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ACTION REQUIRED
September 11, 2012
TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:
SUBJECT: Title I LEAs Identified in School Improvement in 2012-2013
Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I School Improvement Program (SIP), a Title I, Part A local education agency (LEA) that has not met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for two or more consecutive years in the same indicator (reading, mathematics, attendance rate, or graduation rate) is subject to LEA-level Title I School Improvement requirements. Based on the 2012 LEA AYP Status released on August 8, 2012, a preliminary list of LEAs subject to the LEA-level School Improvement Program (SIP) requirements has been posted to the TEA website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=2147508286. Identified LEAs are subject to interventions during the 2012-2013 school year.
Intervention Requirements for Stages 1, 2, or 3 LEA Improvement
Parent Notification
The Texas Education Agency (TEA or agency) and the LEA are required by federal statute to provide notice of school improvement status to staff, parents, and the community. This notice requirement was met by the agency through the public release of the AYP results on the agency’s web site on August 8, 2012. By September 15, 2012, the LEA must notify parents of the LEA’s improvement status and how the parent may become involved in improving the LEA.
This LEA requirement may be met in several ways. The LEA may send a memo, flyer, or letter home with students, or the LEA may publish the information through a newsletter. For your convenience, a sample parent notification letter can be found on the agency’s web site at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=2147508286.
To meet federal requirements, districts must upload a copy of the LEA parent notification letter through the Intervention Stage and Activity Manager (ISAM) application on the TEA Secure Environment (TEASE) at the same time that it is disseminated to parents.
LEA Improvement Plan
Within three months after being identified for improvement, an LEA shall develop an improvement plan or revise its existing LEA plan in consultation with parents, school staff, and others. Information regarding required components of the LEA plan is available at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=2147508286.
Corrective Action
Federal statute requires the state to take at least one of the following Corrective Actions for LEAs that enter Stage 3 of LEA Improvement:
- Deferring programmatic funds or reducing administrative funds;
- Instituting and fully implementing a new curriculum that is based on state and local academic content and achievement standards, including providing appropriate professional development based on scientifically based research for all relevant staff, that offers substantial promise of improving educational achievement for low-achieving students;
- Replacing the LEA personnel who are relevant to the failure to make AYP;
- Removing particular schools from the jurisdiction of the LEA and establishing alternative arrangements for public governance and supervision of such schools;
- Appointing, through the state educational agency (SEA), a receiver or trustee to administer the affairs of the LEA in place of the superintendent and school board;
- Abolishing or restructuring the LEA; or
- Authorizing students to transfer from a school operated by the LEA to a higher-performing public school operated by another LEA, and providing transportation to such schools, in conjunction with carrying out not less than one additional corrective action.
Any Stage 3 LEA is required to use the statutorily-required 10% reservation of Title I, Part A funds for professional development to contract with its regional ESC to conduct a District Snapshot review to determine the most effective professional development activities to be implemented. In addition, the LEA must select and implement one of the corrective action options listed above based on the District Snapshot results. If the LEA received a District Snapshot in 2010-2011 or 2011-2012, a new District Snapshot is not required for 2012-2013.
The LEA must submit the LEA’s choice of corrective action based on the results from the District Snapshot by uploading the information through the ISAM application on TEASE by
February 1, 2013. A Corrective Action planning template will be made available to districts by the Texas Center for District and School Support (TCDSS) at the Region XIII Education Service Center (ESC). Agency staff will review the LEA’s choice of corrective action. The LEA will be required to begin implementation of the corrective action immediately upon agency approval of the corrective action plan and must continue implementation through the 2012-2013 school year. If an LEA submitted a corrective action plan in 2011-2012, and received approval for it, it is to continue implementing that approved corrective action for 2012-2013.
If the LEA is identified in Stage 3 for a third consecutive year, the agency reserves the right to change the LEA’s required corrective action to one of the other federally-defined corrective actions.
Guidance on LEA-level improvement requirements of the Title I SIP is available on the agency website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=4459&menu_id=798.
Technical Assistance
The Division of School Improvement and Support at the TEA provides technical assistance through the TCDSS at the Region XIII ESC to LEAs identified in LEA-level School Improvement status. The TCDSS is available to assist school personnel and LEA representatives upon request in developing an effective LEA Improvement Plan and implementing the objectives within the plan. A representative from the TCDSS office will be contacting school administrators to invite you to attend TCDSS conferences designed to assist schools through the school improvement process. Additional assistance also may be available at your regional ESC.
Please note that LEA-level SIP requirements must be implemented immediately, regardless of whether the LEA submitted an appeal of the AYP designation to the agency.
If you have questions regarding LEA Title I School Improvement requirements, please contact the Title I contact at your regional ESC. You also may contact Ms. Becca Marsh in the Division of School Improvement and Support at becca.marsh@tea.state.tx.us or via telephone at
(512) 936-2256.
Sincerely,
Sally Partridge, Director
Division of School Improvement and Support |
