The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) met as a full committee of the board on April 14, 2021 and heard Commissioner Mike Morath’s updates on the state of the Texas public education system and how he intends to address the challenges of the pandemic. The link can be found here.
The HillCo report below is a summary of information intended to give you an overview and highlight the various topics covered.
Commissioner Mike Morath
- Last week, there was a Tuesday technology failure during the STAAR test; TEA is responsible for ensuring STARR can be administered flawlessly
- TEA began contract with current vendor ETS and have experienced intermittent problems
- In 2018 TEA developed a more robust set of procedures that ETS must follow and expanded our direct oversight of their system
- Seven straight test administrations without issues; however, even with expanded oversight from TEA, ETS had a significant issue with their data system
- The 2020-21 school year is the final year ETS will administer testing
- Testing has resumed in the state with no issues
- STAAR is both an assessment and the basis of the accountability system; this year it is only used to provide benchmark
- Seniors may take substitute exams to meet the graduation requirements
- Multi year investment and practice change plan is in place
- Will not know degree of disproportionately of impact until we see STAAR data
- Rio Grande Valley had longest period of no classroom instruction for the largest amount of students
- Optional Beginning of Year Assessment (BOY) data indicated 3.2month loss as result of COVID-19 in addition to the normal 2.5 month: administered from July 27, 2020 to October 16, 2020
- Almost 650,000 students from 334 school districts took the BOY assessment online
- The state has not historically been successful at accelerating students who are below grade level more than a year’s growth in a year’s time
- Data indicates that only 4% of students who are below grade level accelerate to meet grade level catch up within two years
- Instructional rigor and nature of instructional material designed to make up ground
- Must acknowledge that some students will be permanently behind where they should be
- Will have to make operational changes in teachers; want to increase amount of time for students via before school sessions, summer school, and tutoring
- Through the remediation approach in New Orleans, Louisiana post Katrina, kids never caught up
- Changing to acceleration first approach rather than remediation first approach, keeping in mind that the job of a teacher is difficult
- Must think through the entire school year approach unit by unit and analyze what is the number of prerequisites that a student must have to diagnose what they have or have not already learned (aligned pretests or diagnostics) , must adjust daily and annual schedule
- Summary of this initiative: Assign lesson prerequisites à deploy assigned pretests à map pretest à allow daily and weekly schedules for prerequisites to be taught just in time à plan independent study activities
- High-quality tutoring programs have some key attributes: well trained consistent tutor (stability), high quality aligned materials, one to one or small group individualized report, embedded in the day, tied to broad framework of diagnostic for mastery
- Data from kids who came to Texas post-Katrina after years of intervention – they caught up in reading but never in math
- Argentina was a large scale disruption (3-month teacher strike) – no change in the approach to rigor or time or teacher support after; the kids have been trapped for an extensive period of time wherein they dropped out of school at higher rates and didn’t graduate at the same rate
- 20 year drag on GDP growth in Argentina with significant macro-economic issues for the country as a whole
- The first act of federal assistance was the CARES act including K-12 education (ESSER 1 allocation $1.3 billion to Texas)
- “We made the strategic decision” collectively to “ensure that we would protect against any future teacher layoffs and spending cuts” to use ESSER 1 to fund hold harmless in 19-20 school year
- Some interpreted this as that there were no net new dollars to K-12 from CARES, which would be incorrect
- There were other funds in the CARES Act
- Funding outside of ESSER 1 was placed into K-12 education as supplemental funding
- Coronavirus Response and Relief Appropriations CRRSA/ESSERII: $5.5 billion funds available March 13, 2020, through September 20, 2023; distribution to states is same as ESSER I
- Uses a different MOE effort that links higher education
- Funds must be tracked and documented separately from ESSER I
- ESSER III: $12.4 billion allocated to the states about a week and a half ago
- More MOE and maintenance of equity
- Have not received guidance from the federal government on MOE
- Funds must be tracked and documented separately from ESSER I and II
- Emergency Assistance to Non-public Schools (EANS); must be for secular, neutral, non-ideological purposes; Texas Allocation is $ 153.2 million from CRRSA
- State is waiting for MOE guidance and discussing potential implications for state appropriations
- TEA is supporting state leadership options and liaising with the US Department of Education
- Leaders across the agency have been discussing potential uses of discretionary funds
- Administrative funds will facilitate the implementation of formula LEA grants and discretionary programs
- The reason we are in this problem is that we put so much money into K-12 education; HB 3 infused $4.4 billion of net new revenue (year over year) into district budgets resulting in a gain of $872 per ADA
Q&A of Morath
- Member Perez: Earlier on the slide, you talked about EANS? Will it be used as a voucher?
- When Congress passed CRRSA and ARP and enacted EANS, there is a provision to prevent it from being used as a voucher- reimbursement programs he knows for certain are from expenses that they incurred during the crisis.
- Member Hickman: Students do better in person. Who decides when all schools will be back in person in Texas?
- Created an emergency rules framework in July of last year, the state will fund fully remote at the same level as on-campus instruction. Leave the choice up to parents.
- The number of complaints for issues on-campus instruction environments being offered are 2 and 4 times as high as normal. Would recommend filing a complaint for those who do not think the rules are being followed.
- Next school year will be decided by the legislature if no bills pass then will return to the previous structure.
- Member Hickman – masks wearing is district by district?
- Short answer is yes
- Member Robinson: Are you currently advocating to the legislature relating to current $18 billion in Texas to go directly to the districts? If not, why?
- Can’t lobby for active legislation, so nervous at word advocate.
