What are the options for measuring student growth for principals?

TEA will work with districts to determine the appropriate measures for student growth for the various campus configurations and will seek to account for the variability in campus contexts throughout the state. Campus-level value-add scores are one potential measure of student growth. Other suggested measures of student growth include but are not limited to:

Campus Configuration
Elementary School	Middle School	High School
Indices of State Accountability System	Indices of State Accountability System	Indices of State Accountability System
Attendance	Attendance	Attendance
School Systems	School Systems	School Systems
Literacy Measures (TPRI/DRA/Dibels)	% of Students in Algebra 1 or other advanced curriculum	Advanced Placement Participation and Scores
District-wide  Assessments	District-wide  Assessments	ACT and SAT Participation and Scores
		AP/IB Participation and Scores
		Graduation Rates/Dropout Rates
		% College and Career Ready

For the options listed above, growth would be determined based on year-over- year progress in a measure identified as appropriate for a particular campus.

TEA will work with districts, ESCs, and experts in alternative growth measures to build the resources and guidelines that administrators will need to implement student growth measures. As indicated in FAQ #D.2, the purpose of student growth data is to provide principals with a better sense of how much of an impact the campus, under their leadership, has had on the progress of all their students, regardless of the students’ achievement levels. Most importantly, student growth data allow principals to make informed decisions about the goals and initiatives that will best impact all students the following year. Although a score does need to be calculated, the value of a student growth measure lies primarily in the feedback it provides to principals so that they can improve their practice.