_Chapter 12 - Additional Features of AEA_

As shown in Chapter 11 - AEA Base Indicators, alternative education campuses (AECs) can achieve a rating by meeting the absolute standards for the different indicators. However, under certain conditions, AECs can achieve a rating by:

meeting Required Improvement; and/or

using the accountability data for at-risk students in the district.

All additional features are applied and calculated automatically by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) before ratings are released. AECs do not need to request the use of additional features.

Additional requirements for charters are explained later in this chapter.

Required Improvement

AECs of Choice and Residential Facilities can achieve an AEA: Academically Acceptable rating by meeting the absolute standards for the different indicators or by demonstrating Required Improvement. AECs initially rated AEA: Academically Unacceptable may achieve an AEA: Academically Acceptable rating using the Required Improvement feature. Required Improvement can be applied to three of the base indicators: Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Progress, Completion Rate II, and Annual Dropout Rate.

Required Improvement compares prior-year performance to current-year performance. In order to qualify for this comparison, the target group (All Students or any student group) must meet a minimum size requirement for the prior year. See Minimum Size Requirements in this chapter for each indicator.

Who is evaluated for Required Improvement:

AECs of Choice whose performance is AEA: Academically Unacceptable for any TAKS, Completion Rate II, or Annual Dropout Rate measure.
Residential Facilities whose performance is AEA: Academically Unacceptable for any TAKS or Annual Dropout Rate measure. (Residential Facilities are not evaluated on Completion Rate II.)
Charters evaluated under AEA procedures whose performance is AEA: Academically Unacceptable for any TAKS, Completion Rate II, or Annual Dropout Rate measure.

TAKS Progress Indicator

Improvement Standard: In order for Required Improvement to move an AEC or charter to AEA: Academically Acceptable, the AEC or charter must demonstrate sufficient improvement on the deficient TAKS measures to meet a standard of 40% within two years.

Methodology:

The Actual Change must be equal to or greater than the Required Improvement.

Actual Change is the difference between performance in 2005 and 2004.

Required Improvement is the result of the 2005 standard minus performance in 2004 divided by 2.

Example:

In 2005, an AEC has performance above the AEA: Academically Acceptable standard in all student groups except for Economically Disadvantaged; only 38% meet the standard. Performance in 2004 for the same group is 20%.

First calculate the Actual Change: 38 - 20 = 18

Next calculate the Required Improvement: (40 - 20) / 2 = 10

Then compare Actual Change to Required Improvement to determine if Actual Change is greater than or equal to the Required Improvement: 18 ≥ 10

The AEC meets Required Improvement, so its rating is AEA: Academically Acceptable.

Minimum Size Requirements: Required Improvement is not calculated if the AEC or charter has less than 10 test results (for the student group) in 2004.

Other Information:

Student Passing Standard. Prior year percent Met Standard is recalculated using the current year student passing standard so gain from the prior year to the current year uses comparable performance data for the two years. In other words, the 2004 performance of 20% for the AEC in the example above, is based on a student passing standard of Panel Recommendation so that it is comparable to performance in 2005.

Performance in 2004. Prior year performance includes April 2004 grades 3-10 TAKS results and April 2004 grade 11 TAKS exit-level first time testers, and TGI for 2003 to 2004 growth. Grade 11 TAKS exit-level retester results are not included. (In future years, exit-level retesters will be included in the prior year performance.)

Rounding. All improvement calculations of performance rates and standards are rounded to whole numbers. Required Improvement calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to whole numbers. For example, 4.5% is rounded to 5%.

SDAA II Indicator

An improvement measure for the SDAA II cannot be calculated until two years of data are available. Required Improvement for SDAA II will be introduced in 2006 when two years of data are available and actual change in performance can be calculated.

Completion Rate II Indicator

Improvement Standard: In order for Required Improvement to move an AEC of Choice or charter to AEA: Academically Acceptable, the AEC of Choice or charter must demonstrate sufficient improvement on the deficient Completion Rate II measures since the Class of 2003 to be at 75.0% within two years.

Methodology:

The Actual Change must be equal to or greater than the Required Improvement.

Actual Change is the difference between the Completion Rate II for the Class of 2004 and the Class of 2003.

Required Improvement is the result of the 2005 standard minus the Completion Rate II for the Class of 2003 divided by 2.

Example:

An AEC of Choice has a Class of 2004 Completion Rate II of 72.3% for their White student group. The Class of 2003 Completion Rate II for this same group is 63.8%.

First calculate the Actual Change: 72.3 - 63.8 = 8.5

Next calculate the Required Improvement: (75.0 - 63.8) / 2 = 5.6

Then compare Actual Change to Required Improvement to determine if Actual Change is greater than or equal to the Required Improvement: 8.5 ≥ 5.6

The AEC of Choice meets Required Improvement, so its rating is AEA: Academically Acceptable.

Minimum Size Requirements: Required Improvement is not calculated if the AEC of Choice or charter has less than 10 students (in the same student group) in the Completion Rate II Class of 2003.

Other Information:

Completion Rate II Definition. Completion Rate II for the prior year is computed using the same definition as the current year so that gain from the prior year to the current year uses comparable data for both years. Specifically, the Completion Rate II definition includes graduates, General Educational Development (GED) recipients, and continuing students as completers.

Rounding. All calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to one decimal point. For example, 4.85% is rounded to 4.9%.

Annual Dropout Rate Indicator

Improvement Standard: In order for Required Improvement to move an AEC or charter to AEA: Academically Acceptable, the AEC or charter must demonstrate a decline in the Annual Dropout Rate to be at 10.0% within two years.

Methodology:

The Actual Change must be equal to or less than the Required Improvement.

