November 1, 2013
TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:
SUBJECT:
Implications of NCLB Flexibility Waiver
On September 30, 2013, the US Department of Education (USDE) granted the State of Texas a
conditional waiver for specific provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (ESEA), as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). The waiver will
be granted without conditions once USDE reviews and approves Texas’s proposed guidelines
for teacher and principal evaluation and support systems, which will be submitted in Spring
2014. For additional information, see Attachment 1.
This letter explains how the waiver releases Texas local educational agencies (LEAs) from
meeting certain provisions of NCLB. The first two sections below describe general program
changes and revised highly qualified (HQ) teacher data reporting requirements. The remainder
of the letter describes the new basis for evaluating ongoing student performance and
accountability, replacing the prior Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) provision.
General Program Changes
The waiver gives LEAs increased flexibility in determining how to expend NCLB funds:



LEAs identified for improvement status are no longer required to reserve 10% of their
Title I, Part A allocation for professional development.
LEAs are no longer required to reserve an amount equal to 20% of their Title I, Part A
funds for Supplemental Educational Services (SES) and school choice. However, any
student currently taking advantage of the prior school choice provision must be allowed
to complete the highest grade level at that campus, but the LEA is no longer required to
provide transportation.
Limitations have been removed as to the amount that an LEA may transfer from a
covered program into Title I, Part A under Funding Transferability. In addition, when
calculating set-aside percentages within Title I, Part A, the LEA may now exclude the
amount of transferred funds, whereas previously the set-asides were to be included in
the required reservations. LEAs should be aware that, as was previously, funds
transferred into Title I, Part A cannot be moved back out again for use in the original
covered program.
Details on how the waiver affects amending the grant application are listed in the NCLB Waiver
Errata, posted with 2013–2014 NCLB Consolidated Grant Application materials on the
TEA Grant Opportunities page.
Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) Requirements
Section 1119 of NCLB requires that all teachers of core subject academic areas meet the
specific competency and educational requirements defined for “highly qualified” (HQ) teachers.
The NCLB waiver does not remove that requirement. LEAs must continue to ensure that
applicable teachers meet the HQ definition and Title I paraprofessionals meet the Title I
paraprofessional requirements. In addition, LEAs are still required to take the appropriate
actions when they do not. Campuses will continue reporting HQ status through eGrants by the
deadlines posted on the Highly Qualified Teachers page of the TEA website.
Before implementation of the waiver, LEAs that failed to achieve 100% HQT status and did not
meet AYP for multiple consecutive years were required to submit an HQ Continuous
Improvement Plan and/or an HQ Focused Data Analysis to TEA. Beginning in the 2013–2014
school year, the waiver releases LEAs from submitting the plan to TEA.
New Method of Federal Accountability
A key change resulting from the NCLB waiver is the elimination of the AYP designation. For the
2012-2013 school improvement requirements, TEA released 2012 AYP results that identified
LEAs and campuses as “Meets AYP” or “Missed AYP” depending on how their scores on
statewide assessments compared to federal performance standards. A campus that missed
AYP for two consecutive years was subject to a variety of Title I school improvement
interventions, including corrective action.
With the granting of the NCLB waiver, AYP has been superseded to allow for a more flexible,
state-specific approach to identifying schools in need of intervention. Starting in the 2013–2014
school year, Texas LEAs and campuses will aim to meet federally approved annual measurable
objectives in the areas of performance, participation, and graduation, and limits on use of
alternative assessments.
Priority and Focus Schools
Beginning in the 2013–2014 school year, TEA will identify “Priority” or “Focus” Title I schools, as
follows:


“Priority” designates 5% of Title I campuses, consisting of School Improvement GrantTexas Title I Priority Schools (SIG-TTIPS), high schools with graduation rates less than
60%, and lowest-performing schools based on statewide reading and math
assessments.
“Focus” designates 10% of Title I campuses, based on the widest gaps between student
performance and the federal targets of 75% (known as “system safeguards”).
See Attachment 2 for a more detailed explanation of the identification of and supports and
interventions for Title I schools that are identified as priority or focus schools and/or that missed
a system safeguard.
For Further Information
The TEA Seeks Waiver of NCLB Provisions page of the TEA website includes links to TEA’s
waiver submissions as well as to the waiver approval letter from the US Secretary of Education.
TEA will be posting further information on the implications of the waiver as it becomes available.
For further information on the topics covered in this letter, refer to the following TEA divisions:



