EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION
ESC 15 Effective Instructional Practices - Q2
Accountability Information Still Formative
Many campuses and districts have loaded STAAR Data in DMAC or Eduphoria. Without CCMR, Graduation Data, Domains 1, 2B and 3 are not able to be calculated for high schools and K-12 schools. Data for elementary and middle school campuses provide component scores in DMAC. Campuses dropping at least a letter grade from last year will not be a surprise. Please remember the information we received in the spring communicated that it might be possible for a campus that received an "A" in 2022 to improve and receive a "B" in 2023. Everyone will be in anticipation of final accountability ratings that will be released on September 26th. This newsletter is focused on accountability and many tools to prepare and communicate data as information is released over the next two months. We will be fielding questions and disseminating information as we receive.
Randy Gartman and Michael Bohensky will host a "What We Know about Accountability = Part 1" on September 5, 2023---We hope to outline the Accountability Manual (if finalized) so you can have the tools and questions answered as we prepare to received final information. The session will provide an overview to utilize the Accountability Manual and District Data you have to this point. The Workshop will be provided in person and Zoom from 9:00am to 11:30am with an optional working session in the afternoon.
What We Know About 2023 Accountability as of September 5th, 2023
http://apps.esc1.net/ProfessionalDevelopment/esc15/Registration/Workshop/289236
STAAR Data Files (3-8 and EOC)
Each district should have received all EOC and 3-8 data files on August 11, 2023. The data files should be uploaded to either Eduphoria or DMAC whichever system your district uses. Our ESC teams have been reviewing the data so please reach out if you have any questions or need help accessing your district's data in either system.
DMAC and Eduphoria have resources for providing accountability information but be aware we are still waiting on the final copy of the 2023 Accountability Manual to be released. If we have districts that are interested, the ESC team will host a morning workshop on outlining the new 2023 Accountability Manual and calculating “preliminary” ratings in early September or when the 2023 Accountability handbook is finalized.
Eduphoria districts that any data files have been downloaded because of Cambium’s annual system rollover need to be aware of the following information from Eduphoria in regarding Rollover.
Online systems for the Texas Assessment program will be offline from 6:00pm August 28, 2023, to complete a system rollover. District testing personnel should download any data files or certifications needed prior to August 18. All student data will be cleared from TIDE, and user passwords must be reset. Practice tests will continue to be accessible in guest mode, and the Secure File Center and Learning Management System will be available through the Testing Personnel page of Texas Assessment website.
Cambium - State File Uploads
Accountability Tool
September 28th: 2023 A-F Ratings released publicly.
- August 11: STAAR 3-8 performance levels were available to districts
- August 16: STAAR 3-8 assessment results published in Family and Analytic Portals
- September: Final 2023 Accountability Manual adopted into rule and appendices released
- September: 2023 A–F district communications toolkit (resources for communicating 2023 accountability ratings)
- September 26: 2023 A–F ratings released to districts via TEAL
- September 28: 2023 A–F ratings released publicly (e.g., press release, TXschools.gov)
- January 2024: 2023 Accountability Appeals Resolved |Final 2023 Ratings | 2022-23 TAPR | 2022-23 School Report Cards | 2022-23 Federal Report Cards
- A-F Refresh Template District Presentation to School Board: An editable PowerPoint presentation template that district leaders can customize to use to communicate to School Boards and other stakeholders
- Supplemental A–F Refresh Info: Additional slides on the context of the A–F refresh, including the purpose of the A–F accountability system, A–F design commitments, and A–F refresh changes
- A–F Refresh one-pager: A brief overview of the A–F system and the A–F refresh
- Commissioner Video Message to School Boards: Commissioner Mike Morath discusses the A–F refresh and the importance of communicating changes this year
The 2023 Accountability Manual is published in proposed form, beginning May 19, 2023, with finalization coming in September 2023.
IT IS POSSIBLE A CAMPUS WTH AN “A” RATING IN 2022 MAY IMPROVE IN 2023….AND YET RECEIVE A “B” RATING!
TEA Releases Results for 2023 STAAR 3-8 Assessments
AUSTIN, Texas – August 16, 2023 – The Texas Education Agency today released spring 2023 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) results for students in Grades 3-8. The results include assessments in mathematics and reading-language arts (RLA) in grades 3-8, 5th and 8th grade science, and 8th grade social studies.
This year’s results show reading-language arts proficiency for students in grades 3-8 remains largely unchanged, continuing the level of academic recovery achieved in 2022 coming out of the pandemic. In math, the significant effects of the pandemic still linger, but this year’s results present encouraging signs that the intensive supports offered by Texas public school systems are working. Five of the six tested grade levels saw an increase in the percentage of students that met grade level, while results for Texas 6th graders mirrored 2022 results.
