ARP ESSER State Plan — Texas Education Agency
Summary
This is the Texas Education Agency's State Plan for the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund, completed on the Department of Education template issued April 21, 2021. The cover page lists Cory Green, Associate Commissioner and Chief Grant Officer, as the SEA contact. The plan says Texas distributed 70 million masks to schools and that Texas LEAs acquired more than 4.5 million e-learning devices and hotspots through Operation Connectivity. It reports that students lost an average of 5.7 months of learning between March 2020 and September 2020, which is 3.2 additional months compared to normal summer slide.
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Cite this document
“ARP ESSER State Plan — Texas Education Agency.”
Original at www.ed.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/department-of-education-pdf-www-ed-gov-eb463a1ab8/
, SHA-256 6f2eafde2087722faf2d75c85618cb0fa2a134a1edc1c5d902f9c0cce313e5e2.Full text
State Plan for the
American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
U.S. Department of Education
Issued: April 21, 2021
OMB Number: 1810-0754
Expiration Date: October 31, 2021
Paperwork Burden Statement According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to
respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB
control number for this information collection is 1810-0754. Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 100 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching
existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain benefit under Section 2001 of
the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP Act). If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time
estimate, suggestions for improving this individual collection, or if you have comments or concerns regarding the
status of your individual form, application or survey, please contact Britt Jung, Office of State and Grantee
Relations, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW, Washington, DC 20202-6450, email: SGR@ed.gov directly.
Introduction
The American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (“ARP
ESSER”) Fund, authorized under the American Rescue Plan (“ARP”) Act of 2021, provides
nearly $122 billion to States to support the Nation’s schools in safely reopening and sustaining
safe operations of schools while meeting the academic, social, emotional, and mental health
needs of students resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic. It is
particularly important that ARP ESSER funding will enable States and local educational
agencies (“LEAs”), and more directly schools, to support students who have been most severely
impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are likely to have suffered the most because of
longstanding inequities in our communities and schools that have been exacerbated by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) is committed to working in partnership with
States so that these unprecedented resources are quickly put to work to ensure students have
sustained access to in-person instruction and that the resources are used to provide the effective
support students need as they persist through and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic. The thoughtful and timely use of these funds will have a lasting impact on our
Nation’s schools and help to address the inequities in resources, services, and opportunities
available to our students.
This template presents an opportunity for States to share their plans for the use of ARP ESSER
funds with the public. The Department must approve a State educational agency’s (“SEA’s”)
plan in order to make the State’s remaining ARP ESSER allocation available for use. Please note
that the Department intends to issue ARP ESSER reporting requirements separately.
Instructions
Each SEA must provide descriptions and other information that address each requirement listed
below. An SEA may use this template or another format as long as every item and element is
addressed in the SEA’s response. Throughout this document, questions that refer to an SEA’s
ARP ESSER funding are referencing the total allocation to be received by the SEA, including
that which it allocates to its LEAs.
Each SEA must submit to the Department by June 7, 2021, either: (1) its ARP ESSER plan or
(2) the State requirements that preclude submission of the plan by that date and a date by which
it will be able to submit its complete ARP ESSER plan.
To submit the SEA’s plan, please email the plan to your Program Officer at
[State].OESE@ed.gov (e.g., Alabama.OESE@ed.gov).
In order to ensure transparency, the Department will post each plan on the Department’s website
when it is received and will indicate each plan’s approval status.
This template also allows States to fulfill the requirement of the Coronavirus Response and
Relief Supplemental Appropriations (“CRRSA”) Act ESSER II 6-month reporting requirement
in section 313(f) of the CRRSA Act.
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Cover Page
Grantee and Contact Information
ARP ESSER PR Award Number (e.g., S425R210043): Texas Education Agency
SEA Contact: Cory Green, Associate Commissioner and Chief Grant Officer
Department of Grant Compliance and Administration
Telephone: 512-463-7177 or 512-565-2688 (cell)
Email address: cory.green@tea.texas.gov
By signing this document, I agree to each of the assurances listed in Appendix C and
further assure that:
To the best of my knowledge and belief, all information and data included in this plan
are true and correct.