General Title I program changes: Division of State and Federal Education Policy-ESEA
Unit, (512) 463-9414 or nclb@tea.state.tx.us
Amendments to the 2013–2014 NCLB Consolidated Grant Application: Division of
Grants Administration, (512) 463-8525 or grants@tea.state.tx.us
Highly qualified teacher requirements: Division of Educator Standards, (512) 936-9831
or espi@tea.state.tx.us


System Safeguards Results: Division of Performance Reporting, (512) 463-9704 or
performance.reporting@tea.state.tx.us
Priority and Focus schools, improvement, and interventions: Division of School
Improvement and Support, (512) 463-1427 or sis@tea.state.tx.us
Sincerely,
Lizzette C. González Reynolds
Chief Deputy Commissioner
LCGR/cg
Attachment 1: Teacher and Principal Evaluation and Support Systems
TEA’s new teacher and principal evaluation systems will encourage more frequent, timely,
formative feedback and will include multiple indicators of success, including measures of
student learning.
Last year, based on feedback from the field and Senate Bill 1383, 82nd Texas Legislature, TEA
began the process of updating the teacher evaluation system and developing a new principal
evaluation system by engaging teachers, administrators, and subject-area experts in the
development of these new state systems. The requirements of the waiver complement this work
and include a concrete timeline.
The timeline includes the development of the teacher and principal evaluation and support
systems in the 2013-2014 school year. During the 2014–2015 school year, the new evaluation
systems will be piloted in 40 districts throughout the state, with specific districts yet to be
determined. The new systems will be implemented statewide beginning in the 2015–2016
school year. The goal of both systems will be to foster open and collaborative campus cultures
that focus on instructional growth, supportive and contextual feedback, and the development of
individual and school-wide practices that more effectively improve student learning.
TEA will continue to support those districts that use locally adopted evaluation systems that
meet the objectives of the new state evaluation system: providing timely and meaningful
feedback to teachers, furthering instructional growth by aligning professional development to
observation results, and weighing the effect of instructional practices through measures of
student learning. The following table provides the timeline for development of the new teacher
and principal evaluation and support systems.
Key Milestone or Activity: Development of Teacher
and Principal Evaluation and Support Systems
Detailed
Timeline
Meet with ESC Appraisal Advisory1 group to gather input on strengths
and weaknesses of current system—begin development of new
training materials for teacher appraisal system
Meet quarterly
beginning in May
2013
TEA
Initial meeting of Texas Teaching Standards Steering Committee –
create rough draft of standards
August 2013
TEA
Texas
Comprehensive
Center
2nd meeting of Texas Teaching Standards Steering Committee –
approve draft standards
September 2013
TEA
Texas
Comprehensive
Center
Review of draft standards by Center for Great Teachers and Leaders
October 2013
Texas
Comprehensive
Center
Release draft standards for public comment
December 2013
TEA
3rd meeting of Texas Teaching Standards Steering Committee to
review revision of standards based on public comment
January 2014
TEA
Texas
Comprehensive
Center
1
Responsible
Parties
TEA currently works with one lead education service center (ESC) and an existing ESC Professional
Development Appraisal System (PDAS) Advisory Group to standardize training, introduce and refine
training materials, and refine teacher evaluation in districts that use PDAS.
Key Milestone or Activity: Development of Teacher
and Principal Evaluation and Support Systems
Detailed
Timeline
Responsible
Parties
Finalize teaching standards
February 2014
TEA
4th meeting of Texas Teaching Standards Steering Committee to
develop observation rubric that is aligned with new teaching standards
February 2014
TEA
Texas
Comprehensive
Center
Select 40 pilot districts for new observation tool
March 2014
TEA
ESCs
Teacher guidelines will be finalized and submitted to USDE
May 2014
TEA
Finalize draft observation rubric for pilot year
May 2014
TEA
Texas
Comprehensive
Center
TEA submits copies of the teacher standards, draft observation
instruments and training materials to USDE
May 2014
TEA
Train pilot districts on new rubric and protocols
Summer 2014
TEA
ESCs
Pilot new rubrics with on-going monitoring, support, and professional
development for pilot districts
2014-2015 School
Year
TEA
ESCs
Update commissioner rules related to teacher appraisals based on
results from the pilot
2014-2015 School
Year
TEA
Begin state-wide rollout of training on new evaluation system
Summer 2015
TEA
ESCs/Contract
with outside
entity with
proven results
in successful
statewide
implementation
Begin rollout of new evaluation system statewide
2015-2016 School
Year
TEA
ESCs/Contract
with outside
entity with
proven results
in successful
statewide
implementation
Provide ongoing monitoring, support, and professional development
for pilot districts
Quarterly basis
beginning fall
2015
TEA
ESCs
Attachment 2: Identification, Supports and Interventions for Title I Schools
Identified As Priority or Focus Schools and/or That Missed a System Safeguard
Identification
System safeguards meet federal accountability requirements by requiring all campuses and
LEAs to meet the federally approved annual measurable objectives (AMOs) for each student
group evaluated. Similar to the state accountability system safeguards, the federal system
safeguards include four components: 1) performance rates, 2) participation rates, 3) graduation
rates, and 4) limits on use of Alternative Assessments.
However, the performance rates, participation rates and graduation rates are calculated for
seven student groups only: All Students, Three Racial/Ethnic groups: African American,
Hispanic, and White; Economically Disadvantaged, students receiving Special Education
services, and English language learners (ELLs). The other four racial/ethnic groups (American
Indian, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Two or More Races) that were evaluated in the state
accountability system safeguards are not evaluated in the federal accountability system
safeguards.
Performance rates calculated for the federal accountability safeguard system are the
disaggregated performance rates for Reading/English language arts and Mathematics subjects
only. As described in the approved NCLB waiver, the performance rate targets are set at 75%
for the 2012-13 school year for each student group evaluated. The targets for participation
rates, graduation rates, and limits on use of STAAR Alternate and STAAR Modified are the
same targets used for the 2013 state accountability system safeguards which are aligned to
federal requirements. Note that the federal accountability system safeguards apply the same
AMO targets to all districts and campuses, including charter districts and alternative education
campuses.
The agency will generate a list of priority and focus schools based on statewide reading and
mathematics assessments, and graduation rates. Priority schools will include School
Improvement Grant-Texas Title I Priority Schools (SIG-TTIPS), Title I schools with graduation
rates less than 60%, and the lowest-performing Title I schools based on system safeguard
data. Ten percent of Title I schools, not otherwise identified as priority schools, will be
considered focus schools. Focus schools will include campuses with the widest gaps in student
performance between student groups and the federal safeguard targets of 75%.
Interventions for Title I Priority and Focus Schools
Priority and Focus schools are required to align the Texas Accountability and Intervention
System (TAIS) improvement process around the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA) turnaround principles and critical success factors (CSFs). The LEA is responsible for
assisting identified campuses in all aspects of the school improvement process, which include
data analysis, needs assessment, and developing, implementing, and monitoring a plan for
improvement.
During the school year 2013-14, the following interventions will be required for identified
schools:


