_Chapter 9 - AEA Registration Criteria and Requirements_ |
Registration criteria restrict use of alternative education accountability (AEA) procedures to:
- campuses that offer nontraditional programs rather than programs within a standard campus,
- charters that operate only alternative education campuses (AECs), and
- charters that meet an AEC enrollment criterion.
AECs including charter AECs must serve students "at risk of dropping out of school" as defined in Texas Education Code (TEC) §29.081(d) and provide accelerated instructional services to these students. Each AEC registered for evaluation under AEA procedures is designated as an AEC of Choice or Residential Facility.
AEC of Choice. At-risk students enroll at AECs of Choice to expedite progress toward performing at grade level and high school completion.
Residential Facility. Education services are provided to students in residential programs and facilities operated under contract with the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), students in detention centers and correctional facilities that are registered with the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC), and students in private residential treatment centers (PRTC).
In this Manual the terms "AEC" and "registered AEC" refer collectively to AECs of Choice and Residential Facilities that are registered for evaluation under AEA procedures.
AECs have the option to be rated under the AEA procedures and indicators. Campuses that choose not to register as an AEC are evaluated under the standard accountability procedures. The performance results of students at registered AECs are included in the district's performance and used in determining the district's accountability rating and acknowledgments.
The following types of campuses had the option to register as an AEC in 2005.
- Local District AEC: Serves students at risk of dropping out of school as defined in TEC §29.081(d). Students are provided accelerated instruction designed to enable students to be promoted at the elementary and middle school levels or complete credits and pass the assessments necessary to attain a high school diploma.
- Charter AEC: AEC operated by a charter.
- Community-Based AEC: As described in TEC §29.081(e), a "district may use a private or public community-based dropout recovery education program to provide alternative education programs for students at risk of dropping out of school."
- Shared Service Arrangement (SSA) AEC (local district or fiscal agent): The district in which the AEC is located or the fiscal agent district registers the AEC number.
- SSA AEC (virtual campus number of a participating district): Member districts of an alternative education SSA establish and register virtual AEC numbers on which to track long-term alternative education students.
The following types of campuses are ineligible for evaluation under AEA procedures. The data for these campuses are attributed to the home campus:
- disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs);
- juvenile justice alternative education programs (JJAEPs); and
- stand-alone General Educational Development (GED) programs.
See Chapter 6 - Special Issues and Circumstances for more information on DAEPs and JJAEPs.
Since the 1999-00 school year, AEC registration has governed the alternative education component of the CAMPUS-ID-OF-ACCOUNTABILITY data processing in the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) and attribution of AEC student data.
AECs registered in 2003-04 were re-registered automatically in 2004-05. A rescission letter was required from AECs not wishing to remain registered for AEA. A 2004-05 Alternative Education Accountability Campus Registration Form was required for each AEC not already on the list of registered AECs that wished to be evaluated under 2004-05 AEA procedures. The 2005 registration process closed on September 10, 2004. The list of 2005 registered AECs is available on the AEA website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/aea.
Ten criteria are required for campuses to be registered for AEA. However, the requirements in criteria (6)-(10) may not apply to charter campuses (depending on the terms of the charter) or for community-based dropout recovery campuses established in accordance with TEC §29.081(e). The requirements in criterion (9) apply to Residential Facilities only if students are placed in the facility by the district.
- The AEC must have its own county-district-campus (CDC) number to which PEIMS data are submitted and test answer documents are coded. A program operated within or supported by another campus does not qualify.
- The AEC must be identified in AskTED (Texas School Directory database) as an alternative campus.
- The AEC must be dedicated to serving "students at risk of dropping out of school" as defined in TEC §29.081(d).
- The AEC must operate on its own campus budget.
- The AEC must offer nontraditional settings and methods of instructional delivery designed to meet the needs of the students served on the AEC.
- The AEC must have an appropriately certified, full-time administrator whose primary duty is the administration of the AEC.
- The AEC must have appropriately certified teachers assigned in all areas including special education, bilingual education, and/or English as a second language (ESL) to serve students eligible for such services.
- The AEC must provide each student the opportunity to attend a 7-hour school day as defined in TEC §25.082(a), according to the needs of each student.
- If the campus serves students with disabilities, the students must be placed at the AEC by their Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee.
- Students with disabilities must receive all services outlined in their current individualized education programs (IEPs). Limited English proficient (LEP) students must receive all services outlined by the language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC). Students with disabilities and LEP students must be served by appropriately certified teachers.
An at-risk registration criterion will be phased in beginning in 2006. See Chapter 14 - Preview of 2006 and Beyond for information on this new at-risk registration criterion.
In this publication the term "charter" refers to the charter operator, not an individual charter campus. The terms "charter campus" and "charter AEC" refer to an individual campus.
Under standard and AEA procedures, charter ratings are based on aggregate performance of the campuses operated by the charter. Performance results of all students in the charter are included in the charter's performance and used in determining the charter's rating.
Charters receiving ratings under AEA procedures are evaluated on the same indicators as registered AECs:
- performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS),
- performance on the State-Developed Alternative Assessment II (SDAA II),
- Completion Rate II for the Class of 2004, and
- 2003-04 Annual Dropout Rate for grades 7 through 12.
Charters that operate only registered AECs. Beginning in 2005, charters that operate only registered AECs will be evaluated under AEA procedures. Charters that operate only registered Residential Facilities are not evaluated on Completion Rate II.
Charters that operate both standard campuses and registered AECs. Also beginning in 2005, charters that operate both standard campuses and registered AECs have the option to be evaluated under AEA procedures if the AEC enrollment criterion described below is met. TEA will contact each charter to obtain their preference. If a preference cannot be obtained, then the charter will be evaluated under the standard accountability procedures.
In order for a charter that operates both standard campuses and registered AECs to be eligible for evaluation under AEA procedures, the charter must meet an AEC enrollment criterion. At least 50% of the charter's students must be enrolled at registered AECs. AEC enrollment is verified through current year PEIMS fall enrollment data.
Charters that operate both standard campuses and registered AECs will be evaluated under the standard accountability procedures if fewer than 50% of the charter's students are enrolled at registered AECs.
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