The SBOE met on January 31 to take up the agenda here. The report below covers agenda item 1, comments from Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer.
Item 1. Commissioner’s Comments
Commissioner Mike Morath, Texas Education Agency
- Presents TEA’s annual report (PDF)
- Highlights TEA’s strategic plan and assessment tracking; 49% of children are ready for kindergarten, 4 or 5 years later at the end of 3rd grade there is a STAAR test & 50% meet grade level in reading, 45% in math
- At the end of 8th grassed have 58% reading, 51% math on grade level; reading has recovered post pandemic, math has not
- 69% of kids are graduating with some sort of CCMR rating, 90% complete high school, 56% go onto post-secondary education (down during COVID and has not recovered)
- $80.6b annual funding total, audited amount for 2022; 2023 data is not entirely in yet
- Had a huge jump in federal funding for 2021-22 through ESSER; recapture amounts were detailed in a prior annual report; roughly $15k per student
- M&O funding has increased year-to-year & there has been a big shift to reduce property taxes as a portion of M&O funding
- Lower amounts cited for per student funding are inaccurate, basic allotment is largest portion of M&O but there are other sources of funding/spending
- Legislature is investing large amounts of funding for school safety, about $1.5b in the last 24-36 months for one-time facilities improvements, roughly $250m/year in ongoing costs
- One of the investments was TCHATT, which has been very helpful particularly in rural Texas; roughly 2/3rds of ISDs in the state have opted into TCHATT, significant expansion of access to mental health care for children
- Have done a massive overhaul of special education supports, 12.7% of kids during 2022-23 are receiving special education supports & this number is way up over previous; more children in special ed than some states have kids in education
- Trend for special ed will likely continue; SBOE is deliberating changes to dyslexia handbook & this will also lead to increases
- Produced a guide for parents in special education, have technical assistance provided to ISDs to help improve special ed, including writing evidence-based IAPs
- First key strategic priority is recruiting, supporting, and retaining teachers; see a significant growth in Teacher Incentive Allotment, expecting this to crest $1b as of today which is great as this is more pay for teachers
- 2nd priority, highlights new resources for high-quality IM in HB 1605, what the SBOE is working through right now
- 3rd priority is connecting high school with college courses, incl. dual credit; HB 8 was passed in the 88th which provides essentially a complete subsidy for dual credit for low income kids; expecting to see these numbers grow dramatically
- P-TECH model has been a focus recently which are schools designed to get kids associates degrees, etc.; seeing a lot of growth of these models over the last few years with a slowdown over COVID
- 4th priority improving low-performing schools, highlights ACE model which works most of the time, campuses go from F to B in essentially 1 or 2 years & a lot of positive impact on kids; TEA provides funding for the planning, usually supplemented by TIA & ask ISDs to partner with experts who are familiar with ACE
- 40 schools statewide are doing ACE, one of the schools had about 99% of kids at poverty level and saw huge improvement in STAAR scores; would love to encourage more schools to do this, but this is a hard change & not every school can make this change, ISDs would need to reallocate teachers
- On STAAR redesign, last year was first year of the redesign, technically flawless implementation, incl. a lot of cross-curricular content, open response, reduction of multiple choice, robust accommodations, etc.
- Highlights demographics for students in TX & TX stats versus other states; CVOID has negative impacts across the country, though TX is doing better than most in recovery
- Should look at how to compare when making these types of comparisons, e.g. >20% of households in TX don’t speak English, much lower in other states
- Highlights slide comparing TX and NY
- TEA report is cited in case SBOE members want to dig down
- Hickman – On Pg4 annual funding, would you expect a dip in funding once ESSER goes away?
- Morath – Would expect a dip in 2024-25
- Hickman – HISD is adding schools based on ratings, but TEA isn’t releasing scores?
- Morath – Releasing all underlying data for accountability to meet federal reqs
- Under injunction so we can’t rate A-F this year, but not precluded from sharing underlying data
- For HISD, they took our data and tabulated scale scores & confirmed math with TEA; TEA can release there own scores publicly if they wish, can reach out to TEA for math help
- Pickren – In superintendent evaluations reports are super helpful; how can trustees and parents access underlying data?