Chief State School Officer or Authorized Representative (Printed
Name)
Cory Green, Associate Commissioner and Chief Grants Officer
Signature of Authorized SEA Representative Date:
6/7/2021
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A. Describing the State’s Current Status and Needs
The Department recognizes the extraordinary efforts made by States, LEAs, and educators to
support students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe the
progress they have made, the priorities and student needs guiding their ARP ESSER funding
decisions, and their current and projected operating status.
1. Progress and Promising Practices: Provide your assessment of the top 2-3
strategies that have been most effective in supporting the needs of students in
your State during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for students most impacted
by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please include, if applicable, how your State will
submit and encourage its LEAs to submit lessons learned and best practices to the
Department’s Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse so that
they can be shared with other States and LEAs.
While Texas provided a wide range of supports to LEAs to support students during the COVID-
19 pandemic, the most impactful three strategies were:
1. Encouraging and supporting on-campus instruction: from the start of the school year,
Texas required all LEAs to offer in-person learning to their students, with exceptions at
the start of the school year to allow for scaling in alternative campus operational
configurations, short-term exceptions to respond to COVID outbreaks involving
confirmed cases and exposed individuals, and exceptions for longer periods in areas with
high COVID hospitalization rates in the fall. Barring these exceptions, parents could
choose whether they wanted to access on-campus learning or virtual learning, based on
their family’s needs. LEAs were not required but could choose whether they wanted to
offer virtual learning; many chose to offer it throughout the year.
Texas supported on-campus instruction by disseminating public health guidance
developed in consultation with public health experts, which gave LEAs additional
authorities and applied additional requirements to keep students and staff safe. Texas also
distributed 70 million masks and over a million other personal protective equipment
(PPE) items, including thermometers, hand sanitizer and face shields, to schools to start
the school year. TEA also provided resources to support operational drills and scenario
planning prior to the start of the school year. Additionally, the Texas Department of State
Health Services, in collaboration with TEA, collected and published information on
COVID cases in schools among both staff and students throughout the school year, to
provide transparency regarding case rates in school settings. And as soon as rapid tests
were available, TEA in conjunction with the Texas Division of Emergency Management
distributed rapid tests and logistical supports to schools to facilitate the use of rapid tests
to support safe on campus instruction.
Throughout the year, Texas saw very low rates of COVID on school campuses, and very
few of those cases were considered to be a result of on-campus transmission. Texas also
saw many more students learning on campus than other states, and preliminary data
indicates that this policy decision prevented millions of students from falling further
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behind during the school year than they would have otherwise done, academically and
socially.
2. Launching Operation Connectivity: The “digital divide” pre-dated COVID-19 and is
reflected in the fact that some students have access to Internet and digital learning
technology at home to extend their learning, while other students do not. With COVID-
19, this gap prevented students from learning at all. Operation Connectivity is a state-
wide initiative aiming to connect students with keyboarded learning devices and hotspots
for the 2020-2021 school year. Through Operation Connectivity, which included both
direct bulk purchases and matching funds, Texas LEAs acquired more than 4.5 million e-
learning devices and hotspots. Of these, almost one million were unlimited hotspots
which provided broadband coverage through August 2021. This initiative essentially
closed the digital divide related to devices for students in Texas and allowed them to
better access both virtual and in-person campus instruction.
3. Providing high-quality curriculum tailored to virtual and hybrid settings: Through
Texas Home Learning (THL), TEA provided high-quality digital curriculum to bridge
on-campus and in-person learning, including a wide range of resources to meet student
needs. In Spring 2020, THL launched as a set of optional, high-quality paper resources
across a wide range of grades and subject areas that LEAs could provide, optionally and
free of charge, to their students as take-home packets. The program expanded to provide
summer learning resources, and beginning fall 2021, a suite of optional, digitally native
high-quality instructional materials, technology tools, and professional development.
