| Information Only |
March 8, 2000
TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:
Enclosed is a document that displays the results of the Special Education Focus-Based Monitoring (FBM) System analysis applied to your district. Each district is reviewed annually on ten data elements. Eight of the elements pertain to the identification practices of, services provided for, and performance by special education students using data from the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) and Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) Answer Documents. Two other elements relate to complaints and compliance issues. In addition to the document that displays the results on eight of the ten data elements, another document explains the eight PEIMS- and TAAS-related elements and how they are analyzed.
Both of these documents have been sent to the executive directors of the Education Service Centers. Staff at each Service Center has received results for all districts in their region and detailed information about each data element in terms of calculations, assignment of risk levels, and interpretation of findings. If you or your staff have questions about the enclosed documents, please contact your Education Service Center for assistance.
If your district was selected to receive a site visit based on the FBM results, you will notice that the enclosed one-page document does not contain all of the information in the detailed profile shared with you for the site visit. In an effort to share the results in a concise and clear manner, only key pieces of information were included on the one-page document and some of the column titles were reworded.
Each data element was analyzed independently of the others. Because of the way each element was defined, the data used to analyze the elements were pulled from different PEIMS and TAAS sources, as applicable. Some of the elements use data from Fall Submission enrollment records, others are from Summer Submission attendance and discipline records, and still others are from TAAS Answer Documents. For this reason, the number of students identified and included in the analysis of one element may differ from another element. This is not an error in the calculation; rather, it is a function of the definition and methodology applied to each element.
As a result of reviewing the FBM findings, some districts have already identified coding problems in their PEIMS submission, particularly for the new discipline record (425 record). Please review the enclosed information in light of your district's PEIMS coding practices to ensure the accuracy of your PEIMS submissions. PEIMS data for previous submissions cannot be changed, but future submissions should reflect the most accurate information. If you or your staff have questions about the enclosed documents, please contact your Education Service Center for assistance.
Sincerely,
Karen Case, Associate Commissioner
Accountability and School Accreditation
Enclosures