Teacher Incentive Allotment and T-TESS Administrative Guidelines

Last spring marked a significant milestone as the district passed data validation.
A total of $142$ teachers earned a designation. While some teachers transferred from other districts with existing designations or national board certifications, the majority earned theirs locally last year.
The district is expanding the program for the upcoming year:
- Adding $23$ new eligible courses.
- Piloting another $25$ courses to be added to the official plan for the $2728$ school year.
The expansion includes areas previously excluded, such as Career and Technical Education (CTE), Fine Arts, and Physical Education (PE).
The pilot year is designed to identify and "work out the kinks" from both administrative and teacher perspectives before these courses are officially added to the state-submitted plan.

The state has updated TIA distinction levels. In addition to the existing three levels, a fourth layer called "Acknowledged" has been added at the bottom.
Data for the past year, which will be submitted in October, will reflect these four levels.
Due to the addition of the "Acknowledged" level, the average funding amount for each distinction is increasing slightly.
Funding distribution details:
- Allotment funds are paid out in August.
- The $142$ designated teachers will receive their payout in August of the current year.

The district acknowledges that not all courses are currently eligible, which can impact morale.
The philosophy for expansion is "go slow to go fast later." Rushing to include every teacher immediately risks the entire system "crumbling" or failing data validation.
A core principle of the program is collective success: "We either pass data validation together or we don't pass it together."

Every teacher in an eligible course is automatically in the "TIA band."
There is no "opt-in" or "opt-out" process; if a teacher teaches an eligible course, their data is submitted.
Required components for eligible teachers:
- A full T-TESS (Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System) observation cycle.
- Four walkthroughs: two conducted in the fall and two in the spring.
- Implementation of beginning-of-year (BOY) and end-of-year (EOY) assessments to measure student growth.
- Accurate rosters: Admin must ensure all eligible teachers and their student rosters are correctly accounted for.

July 29 at 9:30 AM: Beginning of year launch with Matt Pope (or Matt Cope) and EdPack. This is a one-hour session.
July 29, October 29, and March 29: TIA Zoom check-in meetings with Matt Pope.
October 15: Final data submission deadline to the state and Texas Tech University for the $2526$ data.
November 20: Deadline for completion of observations for teachers new to the district or those never evaluated under T-TESS.
Calibration Dates: Four dates are scheduled. Two will involve Matt Pope's team (one per semester), and two will be conducted locally. Specific campus times and details will be shared after the school year starts.
Testing Calendar: The calendar includes a specific tab for TIA courses, outlining assessments and dates. Pilot course dates (CTE, Fine Arts, Athletics) will be added once finalized. Pilot test dates will likely be later in the semester to reduce the testing burden on students and organizers.

The list of eligible courses for $2627$ is significantly longer and primarily focused on High School.
Specific additions include:
- Science: 3rd and 4th grade (specifically for teachers in three-way rotations).
- Social Studies: 6th and 7th grade (added to the existing 8th-grade requirement).
Assessment Tools:
- MAP: Used for various levels.
- STAR Growth: Used for 4th grade and up.
- TEKS Ready: A third-party assessment through Region 10, uploaded into Eduphoria. This will be used for the new courses and most pilot courses.
Growth Setting:
- MAP sets its own growth targets.
- EdPack sets district-determined growth scales.
Inclusion Note: Teachers such as Dyslexia teachers, Reading Interventionists, modified Special Education (SPED) teachers, and Inclusion teachers are eligible but must be tied to a specific course in the system.

Pilot requirements (T-TESS, observations, BOY/EOY assessments) are identical to official TIA courses.
The pilot year serves as a baseline to test the quality of the data set.
CRITICAL: Pilot data from the current year will not be submitted to the state. These courses are not part of the official plan turned into the TEA (Texas Education Agency).
Direct quote on transparency: "My goal is to be transparent and that there's no surprises."

The state will update T-TESS for the $2728$ school year, clarifying language and descriptors to make it easier to calibrate.
T-TESS Dashboard: A new dashboard is being developed by "Datadude" (Don and Jason) to track the count of walkthroughs by campus and district. This tool aims to prevent administrators from losing track of requirements during the busy school year.
Training Resources:
- Refresher slides were emailed.
- Registration codes for the initial training for new evaluators will be sent once the code is functional.

T-TESS is evidence-based; ratings must be supported by classroom evidence.
Administrators are encouraged to have teachers study specific dimensions of the rubric (Dimensions 2 and 3 are used for TIA).
Practice Exercise: Have teachers discuss a single dimension and determine what evidence differentiates "Developing," "Proficient," and "Accomplished."
Calibration on Language: It is vital that the leadership team defines subjective terms identically.
- Example (Dimension 2.1): The rubric for "Proficient" states a teacher must persist until "most" students demonstrate mastery.
- The team must agree on what "most" means: Is it $51\%$ , $75\%$ , or $80\%$ ?
- Consistency across appraisers and campuses is a requirement for state data checks. The state monitors to ensure a teacher has the same chance of a specific rating regardless of the appraiser or campus.

Question: Are there any questions on TIA?
Response: The speaker noted this was a broad overview and proceeded to the next slide when no questions were asked.