_Chapter 2 - The Basics: Base Indicators_

To determine ratings under the standard accountability procedures, the 2007 accountability rating system for Texas public schools and districts uses four base indicators:

• spring 2007 performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS),
• spring 2007 performance on the State-Developed Alternative Assessment II (SDAA II),
• the Completion Rate I for the class of 2006, and
• the 2005-06 Annual Dropout Rate for grades 7 and 8.

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills

The TAKS indicator is the percent of students who scored high enough to meet the standard to pass the test. This is calculated as the number of students who met the TAKS student passing standard divided by the number tested. Results for the English version of the TAKS (grades 3-11) and the Spanish version (grades 3-6) are summed across grades for each subject. Results for each subject tested are evaluated separately to determine ratings.

Who is evaluated for TAKS: Districts and campuses that test students on any TAKS subject:

• Reading/ELA – Reading is tested in grades 3-9; English language arts (ELA) is tested in grades 10 & 11. Note that this is a combined indicator. It includes all students tested on and passing either the TAKS reading test or the TAKS English language arts test. The first two administrations of grade 3 and grade 5 TAKS reading results are included. See Reading/ELA Combined and Student Success Initiative in Other Information below.
• Writing – Writing is tested in grades 4 & 7.
• Social Studies – Social Studies is tested in grades 8, 10, & 11.
• Mathematics – Mathematics is tested in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, & 11. The first two administrations of grade 5 TAKS mathematics results are included. See Student Success Initiative in Other Information below.
• Science – Science is tested in grades 5, 8, 10, & 11. (Performance on the grade 8 science test will not be used for accountability purposes until 2008.)

Standard: The Academically Acceptable standard varies by subject, while the Recognized and Exemplary standards are the same for all subjects:

• Exemplary – For every subject, at least 90% of the tested students pass the test.
• Recognized – For every subject, at least 75% of the tested students pass the test.
• Academically Acceptable – Varies by subject:
  • Reading/ELA – At least 65% of the tested students pass the test.
  • Writing – At least 65% of the tested students pass the test.
  • Social Studies – At least 65% of the tested students pass the test.
  • Mathematics – At least 45% of the tested students pass the test.
  • Science – At least 40% of the tested students pass the test.

Student Groups: Performance is evaluated for All Students and the following student groups: African American, Hispanic, White, and Economically Disadvantaged.

Methodology:

Minimum Size Requirements:

• All Students. These results are always evaluated regardless of the number of examinees. However, districts and campuses with a small number of total students tested on TAKS will receive Special Analysis. See Chapter 6 – Special Issues and Circumstances for more detailed information about Special Analysis.
• Student Groups.
  • Any student group with fewer than 30 students tested is not evaluated.
  • If there are 30 to 49 students within the student group and the student group comprises at least 10% of All Students, it is evaluated.
  • If there are at least 50 students within the student group, it is evaluated.
  • Student group size is calculated subject by subject. For this reason the number of student groups evaluated will sometimes vary. For example, an elementary school with grades 3, 4, & 5 tested may have enough Hispanic students to be evaluated on reading and mathematics, but not enough to be evaluated on writing (tested in grade 4 only) or science (tested in grade 5 only).

Year of Data: 2006-07

Data Source: Pearson Educational Measurement

Other Information:

