TEA has announced the release of A-F Accountability ratings for 2023 will be temporarily delayed by approximately one month; the ratings were originally scheduled for release on September 28. The agency will provide specific dates for 2023 ratings release at least two weeks ahead of the release of public ratings. The agency noted the delay is due to the standards-setting process required with the redesign of STAAR and the A-F accountability system being refreshed this year.
Background on the Periodic Update of A-F Indicators and Cut Points
In January 2023, TEA published proposed cut points and updates to previously published methodology changes. The agency proposed setting goals using a baseline of the average level of student growth for the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years. However, analysis of 2022-23 growth data shows that 2021-22 growth was more anomalous than expected, so setting baselines that partially incorporate data from the 2021-22 school year may not adequately take into account the impact of the pandemic.
As a result, TEA is delaying the issuance of the final rule for the accountability manual and delaying the issuance of ratings to conduct further analyses of the growth data to inform cut scores in Domain 2a- Academic Growth, and Domain 3-Closing the Gaps. Besides changes to growth cut scores, the agency will be incorporating a few additional changes in its final rule based on other feedback gathered during the rulemaking comment period:
- Alternative Education Accountability (AEA) STAAR Methodology: Within Domain 1, update the STAAR methodology for AEA campuses to better reflect the intention of AEA Taskforce recommendations.
- Minimum Indicators for Student Achievement Domain Score: STAAR Component Only: Within Domain 3, reduce minimum number of indicators from four to three to allow campuses with only one lowest performing racial/ethnic group to be evaluated.
- English Language Proficiency: Within Domain 3, allow progress in TELPAS Writing to count towards the current calculation.
- Identification of Schools for Improvement: Additional Targeted Support (ATS) campuses will be identified based on student groups’ performance relative to the cut point established for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) campus identification (bottom 5% of Title I schools’ Closing the Gaps Scale Scores, by school type).
The agency is not considering other changes for the final rule from what was published in the proposed rule.