AEIS Report

Amber E. Herndon
Stephen F. Austin State University
Fall 2014

AH:

I see TEA is phasing out the AEIS Report and replacing with the School Report Card.
Which do you prefer?

BM:

I have been in education for almost two decades and am accustomed to the AEIS report
which is very detailed; however, with age, my eyes are not as keen as they once were.
Although valuable, each year, it becomes harder for me to read the small print. With the
School Report Card, the print is much larger and is offered in color. I like color because
it is easier to read and I do not have to adjust my eyes as much; however, the School
Report is basically a summary of the schools performance. It does not include
information that could affect a schools results such as student-teacher ratio, number of
instructional aides on a campus, money allocated for curriculum instructional training,
etc. I like the change, but I feel TEA should include more of the factors from AEIS
report onto the School Report Card because administrators use several reporting
categories to determine what changes should be made on campus.

AH:

How do you feel the schools within Lancaster ISD have changed to meet the
performance ratings of TEA from AEIS to the School Report Card?

BM:

Uhmmmm. Lancaster ISD has met the challenges TEA has set forth. Trust me, it was
quite a task because I feel like TEA is changing annually with new and higher challenges
that the students must exceed. As a result, the school district has consulted with
specialists to meet standards according to the new ratings as well as continue to show
student progress. Some of the standards incorporated are new and as a district, we were
not quite sure how to meet the standard; therefore, we have hired consultants to guide us
as well as sent our administration and master teachers to training.

AH:

What are some of the greatest changes TEA has made in its ratings of school
performance?

BM:

TEA has added more distinctions so schools could be recognized more. At one point,
there were only three distinctions and now, there are up to seven distinctions. Instead of a
campus being acknowledged for Reading or Math, the other subjects such as Science and
Social Studies have been included as well. I do believe TEA should include Writing as a
distinction since it is a tested subject in fourth and seventh grade. How TEA will include
it with measuring appropriately since only two grade levels test in it, I am not sure?
Maybe, TEA will be adding Writing as a distinction in a couple of years.

AH:

Youve mentioned distinctions as a significant change, are there any other changes that
has affected the schools approach in testing in Lancaster ISD?
Here in Lancaster, we have a high LEP population and because of it, we have stressed the
importance of our LEP students showing progress and growth. Also, it has been a
requirement for the school district to update PEIMS accurately to reflect each ELLs

student number of years within the United States. The number of years is a direct
reflection in the system safeguards for the School Report Card. It is also included in the
ELL Progress Measure in the accountability rating. So, ELLs have been a focal point for
us in the district because I feel that it is measured separately and inclusively. I feel like it
is measured twice. Did I answer your question?
AH:

Yes. I think that you are saying that ELLs are highly included in the School Report Card
and they werent before in the AEIS report.

AH:

Do you believe the changes were needed?

BM:

The changes were very much needed; however, I wish TEA would have phased in them
in over several years instead of given us one year to make the drastic changes.

AH:

According to the AEIS reports 2013 and 2014, the school district went from 63.64% of
the schools who Met Standard in 2013 to one-hundred of the schools within the district
Met Standard. What do you feel was the most influential part in the increase of schools
meeting standards?

BM:

Besides the consultants we have hired, I believe we put instructional leaders in place to
assist the administrators, such as the PBL team has come into the campus from central
office and have trained the departments on best practices, higher thinking skills, and
problem-based learning strategies. Our schools have moved from traditional to STEM
through the pipelines we have on the elementary campuses and with the partnerships we
have with some businesses. In the end, we are not only hitting the TEKS required for the
STAAR exam but giving the students application to their learning with hands-on
activities like the model airplanes the students built at your school. That was math,
science, and engineering at its best. We also hired more teachers to decrease the student
to teacher ratio. We tried not to go beyond the state limit of twenty-two students per a
classroom. Also, we have hired PARAS who received training in two content areas to
assist the teachers in core subjects. The rotation of teacher aides have been the school
districts Savings Grace. When teachers were absent, our Paras have taken on the teacher
role because we have instructed them on content and curriculum and the students do not
lose any instruction, compared to a substitute who passes out worksheets. How
ineffective is that?

AH:

Do not forget Reading, Writing, and Social Studies because the students learned the
history of airplanes and my ELL learners wrote a report, which incorporates the writing
component.

BM:

Exactly. Weve made the departments interdependent upon one another; hence, the Met
Standards by every campus for 2014. We are hoping to achieve the same results for
2015.

AYP Suggestions
In 2013, seven out of the eleven schools Met Standard and only two schools received
Reading and Math Distinctions. Each campus has content specific departments; however, I
would also include vertical alignment by creating an inter-department so each subject can be
cross-curricula with the next. For example, when a Project-Based Learning is created, it should
be a content-based curricula where all subjects intertwine with one another to create several
solutions in solving the asked question.
Three elementary schools did not meet standards in Student Progress and Closing
Performance Gaps in 2013; moreover received the Improvement Rating (IR). The student to
teacher ratio could be reduced to achieve a better rating. The class sizes have been maxed out to
twenty-two students. I suggest each campus higher a Reading, Math, and Science interventionist
to reduce the class sizes as well as give struggling students more opportunities to receive
assistance in core-tested subjects. The interventionist will help close the gap, which is also a
performance measure on STAAR.
In 2014, the AEIS report for the school district reflects five schools meeting distinction in
Reading, two in Math, three for Science, and one in Social Studies. Lastly, I suggest for the floor
plans for classrooms in schools to be arranged more departmental than by grade-level. Subject
wings could be created, such as a Reading Wing, an Einstein Wing for Science, and etc. As a
result, the subject-oriented hallways will automatically be aligned vertically, horizontally, and
could spring ideas off each other. They would be considered specialist and could reach out to
each other to assist one another with their struggling students.

The first drastic change to the AEIS report is its simplicity. The previous AEIS report
was very detailed. It included student to teacher ratio, number of years the teacher has taught on
a particular campus, average salary per years of teaching service, funds allocated to particular
budgets for training, and the retention rates of teachers on that particular campus. However, the
new AEIS report does not include half of the other data mentioned above. It is much simpler and
with bright bold colors depicted in graphs. The only information included is student data.
Another change was the addition of four more distinctions, which include Science, Social
Studies, Post-Secondary Readiness, and Top twenty-five percent Closing Gap Performance.
Texas Education Agency has included the other subjects being tested besides Math and Reading.
Hopefully, TEA would include Writing since it is also a tested subject. To receive a distinction is
much more difficult than before. For instance, two points of credit are given for each percentage
of students meeting Final Level III Advanced Performance Standard. It is more critical than
students passing a content. Students should continue to grow or increase in their STAAR score
to be eligible for progress.
ELLs are growing more important as a special population for STAAR testing. Reporting
the number of years in the United States in PEIMS is now mandatory when it was not mandatory
the previous year. The ELL Progress Measure is now included in the accountability rating and
the results are included in the safe guard category. TEA is clearly measuring the English
language ability of ELL students from year to year. Their mission is to increase their proficiency
and an ELL Progress Measure is the new monitoring system included in the report.