Actual Change is the difference between the 2003-04 and 2002-03 Annual Dropout Rates.

Required Improvement is the result of the 2005 standard minus the 2002-03 Annual Dropout Rate divided by 2.

This calculation measures declines in rates. The Actual Change in the Annual Dropout Rate must be less than or equal to the Required Improvement for the standard to be met and will contain negative numbers. The Actual Change needs to be a larger negative number than the required change.

Example:

In 2003-04, an AEC had an Annual Dropout Rate for their Hispanic student group of 12.8%. The Annual Dropout Rate in 2002-03 for the same group was 24.2%.

First calculate the Actual Change: 12.8 - 24.2 = -11.4

Next calculate the Required Improvement: (10.0 - 24.2) / 2 = -7.1

Then compare Actual Change to Required Improvement to determine if the Actual Change is less than or equal to the Required Improvement: -11.4 ≤ -7.1

The AEC meets Required Improvement, so its rating is AEA: Academically Acceptable.

Minimum Size Requirements: Required Improvement is not calculated if the AEC or charter has less than 10 grade 7-12 students (in the same student group) in 2002-03.

Other Information: All calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to one decimal point. For example, -1.875% is rounded to -1.9%.

Use of District At-Risk Data

In limited circumstances, data for at-risk students in the district are used to evaluate registered AECs. Use of data for at-risk students in the district acknowledges that AECs are part of the overall district strategy for education of students at risk of dropping out of school.

AECs of Choice and Residential Facilities may be evaluated on the TAKS Progress indicator using data for at-risk students in the district. AECs of Choice may be evaluated on Completion Rate II of at-risk students in the district.

TAKS Progress Indicator

Who is evaluated for the TAKS Progress Indicator using performance data of at-risk students in the district:

AECs of Choice and Residential Facilities that do not meet the 40% standard or demonstrate Required Improvement and have results for fewer than 10 tests in the current year.

AECs of Choice and Residential Facilities with no TAKS results.

Table 15: Use of TAKS Data of At-Risk Students in the District

Number of TAKS tests at the AEC	Does the AEC meet the performance standard on its own data?	Does the AEC demonstrate Required Improvement (RI) on its own data?	Does the AEC meet the performance standard using district performance data of at-risk students?
10 or more	Yes - assign rating	N/A	N/A
	No	Yes - assign rating	N/A
		No - assign rating
Less than 10	Yes - assign rating	N/A	N/A
	No	Yes - assign rating	N/A
		No	Yes - assign rating
			No - calculate district RI
None	N/A	N/A	Yes - assign rating
			No - calculate district RI

Required Improvement: If the AEC does not meet the performance standard based on district performance data of at-risk students, then Required Improvement is calculated using district performance data of at-risk students.

Minimum Size Requirements: If there are less than 10 at-risk test results in the district, then Special Analysis is conducted.

Special Analysis: This process ensures that AECs with small numbers of students are rated fairly. AECs with TAKS results for fewer than 10 at-risk tests in the district will receive Special Analysis under circumstances similar to those used in the standard accountability procedures. Special Analysis consists of analyzing current and past performance data to determine if the initial rating assigned under the automated evaluation process is an aberration or an indication of consistent performance. More detailed information on Special Analysis is in Chapter 6 - Special Issues and Circumstances.

Completion Rate II Indicator

Who is evaluated for Completion Rate II using data of at-risk students in the district:

AECs of Choice that do not meet the 75.0% accountability standard or demonstrate Required Improvement.
AECs of Choice that serve students in grades 9, 10, 11, and/or 12, but do not have a Completion Rate II.
If the AEC of Choice does not serve students in grades 9, 10, 11, and/or 12 in the 2004-05 school year, then the AEC of Choice is not evaluated on Completion Rate II.

Table 16: Use of Completion Rate II Data of At-Risk Students in the District

Does the AEC of Choice serve students in grades 9, 10, 11, and/or 12 in 2004-05?	Does the AEC of Choice have a Completion Rate II in 2003-04?	Does the AEC of Choice meet the accountability standard on its own data?	Does the AEC of Choice demonstrate Required Improvement (RI) on its own data?	Do at-risk students in the district meet minimum size requirements?	Does the AEC of Choice meet the accountability standard using Completion Rate II of at-risk students in the district?
Yes	Yes	Yes - assign rating	N/A	N/A	N/A
		No	Yes - assign rating	N/A	N/A
			No	Yes	Yes - assign rating
				Yes	No - calculate district RI
				No	N/A
	No	N/A	N/A	Yes	Yes - assign rating
				Yes	No - calculate district RI
				No	N/A
No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Required Improvement: If the AEC of Choice does not meet the accountability standard based on at-risk students in the district or if the AEC of Choice does not have a Completion Rate II, then Required Improvement is calculated using Completion Rate II of at-risk students in the district.

Minimum Size Requirements:

Completion Rate II of at-risk students in the district is evaluated if there are:

at least 5 at-risk dropouts (non-completers), and

at least 10 students in the district at-risk Completion Rate II class.

If at-risk students in the district do not meet minimum size requirements, then the AEC of Choice is not evaluated on Completion Rate II.

Additional Requirements for Charters

Underreported Students: Charters evaluated under AEA procedures are subject to underreported student standards as described in Chapter 3 - The Basics: Additional Features.

Additional Students in Charter Ratings: Charters evaluated under AEA procedures are responsible for the performance of all students, including those who attend campuses that receive a rating of AEA: Not Rated - Other.

AECs Rated AEA: Academically Unacceptable

In 2005, registered AECs rated AEA: Academically Unacceptable do not prevent a district rating of Exemplary or Recognized. This policy will be reviewed and is subject to change in 2006.

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