| (E) be responsible for contracting and funding the
selected vendors included on the TEA list of approved vendors.
(4) Entities seeking Ratio Waiver List vendor approval
shall follow a process required by TEA.
(h) Accelerated instruction waivers. Under TEC, §28.0211(q),
the commissioner of education may waive requirements of accelerated
instruction for a school district or an open-enrollment charter school
as outlined in this subsection.
(1) For the purposes of this subsection:
(A) "significantly below satisfactorily" is defined
as achieving a performance level of Low Did Not Meet Grade Level on
a STAAR® mathematics or reading administration;
(B) "satisfactorily" is defined as achieving a performance
level of Approaches or better on a STAAR® mathematics or reading
administration; and
(C) "educationally disadvantaged" is defined as being
identified in the Texas Student Data System Public Education Information
Management System (TSDS PEIMS) as being eligible to participate in
the national free or reduced-price lunch program established under
42 U.S.C. §1751 et seq.
(2) Only those subject areas for which two consecutive
years of assessment instrument distribution can be positively identified
(i.e., mathematics and reading) for all students based on their grade
level shall be considered in the determination of this waiver.
(3) A school district or an open-enrollment charter
school shall be eligible for the one-year waiver if it meets all of
the following conditions when reviewing the most recent available
year of STAAR® data:
(A) 60% of total students eligible to receive accelerated
instruction in mathematics and 60% of total students eligible to receive
accelerated instruction in reading score satisfactorily on the applicable
subject area assessment instrument;
(B) 60% of students eligible to receive accelerated
instruction who scored significantly below satisfactorily in the prior
year score satisfactorily on the applicable subject area assessment
instrument(s). This condition is only applicable if at least 10 students
receiving accelerated instruction scored significantly below satisfactorily
in the prior year; and
(C) at least 50% of students receiving special education
services or qualifying as educationally disadvantaged who received
accelerated instruction in mathematics and/or reading score satisfactorily
on the subsequent applicable subject area assessment instrument(s).
This condition is only applicable if at least 10 students who received
accelerated instruction receive special education services or qualified
as educationally disadvantaged.
(4) TEA shall generate a yearly report that identifies
all school districts and open-enrollment charter schools that meet
all applicable conditions and are consequently eligible for the one-year
waiver.
(5) Eligible school districts and open-enrollment charter
schools shall be notified via TEA communication pathways upon the
publication of the annual list.
(6) Upon distribution of the annual notification, eligible
school districts and open-enrollment charter schools shall have 45
days to apply for the waiver using the Accelerated Instruction Waiver
under TEA Login (TEAL).
(7) The one-year waiver application shall contain the
following at minimum:
(A) the school district or open-enrollment charter
school's name;
(B) the signature of the school district's superintendent
or the chief administrative officer of an open-enrollment charter
school;
(C) documentation of the approval of the board of trustees
or governing board, as applicable; and
(D) an explanation of how the school district or open-enrollment
charter school will evaluate the impact of the waiver on student performance.
(i) Repeating a high school course.
(1) For the purpose of this subsection, credit recovery
means completing a certain number of assignments to satisfy the course
requirements after failure or a certain number of seat hours after
excessive absences.
(2) For courses taken for high school credit, a student
who is required to repeat any course in which the student was enrolled
in during the previous school year and who is eligible for accelerated
instruction for the current school year is exempt from accelerated
instruction requirements for that specific course if that course is
retaken in its entirety (i.e., to earn a full credit). However, a
student who is participating in credit recovery is still required
to receive accelerated instruction.
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