- But as grant recipient for state have had conversation with Department to get clarity on issues.
- First time that higher education spending and K-12 education have been linked
- Working to resolve as quickly as possible.
- Member Young: Will the state be able to help provide baseline diagnostics for the teachers and school districts?
- TEA stood up BOY and have an interim assessment as a function of law – those are useful.
- For a “just in time acceleration” approach; you have to look at each unit and lesson and ask what knowledge, concepts, and skills are most relevant/needed.
- Part of Texas Home Learning have all been designed to do this.
- No one scope and sequence for state, for districts that opted to use some of the tools TEA has available they come with engineering framework ready to go.
- Member Maynard: We have had a big surge of unaccompanied minors held at the border; I was wondering what you thought the potential impact would be on K-12 education?
- While individuals are in federal custody, their education, welfare, and health is the sole responsibility of the federal government. The federal government will provide contacts to vendors. Sometimes the vendors that respond are school systems. Once they are no longer in federal custody, they are eligible like any other child in the country to be educated.
- Member Maynard: Looking at the numbers, we may have a few more than we anticipated coming into a situation that is overwhelmed to begin with.
- I am not aware of any grants or resources of funding for new arrivals.
- Member Hardy: Wavier concern, big proponent of 22-1 classroom size and knows it is key to continuing to accelerate kids?
- Differential requests to districts for flexibility in waivers.
- There is a statutory requirement for kids who demonstrate they are below grade level and there is an added protection for these students.
- Will research and get back on the distinction between general class size waivers and students who need accelerated instruction.
- Member Hardy: What are the resources teachers need?
- Real-time adjustment of instructional resources, differentiated instruction.
- Need systems in places like classroom management, curriculum, instructional coaching or scheduling.
- Member Hardy: Refers to a San Antonio editorial about why we should stop STAAR but it is still required by the federal government?
- Yes
- Member Cortez: You mentioned that the STAAR will only be used for informational purposes. I’ve gotten a lot of questions from not only educators but from parents. Will students be penalized if they don’t take it?
- It is statutorily required that students take the STAAR; but the question is what happens when students don’t do that
- All normal consequences in grade 3-8 have been waived
- HS seniors must demonstrate proficiency in 3 of 5 areas on EOC; legislative options being worked out for IGC; can use other substitute assessments such as SAT, PSAT, TIA.
- TEA Staff – a district does have the ability to determine pre-requisite skills and the district may have a policy that required passing the STAAR; will get details/language to the board members
- Member Cortez: Glad to hear they are moving on to a different testing vendor, hope they will be properly vetted
- Member Perez-Diaz: Can there be a report for how ESSER funding has been used?
- Morath: Clarification if looking for detail district-by-district?
- Member Perez-Diaz: Wants scope of detail of what was given to public education.
- Think perhaps a need for another layer of granularity; will work details and send on
- Member Perez-Diaz: Encourages looking at social and emotional needs of educators could agency look to see how supports can be resources to educators? Any guidance by TEA to look at pre-COVID metrics for individual students?
- Do have proficiency information on students pre covid.
- Tracking students longitudinally – expectation to grow them
- Great point and says done in the accountability setting which is goal setting for performance which is bi-furcated
- The basic framework for students is for both high levels of proficiency and high levels of growth. Thinks some of these aspects already have that built into our accountability system.
- Member Perez-Diaz: In terms of the emphasis on timing, who set the timeline and where are pressures coming from?
- We should not rush into immediate academic remediation or acceleration without understanding the mental state of kids– we would be going fast to go slow
- Refers to federal funds having little strings (other than MOE to state) coming to the districts in September 2023 and some in September 2024. I think moral urgency and the academic accountability system serve as motivators to maximize growth and proficiency. I understand that students SEL needs must be met. TEA hasn’t structured specific pressure points or timelines.
- Member Allen: if there is no guidance provided by the legislature, we can see mandatory in person 5 days a week instruction. Would the teacher’s accommodations medically be heard?
- We are talking about August, not tomorrow. Workplace accommodation policies always go towards the employers to be determined locally.
- Member Allen: A large number of parents want to keep kids at home, heard Morath said there are eight full-time virtual schools, can an individual district add a virtual option if they want?
- Sort of grandfather system and if a return to current law framework those are the only eight campus if legislation does not pass
- If the legislation passes that changes that, then parents will have additional options.
- Member Bell-Metereau: the Austin American Statesman cautioned against letting that money be siphoned to plug holes in the state budget. How do we focus on urgent needs, maybe encourage voluntarism?
- The area that is most ripe for that volunteerism is tutoring (not teacher) there is a real possibility; if successful in getting everyone broadband at home, we can tutor 24/7.
- Member Bell-Metereau: Why contract with Cambian and Pearson rather than just the Iowa Skills test? Iowa Skills test is a proven product that many generations experienced with a good measure among states.
- It is mathematically impossible for all students to do well on the Iowa test.
- That test doesn’t assess the TEKS, norm reference has its place but for accountability, perspective need to think of criterion-based assessment.
- Member Little: If the legislature doesn’t do anything, what happens for masks at school? Possibly we do it statewide and don’t leave it up to the district?
- The current public health guidelines, which include masks, were crafted as a result of the executive orders that started with the COVID pandemic.
- They will all stop when the executive order framework stops and likely will only last through this school year
- Given data it doesn’t “seem likely we will need a public health framework in the Fall” for school systems which means we will go back to the environment that existed legally absent the executive order framework and prior to this there was not the ability to impose a mask mandate on students
- But employers have a variety of control over their employees
