December 2009

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© 2009
Queue, Inc.

<< Texas Education News Back Issues

The 2009 Annual Progress Report on State Data Systems is a Data Quality Campaign
publication that reports on states’ progress in building the 10 Essential Elements in their statewide longitudinal data systems. States are making progress; however, many states lack critical Elements essential for addressing college and career readiness and the impact that teachers have on student achievement (Elements 5, 6 and 7).

Texas report:
http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/survey/states/TX

AEIS reports for schools, districts, regions, and the state for the 2008-09 school year. The reports are available as downloadable PDF files as well as HTML.

The AEIS Glossary, updated annually, describes each item on the report.It provides the methodology for calculating the values on the report and clearly states the source of the data. A Spanish translation, the AEIS Glosario, will be available soon as a PDF download.

Comparable Improvement reports are available at the school level. They show the school's Comparison Group, as well as how much the school's performance on TAKS reading/ELA and mathematics has changed from one year to the next.

You may download data files in a delimited ASCII format, either for all the data or for specific subsets.

Click on the Secondary School Completion and Dropouts in Texas Public Schools, 2007-08 to access additional information about dropout and completion rates for 2007-08.

TEA also publishes the 2008-09 School Report Card for every campus. The SRC provides a small subset of the information available in the AEIS reports. Schools are required to provide a copy of their School Report Card to the parent or guardian of each student.  

Denton ISD and Longview ISD Plan to Implement Classworks

Two Texas school districts, Denton Independent School District and Longview ISD, plan to implement Classworks to establish consistency in their school technology implementations and improve student mastery of the state curriculum standards, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Both Denton ISD and Longview ISD will import students’ Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) scores into Classworks to create individualized learning paths for each student, based on his or her own scores. In addition, the districts will implement Classworks Language Learner Series to help English language learners (ELL) build fluency.

Denton ISD
In Denton ISD, one of the fastest growing school districts in north Texas, 20 elementary schools, six middle schools and one alternative school will implement Classworks during the 2009-10 school year. Each school will use the software to deliver individualized instruction in mathematics and language arts to all students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Goals for the implementation include increasing the number of students who achieve “Commended Performance” on the TAKS and actively monitoring student growth throughout the school year.
“We were looking for a solution that would give us consistency in the implementation of technology across the school system and, at the same time, give us the opportunity to achieve equity in meeting all students’ needs,” said Dr. Mike Mattingly, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and staff development for Denton ISD. “Classworks will allow us to provide a consistent solution to different schools with different needs, and to deliver the right content to all students whether they’re above, below or on grade level. It will also support teachers by providing them with a tool to easily differentiate instruction to improve student learning.”

Longview ISD
In Longview ISD, 10 elementary/primary schools, three middle schools and one high school will install Classworks this fall and students will begin working on software in January 2010. The district plans to use Classworks to supplement instruction in reading, language arts, math and science, and to help teachers track students’ mastery of skills. Longview will also implement the Preparing All Students for Success (PASS) Model, an instructional model for middle and high schools designed to identify struggling students and help students reach graduation, using Classworks.
“We’re always looking better ways to increase student achievement,” said Micah Lewis, deputy superintendent for campus accountability for Longview ISD. “In our district, we had 14 campuses that weren’t as consistent as we wanted them to be with software offerings to supplement instruction. We were looking for a research-based solution that could run throughout district and address the needs of all students. Classworks does this. If students are not where they need to be, Classworks will help them get there. For those on the other end of spectrum who need to be challenged, Classworks will challenge them to go further.”