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Texas High Performance Schools Consortium

The Texas High Performance Schools Consortium is a group of 23 districts charged with informing the governor, legislature, and commissioner of education concerning methods for transforming public schools through the development of innovative, next-generation learning standards, assessment, and accountability systems.

The Consortium will address four principles:

  1. Digital learning--Engagement of students in digital learning, including, but not limited to, engagement through the use of electronic textbooks and instructional materials and courses offered through the Texas Virtual School Network;
  2. Learning standards--Standards that a student must master to be successful in a competitive postsecondary environment;
  3. Multiple assessments--Various methods of determining student progress used to inform students, parents, school districts, and open-enrollment charter schools, on an ongoing basis, the extent to which learning is occurring and the actions Consortium participants are taking to improve learning; and
  4. Local control--Ways in which reliance on local input and decision-making enable communities and parents to be involved in the important decisions regarding the education of their children.

Consortium participants will assist the commissioner in the development of reports concerning recommendations, performance, and progress of the Consortium to the governor and the legislature.

High Performance Schools Consortium Report

Letter from the Commissioner introducing the 2012 report (PDF, 57.3kb)

Update on the Progress of the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium (PDF, 596kb)

Consortium Composition

To ensure diverse representation, the commissioner will consider district type, size, and student demographics, in addition to quality of proposals, in the selection of Consortium participants.

The number of students available to enroll in campuses participating in the Consortium may not total more than five percent of the total number of students enrolled in Texas public schools, or approximately 249,000 students.

Eligibility

In order to participate in the 2012 Consortium, eligibility requirements are listed below, additional criteria is specified in the Consortium Request for Applicant (RFA):

  • A school district and its participating campus(es) must not have been awarded the lowest performance rating under the most recent state accountability system. (For the purposes of the 2012 selection competition, a participating school district and its participating campuses must have received a rating of Academically Acceptable, Recognized, or Exemplary in the 2010-11 state accountability system.)
  • Either a school district or its participating campus(es) must have received either national, statewide, or regional public acknowledgement, from an organization relying on expertise in the field of education, for district-wide or campus-wide excellence in academic performance or innovative practices in one of the areas described by the Consortium principles.
  • An open-enrollment charter school must have been awarded an Exemplary rating under the 2010-11 state accountability system.
  • A school district and an open-enrollment charter school must be in compliance with the TEA audit requirements determined under Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §109.41

Applicant districts or open-enrollment charter schools may choose which campuses to designate for participation in the Consortium.

Application Information

Application Availability

Applications were made available on April 27, 2012. Consortium applicants were provided the application guideline (PDF, 92KB) and completed the form filled application (PDF, 149KB).

Applicant's Conference

The Applicant's Conference Webinar (PDF, 104KB) originally broadcast on June 4, 2012, is available for download and viewing. The webinar's content is based on the application guidelines and frequently asked questions (FAQs). Questions submitted during the webinar will be added to the FAQs.

Clarifying Questions

All clarifying questions received by the deadline on June 7, 2012, were addressed. Due to the competitive nature of the Consortium application process, questions and responses are posted below as FAQs.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), as of June 12, 2012 (PDF, 64.8KB)

Application Submission and Due Date

Completed applications will be due to TEA on June 29, 2012, by 5:00 p.m. as specified in the application.  Incomplete applications or applications received after the deadline were not be considered.

Please Note: Applicants were required to obtain approval from the district's board of trustees prior to submission. To be considered complete, an application must include the signed Letter of Commitment found in Appendix 2 of the program guidelines.

Laws and Rules

Important Dates

  • December 2012  Update report sent to Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of House of Representative and members of the 83rd legislature.
  • April 29, 2012    Application Posted
  • June 4, 2012       Applicant's Conference Webinar (PDF, 104KB) at 2:00pm 
  • June 7, 2012       Final date for applicants to submit questions to TEA
  • June 11, 2012     FAQs posted
  • June 29, 2012     Application due to TEA
  • Sept. 19, 2012    Consortium members are announced
  • Oct. 23, 2012     Consortium organizational meeting at TEA

Additional Information

Additional information may be found on the Texas Association of School Administrators website.

Texas Education Agency
Federal and State Education Policy
512/936.6060

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