View this webinar for an overview of the 2021 Texas education bills passed during the Regular Legislative Session. The webinar also includes a lively discussion full of questions and best practices from your colleagues across the state. To hear what they had to say, be sure to tune into the recording.
Webinar: K-12 Updates from 87th Legislative Session, Texas Education Bills 2021
Topics: Grad Requirements, Educators, Administrators, High School, Accountability
Taking a holistic look at our Texas school districts to determine how we can influence college, career, and military readiness (CCMR) is more important this school year than ever. During this professional development webinar, we show how districts around Texas are improving CCMR using Texas OnCourse. In this webinar, you’ll:
Topics: CCMR and Accountability, Educators, Administrators
Asset Framing: Tell the Story of Your Students’ Aspirations, Not Their Deficits
Trabian Shorters, best-selling author, social entrepreneur, and leading authority on diversity and inclusion, has been working for years to help foundations and nonprofits change the stories they tell about the communities they support. Many philanthropic organizations start with the challenge or the problem first – “tales of deficit and despair,” as Shorters describes. But this sort of approach stigmatizes communities, contributes to further stereotyping, and can often make change seem impossible.
Topics: Professional Development, Administrators, Distance Counseling and Learning, Diversity and Inclusion
Supporting Seniors Who Are College Bound During COVID-19
As we approach the end of an unpredictable school year, we applaud you and all the other educators who stepped up to meet the needs of their students, staff, and families during the COVID-19 crisis. Your efforts and dedication have been truly amazing.
Topics: College Planning, Administrators, Coronavirus, Distance Counseling and Learning
Six Tips for Implementing Effective PD from Northwest ISD
This year, educators around the state are seeing normal PD schedules disrupted or challenged by COVID-19 restrictions. And many schools and districts are turning to remote PD for the first time.
Northwest ISD, a quickly growing district in Dallas-Fort Worth, has been using the Texas OnCourse Academy to provide virtual lessons to their college and career staff for the past couple of years. Here are some tips that they’ve utilized for implementing professional development along the way. Find more tips and tools like this in our new remote PD toolkit.
Topics: Professional Development, Administrators, Distance Counseling and Learning
School Administrator Support for Decision Making during COVID-19
COVID-19 has required school administrators to implement necessary school closures and remote learning. In fact, all educators – principals, counselors, and teachers alike – are redefining their roles. With so many new needs from the field, the Texas Education Agency has responded swiftly with extensive guidance and updates. In this edition of the Strategist, we highlight several such resources for school administrator support during COVID-19. |
Due to COVID-19, TEA has cancelled STAAR testing for the remainder of the school year and adjusted our state’s A–F Accountability System. For the 2019–20 school year, TEA proposes to label all districts and campuses Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster. College, career, and military readiness data will be reported only on TEA reports such as Texas Academic Performance Reports. It will not be used in ratings calculations for the 2019–2020 school year. In just one month, we have shifted from an accountability mindset to focus on student equity and access to remote learning opportunities. Below we highlight some of the key changes that will undoubtedly impact the decisions you make as an administrator through the rest of the 2019–2020 school year.
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Topics: CCMR and Accountability, Administrators, Coronavirus
TEA Accountability Score Updates: COVID-19
You’ve likely seen the changes to the August 2020 accountability ratings, but in case you missed it, formal ratings for all Texas school districts will be labeled “not-rated” due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 emergency. College, career, and military readiness data will be reported only on TEA reports such as Texas Academic Performance Reports. It will not be used in ratings calculations for the 2019-2020 school year.
Topics: CCMR and Accountability, Administrators, Coronavirus
The CCMR Outcomes Bonus
Texas OnCourse regularly includes updates on the CCMR Outcomes Bonus and other important accountability topics in our monthly newsletter. Sign up for the strategist to get information straight to your inbox.
In 2019, the state legislature passed House Bill 3, the school finance bill. Among other items, the bill allocates funding to improve college, career, and military readiness for all students. This funding is known as the CCMR Outcomes Bonus.
Topics: Administrators
Building Effective Dual Credit Programs
Across the state, we’ve seen significant growth in the number of students taking dual credit or dual enrollment courses while in high school. Dual credit coursework is used as a college, career, and military readiness (CCMR) indicator in 2019 accountability calculations across all three domains. Students who complete three college credit hours in English language arts or mathematics, or nine college credit hours in any subject area, earn CCMR credit.
Topics: Administrators
Military enlistment has long been a viable postsecondary option for students. Now, enlistment in the armed forces counts as a college, career, and military readiness (CCMR) indicator in Texas’ new A–F accountability system.
Topics: Grad Requirements, Jobs and Careers, Administrators