_Chapter 1 - Overview_

System History

In 1993, the Texas Legislature enacted statutes that mandated the creation of the Texas public school accountability system to rate school districts and evaluate campuses. A viable and effective accountability system was able to be developed in Texas because the state already had the necessary supporting infrastructure in place: a pre-existing student-level data-collection system; a state-mandated curriculum; and a statewide assessment tied to the curriculum.

The system initiated with the 1993 legislative session remained in place through the 2001-02 school year. The ratings issued in 2002 were the last under that system. Beginning in 2003, a new assessment, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), was administered. This assessment includes more subjects and grades, and is more difficult than the previous statewide assessment. With such fundamental changes, the accountability system needed to be redesigned. As soon as results from the 2003 TAKS were available and analyzed, development of the new accountability system began in earnest. Ratings established using the newly designed system were first issued in the fall of 2004.

Comparison of 2005 and 2006

The ratings issued in 2006 mark the third year of the new system. Many components of the 2006 system are the same as those that were in effect in 2005. However, there are a few differences between 2005 and 2006. These include:

a significant increase in the rigor of the TAKS standards for all subjects in order to achieve or maintain a rating of Academically Acceptable;

an increase in the rigor of the underreported students indicator, which can prevent a district from being rated Exemplary or Recognized;

completion of phasing in the passing standard on the TAKS (now at Panel Recommendation for all grades and subjects);

the use of Completion Rate I, which does not count GED recipients as completers;

additional Required Improvement opportunities for SDAA II;

adjustments to the accountability subset as well as adjustments to ratings in situations where Hurricanes Katrina and Rita adversely affected schools and districts.

an increase in the rigor of the Recommended High School Program/Distinguished Achievement Program (RHSP/DAP) indicator for Gold Performance Acknowledgment (GPA);

replacement of the TAAS/TASP Equivalency indicator with the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) - Higher Education Readiness Component indicator for GPA.

The following table provides details on these and other changes between the 2005 and 2006 systems. Components that are unchanged are provided as well.

Table 2: Comparison of 2005 and 2006

Component

2005

2006

Base Indicators for Determining Rating
(Chapter 2)

TAKS % Met Standard
SDAA II % Met ARD Expectations
Completion Rate II
Annual Dropout Rate

TAKS No Change
SDAA II No Change
Completion Rate II
Changed to Completion Rate I
Dropout Rate No Change

Rating Standards
(Chapter 2)

	Acceptable	Recognized	Exemplary
TAKS	25%/35%/50%	70%	90%
SDAA II	50%	70%	90%
Completion	75.0%	85.0%	95.0%
Dropout	1.0%	0.7%	0.2%

	Acceptable	Recognized	Exemplary
TAKS	35%/40%/60%	70%	90%
SDAA II	No Change
Completion
Dropout

Evaluation of Student Groups (Chapter 2)

White, Hispanic, African American, Economically Disadvantaged, and All Students

No Change

Number of Performance Measures Used (Chapter 2)

The larger and more diverse the campus or district, the more measures apply - up to 36

No Change

TAKS Subjects Evaluated
(Chapter 2)

All TAKS subjects individually

No Change
(TAKS science for gr. 8 is assessed and reported, but not used for accountability)

TAKS Student Success Initiative (Chapter 2)

Gr. 3 & 5 reading,
Gr. 5 mathematics cumulative results used

No Change

TAKS Grades Tested
(Chapter 2)

Summed across all grades tested
(grades 3-11)

No Change

TAKS Student Passing Standard (Chapter 2)

PR for Gr. 3-10;
1 SEM below PR for Gr. 11

Panel Recommendation for all subjects, all grades

TAKS Minimum Size for All Students
(Chapter 2)

All Students results are always evaluated, regardless of size

No Change

TAKS Minimum Size for Student Groups
(Chapter 2)

If fewer than 30 test takers, not evaluated separately
If 30 to 49, evaluated if they comprise at least 10% of all test takers
If 50 or more, evaluated

No Change

TAKS Special Analysis
(Chapter 6)

Used for determining rating for very small campuses and districts

No Change

SDAA II Subjects Evaluated (Chapter 2)

Summed across all SDAA II subjects: reading/ELA, writing, mathematics

No Change

SDAA II Grades tested
(Chapter 2)

Summed across all grades tested
(grades 3-10)

No Change

SDAA II Minimum Size (Chapter 2)

Results are always evaluated if there are 30 or more tests (summed across grades and subjects)

No Change

Accountability Subset (TAKS & SDAA II only) (Chapter 2)

Students who are mobile after the October PEIMS "as of" date and before the last TAKS/SDAA II administration are taken out of the subset for a district if they move to another district; students are taken out of the campus subset if they move to another campus (whether it is in the same district or not)

No Change

Student performance included for rating
(Appendix I)

Performance of all students (in the Accountability Subset) tested on the TAKS or SDAA II is included in ratings calculation

Same as 2005; additionally, performance of students with KRI (Katrina-Rita Indicator) codes on TAKS/SDAA II is excluded from ratings calculation

Completion Rate & Annual Dropout Rate Minimum Size for All Students
(Chapter 2)

At least 5 dropouts and at least 10 students in denominator.

No Change

Completion Rate & Annual Dropout Rate Minimum Size for Student Groups (Chapter 2)

At least 5 dropouts AND

If fewer than 30 in group, not evaluated separately
If 30 to 49, evaluated if they comprise at least 10% of all students
If 50 or more, evaluated

No Change

Required Improvement (Chapter 3)

TAKS: RI to Academically Acceptable and Recognized possible
SDAA II: RI not possible
Completion Rate II: RI to Academically Acceptable and Recognized possible
Annual Dropout Rate: RI to Academically Acceptable and Recognized possible

TAKS: No Change
SDAA II: RI to Academically Acceptable and Recognized possible
Completion Rate I: RI still possible; prior year will be re-computed as Completion Rate I
Annual Dropout Rate: No Change

Exceptions
(Chapter 3)

Academically Acceptable rating possible by using exceptions

No Change
(Exceptions applied in 2005 cannot be re-used in 2006)

Pairing (Chapter 6)

Standard campuses without TAKS data are paired; paired data not used for GPA

No Change

Charters
(Chapter 6)

Charter operators are rated, as are their campuses. Both are eligible for GPA.

No Change

New Campuses
(Chapter 6)

All campuses (established or new) are rated

No Change

Hurricane Rita
(Appendix I)

n/a

Schools and districts closed for ten or more days may receive a rating of Not Rated: Other.

Gold Performance Acknowledgment Indicators
(Chapter 5)

Advanced Course Completion
AP/IB Results
Attendance Rate
Commended Performance: Reading/ELA
Commended Performance: Mathematics
Commended Performance: Writing
Commended Performance: Science
Commended Performance: Social Studies
Comparable Improvement: Reading/ELA
Comparable Improvement: Mathematics
Recommended High School Program/DAP
SAT/ACT Results
TAAS/TASP Equivalency

Same as 2005, except:

Addition of

TSI - Higher Education Readiness Component for English Language Arts
TSI - Higher Education Readiness Component for Mathematics

Deletion of

TAAS/TASP Equivalency

Standards for GPA

(Chapter 5)

Varies by indicator. See Chapter 5.

Same as 2005, except:

Recommended High School Program is raised to 70.0%;
Standard for the new TSI - Higher Education Readiness Component for Mathematics and ELA indicators is 50%

Underreported Students
(Chapter 3)

No more than 100 underreported students; and,
No more than 5.0% underreported

No more than 100 underreported students; and,
No more than 2.0% underreported

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