• TAKS Grade 8 Science. In 2006, grade 8 students were assessed for the first time in TAKS science. Performance on this assessment will not be used in determining accountability ratings for 2007. However both the 2006 and 2007 science results will be shown on the AEIS reports released in the fall of 2007. See Chapter 17 – Preview of 2008 and Beyond.
• Student Success Initiative. For grades 3 and 5 reading and grade 5 mathematics performance, a cumulative percent passing is calculated by combining the first and second administrations of the TAKS. The results include performance on the Spanish versions of these tests.
• Special Education. Performance of special education students who take the TAKS is included in the TAKS indicator.
• Testing Window. Results for students given a make-up test within the testing window are included in the accountability indicators.
• Reading/ELA Combined. Reading (grades 3-9) and ELA (grades 10 & 11) results are combined and evaluated as a single subject. This affects districts and campuses that offer both grade 9 and grades 10 and/or 11. In these cases, counts of reading and ELA students who met the standard are summed and divided by the total number taking reading or ELA.
• TAKS Spanish. The TAKS tests are given in Spanish in reading and mathematics for grades 3, 4, 5, and 6; writing in grade 4; and science in grade 5. Performance on these tests is combined with performance on the English-language TAKS for the same subject to determine a rating.
• Student Passing Standards. To determine whether the student counts as a passer, the student must meet the passing standard adopted by the State Board of Education (SBOE) for the current year. Please note the following:
  • For 2007, the student passing standard is panel recommendation (PR) for students in all grades and all subjects, except grade 8 science.
  • The TAKS grade 8 science passing standard for 2007 is lower while it is phased in. Performance on this test will not be part of the accountability system until 2008.
  • Some 11th graders who have repeated a grade may have a passing standard other than PR, depending on which standard was in place when they first entered 10th grade.
• Sum of All Grades Tested. Results for each subject are summed across grades. This refers to the grades tested at the particular campus or district. For example, the percent passing for TAKS reading in an elementary school with a grade span of K-5 is calculated as:

• Exit-level TAKS. The performance of all juniors tested for the first time during the primary spring administration (ELA in February; mathematics, science, and social studies in April) is included in determining accountability ratings.
• October 2006 administration. Some juniors eligible for early graduation took the TAKS in October 2006. The performance of these students is included with the performance of other juniors taking the exit-level test if:
  • they were juniors at the time of testing;
  • they were taking the exit-level TAKS for the first time in October 2006; and
  • they passed all four assessments at that time.

Students tested in October who failed any of the tests in October could retest in the spring; however, in the event of a retest, neither performance — from October or from the spring retest —is included in the accountability calculations. If October results are used, they are not adjusted for mobility.

• Students Tested. Only answer documents marked “Score” are included; answer documents coded “Absent,” “Exempt,” or “Other” are excluded. For example, results for limited English proficient students taking a linguistically accommodated TAKS or SDAA II reading or mathematics tests are not included in the state accountability system.
• Rounding of Met Standard Percent. The Met Standard calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to whole numbers. For example, 49.877% is rounded to 50%; 79.4999% is rounded to 79%; and 89.5% is rounded to 90%.
• Rounding of Student Group Percent. The Student Group calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to whole numbers. For example, 9.5% is rounded to 10%.
  

State-Developed Alternative Assessment II

This test assesses special education students in grades 3-10 who are receiving instruction in the state’s curriculum but for whom the TAKS test is not an appropriate measure of their academic progress. Tests are given in the areas of reading/ELA, writing, and mathematics, on the same schedule as TAKS.

A single performance indicator is evaluated for SDAA II. The indicator sums across grades tested (3-10) and across subjects. This indicator is not based on the number of students tested but on the number of tests taken. It is calculated as the number of tests meeting ARD committee expectations divided by the number of SDAA II tests for which ARD expectations were established. Students who take multiple SDAA II tests are included multiple times (for each and every SDAA II test they take).

This year, 2007, is the last year the SDAA II will be administered. See Chapter 17 – Preview of 2008 and Beyond for information on future alternate assessments for students with disabilities.

Who is evaluated for SDAA II: Districts and campuses that test students on any SDAA II subject.

Standard:

• Exemplary – Results on at least 90% of tests taken meet ARD expectations.
• Recognized – Results on at least 70% of tests taken meet ARD expectations.
• Academically Acceptable – Results on at least 50% of tests taken meet ARD expectations.

Student Groups: Performance for the percent Meeting ARD Expectations is evaluated for All Students only. Student group performance is not evaluated separately.

Methodology:

Minimum Size Requirements:

• SDAA II performance is evaluated for districts and campuses with results from 30 or more tests (summed across grades and subjects). Depending on grade level, an individual student might be counted as many as three times if he or she takes SDAA II tests in reading, writing, and mathematics. In this case, the minimum size requirement of 30 tests could represent as few as 10 students.
• There is no Special Analysis done on SDAA II performance.