Offerings include:
• Core instructional materials, designed to cover 100% of Texas standards, across K-
12 math, K-12 ELAR, K-5 SLAR, K-5 science, pre-kindergarten, and college-prep
classes;
• Supplemental instructional materials such as ST Math, which provides visual self-
paced math learning to students at home and in the classroom;
• Special Education resources such as Amplio, which provides remote speech-
language instruction with support from speech language therapists;
• Technology tools including two free years of a learning management system to
support student engagement and instructional collaboration
• Training and planning resources to support rapid improvements in implementing
remote instruction and learning otherwise impacted by the pandemic. Supports
included training for teachers and principals on remote and hybrid instruction, as well
as general technical assistance and rapid-cycle planning supports to district leadership
teams to improve the quality of remote and hybrid learning delivery, both at the
district and campus level.
• Content- and technology-focused professional development to support educators
with implementation both in classroom and remote settings.
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• Mental Health focused professional development to support educators with
implementing evidence-based practices that help students improve their ability to
respond to the stresses caused by the pandemic.
This comprehensive set of offerings provides LEAs with optional resources and supports
designed to address learning loss and accelerate learning gains in the upcoming school year.
TEA will submit best practices to the Best Practices Clearinghouse and will encourage LEAs to
do the same by including information on the Best Practices Clearinghouse in an upcoming To the
Administrator Addressed letter, which is our system for formal communication to the field.
2. Overall Priorities: Provide your assessment of the top 2-3 issues currently facing
students and schools across your State as a result of or in response to the COVID-
19 pandemic including, to the extent possible, data illustrating why these are the
most critical and/or most widespread issues facing schools and students.
The two biggest issues facing students and schools across Texas as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic are:
1. Learning loss: The evidence in Texas, consistent with evidence across the country, is
that our students experienced extensive learning loss as a result of the rapid transition to
virtual learning in March 2020. Our 2020-21 optional beginning of year assessment data
showed us that students lost an average of 5.7 months of learning between March 2020
and September 2020, which is 3.2 additional months of learning loss compared to normal
summer slide. Preliminary end of year state assessment data indicates substantial declines
in academic proficiency for Texas students, which mirrors anecdotal reports from LEAs
drawn from their local assessments. LEAs also anecdotally report that those students who
primarily participated in virtual learning were disproportionately affected.
2. Mental health challenges: While there is no formalized data gathered from schools in
Texas on student mental health, we have received a significant volume of anecdotal
reports indicating that mental health will be a continuing challenge for children across
Texas. Stakeholders shared outcomes of listening sessions indicating that many students
and teachers are experiencing grief and the effects of trauma. Students have also suffered
from a lack of connection to others this year, both in virtual school and due to social
distancing in in-person classes. Broader research points to similar conclusions. For
example, we have looked to the CDC report indicating the proportion of mental health–
related emergency room visits among children increased 66% year over year from April
2019 to April 2020. We also know from previous large-scale disasters, such as Hurricane
Harvey, that students experienced wide-ranging and at times, long-lasting mental health
effects, particularly those experiencing grief and loss. These mental health effects have
impact on student academics.
3. Identifying Needs of Underserved Students: Describe your State’s 2-3 highest
priority academic, social, emotional, and/or mental health needs for the remainder
of the 2020-2021 school year (if applicable) and for the 2021-2022 school year
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related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on each of the following student
groups:
i. Students from low-income families,
ii. Students from each racial or ethnic group (e.g., identifying
disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by race or
ethnicity),
iii. Gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved
student groups by gender),
iv. English learners,
v. Children with disabilities (including infants, toddlers, children, and
youth with disabilities eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (“IDEA”)),
vi. Students experiencing homelessness,
vii. Children and youth in foster care,
viii. Migratory students, and
ix. Other groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic that have
been identified by the SEA (e.g., youth involved in the criminal
justice system, students who have missed the most in-person
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years,
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
when offered during school building closures, and LGBTQ+
students).