SIG-TTIPS priority schools will continue to implement current TTIPS requirements and
engage in the TAIS improvement process of data analysis, needs assessment,
improvement planning, and implementation and monitoring of activities at the LEA and
campus level. These campuses must also ensure they continue to address the ESEA
turnaround principles in all plans and activities required through the TTIPS grant.
Non-SIG-TTIPS priority schools will, through engaging in the TAIS improvement
process referenced above, evaluate current campus staff and create a plan that
addresses the ESEA turnaround principles, which will be submitted at the end of the

2013-14 school year. This plan, based on the turnaround principles, will be fully
implemented by the campus in the 2014-15 school year.
Focus schools will review ESEA turnaround principles and must identify and implement
no less than one instructional intervention specifically targeted to meet the deficiencies
of the campus and assist in closing existing achievement gaps. Reasons for
identification and chosen instructional intervention(s) must be included in the campus’
2013-14 campus improvement plan.
Priority and focus schools already identified as Improvement Required (IR) under the state
accountability system will continue the requirements outlined in an August 15, 2013, To the
Administrator Addressed. Further details will be provided around embedding the interventions
described above into current improvement work.
Additional information on the identification of priority and focus schools, plan submission
processes, timelines, and available resources and support will be communicated soon by staff
at the Texas Education Agency, Texas Center for District and School Support (TCDSS), and
regional ESCs.
Interventions for Title I Schools that Missed One or More System Safeguards
Title I schools that are not identified as priority or focus and are not meeting one or more federal
accountability system safeguards should address missed safeguard measures as they work
through the improvement process.
Although there are no reporting requirements to TEA, the LEA and campus should engage in
the TAIS improvement process to provide support and resources to address these areas. LEAs
are encouraged to provide support internally, or to engage with local ESCs or other entities, as
needed.