Year of Data: 2007 (Spring SDAA II Administration)

Data Source: Pearson Educational Measurement

Other Information:

• TAKS-I. Since 2006, students served in special education have been able to take the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Inclusive (TAKS-I) in subjects and grades where the SDAA II is not available. TAKS-I performance will not be used in determining accountability ratings for 2007. However, 2006 and 2007 performance on this indicator will be shown on the AEIS reports released in the fall of 2007. See Chapter 17 – Preview of 2008 and Beyond.
• Students Tested on both SDAA II and TAKS. In some cases, students may take both the SDAA II and TAKS. For example, a grade 6 student may take the TAKS for mathematics, and the SDAA II for reading. In this case, the student’s TAKS performance is included with the TAKS indicators and the SDAA II performance is included with the SDAA II indicator.
• Rounding of Met ARD Expectation Percent. The Met ARD Expectation calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to whole numbers. For example, 49.877% is rounded to 50%; 79.4999% is rounded to 79%; and 89.5% is rounded to 90%.

Accountability Subset

For the TAKS and SDAA II indicators, only the performance of students enrolled on the PEIMS fall "as-of" date of October 27, 2006, are considered in the ratings. This is referred to as the accountability subset (sometimes also referred to as the October subset or the mobility adjustment). This adjustment is not applied to any other base indicator.

Students who move from district to district are excluded from the campus and district’s TAKS and SDAA II results. Further, students who move from campus to campus within a district are kept in the district’s results but are excluded from the campus’s TAKS and SDAA II results. No campus is held accountable for students who move between campuses after the PEIMS “as-of” date and before the date of testing, even if they stay within the same district. The subsets are determined as follows:

Campus-level accountability subset: If a student was reported in membership at one campus on October 27, 2006, but moves to another campus before the TAKS or SDAA II test, that student’s performance is removed from the accountability results for both campuses, whether the campuses are in the same district or different districts. Campuses are held accountable only for those students reported to be enrolled in the campus in the fall and tested in the same campus in the second semester.

District-level accountability subset: If a student was in one district on October 27, 2006, but moved to another district before the TAKS or SDAA II test, that student’s performance is taken out of the accountability subset for both districts. However, if the student moved from campus to campus within the district, his or her performance is included in that district’s results, even though it does not count for either campus. This means that district performance results do not match the sum of the campus performance results.

Examples of how the accountability subset criteria are applied are provided in the following table. Note that these apply to both SDAA II and TAKS performance results. For more information, see Tables 32, 33 and 34 in Appendix D – Data Sources.

Table 3: Accountability Subset

Completion Rate I

This longitudinal rate shows the percent of students who first attended ninth grade in the 2002-03 school year and have completed or are continuing their education four years later. Known as the 2002-03 cohort, these students were tracked over the four years using data provided to TEA by districts and data available in the statewide General Educational Development (GED) database.

To count as a "completer" for standard accountability procedures, a student must have received a high school diploma with his/her class (or earlier) or have re-enrolled in the fall of 2006 as a continuing student.

Who is evaluated for Completion Rate I:

• Districts and campuses that serve grades 9, 10, 11, and/or 12.
• Use of District Rate. A completion rate is evaluated for any campus that served students in grades 9, 10, 11, and/or 12 in the fall of the 2006-07 school year. However, a completion rate is calculated only for campuses or districts that offered grades 9 through 12 since 2002-03. When a campus serves only some of those grades—for example, a senior high school that only serves grades 11 and 12—the district’s completion rate is attributed to that campus because it does not have its own completion rate. Campuses that have been in existence for fewer than five years will also be evaluated using their districts’ completion rates.

Standard:

• Exemplary – Completion Rate I of 95.0% or more.
• Recognized – Completion Rate I of 85.0% or more.
• Academically Acceptable – Completion Rate I of 75.0% or more.

Student Groups: Performance is evaluated for All Students and the following student groups: African American, Hispanic, White, and Economically Disadvantaged.

Methodology:

*See Appendix D for the definition of number in class.

