1. Richele Langley Deputy Executive Director of Academics January 2017
What’s New From Austin
Richele Langley
Deputy Executive Director of Academics
January 2017

2. To The Administrator Addressed Letters:
STAAR Short Answer Reading Quesitons
The purpose of this is to inform you that beginning with the March administration, the short answer reading questions will be removed from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) English I, English II, and English III assessments and replaced with multiple choice questions. This change is in an effort to better align with the STAAR grades 3–8 assessments, and does not affect the overall difficulty of the test, nor does it affect the passing standard. Revised blueprints for these assessments will be posted to the student assessment section of the TEA website as soon as they are available.
ESC’s have asked that we be notified from now on when such a decision is going to be released, so that we can notify district leaders prior to this going out to the public. Not sure if that will actually happen, but we did request it.

3. ESSA and Federal Funding
Anyone within a district who writes ESSA Title Grants, will need to attend training. Region 8 ESC is sending a team to be trained on the new grant that will be available in egrants this summer. There have been some significant changes, our Federal/State Department will be offering guidance on this. Leonard Beles and Karen Thompson are your Region 8 ESC contacts for this.

4. PRINCIPAL SURVEY 2017 INFORMATION
When do principals have access to principal survey of first-year teachers?
Wednesday, April 5, 2017 – all surveys must be completed by Thursday, June 15, 2017
When do HR personnel have access to the principal survey to make any changes on principal/teachers’ names?
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
How do I find the principal survey?
HR personnel must have access to their ECOS account (green screen) through TEAL
Principals must have access to their ECOS account (blue screen) through TEAL
The Principal Survey button in on the left side of their ECOS screen
Where do I go for assistance with principal survey?
Please
Please encourage principals and HR contacts to submit questions to the principal survey mailbox and they will receive answers within 24 hours.
Are there trainings available on how to complete the survey? Are FAQs available?
Yes, trainings for Superintendents, HR contacts and Principals are found on the Principal Survey website along with a document containing Frequently Asked Questions.
How do I find the Principal Survey website?
Click on Texas Educators icon on TEA’s main page and scroll down to Principal Survey found under Preparation and Continuing Education
Or provide the link:
Please note:
Principal Survey website will be available on Monday, March 20, 2017
Communication to districts:
To the Administrator Addressed Letter – February 2017
HR administrators and principals receive s with information
ESC Points of Contact coordination
Who is the TEA contact?
Viviana Lopez, Director
State and Federal Initiatives
(512)

5. A-F Accountability Not much to say at this point.
Hopefully, with a legislative session in progress, some
changes will be made.
As information is released to ESC 8, please feel
confident that we will pass it along.

6. Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR)
These are the “report cards” that you must make available to the public. You may send a note home that it is on your district website, and if anyone wants a hard copy to contact the school office.
Districts of Innovation
If your district is planning on becoming a D0I, now is the time to be developing your plan and submitting it to the commissioner.