Amendment to the State’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State Plan

The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the intent of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to submit an amendment to the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan to adjust the methodology used in August 2022 to identify and exit schools for federal support and improvement. 

Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI)

TSI Identification Methodology

TEA is not proposing any changes to the TSI identification criteria. TSI identifies both Title I and non-Title I campuses. 

A student group that misses the targets in at least the same three indicators, for three consecutive years, is considered “consistently underperforming.” Any campus not identified for CSI that has at least one consistently underperforming student group is identified for TSI. Data from 2018, 2019, and 2022 are considered consecutive years for 2022 TSI identification.

TSI is an annual identification with no exit criteria.

Additional Targeted Support (ATS) 

Prior ATS Identification Methodology

A campus that is not identified for CSI or TSI that has at least one student group meets no evaluated targets is identified as ATS. ATS identifies both Title I and non-Title I campuses. 

Proposed ATS Identification Methodology for 2022 and Beyond

ATS identification would be based on the subset of TSI-identified campuses. Any TSI-identified campus would have its identification escalated to ATS if it meets both ATS identification criteria. First, the campus would have to meet the identification for TSI by having at least one consistently underperforming student group. Second, the campus would also have at least one consistently underperforming student group that did not meet any of its evaluated indicators for those three consecutive years. The consistently underperforming student group must meet the minimum size in all indicators for all three years in order to be escalated to ATS.

Prior ATS Exit Methodology

In order to exit ATS identification, the campus’ triggering group(s) must meet the reading and math targets in Academic Achievement.

Proposed ATS Exit Methodology for 2022 and Beyond

To exit ATS, the campus would have to not be reidentified for ATS. A campus would be able exit ATS to TSI status if the campus continued to meet TSI criteria but did not have at least one consistently underperforming student group that did not met any evaluated indicators for three consecutive years. 

Proposed Escalation of ATS to CSI Timeline

Under the current ESSA plan, any Title I campus identified for ATS for three consecutive years will be identified for CSI the following school year. As part of the ESSA amendment request, TEA is requesting to delay the escalation of ATS campuses until August 2024. If the request is approved, Title I campuses will be escalated for the first time from ATS to CSI in August 2024 based on 2022, 2023, and 2024 accountability rating data. These campuses will be required to implement CSI interventions beginning in the 2024–25 school year.

Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI)

Prior CSI Identification Methodology

Under existing CSI identification methodology, TEA rank orders the scaled domain score for all campuses. The lowest five percent of campuses that receive Title I, Part A funds are identified for comprehensive support and improvement.

Proposed CSI Identification Methodology for 2022 and Beyond

To identify schools for CSI, TEA proposes annually ranking all Title I campuses based on Closing the Gaps scaled scores. Beginning August 2022, TEA proposes also evaluating overall scaled scores to make final CSI determinations. Using a multi-step process, Title I campuses with both the lowest Closing the Gaps and lowest overall scaled scores would be identified for CSI. 

First, TEA would determine the bottom five percent of Closing the Gaps outcomes by rank ordering the scaled scores of Title I campuses by school type—elementary, middle, high school/ K–12, and alternative education accountability. TEA then would determine which campuses fell in the bottom five percent for each school type. 

Next, TEA would rank order the overall scaled scores for all Title I campuses statewide (without regard to campus type) to determine the scaled score cut point for the bottom five percent. A Title I campus with a Closing the Gaps scaled score in the bottom five percent and an overall scaled score in the lowest percentile would be identified for CSI. 

Prior CSI Exit Methodology

Campuses that do not rank in the bottom five percent of the Closing the Gaps domain for two consecutive years and have increased a letter grade (for example, from F to D or from D to C) on the Closing the Gaps domain by the end of the second year are considered as having successfully exited comprehensive support and improvement status. 

Proposed CSI Exit Methodology for 2022 and Beyond

Campuses that did not rank in their school type’s bottom five percent of the Closing the Gaps domain for two consecutive years and have an overall scaled score that year that does not fall within the lowest percentile to be reidentified for CSI would be considered as having successfully exited. 

Comment Period 

All comments on this proposed amendment are due by April 4, 2022, by electronic mail addressed to performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov. 

Once TEA has reviewed any comments received and has made any appropriate modifications to the proposed plan amendment, the comments will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) as part of the state’s plan amendment request. When, and if, TEA receives USDE approval of the amendment, additional information will be provided to local educational agencies on the impact to August 2022 identification and exit of schools for improvement. These methodology adjustments will not affect student targets or other methodologies used in the 2022 accountability system. 

For those who would like greater detail about the proposed changes, the 2022 Federal School Improvement Overview and Q&A is a useful resource. 

If you have questions regarding the proposed amendment, please contact the Performance Reporting Division.

Contact Information

Texas Education Agency

Performance Reporting Division

(512) 463-9704

 performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov