2008 and beyond are yet to be determined.

Completion Rate I

Accountability Standards. Ultimately, the standard will increase to 85% for Academically Acceptable and to 90% for Recognized. The timeline for this change has not been determined.

Annual Dropout Rate

Accountability Standards. Dropout rate standards for 2008 and beyond will be determined when data are available to set the standards on a dropout rate calculated under the NCES definition.

Additional Features

Exceptions. The Exceptions Provision will be reevaluated each year to determine if measures should be added or removed, adjustments need to be made to the number of exceptions for which campuses or districts are eligible, or other aspects need to be modified.

Underreported Students. In 2008, the percent of underreported students that can prevent a district from being rated Exemplary or Recognized will decrease from 1.5% to 1.0%. Also in 2008, the number of underreported students that can prevent a district from being rated Exemplary or Recognized will decrease from 100 to 75. A new longitudinal underreported students indicator linked to the completion rate calculation will be reported and may replace the current underreported students indicator in the accountability ratings process by 2009.

Overview 2006 - 2010

The phase-in schedule for the accountability standards will be reevaluated annually; any changes will be announced with as much advance notice as possible. In the table below, all known changes to standards in any given year compared to the prior year are indicated in bold.

Table 11: State Accountability Standards through 2010*

* State accountability standards for 2007 and beyond will be reviewed annually and are subject to change.

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