“Teachers across Texas continue to work with passion and skill to help students learn,” said Texas Education Commissioner, Mike Morath. “This year’s results show the efforts of our educators continue to deliver improved results for students.”
Emergent Bilingual (EB) students showed progress in both mathematics and reading-language arts. In math, 32% of EB students met grade level while 35% met grade level in reading, both of which are at or above all-time high levels of performance for the state. Texas public schools continue to serve one of the largest populations of EB students in the country, with 21% of Texas’ nearly 5.5 million public school students classified as Emergent Bilingual. As part of the Emergent Bilingual Strategic Plan , TEA, in conjunction with its partner agencies, is actively working to increase the number of bilingual certified teachers and dual language one-way and two-way programs to further support these students.
Students receiving special education services continue to show progress, with year-over-year increases in grade level proficiency in grades 3-8 math, 5th and 8th grade science, and 8th grade social studies. Through the provision of more than $1.1 billion in additional annual special education funding over the past seven years, Texas continues to invest heavily to provide critical support for students receiving special education services.
A more detailed, statewide summary of 2023 STAAR 3-8 results is available on TEA’s website.
In addition to releasing results statewide, individual STAAR report cards were also made available to parents across Texas today. Parents can visit TexasAssessment.gov to see the specific STAAR results for their child, how their child answered each question on the test, and specific recommendations to help their child grow academically. Parents can access TexasAssessment.gov by clicking on a link within their district’s parent portal, or by using their child’s unique access code given to them by the school to log directly into the website.
“We recommend parents log in and learn more about their child’s STAAR scores. Being fully informed about their child’s academic progress can help them work with their child’s teacher during the new school year,” Morath said.
In 2023, STAAR assessments were redesigned to look more like how students learn in the classroom. With updates put in place by House Bill 3906 (86R in 2019), TEA engaged in a multi-year, collaborative effort with a wide range of Texas teachers, educator advisory committees, students, parents, and community members to redesign the STAAR. This year’s STAAR test incorporated items designed more like questions asked in class, emphasized writing, featured more questions that were not multiple-choice items, and was administered online with exceptions made for students requiring paper accommodations. The redesign required standards and scales to be reset, which was done by educator committees this summer. This year’s scores are being issued later in the summer than is typical.
In June 2023, TEA released STAAR EOC Assessment results which showed progress and continued academic recovery following multiple years of pandemic-induced disruption.
STAAR aggregate level data by state, region, district, or campus are available to view and download on the Texas Assessment Analytic Portal.
Mark your Calendar! Effective School Framework Training will be held on October 3rd and 4th
Campuses that are identified for School Improvement will be required to attend ESF Training. ESC 15 has scheduled a two-day training on October 3rd and 4th. Our ESF team has conducted other ESF trainings this past month so if your staff attended one of those they will not be require to attend in October.
Effective School Framework Essential Actions
- School Leadership and Planning
- Strategic Staffing
- Positive School culture
- High Quality Instructional Materials
- Effective Instruction
- Data Driven Instruction
What is the ESF Diagnostic Process?
The ESF diagnostic process is a collaborative approach for all districts and campuses who want to fine-tune their plans for continuous improvement.
Through evidence collection, focus group interviews, and campus observations, an ESF facilitator from your local education service center works side-by-side with the campus principal and the principal’s supervisor to determine 2-3 high-leverage focus areas for campus improvement.
96% of campuses who went through the ESF Diagnostic Process last year said their focus areas for improvement will guide their work in the upcoming school year and 92% said the diagnostic process was a productive use of their time.
Contact ESC 15 for more information:
Randy Gartman: randy.gartman@esc15.net
Michael Bohensky: michael.bohensky@esc15.net
Targeted Improvement Plan Submissions for the 23-24 School Year
TEA has made changes to the TIP Submissions for the 23-24 School year. There will be three (3) submissions instead of four (4). All data will be submitted through 806 Technologies.
The submission expectations are listed below:
If your campus requires an ESF diagnostic, please see the Lever 4 Academic Review Timeline below.
Texas Instructional Leadership
Texas Instructional Leadership
The TIL Approach
Texas Instructional Leadership is a program through which we provide training and support to campus and district leaders on their ability to build the capacity of educators that they manage. It consists of a suite of trainings intended to foster continuous improvement by helping campus and district administrators grow concrete instructional leadership skills in the areas of observation and feedback, schoolwide culture routines, and data driven instruction.
TIL trainings are aligned with many of the best practices described in the Effective Schools Framework, and ESCs that offer TIL trainings are among the approved vendors for schools seeking a technical assistance provider or capacity builder to support in the execution of a campus improvement plan.