Minimum Size Requirements:

• All Students. These results are evaluated if:
  • there are at least 10 students in the class and
  • there are at least 5 dropouts.
• Student Groups. These results are evaluated if there are at least 5 dropouts within the student group and:
  • there are 30 to 49 students within the student group and the student group comprises at least 10% of All Students; or
  • there are at least 50 students within the student group.

Years of Data: 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07.

Data Source: PEIMS submission 1 enrollment data, 2002-03 through 2006-07; PEIMS submission 1 leaver data, 2003-04 through 2006-07; PEIMS submission 3 attendance data, 2002-03 through 2005-06; and General Educational Development records as of August 31, 2006.

Other Information:

• NCES Dropout Definition. As of the 2007 accountability rating cycle, the definition of a dropout has changed to be aligned with the NCES definition. See Appendix I – NCES Dropout Definition for more information.
• School Leaver Provision for 2007. In 2007, a campus or district completion rate cannot be the cause for a lowered rating. As a safeguard to this provision, districts are subject to identification and intervention by Performance-Based Monitoring (PBM) for dropout rates and leaver reporting. Additionally, campuses that avoid being rated Academically Unacceptable because of this provision will be subject to technical assistance team (TAT) intervention requirements in the 2007-08 school year.
• Additions and Deletions. Any student who joins the cohort is added to it, and any student who leaves the cohort is subtracted from it. For example, a student new to Texas who moves to a district as an 11th grader would be added to the cohort that began when he was first in 9th grade.
• Retained Students. Students who repeat a year are kept with their original cohort.
• Rounding. All calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to one decimal point. For example, 74.875% is rounded to 74.9%, not 75%. However, student group percents (minimum size requirements) are always rounded to whole numbers.
• Special Education. The completion status of special education students is included in this measure.

Annual Dropout Rate (Grades 7-8)

For accountability purposes, the annual dropout rate is used to evaluate campuses and districts with students in grades 7 and/or 8. This is a one-year measure, calculated by summing the number of dropouts across the two grades.

This year for the first time, TEA will use the more rigorous NCES dropout definition. See Appendix I –NCES Dropout Definition for a detailed explanation.

Who is evaluated for Annual Dropout Rate: Districts and campuses that serve students in grades 7 and/or 8.

Standard:

• Exemplary – An Annual Dropout Rate of 0.2% or less.
• Recognized – An Annual Dropout Rate of 0.7% or less.
• Academically Acceptable – An Annual Dropout Rate of 1.0% or less.

Student Groups: Performance is evaluated for All Students and the following student groups: African American, Hispanic, White, and Economically Disadvantaged.

Methodology:

Minimum Size Requirements:

• All Students. These results are evaluated if:
  • there are at least 10 students in grades 7-8 and
  • there are at least 5 dropouts.
• Student Groups. These results are evaluated if there are at least 5 dropouts within the student group and:
  • there are 30 to 49 students within the student group and the student group comprises at least 10% of All Students; or
  • there are at least 50 students within the student group.

Year of Data: 2005-06

Data Source: PEIMS submission 1 enrollment data 2005-06; PEIMS submission 1 leaver data, 2006-07; PEIMS submission 3 attendance data, 2005-06.

Other Information:

• School Leaver Provision for 2007. In 2007, a campus or district dropout rate cannot be the cause for a lowered rating. As a safeguard to this provision, districts are subject to identification and intervention by Performance-Based Monitoring (PBM) for dropout rates and leaver reporting. Additionally, campuses that avoid being rated Academically Unacceptable due to this provision will be subject to technical assistance team (TAT) intervention requirements in the 2007-08 school year.
• Cumulative Attendance. A cumulative count of students is used in the denominator. This method for calculating the dropout rate neutralizes the effects of mobility by including in the denominator every student ever reported in attendance at the campus or district throughout the school year, regardless of length of stay.
• Rounding. All calculations are expressed as a percent, rounded to one decimal point. For example, 2.49% is rounded to 2.5%, and 0.25% is rounded to 0.3%. However, student group percents (minimum size requirements) are always rounded to whole numbers.
• Special Education. Dropouts served in special education programs are included in this measure.

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