_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 2006 and 2007

The ratings issued in 2007 mark the fourth year of the new system. Many components of the 2007 system are the same as those that were in effect in 2006. However, there are a few differences between 2006 and 2007. These include:

an increase in the rigor of the TAKS passing standards for all grades and subjects in order to achieve or maintain a rating of Academically Acceptable or Recognized.

a new definition for dropout, based on U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) criteria.(See Appendix I for detailed information.)

a change in the standards for underreported students from fewer than or equal to 100 students and less than or equal to 2.0%, to fewer than or equal to 200 students and less than or equal to 5%. The new standard accommodates changes in the processing of leaver records and the new dropout definition.

a School Leaver Provision added for 2007 only, such that the leaver indicators (either alone or in combination) cannot be the cause for a lowered campus or district rating. This provision has been created primarily to accommodate the change in the definition of a dropout. The provision affects the following indicators:

the Underreported Students Indicator;

the Annual Dropout Rate (grades 7–8); and

Completion Rate I (grades 9–12).

for the Annual Dropout Rate (grades 7-8) indicator, Required Improvement is not available to campuses or districts in 2007 as a means to move to the next higher rating.

The following table provides details on these and other changes between the 2006 and 2007 systems. Components that are unchanged are provided as well.

Table 2: Comparison of 2006 and 2007

Component	2006				2007
Base Indicators for Determining Rating (Chapter 2)	TAKS % Met Standard SDAA II % Met ARD Expectations Completion Rate I Annual Dropout Rate				TAKS…………………….No Change SDAA II……………….....No Change Completion Rate I……...No Change* Annual Dropout Rate…..No Change* * School Leaver Provision applies
Rating Standards (Chapter 2)		Acceptable	Recognized	Exemplary		Acceptable	Recognized	Exemplary
	TAKS	35%/40%/60%	70%	90%	TAKS	40%/45%/65%	75%	90%
	SDAA II	50%	70%	90%	SDAA II	No Change
	Completion	75.0%	85.0%	95.0%	Completion
	Dropout	1.0%	0.7%	0.2%	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 (TAKS science for gr. 8 is assessed and reported, but not used for accountability)				No Change
TAKS Student Success Initiative (Chapter 2)	Gr. 3 & 5 reading and 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)	Panel Recommendation for all subjects, all grades				No Change
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 (2007 is last year for SDAA II)
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—except for students with KRI (Katrina-Rita Indicator) codes.				Same as 2006—except that Katrina-Rita exclusion no longer applies
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
Dropout Definition (Appendix I)	State Definition				NCES Definition
Required Improvement (Chapter 3)	TAKS: RI to Academically Acceptable and Recognized possible				TAKS: No Change
	SDAA II: RI to Academically Acceptable and Recognized possible				SDAA II: No Change
	Completion Rate I: RI to Academically Acceptable and Recognized possible				Completion Rate I: Still applicable, though class of 2006 uses new dropout definition.
	Annual Dropout Rate: RI to Academically Acceptable and Recognized possible				Annual Dropout Rate: RI will not be available in 2007 because of definition change
Exceptions (Chapter 3)	Academically Acceptable rating possible by using exceptions				No Change (Exceptions applied in 2006 cannot be re-used in 2007)
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
Gold Performance Acknowledgment Indicators (Chapter 5)	Advanced Course/Dual Enrollment 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/ Distinguished Achievement Program (RHSP/DAP) SAT/ACT Results TSI - Higher Education Readiness Component for English Language Arts TSI - Higher Education Readiness Component for Mathematics				No Change
Standards for GPA (Chapter 5)	Vary by indicator; see Chapter 5.				Same as 2006, except: Commended Performance subjects all increase from 20% to 25%, and RHSP/DAP increases from 70.0% to 80.0%.
Underreported Students (Chapter 3)	No more than 100 underreported students; and, No more than 2.0% underreported				No more than 200 underreported students; and No more than 5.0% underreported.* * School Leaver Provision applies
School Leaver Provision (Chapter 6, and Appendix I)	Not Applicable				For 2007 only, the leaver indicators cannot be the cause for a lowered rating. The leaver indicators include Annual Dropout Rate, Completion Rate, and Underreported Students.
Hurricane Rita (Appendix I in the 2006 Accountability Manual)	Schools and districts closed for ten or more days may receive a rating of Not Rated: Other.				Does not apply in 2007.

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