- Morath – Released publicly on the TEA website, but requires you to do math to convert raw scores to scale scores
- ISDs typically have someone who works for them that can do that math, trustees and ISDs can also always email TEA for assistance, but not sure we do this at the request of the general public
- Pickren – And who would they contact?
- Pickren – US Army and DOD have made chaplains part of mental health, can we look at this in ACE and TCHATT?
- Morath – Can look at this for ACE, but TCHATT is not managed by us though can liaise
- Young – Appreciates TEA work on special ed; on the TIA, for certified teachers TEA awarded $1.6m to 503 teachers, this is TIA?
- Morath – Yes, in two ways, those teachers who are automatically TIA designated and all certification costs are subsidized by the state; reimbursable
- Young – National Board Certs are about $1,900, worth noting TIA involvement in certification
- Morath – Yes, have seen notable growth since TIA law was passed
- Young – 171 just in the past year
- Maynard – Pleased to get HB 900 over finish line in December; recurring concern is that a lot of education code says you “shall” and “shall not” do different things, but constituents are concerned about what happens if these aren’t followed; many see TEC as a paper tiger, what does enforcement of HB 900 look like?
- Morath – HB 900 has specific enforcement mechanisms, but also being sued on this topic & we are under an injunction similar to A-F
- All of the statutory reqs TEA cannot currently enforce
- That issue will ultimately have to be handled by other branches of government
- More broadly, if people are concerned about aspects of the Education Code not being followed, there is a process, but it is predicated on local control; first need to bring it to attention of ISD, then appeals process through School Board, finally under certain circumstances can be appealed to Commissioner of Education
- Commissioner authority is as an appellate judge and can’t substitute judgment for judgment of a Board, can only opine
- Disagreement needs to be resolved at a local level, can only intervene with legal questions
- Maynard – My understanding is that the lawsuit has to do with ratings?
- Morath – Yes
- Maynard – Collection standards?
- Morath – Still proceeding; there are mandatory collection standards based on TSLAC rule
- If these are being violated citizens can follow grievance process
- Chair Kinsey – Will have more time to talk about this in the item later
- Davis – Important part of school safety is discipline, still seeing over-discipline with African American students; is TEA doing anything to address this?
- Morath – Yes, certainly in the area of special ed with robust monitoring system
- Outside of special ed, if there are very significant outliers there are compliance reviews & can respond to complaints
- Davis – Has there been an ISD in recent years you’ve had this conversation with?
- Morath – Yes, certainly because of special ed monitoring system
- Davis – There are a lot of reports and data on over-discipline for African American students, e.g. wearing natural hair; what is enforcement for Crown Act?
- Morath – There is a local grievance process and an appeals process
- Also have a special investigations unit reviewing complaints of egregious nature
- Davis – Years of hair discrimination filings, have you acted on any of those?
- Morath – Yes
- Davis – Seeing this in the same districts, if the conversation isn’t fruitful what happens?
- Morath – Ongoing investigation may not be resolved yet, all resolutions are public
- Davis – On the charter expansion applications, there is one looking to expand into Richardson and Plano, 319 students, 0 with special needs, 3 non-white, etc.; what is opinion on allowing schools like that to expand which aren’t serving the needs of all students?
- Morath – Part of chart school framework is attrition rates of students, look at who is in the cohort to begin with, significant weakness in graduation for some subset of students, etc.
- If the data in the cohort does indicate anomaly it wouldn’t cause any reduction in evaluation of performance
- Davis – Common to graduate no kids with special needs in 4 years?
- Morath – Not sure if it is common, but it does happen
- Brooks – On report Page 3, want to have a report on SBOE district with scale versus raw scores and delineated based on subject?
- Morath – Looking for this data based on your SBOE district
- Brooks – No, looking for data with raw scores with all subjects included
- Morath – Yes, can do this; will have staff connect with you to generate
- Brooks – On Page 5, can you explain how much funding state receives from federal government for CTE?
- Morath – Blue chunk is all of the federal funds received together, within this is Perkins funding which is the federal entitlement for CTE funding
- Small fraction of total CTE funding, normally .10/$1; can get back to you with exact number
- You want to know also how much is passed onto school districts?
- Brooks – State is paying for majority of CTE courses?
