TEA reviews EPISD programs, finds areas that need improvement

The Texas Education Agency reviewed several EPISD programs this year, highlighting some violations and several areas that need improvement.

The TEA identified three programs at EPISD that needed improvement, looking at data dating back to 2012. While some findings are new–officials say much of the work to fix these problems started long ago.

As part of the TEA’s Program Effectiveness Review, three of EPISD’s programs were reviewed this year, including English Language Learning, Special Education and Migrant/Immigrant services. The TEA typically chooses a handful of school districts to review each year, some which haven’t met state standards or for other reasons–EPISD was chosen following the controversial cheating scandal because the TEA determined the programs needed improvement.

During an on-site reviews, TEA staff holds focus group discussions, interviews with teachers and students and conducts classroom observations. The TEA then identifies areas that need improvement and compliance with federal and state requirements.

The TEA held an on-site review at EPISD in the spring. The district held a meeting Thursday to discuss the findings and a plan of action.

“The report certainly it kind of comes in the middle of a body of work that’s going to take some time but I comes and highlights some of the areas we need to strengthen,” Board Trustee Susie Byrd said.

The review found there was a lack of data recorded and documents for migrant students and no evaluation done for EPISD’s bilingual programs since 2011, a state violation. The review also found parents were not provided periodic progress reports on Special Education students and SPED testing accommodations didn’t match daily classroom setups.

As part of their plan of action, EPISD has established clerks dedicated to LCAP for every campus, conducted an evaluation of bilingual programs in January, implemented due dates for SPED progress reports and dedicated staff to ensure correct SPED testing setups matched daily classroom settings.

During Thursday’s meeting, several district officials voiced concerns the plan would “speed up” progress it’s already seen, in a way that wouldn’t necessarily benefit students.

“One of the things it helps is that it validates where we’re going with it. It validates that change was needed, it validates that that’s why we needed to bring in a new curriculum, that’s why we needed to have teachers trained in how to deliver instruction to our students that are English language learners. So to us it was a reinforcement of where’s we’re going which is a great thing to have. But secondly, I think it also–don’t jump into quick fixes, or test prep mode just to try to fix the issue because this was a long-term sabotage of children’s education that cannot be fixed overnight and we refuse to go into quick fix mode,” Deputy Superintendent for Academics and School Leadership Ivonne Durant said.

After the controversial cheating scandal, the district held a curriculum audit in 2014 and rolled out a five-year dual language program.

“Dual language is what the task force came up with as the antidote for what’s not happening for children. So our program started with pre-KK we added kinder, 1st, 2nd and so on and up the line,” Durant said.

The will monitor EPISD’s plan of action for the next year. The district will meet with the TEA Thursday to discuss the action plan then meet again in a year to discuss the progress.