To the extent possible, this description should include data on indicators such as
estimates of the academic impact of lost instructional time, 1 chronic
absenteeism, student engagement, and social-emotional well-being.
Complete the table below, adding rows as necessary, or provide a narrative
description.
Table A1.
Student group Highest priority needs
Students from low-income Low-income students in Texas have experienced, in general, more lost
families instructional time due to absenteeism, lower student engagement, and
have engaged more in remote learning than their higher-income peers.
For example, low-income students were chronically absent at a rate of
9% in 2019-2020, as compared to 7% for all students. Additionally,
based on Texas’ data on student engagement in virtual learning during
the 2019-2020 school year, low-income students were fully engaged at
a rate of 84.5%, relative to a rate of 95.18% among higher-income
peers. Finally, as of January 2021, 54% of low-income students were
learning on-campus as compared to 60% of non-economically
disadvantaged students.
We also know that low-income students may have been more affected
by economic challenges resulting from COVID, which we expect have,
1
For the purposes of the plan, “academic impact of lost instructional time” refers to “learning loss” experienced by
students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as referenced in the ARP Act and the CRRSA Act.
7
Student group Highest priority needs
in many cases, brought about or exacerbated mental health issues such
as depression or anxiety.
Texas will focus on the following needs we anticipate among low-
income students:
1. Learning Acceleration: Based on previous state
assessment data and NAEP data, we know that low-income
students were more likely to demonstrate below-grade-level
proficiency than their higher-income peers. This
achievement gap may have been compounded during the
pandemic by the challenges outlined above. Texas is
focused on learning acceleration for all students, and we
believe that low-income students are likely to be in need of
this additional support in many cases. Texas details our
approach to learning acceleration, including our approach
to supporting highest-needs students, in section D.
2. Mental health support: Texas will be providing support
and guidance to LEAs on how to maximize existing and
newly hired mental health professionals on their campuses,
including resources and guidance on screening, connecting
to local or regional mental health resources, and providing
information and resources on the impacts of grief and
trauma and trauma-informed care, including trauma-
informed teacher training modules and supports for
teachers. TEA will also build out the Safe and Supportive
Schools Framework and the supporting diagnostics and
accompanying tools to help LEAs assess needs within their
schools and identify resources to fill gaps. These resources
will be available to all LEAs for use with all students, with
a recognition that low-income students may present
additional risk factors for mental health concerns that
schools will need to attend to.
Students from each racial or African American and Hispanic students in Texas have experienced, in
ethnic background used by general, more lost instructional time due to absenteeism, lower student
the State for reporting engagement, and have engaged more in remote learning than their peers
purposes – please add a row of other races/ethnicities. For example, African American students in
for each racial or ethnic Texas were chronically absent at a rate of 9.4%, and Hispanic students
group (e.g., identifying at a rate of 7.7%, in school year 2019-2020, as compared to 5.3%
disparities and focusing on among White students. Additionally, based on Texas’ data on student
underserved student groups engagement in virtual learning during the 2019-2020 school year,
by race/ethnicity) African American, Hispanic, and Hawaiian-Pacific Islander students
were fully engaged at rates below 87%, relative to a rate of above 93%
among White and Asian students.
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Student group Highest priority needs
As of January 2021, 53% of African American students, 49% of
Hispanic students, and 31% of Asian students were learning on campus,
as compared to 75% of White students. We also know that African
American and Hispanic communities suffered higher rates of COVID
nationally, and higher rates of death from COVID-related causes.
Detailed breakdown of each datapoint by race/ethnic group is below.
Texas will focus on the following needs we anticipate among students
of all races and ethnicities, noting that based in our data, some African
American and Hispanic students particularly may have greater needs in
these areas than their peers:
1. Learning Acceleration: Based on previous state assessment
data and NAEP data, we know that African American and
Hispanic students were more likely to demonstrate below-
grade-level proficiency than their peers. This achievement gap
may have been compounded by the challenges outlined above.