- Morath – Yes, providing majority of funding schools receive for CTE, much like with special ed
- Brooks – Would also like info on how it is broken down
- Morath – Formula based on enrollment
- Brooks – Page 6, recent mandate for school safety, how much money in grant funding can ISDs get? How is it awarded, how long does it last?
- Morath – Several funding streams
- Blue slice of $1.1b is split into two groups, roughly $800m and $300m; part of $800m is reimbursement for costs incurred which can vary widely & funds have basically already flowed; remaining $300m can be used for any school safety expense
- Formula funding is also available which comes to ISDs every year, part of the $261m in the box on the right
- Brooks – For ISDs providing SROs, does this help?
- Morath – $300m will help, but this is one-time money
- $184m is ongoing money, anticipating bulk will go to SROs and others
- Ortega – On new redesigned STAAR, where did the figure for 80% of teachers agreeing it will impact come from?
- Morath – Had a survey out to teachers, not sure of number of respondents & number came out during design process
- Ortega – So only the designers?
- Morath – Teachers giving feedback on design decisions
- Ortega – Can you provide insight into TEA’s plans?
- Morath – Administer as required by law, this is the plan
- Statutory change required this and last year is when it took effect
- TEA gets money to administer STAAR & statute is pretty prescriptive on what TEA will do
- Ortega – Any considerations for introducing alternative method alongside STAAR or changes in STAAR administration?
- Morath – Yes, had a commission looking at this previously
- HB 3906 set up pilot for different style of assessment of blended results from smaller assessments throughout the year; slim majority prefer this model
- Pilot is underway, likely $70k-$80k kids participating
- Possible that legislature might look at this and redesign STAAR
- Ortega – Date for STAAR set in stone?
- Morath – No, something TEA chooses, trying to push this back & maybe a month later than it used to be; thought process is to give teachers time, but can delay results
- Ortega – Have you looked at qualitative data?
- Morath – Likely about nature of questions, many different ways to assess students
- Need to think about ease of grading, cost, student possibility to do work, how long it takes to grade, etc.
- Francis – Have heard anecdotally about students doing poorly in math and changes in terms of instruction; on Page 3, looking at grade 8 we have an overall failing score in math, seems like SBOE should look at TEKS; could you opine on what is going on here?
- Morath – hard to discern underlying cause, TEKS design change you would want a longitudinal analysis
- This is something different than TEKS, this is kids missing many little bits of mathematical knowledge that they should’ve learned but didn’t due to pandemic
- SBOE should look at when you approve mathematical instruction standards for teachers is it designed to identify missing foundational knowledge and can it address it
- I believe you’ve addressed this in quality rubrics, component of the rubric
- Franics – Also seeing issues with misalignment of expectations in the TEKS
- Morath – Alignment of expectations is an important question & not just associated with math
- Franics – On Page 12, last year on “back to school” tour, discussed the testing environment; STAAR redesign basically addressed choices of answer and devices used; still hearing that there is no testing environment like STAAR, could we get a STAAR practice environment?
- Morath – May be specific for a certain district, but TEA does have practice materials and does offer interim assessment using the same platform as STAAR
- Might be that the ISD isn’t using those tools, but can try and reach out to ISD to help
- Perez-Diaz – Can you speak to breakdown of funding and increase of funding, how much is federal dollars & how much of state funding is just going towards offsetting property taxes?
- Morath – On Page 4, green is federal funding, very significant portion of 2021-22 increase is federal
- Graph for increased M&O funding is designed to show answer to second question; $3b decrease to grey funding between 2022-23 and 2023-24 is property taxes offset
- Was a net increase in funding year-to-year from state
- Perez-Diaz – Same breakdown for 2023-24 on federal dollars?
- Morath – Won’t know that for a little while, generally look at this after financial reports are audited
- Not anticipating significant reduction for 2023-24 as we are still in ESSER time period, but are expecting one for 2024-25
- Perez-Diaz – When ESSER funds came in, also recall some state funds that were retracted, trying to understand increase versus filling gap?
- Morath – Think you’re remembering the instructional materials allotment, net there was just a total increase in funds
- Childs – Appreciate work with TCHATT and mental health supports; do you have plans to encourage ISDs to opt in?
