House Bill (HB) 3 Implementation: College Preparation Assessment Reimbursements
| ٲٱ: | November 4, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Subject: | House Bill (HB) 3 Implementation: College Preparation Assessment Reimbursements |
| Category: | Funding Implications |
| Next Steps: | Share with high school principals and counselors, advanced academics coordinators, and other staff responsible for processing college preparation assessment reimbursement information |
This letter announces the application release for districts to request reimbursement for the ACT and SAT as authorized by House Bill (HB) 3, 86th Texas Legislature, 2019.
Background
The College Preparation Assessment Reimbursement, authorized by Texas Education Code (TEC), §48.155 and §39.0261, provides funding to districts for the cost of the administration of college preparation assessments (SAT, ACT, and TSIA)onceper student either in the spring of their junior year or in their senior year, beginning in the 2019‐2020 school year. The ˿Ƶ (TEA) provides each district estimated funding annually for assessment reimbursement, which can be found in the(line 40). TEA will settle up with districts in the spring of the following fiscal year once all student assessment data is processed.
For the 2020-2021 school year, ACT and the College Board both invoiced a price of $35 per eligible student for school day administrations. National day administrations were billed at a national day rate determined by each vendor.
Methodology
TEA receives testing data directly from ACT and the College Board (SAT). In order to verify that each student is a unique Texas student enrolled in a Texas district or open-enrollment charter school, TEA matched each eligible student to a record in the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) and separated the data into four categories:
- School Day – Matched: Every eligible student who participated in an ACT and/or SAT School Day administration in Texas and who was matched to a student record in PEIMS
- National Day – Matched: Every eligible student who participated in an ACT and/or SAT National Day administration in Texas and who was matched to a student record in PEIMS
- School Day/National Day – Unmatched:Any eligible student who participated in an ACT and/or SAT National Day and/or School Day administration and who wasnotmatched to a student record in PEIMS. TEA will only reimburse unmatched students who have a TSDS Unique Student ID. The district must add this ID in the application for students for whom they want a reimbursement.
- Not Represented: Any student for whom the district paid for an assessment and is not found in any of the above categories. The district will have the opportunity to submit the student’s information for a reimbursement request.
Please note that students who received a reimbursement in the 2019-2020 school year arenot eligibleto receive a reimbursement in the 2020-2021 school year.
Action from Districts
TEA announces the release of the ACT/SAT testing data to districts inTEA Login (TEAL)for districts to review, verify and submit for reimbursement. The person responsible for this project must haveAccountability accessin TEAL. Only the Superintendent can grant this level of access in TEAL.
In the TEAL application, districts will need to review the following four categories:
- School Day – Matched:This link provides access to an application where districts mayreviewand selectstudents for whom the district paid and who tested during aschool dayadministration. These students areautomatically considered for reimbursement; therefore, districts have the opportunity toremovestudents for whom they do not want reimbursement.
- National Day – Matched:This link provides access to an application where districts mayreview and selectstudents for whom the district paid and who tested during anational day (weekend)administration. These students arenotautomatically considered for reimbursement; therefore, no action is needed if districts do not want reimbursement for listed students.
- School Day/National Day – Unmatched:This link provides access to an application where districts mayselectthe students for whom the district paid and who tested during a nationalorschool day administration. Because these students were not matched to a student in PEIMS, districtsmust addthe TSDS Unique Student ID. No action is needed if districts do not want reimbursement for listed students.
- Not Represented:Any student for whom the district paid for an assessment and is not found in any of the above categories. The district will have the opportunity to submit the student for a reimbursement request through a Qualtrics survey while the TEAL application is open.
Dates and Deadlines
The application in TEAL opened onNovember 1, 2021,and closesDecember 17, 2021.
Once the application closes, TEA will review the submission requests, combine them with Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) submission requests, and finalize reimbursement amounts.TEA will reimburse the highest cost exam.
Once settle-up occurs inApril 2022, districts will be able to access through TEAL their reimbursement data, along with codes to elaborate on reimbursement decisions.
For Further Information
TEA has releasedon how to navigate the TEAL platform. Additionally,FAQsregarding the college preparation assessment reimbursement and other support and guidance are available on the TEA College Preparation Assessmentwebsite.
If you have additional questions regarding this correspondence, please contact Tracy Johnson atadvancedacademics@tea.texas.govor 512-463-9762.