AID(LEGAL) - ACCOUNTABILITY: FEDERAL ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS

Note: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) amended federal accountability standards under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. The ESSA requirements described in this policy do not represent a complete list of legal obligations. Districts and schools that receive Title I, Part A funds should carefully review federal and state requirements concerning use of those funds. [See EHBD and CBB]

District Plan

A district may receive a subgrant under Title I, Part A of the ESEA for any fiscal year only if the district has a plan approved by and on file with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that:

  1. Is developed with timely and meaningful consultation with teachers, principals, other school leaders, paraprofessionals, specialized instructional support personnel, charter school leaders (in a district that has charter schools), administrators (including administrators of programs described in other parts of this subchapter), other appropriate school personnel, and with parents of children in schools served under Title I, Part A; and
  2. As appropriate, is coordinated with other programs described by 20 U.S.C. 6312(a).

20 U.S.C. 6312(a)(1)

Each district plan shall describe:

  1. How the district will monitor students' progress in meeting the challenging state academic standards by developing and implementing a well-rounded program of instruction to meet the academic needs of all students, identifying students who may be at risk for academic failure, providing additional education assistance to individual students the district or school determines need help in meeting the challenging state academic standards, and identifying and implementing instructional and other strategies intended to strengthen academic programs and improve school conditions for student learning;
  2. How the district will identify and address any disparities that result in low-income students and minority students being taught at higher rates than other students by ineffective, inexperienced, or out-of-field teachers;
  3. How the district will carry out its responsibilities in comprehensive support and improvement plans and targeted support and improvement plans;
  4. Poverty criteria to select eligible school attendance areas;
  5. The nature of the programs to be conducted by the district's schools under 20 U.S.C. 6314 and 6315 (schoolwide programs and targeted assistance schools), and where appropriate, educational services outside such schools for children living in local institutions for neglected or delinquent children, and for neglected or delinquent children in community day-school programs;
  6. The services the district will provide for homeless children and youths;
  7. The strategy the district will use to implement effective parent and family engagement;
  8. How the district will support, coordinate, and integrate services provided under Title I, Part A with early childhood education programs at the district or individual school level, including plans for the transition of participants in such programs to local elementary school programs, if applicable;
  9. How teachers and school leaders, in consultation with parents, administrators, paraprofessionals, and specialized instructional support personnel, in schools operating a targeted assistance school program under 20 U.S.C. 6315, will identify the children most in need of services;
  10. How the district will implement strategies to facilitate effective transition for students from middle grades to high school and from high school to postsecondary education;
  11. How the district will support efforts to reduce the overuse of discipline practices that remove students from the classroom, which may include identifying and supporting schools with high rates of discipline, disaggregated by each of the subgroups of students as defined in 20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(2);
  12. How the district will support programs that coordinate and integrate academic and career and technical education and work-based learning opportunities, if appropriate; and
  13. Any other information on how the district proposes to use funds to meet the purposes of Part A and that the district determines appropriate to provide, which may include how the district will assist schools in identifying and serving gifted and talented students and assist schools in developing effective school library programs.

20 U.S.C. 6312(b)

Each district plan shall provide assurances that the district will:

  1. Ensure that migratory and formerly migratory children who are eligible to receive services under Part A are selected to receive such services on the same basis as other children who are selected to receive services under Part A;
  2. Provide services to eligible children attending private elementary schools and secondary schools in accordance with 20 U.S.C. 6320, and timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials regarding such services [see EHBD];
  3. Participate, if selected, in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading and mathematics in grades 4 and 8;
  4. Coordinate and integrate services under Part A with other educational services at the district or school level, such as services for children with disabilities, migratory children, American Indian children, and homeless children and youth, in order to increase program effectiveness, eliminate duplication, and reduce fragmentation of the instructional program;
  5. Collaborate with the state or local child welfare agency to:
    1. Designate a point of contact if the child welfare agency notifies the district, in writing, that the agency has designated an employee to serve as point of contact for the district [see FFC]; and
    2. Develop and implement clear written procedures governing how transportation to maintain foster care children in their schools of origin when in their best interest will be provided, arranged, and funded for the duration of the time in foster care [see CNA and FD];
  6. Ensure all teachers and paraprofessionals working in a program supported with funds under Part A meet applicable state certification and licensure requirements, including any requirements for certification obtained through alternative routes to certification; and
  7. Ensure that early childhood education services to low-income children comply with performance standards under the Head Start Act, in cases of districts that choose to use funds under Part A to provide early childhood education services to low income children below the age of compulsory school attendance.

20 U.S.C. 6312(c)

Annual Review

A district receiving federal funds under Title I, Part A shall periodically review and, as necessary, revise its plan. 20 U.S.C. 6312(a)(5)

School Support and Improvement

Identification of Schools

At least once every three school years, based on a system of meaningful differentiation as described by 20 U.S.C. 6311 and agency determined methodology, TEA shall identify one statewide category of schools for comprehensive support and improvement. 20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(4)(D)(i)

Comprehensive Support and Improvement

TEA shall notify each district of any school that is identified for comprehensive support and improvement.

Upon receiving notification, the district shall, for each identified school and in partnership with stakeholders (including principals and other school leaders, teachers, and parents), locally develop and implement a comprehensive support and improvement plan for the school to improve student outcomes that:

  1. Is informed by all indicators described in the accountability system including student performance against state-determined long-term goals;
  2. Includes evidence-based interventions;
  3. Is based on a school-level needs assessment;
  4. Identifies resource inequities, which may include a review of district- and school-level budgeting, to be addressed through implementation of such comprehensive support and improvement plan;
  5. Is approved by the school, district, and TEA; and
  6. Is monitored and periodically reviewed by TEA, upon approval and implementation.

20 U.S.C. 6311(d)(1)

Option to Transfer

A district may provide all students enrolled in a school identified by TEA for comprehensive support and improvement with the option to transfer to another public school served by the district. [See FDB] 20 U.S.C. 6311(d)(1)(D)

Targeted Support and Improvement

TEA shall notify each district of any school served by the district in which any subgroup of students is consistently underperforming as described by the indicators in the state's accountability system. TEA will also ensure the district provides notification to such school with respect to which subgroup or subgroups of students are consistently underperforming in the state's accountability system.

Each school receiving notification described above, in partnership with stakeholders (including principals and other school leaders, teachers, and parents), shall develop and implement a school-level targeted support and improvement plan to improve student outcomes based on the indicators in the statewide accountability system, for each subgroup of students that was the subject of the notification.

The plan shall be informed by all indicators described in the state accountability system, including student performance against long-term goals; include evidence-based interventions; be approved by the district prior to implementation; be monitored, upon submission and implementation by the district; and result in additional action following unsuccessful implementation of such a plan after a number of years determined by the district.

20 U.S.C. 6311(d)(2)

Additional Targeted Support

A targeted support and improvement plan, as described above, that is developed and implemented in any school receiving a notification under additional targeted support shall also identify resource inequities (which may include a review of district- and school-level budgeting), to be addressed through implementation of such plan. 20 U.S.C. 6311(d)(2)(C)

Continued Support

TEA shall establish statewide exit criteria for schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement, which if not satisfied within a state-determined number of years, shall result in more rigorous state-determined action, such as the implementation of interventions. Schools that have been identified for additional targeted support that have not satisfied TEA exit criteria within a state-determined number of years shall be identified by TEA for comprehensive support and improvement, as described above. 20 U.S.C. 6311(d)(3)(A)

Richland Springs ISD

AID(LEGAL)-P

UPDATE 113

DATE ISSUED: 6/12/2019