Texas is focused on learning acceleration for all students, and
we believe that African American and Hispanic students are
likely to be in need of this additional support in many cases.
Texas details our approach to learning acceleration, including
our approach to supporting highest-needs students, in section
D.
2. Mental health support: Texas will be providing support and
guidance to LEAs on how to maximize existing and newly
hired mental health professionals on their campuses, including
resources and guidance on screening, connecting to local or
regional mental health resources, and providing information
and resources on the impacts of grief and trauma and trauma-
informed care, including trauma-informed teacher training
modules and supports for teachers. TEA will also build out the
Safe and Supportive Schools Framework and the supporting
diagnostics and accompanying tools to help LEAs assess needs
within their schools and identify resources to fill gaps. These
resources will be available to all LEAs for use with all students,
with a recognition that students who are in a racial or ethnic
group that has experienced disparate impact as noted above
may present additional risk factors for mental health concerns
that schools will need to attend to.
American Indian or Alaskan - This group was chronically absent in 2019-2020 at a rate of 8%
Native as compared to 7% overall.
- This group attended on-campus instruction at a rate of 61%
compared to 56% overall.
- This group’s engagement in virtual learning was not reported
because of the small n-size.
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Student group Highest priority needs
Asian • This group was chronically absent in 2019-2020 at a rate of 2% as
compared to 7% overall.
• This group attended on-campus instruction in 2020-2021 at a rate
of 31% compared to 56% overall.
• This group was fully engaged in virtual learning in 2019-2020 at a
rate of 95.76% compared to 88.72% overall.
Black or African American • This group was chronically absent in 2019-2020 at a rate of 9.4% as
compared to 7% overall.
• This group attended on-campus instruction in 2020-2021 at a rate
of 53% compared to 56% overall.
• This group was fully engaged in virtual learning in 2019-2020 at a
rate of 83.13% compared to 88.72% overall.
Hispanic/Latino • This group was chronically absent in 2019-2020 at a rate of 7.7% as
compared to 7% overall.
• This group attended on-campus instruction in 2020-2021 at a rate
of 49% compared to 56% overall.
• This group was fully engaged in virtual learning in 2019-2020 at a
rate of 86.66% compared to 88.72% overall.
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific • This group was chronically absent in 2019-2020 at a rate of 7.9% as
Islander compared to 7% overall.
• This group attended on-campus instruction in 2020-2021 at a rate
of 55% compared to 56% overall.
• This group was fully engaged in virtual learning in 2019-2020 at a
rate of 86.90% compared to 88.72% overall.
Two or more races • This group was chronically absent in 2019-2020 at a rate of 6.9% as
compared to 7% overall.
• This group attended on-campus instruction in 2020-2021 at a rate
of 63% compared to 56% overall.
• This group was fully engaged in virtual learning in 2019-2020 at a
rate of 90.53% compared to 88.72% overall.
White • This group was chronically absent in 2019-2020 at a rate of 5.3% as
compared to 7% overall.
• This group attended on-campus instruction in 2020-2021 at a rate
of 75% compared to 56% overall.
• This group was fully engaged in virtual learning in 2019-2020 at a
rate of 93.65% compared to 88.72% overall.
Students by gender – please We have not noted substantive discrepancies associated with gender in
add a row for each gender engagement, chronic absenteeism, or remote attendance. We have noted
(e.g., identifying disparities a slightly higher rate of chronic absenteeism among male students as
and focusing on underserved compared to female students (7.2% for males vs. 6.8% for females). We
student groups by gender) have not tracked engagement discrepancies or remote attendance
discrepancies.
As a result, we anticipate similar needs as noted for other student
groups across both genders:
1. Learning Acceleration: Texas is focused on learning acceleration
for all students. Texas details our approach to learning acceleration,
10
Student group Highest priority needs
including our approach to supporting highest-needs students, in
sections D.1i and D.1ii.
