Although TAAS performance of students with disabilities and many LEP students is not included in the accountability rating system, the programs in which they are served are reviewed under a separate compliance monitoring system. Statute requires TEA to conduct on-site compliance monitoring visits of special education and bilingual/ESL programs, as well as financial audits of the special program allotments under the state foundation school program funding formulas. The district effectiveness and compliance (DEC) monitoring system employs a peer review process and combines state and federal monitoring requirements for special education, bilingual/ESL, and other state and federally funded programs. Campus-level staff from the district are included in the monitoring visit; however, the DEC is a district-level monitoring system.

Comprehensive program reviews (rather than separate reviews for each special program) incorporate quality and effectiveness indicators as well as compliance factors. Although monitors review special program performance data before each visit, student performance on the TAAS or alternative assessments is not among the areas required by law to be covered through compliance monitoring.

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