Application Submission:

Q1: What are some of the details for the actual application and data submission?

Answer: When your district submits the application on April 15, you will send a spreadsheet with all teachers in the district. This is done for the buy-in survey. When your district submits data to TX Tech the following year in October '23, you submit just the data on the categories of teachers. For example: Not teacher names (Mrs. Smith), but rather the teaching assignments (All teachers in 3-8 math).

TRS impact

Q1: We have teachers who are very close to retirement. If these teachers receive a TIA designation and higher salary, will that be reflected in their TRS statements and thus give them higher salaries to average for their highest 5 years?

Answer: In terms of TRS, yes, the additional compensation received through the Teacher Incentive Allotment is eligible for TRS. Note, there are certain timing requirements for the payments, aligned with normal TRS practices. We recommend districts work with TRS on any questions around timing, though they should be good with their normal processes. Essentially, a large portion is still eligible, but for certain large amounts, there may be some limits. The TRS has limits (10% or 10,000 increase per year) on eligible salary increases in the last 3 or 5 years prior to retirement which could limit the extent to which the TIA compensation paid in those years is TRS eligible. A member can work out of the limit, the member will need to contact a TRS Benefit Counselor when they are ready to retire to determine if this limit will impact their retirement annuity calculation. (from Matt Holzgrafe, our Director of Teacher Compensation Strategy, TEA)

Measuring St. Growth in Non-tested subjects:

Q1: How have other districts successfully measured student growth for non-tested subjects, such as welding, Ag, or fine arts?

Answer: SLOs, Portfolios, District created pre and post tests. There are definitely things to consider in terms of the amount the district does vs. what the teacher does. We are seeing some challenges in districts where teachers and appraisers are not ready to implement portfolios and SLOs given the lift that it can take. (from Grace Wu, TEA Director of TIA)

Q2: So it's ok for teachers to create pre/post tests for welding, Ag, fine arts, etc?

Answer: Yes, but...it all depends on the standards and if they can be measured on a pre and post test. We have some guidance about how to write effective assessment items on our website in this webinar. Creating assessments is much harder than most anticipate – I would recommend strong processes for creation and approval. (from Grace Wu, TEA Director of TIA)

Student Growth Measures:

Q2: Why does a district need to create a pretest? Why can't they use last year's STAAR test as the pretest?

Answer: Districts may want to create their own pre and post tests for subject areas that are not STAAR tested. Additionally, it may generate more teacher buy-in if there is more district control over the assessment.

Q3: Can districts use last year's STAAR test as a pre test, the STAAR Progress Measure as the target and the current year STAAR test as the post-test?

Answer: Yes. Districts can certainly use intra-year assessments as well. (from Grace Wu, TEA Director of TIA)