We are starting this week with lots of moves and changes. I'm re-sharing an email I sent on Friday in case you missed it. If you read it already, scroll please. Thank you!

TEA HB4545 Frequently Asked Questions

TEA's Implementation Overview

Good afternoon, Lions:

As you know there have been lots of moves and changes of schedules this week to start fresh on Monday. There are lots of students who have been placed in a specialized advisory or Lab to provide interventions for Math and/or Reading. According to House Bill 4545 (HB4545) students who did not perform satisfactorily on last year’s STAAR assessments, students are to receive accelerated instruction, in order to recover any learning loss due to the pandemic or other challenges. Unfortunately, this bill passed during summer at a time when most districts and schools had already created master schedules and plans for the 21-22 school year. This left most districts scrambling to create plans and intervene to address learning and achievement gaps (though that’s what we normally do), plus meet the some of the strict requirements outlined in the bill. There were several options available to districts and though it continues to be interpreted and implemented, we do have some guidelines to follow from district via an NISD Implementation Guide. We know that:

• Students who did not pass or take STAAR require accelerated instruction/interventions, according to HB4545.

• Students should have 30 hours of accelerated instruction in the subject they did not pass STAAR, according to HB4545.

• The bill proposed a 3:1 ratio for these interventions, but district has communicated that campuses have more flexibility to increase our group sizes.

• All NISD campuses must have a plan for meeting this requirement with a good faith effort to support all students who did not perform satisfactorily, including all Gen. Ed, Special Education, and 504 students.

• We have nearly 400 Lions who this bill impacts and requires accelerated instruction/intervention

With the number of students we have in our care, this has posed a significant challenge. However, we are tackling this head on by fulfilling the academic needs and managing the logistics of getting this done. Many of us have seen lots of movement in our classes, some moves to Labs, plus creation of many, many advisories. The main ways we are meeting this requirement is:

• Enrolling students in Math or Lit Labs for 45 min/day

• Specialized Advisories 20 min/ 3 times/week= 60 minutes per week

At this time, we are not offering any outside of day HB4545 tutoring through ECO or Saturday School, but may open these pathways in the future. Starting next week, most of the kids have been moved/placed if they were not already in place, with consideration of BOY Map data ( a source of data to help make a determination of intervention). We will receive curriculum guidance for what should be covered and training will be provided for how to progress monitor students/interventions they are receiving. Melissa Ford will be setting up informational trainings for those impacted by having a HB4545 advisory.

Just like any other challenge thrown our way, we will navigate this one, too. HB4545 is truly an all hands on deck approach as all of us have been impacted in some way in order to meet the requirements of this House Bill. Thank you for your continuous flexibility and perseverance. We will do this and get this done. Huge shout out to our Counselors for tirelessly navigating the logistics of scheduling, Admin. team, SSF, SpED dept. and YOU for pulling together to approach this new week with a positive outlook for either gaining a new group of students to lead, advise, support, and build relationships so that each and every Lion has the most premier school and exceptional academic opportunities possible!

Have a great weekend, Lions!!

#ExpecttheLion

Matrice Raven, Ed.D.

Principal

Leo Adams Middle School