2. Mental health support: Texas will be providing support and
guidance to LEAs on how to maximize existing and newly hired
mental health professionals on their campuses, including resources
and guidance on screening, connecting to local or regional mental
health resources, and providing information and resources on the
impacts of grief and trauma and trauma-informed care, including
trauma-informed teacher training modules and supports for
teachers. TEA will also build out the Safe and Supportive Schools
Framework and the supporting diagnostics and accompanying tools
to help LEAs assess needs within their schools and identify
resources to fill gaps.
Males This group was chronically absent in 2019-2020 at a rate of 7.2% as
compared to 7% overall.
Females This group was chronically absent in 2019-2020 at a rate of 6.8% as
compared to 7% overall.
English learners The state of emergency brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic
disproportionately impacted English learners’ (ELs) access to literacy
development, among other academic areas. Current data shows that
50% of ELs participated in remote learning, yet linguistic
accommodations, which support English proficiency, rely heavily on
face-to-face instructional settings. Together, this indicates access to
literacy development for ELs has been heavily impacted by remote
learning environments.
Preliminary end-of-year assessment data for EL students taking a
Spanish-language assessment indicates those students experienced a
rate of not meeting grade level that is roughly 1.5 times that of their
peers taking an English-language reading assessment. Additionally,
we know that ELs experienced 3% higher rates of disengagement than
their peers during the pandemic. Learning loss during remote learning
will widen the gap, as the meaningful formative assessments needed to
differentiate content and language instruction are not feasible. This
leaves teachers with inconsistent data preventing them from making
sound instructional decisions.
While 60% of Texas students are coded as economically disadvantaged,
85% of the EL population are coded as economically disadvantaged.
Children with disabilities Students with disabilities were disproportionately impacted by chronic
absenteeism and the loss of academic and related services throughout
the pandemic. Students in this group experienced chronic absenteeism
at a rate of 10.6%. This is higher than all but one other student group.
The specially designed academic and related services determined
necessary through the IEP development process for students with
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Student group Highest priority needs
disabilities to access the curriculum, in most cases, require students to
be present in schools for in-person learning.
Prior to the pandemic, students with disabilities’ performance on
statewide assessments of both reading and mathematics were 32-35
percentage points below the ‘all students’ passing rates for the state.
This disparity in performance will certainly be exacerbated significantly
by the disproportionate impact on these students resulting from the
COVID-19 pandemic.
TEA's highest priorities for serving students with disabilities are:
1) supporting LEAs in providing the appropriately ambitious academic
and related compensatory services needed to support learning
acceleration; and
2) to support LEAs in providing additional services to address mental
health needs resulting from the pandemic.
3) Additionally, using previous funding sources, Texas has provided
services for dyslexia and speech therapy directly to students across the
state leveraging purpose-developed online learning platforms and has
provided grants directly to parents to obtain supplemental services and
materials for students with significant cognitive disabilities. All of this
was intended to accelerate student learning and minimize impacts of the
pandemic on the discreet student groups involved.
Students experiencing Due to the impact of COVID-19, students experiencing homelessness
homelessness experienced a higher rate of disengagement (15%) and uncontactable
status (5%) compared to other highly mobile student populations,
economically disadvantaged students, and their non-homeless
counterparts for the 2019-2020 school year.
Regular communication and engagement with students and families
experiencing homelessness is a challenge given that there is a higher
percentage of homeless students receiving instruction off-campus, 32%
remote asynchronous (Jan 2021) and 5% synchronous (Jan 2021),
compared to other highly mobile student populations.
Identification of students experiencing homelessness has decreased
from 78,926 (Oct 2020) to 57,811 (Oct 2021).
1. Priority #1 Learning Loss
Systematic processes are not in place to review and modify course
curriculum, academic interventions, and credit recovery programs to
mitigate the impact of learning loss due to COVID-19, summer slide,
high mobility, and unstable housing conditions of students experiencing
homelessness.
2. Priority # 2 Mental Health Support
LEAs have been unable to consistently communicate and provide
mental health services and support to students and families
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Student group Highest priority needs
experiencing homelessness. LEAs do not consistently have the staff
capacity to provide wraparound services to address the challenges that
homeless students and families have experienced during the pandemic.
