October 12, 1999

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

Subject:   District Effectiveness and Compliance Reference Guide, Part I, 1999-2000

Staff members in the Division of Accountability Evaluations revised the District Effectiveness and Compliance (DEC) Reference Guide, Part I, 1999-2000, on September 22, 1999.  Revisions were made to the following sections.

Bilingual Education/English as a second language (BE/ESL)

The following note was added to indicator B30: 

Note: For a focused bilingual education/ESL visit, if the district has an exception to the bilingual education program or a waiver of certification requirements for teachers who provide ESL instruction, review all of the following:

• the district’s plan detailing specific measures to be used by the district to eliminate the conditions that created the need for an exception [TEC 29.054(b)(4)]

• number of years exceptions have been requested

• number of students impacted under exception/waiver

• percent of total limited English proficient (LEP) population impacted

• number of classrooms under exception/waiver

• number of teachers under a waiver.

Career and Technology Education

• Indicators C8 and C12 were added as new indicators.

• Indicator C29 (Comparable Changing Rooms) was deleted.

Dyslexia

• The word “written” before the word “plan” was deleted in the “Look for:” section of indicator DYS1.

• The document title Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders was corrected.

• The phrase “in a remedial class” was deleted from indicator DYS8.

• An additional authority reference was added to indicator DYS8.

 Title I, Part C:  Education of Migratory Students

• Indicators TIC15 and TIC16 were added as new indicators.  Note:  The DEC peer review team will begin monitoring these two new indicators December 6, 1999.

• The following note was added to the Title I, Part C overview in the DEC reference guide:

Revision Date (9/27/1999)  Note:  Member Districts of a Migrant Shared Services Arrangement will be monitored through the Management and Services (M & S) Audit System instead of through DEC.

It is the intent of the Division of Accountability Evaluations that this guide serve as a user-friendly document to assist districts in improving the quality of services provided to students in special programs.  We encourage you to work closely with your regional Education Service Center to prepare for the DEC visit.  A copy of the reference guide can be downloaded from the Agency website at the following address – http://www.tea.state.tx.us/account.eval/.

Sincerely yours,
Neida Estringel, Ph.D., Coordinator
Accountability Evaluations

For further information on this topic, contact Accountability Evaluations at 512-475-3112.

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