Texas Instructional Leadership Model
Face-to-Face Professional Development
Education Service Centers across the state of Texas will be offering Observation & Feedback, Data Driven Instruction, Schoolwide Culture Routine, Lesson Alignment, and Formative Assessment trainings for campuses and districts looking to increase student achievement overall, and close gaps between student sub-groups. As with many other trainings offered at ESCs, Texas Instructional Leadership trainings have a face to face professional development component. Campuses and districts that choose to participate in a training will be part of a cohort of campuses that will meet together learn instructional leadership best practices, and have an opportunity to practice their new skills together in a low stakes environment.
OBSERVATION AND FEEDBACK
Observation/Feedback is intended to provide campus and district leaders opportunities to develop proficiency in establishing and coaching toward effective instructional practices in every classroom. Toward that end, it blends the practices and principles in Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers with the T-TESS appraisal framework.
It introduces a paradigm shift in the way we view teacher observation, and suggests that the primary purpose of observation and feedback is not to evaluate a teacher but to develop them. In Observation/Feedback, you grow educators by letting them See It, Name It, and Do It – see a model of success, name the bite-sized, yet highest leverage steps that led to growth, and practice doing those steps to develop skill.
DATA-DRIVEN INSTRUCTION
Data Driven Instruction is a highly effective, research-based training that guides teachers and administrators to spend less time teaching their students what they already know and more time on what their students need.
Data driven instruction is a highly effective, research-based training that guides teachers and administrators to spend less time teaching their students what they already know and more time on what their students need. It also answers the questions, “How do I know if my students are learning? And if they aren’t, what do I do? Based on the protocol developed by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo and described in his books Driven by Data 2.0 and Leverage Leadership 2.0, TIL DDI advocates for a deeper analysis of student work.
SCHOOLWIDE CULTURE ROUTINES
Culture is not formed by motivational speeches or statements of values. It is formed by the repeated practice of good habits.
Schoolwide culture is not formed by motivational speeches or statements of values on the wall. It is formed by the repeated practice of good habits, beginning with a vision of what a positive, inclusive culture looks like minute-by-minute. Leaders of schools with strong student culture don’t achieve it through sheer force of personality. They develop a vision for each part of the school day, and then bring their vision to life by building systems that enable teachers, students, and anyone else on their campus to know what they should be doing and when at all parts of the day with a high level of detail. They lead with their consistency and by modeling for staff how to maintain emotional constancy and reset expectations when procedures break down.
LESSON ALIGNMENT
Lesson Alignment is a training designed to support campus and district leaders as they lead teachers to practice high leverage instructional planning strategies. Leaders are trained to guide teachers in planning for and assessing student learning by answering the questions: What are students supposed to be learning and how do I know they are learning it? The training is rooted in the practices and principles of Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s Leverage Leadership 2.0: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools as well as the work of Dylan Wiliam’s Formative Assessment, John Hattie’s Visible Learning for Teachers, and Mike Schmoker’s Focus.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Formative Assessment builds off of the work of Lesson Alignment and is designed to support campus and district leaders as they lead teachers to practice high leverage instructional monitoring strategies. Leaders are trained to guide teachers in assessing student learning by answering the questions: What are students supposed to be learning and how do I know they are learning it? The training is rooted in the practices and principles of Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s Leverage Leadership 2.0: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools as well as the work of Dylan Wiliam’s Formative Assessment, John Hattie’s Visible Learning for Teachers, and Mike Schmoker’s Focus.
Accelerated Instruction and HB 1416 (Replacing HB 4545)
House Bill 1416 updated accelerated instruction requirements from House Bill 4545 by:
- Removing the requirement for Accelerated Learning Committees while requiring Accelerated Education Plan after student fails to achieve approaches or higher on two consecutive assessments in the same subject area
- Limiting tutoring to 2 subjects and no longer including optional assessment administrations
- Increasing student to tutor ratio from 3:1 to 4:1 ratio for tutoring group size
- Reducing minimum hour requirement from 30 to 15 for some students*
- Providing student to teacher ratio waivers for use of approved online curriculum (approvals available spring 2024)
Helpful Links for HB 1416:
Accelerated Instruction on TEA
HB 1416 Presentation from TEA (7.13.2023)
TEA is offering the following office hours for LEAs with questions about accelerated instruction best practices and requirements:
Please follow this link to view TEA's webinar on HB 1416 and Accelerated Instruction.
If you need support or guidance on HB 1416, please contact:
Rob Hollis (rob.hollis@esc15.net)
Ryan Knickerbocker (ryan.knickerbocker@esc15.net)
Shakeah Hoffman (shakeah.hoffman@esc15.net)