Culberson County-Allamoore ISD intends to file an appeal challenging the 2016 Accountability Rating which classes the District as a “Improvement Required” (IR) district. Kittie Gibson, CCAISD Principal, presented an overview of the 2016 State Accountability System, highlighting the changes in the four Performance Indicators (indexes) that make up the accountability rating: Student Achievement, Student Progress, Closing Performance Gaps, and Postsecondary Readiness. The primary changes in the scoring are the inclusion of ALL students in the rating, the inclusion of the math scores which were not included in 2015, the raising of the percentage required to pass the standardized test, and the impact of converting from individual campuses to a single K-12 campus. Due to all the problems encountered with the STARR testing across the state, the TEA has streamlined the appeals process. CCAISD will file the appeal while still complying with the requirements set forth by TEA for an IR District which includes periodic meetings with a TEA official to develop and implement an improvement plan. Even if the appeal is granted, the implementation of the improvement plan will be beneficial to the District.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) 2016 Accountability Summary for the CCAISD shows that the district missed the “Met Standard” rating by 2 points. The CCAISD scores and TEA targets for each index are as follows:
To achieve the “Met Standard” rating, a district must meet or exceed the target scores on three indexes: Index 1 or Index 2 and Index 3 and Index 4. The District met the first criteria, but did not meet the target on Index 3. However, the target score on Index 3 was increased from 28 in 2014-2015 to 30 in 2016. If the target score had remained the same, the District would have met the TEA standards. Principal Gibson highlighted the area of student progress, noting that this is the best indicator of the effectiveness of the District. This measures the level of improvement a student makes from one year to the next. For instance, a student could fail to meet the threshold to “pass” the STARR test, but still show a 30% improvement over the prior year scores. This indicates a significant personal growth of the student.
(This and other information related to the TEA Accountability scores can be found at the Performance Reporting Division website at https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/perfreport/account/2016/index.html).
Although the consolidation of the campuses in 2014-2015 had many positive impacts, especially financially, the administration indicated it was detrimental to the district scores. In 2014, the secondary campus did not meet the target for Index 3, but the elementary school met all standards. When the TEA applied its formulas for the district scores combining the campus performances, the CCAISD was deemed to have “Met Standards.” Then in 2015, the scores did not include mathematics scores, STAAR A nor STAAR Alternate 2 Tests. In 2016, all students, regardless of accommodations, were included in the scores. Also, in 2016, the percentile needed to pass the various tests was increased. For instance, the 3rd grade reading scores jumped from 48% in 2015 to 53% for 2016. And the thresholds are expected to increase each year along with revised scoring criteria for the Accountability Standards.
To top it off, the TEA does not release its targets until April of the school year. At the end of last school year, in anticipation of the constant changes in the framework of the performance indicators, the District implemented additional staff development and has rolled out a comprehensive “Literacy Plan” and “Math Plan.” There is an on-going restructuring of the planning and teaching processes to adapt to the evolving educational paradigms. Ms. Gibson praised the efforts of the teaching staff at CCAISD as they strive to cope with the ever-changing requirements from TEA while still providing the basic instruction to the students.
In other business, the CCAISD Board members:
• Approved the Region 18 Solutions Agreement for 2016-2017.
• Approved six tax sale proposals submitted by the Appraisal District.
• Discussed the Superintendent’s Evaluation Instrument.
• Approved the annual resolution regarding the extracurricular status of the 4-H.
• Learned that the Open House is scheduled for 10-10-16 following a Title I parent meeting.