- Morath – Might be good to do a reminder, possibly on superintendent calls
- Childs – Any plans to expand mental health supports for teachers?
- Morath – Yes, but to the extent we have appropriations to do; also important to consider that everything we do on that front has to work through ISDs
- Childs – Have been monitoring what is happening at HISD, upwards of 600 teachers who have been leaving district; what is TEA doing?
- Morath – Question about retention generally, would need more information
- Childs – On Page 14, seeing TX ranked 14th in math, but 41st in reading; is there something we need to improve reading wise? Math compared to reading?
- Morath – Yes, hard to tease out cause; a lot of this has been looked at in SBOE supports, highlights reading material, e.g. reading simple stories versus Shakespeare in 5th grade
- SBOE’s work is important part of puzzle to improve reading
- Brought back reading academies which started in 2020 which has halted some declines
- Some optimism that broad strategies will bear fruit
- Childs – With special ed, one of the exit criteria for HISD to be relieved is meeting special ed criteria, but hearing it could be getting worse; anything TEA is doing to support this?
- Morath – Yes, have conservators in place to do this to course correct
- Adequate time to implement IAPs is being reviewed
- Childs – Do conservators have to provide info on how special ed is improving?
- Morath – Yes, they report back monthly
- Bell-Metereau – What are schools doing to improve reading and speaking aloud?
- Morath – Start with TEKS and what is expected for students to know
- Next question is if you have rigorous instructional materials, how often students are called to do this, etc.
- Quality rubric under IRMA has material to make sure there are a set of activities students need to do to engage with written material
- Bell-Metereau – Have visited many schools and not seen this practice
- Morath – Have also seen this, need for universal material as approved by SBOE
- Bell-Metereau – Seeing this also in math, needed to explain what we were doing and why in the past
- Morath – Hopefully IMRA and quality rubric addresses this
- Bell-Metereau – Other concern is how schools are teaching environmental concepts like Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, how much schools are looking at smart practices, food waste, etc.; this should be in the curriculum and in everyday atmosphere of the school
- Morath – I believe some of this is written into the TEKS
- Regarding ISD efficiency, market is very effective at driving ISDs to reducing, reusing, and recycling
- Bell-Metereau – I think there is also waste, easier to throw away than recycle
- Little – After the lawsuit was denied and vendors don’t have to rate books, are ISDs required to rate books and if they don’t are they breaking the law?
- Morath – I think the answer is no, there are reqs to not have inappropriate content which is different from rating materials, but no req to rate
- If people have concerns about inappropriate content there is the grievance process
- Perez-Diaz – Looks like work will for IMRA start in May, important to involve teachers in decision-making process in providing materials, but many educators are still in classrooms
- Morath – Have some experience with this previously, will be able to logistically solve that; guess is that majority of those involved in IMRA will be classroom teachers
- Can report to board the makeup of reviewers
- Hardy – On STAAR, tests were done earlier in the school year, you saw three weeks of dead time while testing was going on
- Morath – Are you talking about during the testing window everything was shutdown, or after testing there was no instruction?
- Hardy – After testing
- Morath – One of the reasons we think it should be as close to end of school year as possible
- Hardy – Have issues with content being tested that hasn’t been taught; with current schedule you have large periods where nothing is being taught and it is a waste of taxpayer dollars
- Morath – testing is a significant motivator, so there is a natural inclination to let your foot of the gas afterwards, though don’t think it is as bad as it was previously
- Have also seen significant investments in summer learning programs
- Phenomenon is likely unavoidable, but question is can we improve and ensure learning occurs
- Hardy – Need to get tests graded and get it back soon was rationale for earlier dates
- Morath- Have consistently moved testing date later in the year & pushed staff to grade faster
- Hardy – Automated scoring?
- Morath – Every assessment question is graded by a human; there is some evidence that automated scoring can be reliable, but currently human scoring
- Might be setting up automated scoring just for cost management long term
- Hardy – Question about testing and pace
- Morath – Think about scope & sequence of the year; ISDs have control over when TEKS are taught
- Most problematic in math & history; goal is to move test to latest possible point to reduce likelihood of negative impact
- Hardy – Can we expect to see this in May
- Morath – Publish scale 2-3 years in advance, not sure if there has been recent movement
- Some small ISDs have this very early in the school year