Latest Updates

Time to Read: <1 Minute TEA recently released its STAAR Results Summary . Why It Matters: Our schools still haven't recovered from Covid. Highlights From the Report STAAR participation is back up following Covid. RLA scores seem to have rebounded, but performance in Math is at its lowest since 2015. Economically disadvantaged students trail their affluent counterparts by 25% in RLA and 26% in Math. Use Our Interactive Tool to Explore the Trends. Revisit our coverage of  results from last year.

Time to Read: <2 Minutes I have had the pleasure to serve on an Institutional Review Board since 2016. The experience has benefitted me time and again as a researcher and as a friend to researchers. While helping many of my peers through this daunting process, I have realized two things: No matter which univeristy in which state someone is attending, there are some common misconceptions about how IRB works. There is not much written in terms of practical advice to guide new researchers through the IRB process. To fill that gap, I will periodically be posting about the IRB process.  Note: My advice is general and will vary from school to school. I am not a lawyer or a compliance officer... just someone who wants to help. Consider IRB While Designing Your Study Most researchers are introduced to their school's Institutional Review Board (IRB) while working on their dissertation. It is one item on a long dissertation checklist...an obstacle between proposal and research. As soon as...

Time to Read: <1 Minute TEA has proposed new methodology for identifying campuses in need of supports. Why it Matters: Being identified for supports puts schools on a countdown to takeover if they don't improve. Details Under TEA's proposed methodology, to be identified for Targeted Supports & Interventions (TSI), a campus must have a student group that missed Closing the Gaps (Domain 3) targets for three indicators over three years. Campuses identified for Additional Targeted Supports (ATS) are a subset of TSI campuses. In 2022, the years that will count are 2018, 2019 & 2022. Only certain Closing the Gaps student groups count: Race/Ethnicity (7) Economically Disadvantaged Current and Monitored EL Current Special Education The indicators that count are based on Closing the Gaps methodology for campus type and exclude English Language Proficiency. The minimum size requirement is 25.

Time to Read: <1 Minute STAAR/EOC performance went down for most Texas schools following Covid. Why it Matters: Schools and communities will have to work harder than ever to catch up. School and testing was cancelled in spring 2020 due to the Covid Pandemic. Students sporadically returned to school throughout the fall. The 2020-2021 school year was plagued (pun intended) with interruptions and missed school. Use our suite of tools to analyze the drop by test, subject, and school level.