A Microsoft Word version of this letter is available for download and PRINTING.

 

November 4, 2010

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

Subject: 2010-2011 Interventions Staging Information for Data Validation Monitoring System - Leaver Records

The Texas Education Agency (TEA or the agency) previously outlined key provisions of state legislation (House Bill 3459, 78th Regular Legislative Session) that significantly revised the scope of school district monitoring. This system is referenced as the Performance-Based Monitoring (PBM) system. The PBM system relies on the evaluation of performance and program effectiveness data at the state level. Therefore, one important aspect of the agency’s PBM system is data validation monitoring. Data validation analyses evaluate district leaver/dropout records, assessment data, Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) student identification (PID) errors, discipline data, attendance data, and state compensatory education data. Districts and charter schools are subject to additional data analyses, including random audits, as necessary to ensure the accuracy of data submitted to the agency. One important aspect of the agency’s PBM system is data validation monitoring. Data validation interventions are coordinated with performance interventions to the extent possible and tailored to data accuracy concerns.

Determinations regarding monitoring and interventions are the result of leaver data validation analysis implemented by the agency’s Performance-Based Monitoring Division. Information related to the leaver data validation indicators calculated by the Performance-Based Monitoring Division is available in the 2010 Leaver Records Data Validation Manual available at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index3.aspx?id=4664. The results of the leaver data analysis are made available to districts and charter schools in the form of a district-level summary report and student-level reports posted on the TEA Secure Environment (TEASE) accountability application’s PBM link and entitled 2010 Data Validation Analysis: Leaver Records. The TEASE site can be accessed from the following address: https://seguin.tea.state.tx.us/apps/logon.asp.

The purpose of this letter is to notify local education agencies (LEAs) that 2010-2011 interventions staging information for the Data Validation Monitoring (DVM) System-Leaver Records will be available on the Intervention Stage and Activity Manager (ISAM) application on the TEASE by the close of business on November 5, 2010. A document to assist LEAs in accessing the ISAM system is available on the TEA website under the Resources section of the TEA Program Monitoring and Interventions homepage at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/pmi/.

Upon accessing the ISAM system, an LEA will be able to determine what, if any, stage of intervention has been assigned in the area of Data Validation Monitoring-Leaver Records. If an LEA is selected for Stage 1 through Stage 4 interventions, the due dates for completion of all required activities are as follows: Stage 1 (random or stratified submissions) and Stage 2, December 15, 2010; Stage 3, December 16, 2010; and Stage 4, December 17, 2010.
 
Important monitoring documents and tools that are to be used by LEAs in completing these data validation interventions will be posted to ISAM and the TEA website by the close of business on November 12, 2010, at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/pmi/datamon. Asupporting Summary of Interventions document also will be available to provide LEAs with detailed information on any activities in which an LEA is required to engage related to anomalous 2008-2009 dropout and/or leaver data submitted by an LEA in the fall of 2009 or failure to submit required Person Identification (PID) Enrollment Tracking (PET) reports. LEAs selected for Stage 4 interventions will receive individualized correspondence from the TEA detailing required intervention activities. Additionally, certain LEAs not selected for interventions will find a notation of “Report Only Triggered” when Data Validation Monitoring-Leaver Records information is accessed in ISAM. This notation indicates that, while the LEA currently is not subject to interventions, a Report Only indicator has been triggered related to Continuing Students’ Dropout Rate (Class of 2008), as of fall 2009. An LEA with this notation should review the related report posted to the Accountability Application’s PBM link and take proactive steps to address any concerns that may be reflected in the data presented on the report. 

LEAs should make every effort to ensure that leaver records reported for the fall snapshot date of October 29, 2010, and subject to submission on December 2, 2010, with a resubmission by January 20, 2011, are accurate and reflect the requirements contained in the 2010-2011 Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) Data Standards, Appendix D. The education service center (ESC) and agency PMI contacts will be available as resources as an LEA completes the data reporting and monitoring process.

Districts or charters identified as a result of any of the other monitoring activities the agency is required to conduct for the remainder of this school year will be notified in a timely manner by appropriate agency staff.

For questions about the 2010 Leaver Records Data Validation Manual or the indicators described in the manual, please contact the Performance-Based Monitoring Division at (512) 936-6426 or by e-mail at pbm@tea.state.tx.us. For questions about interventions; including ISAM inquiries or questions about templates, due dates, or requests for extensions; please contact the Program Monitoring and Interventions Division at (512) 463-5226 or by e-mail at pmidivision@tea.state.tx.us.   

We appreciate your support during this year of data validation monitoring and anticipate that a data-driven, performance-based approach to monitoring will significantly assist LEAs in their ongoing efforts to improve student achievement and data accuracy.

Sincerely,

Karen Batchelor
Deputy Associate Commissioner
Office of Program Monitoring and Interventions