To the Administrator Addressed (TAA) Correspondence

Special Education Performance Diagnostic and Transition of Self-Assessment Requirements

Overview of the Special Education Performance Diagnostic

The Special Education Performance Diagnostic (SPD) provides school systems with a framework to understand the overall health of their special education system. The framework uses levers, essential actions, and key practices to define what school systems should do to effectively serve students with disabilities in schools. Developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in partnership with school leaders, the SPD is designed to mirror other established frameworks, such as the Effective District Framework and Effective Schools Framework. Once fully implemented, the SPD will support school systems in using data to inform decisions and improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

This correspondence reviews the SPD and outlines expectations for participation in training and completion of the special education key practice self-assessment for school year (SY) 2026-27.

Special Education Self-Assessment 

The first SPD school system experience will occur in SY 2026-27. Prior to SY 2025-26, school systems completed an annual special education self-assessment in the ASCEND Texas Education Agency Login (TEAL) application as part of differentiated monitoring and support (DMS) requirements.

During SY 2025-26, school systems did not complete a formal self-assessment due to the transition from ASCEND to SPD. Instead, school systems reviewed data, previous self-assessments, and strategic support plans (SSPs) to identify areas of growth and need.

Beginning with SY 2026-27, the SPD key practice self-assessment replaces the ASCEND special education self-assessment. When made available in January 2027, school systems will choose one SPD lever (i.e., area) from the four available options to complete the key practice self-assessment within the SPD TEAL application.

Beginning with SY 2027-28, TEA will expand the available SPD self-assessment to seven levers to provide school systems with a full diagnostic framework that will support continuous improvement in special education.

Special Education Performance Diagnostic Training

Due to the differences between the two self-assessments, TEA requires training to ensure that school systems have the information needed to complete the new self-assessment.

In partnership with regional education service centers (ESCs), TEA will host in-person and virtual SPD training opportunities between September 2026 and January 2027. Special education directors and other designated school system representatives can review the SPD Training flyer for registration information.

During training, school system representatives will receive details on requesting SPD TEAL access, choosing a lever to self-assess, evaluating, and finalizing their key practice ratings within the application.

Special Education Performance Diagnostic Representative

Each school system will designate at least one representative with decision-making authority to complete the required one-day training and lead the self-assessment process within their school system team. In most cases, school systems will likely designate their special education director to serve as the SPD representative. This individual must be authorized to actively engage in decision-making and finalize the required self-assessment.

A school system that participates in a shared services arrangement (SSA) is still expected to name a system representative, rather than solely the SSA special education director or another SSA employee as its representative. SSA special education directors will support and collaborate throughout the process; however, each school system remains responsible for completing the self-assessment.

Special Education Performance Diagnostic Resources

For more information, please review the resources within the SPD collection found on the Texas SPED Support website.

Questions

If you have questions concerning the SPD, please email spd@tea.texas.gov.