3. Priority # 3 Identification
Identification of students experiencing homelessness has been
challenging due to remote learning instruction. LEAs do not have the
staff capacity needed for identification and targeted dropout recovery
efforts of students experiencing homelessness.
Children and youth in foster Students in Foster Care have been adversely impacted by the COVID-
care 19 pandemic. In the 2019-2020 school year, students in foster care
experienced a higher rate of disengagement (10%) and uncontactable
status (3%) compared to their peers. Prior to the pandemic, students in
foster care had the lowest graduation rates (63%) and highest dropout
rates (25%) of all student groups in Texas public schools. Compounded
traumatic experiences, high mobility, and instability in both home and
school environments are contributing factors to the learning loss and
challenges to academic achievement that require specialized and
intentional resources, programs, and supports.
1. Priority #1 – Learning Loss
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 10% of students in foster care were
not engaged in school, as compared to 7% of all students statewide who
were not engaged. Similarly, 3% of students in foster care were non-
contactable, as compared to 2% of all students statewide. Lack of
participation and engagement creates additional barriers and learning
loss for students. In a DFPS study administered in September 2021,
caseworkers and caregivers reported that students experiencing learning
loss faced the following barriers: lack of understanding of work
assigned, lack of support in virtual settings, lack of peer interaction,
lack of access to technology, and an inability to focus. Similarly,
caregivers reported need for more individualized training and support to
address learning loss and related academic and social challenges
experienced by their students.
2. Priority # 2 – Mental Health Support
Each stakeholder group interviewed in the DFPS study shared the
significant strain of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health
and overall emotional well-being. Students in foster care are adversely
impacted by trauma. The compounding impacts of new challenges
experienced due to the pandemic, coupled with previous traumatic
events and unstable home and school environments, greatly impact a
student’s ability to focus and learn. Lack of peer interaction and social
connection was also noted as a barrier to academic achievement.
3. Priority #3 – Identification
LEAs have reported challenges with identifying students in foster care.
Barriers to communication between child welfare and education systems exist.
The added challenges of communication in virtual and remote settings between
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Student group Highest priority needs
education and child welfare systems has impacted LEAs’ ability to provide
individualized support to students and caregivers, impacting academic
achievement overall for this group. Data comparison studies conducted prior to
the pandemic revealed Texas schools identify 1/3 of the actual numbers of
students in foster care, in comparison to Texas Department of Family and
Protective Services reported counts.
Migratory students The Texas Migrant Education Program (MEP) enrolls approximately
27,000 eligible migratory students. The state’s migrant program is the
fourth largest in the country and is administered at the local level
through the LEAs and regional ESCs. Texas migratory students and
their families migrate annually to 48 other states in the country, making
Texas home to the largest interstate migrant student population in the
US. The largest concentration of Texas migrant families, approximately
61%, resides in the Rio Grande Valley.
The priority needs for Migrant students are:
1) Learning Loss - processes are not in place to review and modify
course curriculum, academic interventions, and credit recovery
programs to mitigate the impact of learning loss due to
COVID-19, summer slide, high mobility, and unstable housing
conditions of migrant students.
2) Mental Health Challenges – Migrant students exhibit
significant strain from COVID-19 on student mental health and
overall emotional well-being. Students in foster care are
adversely impacted by trauma.
3) These needs are worsened for migrant students by the need for
electronic devices for remote instruction and the corresponding
internet access. Many households do not have internet
capabilities and due to their migratory lifestyle, finding internet
access while moving around is a challenge for the students.
Other groups of students In Texas, 20% of students attend a rural LEA. We understand that
identified by the State (e.g., students from rural districts may have unique needs. While stakeholders
youth involved in the in these areas cited learning loss and mental health needs in many
criminal justice system, cases, as identified above, districts also report additional challenges
students who have missed such as:
the most in-person • Ongoing connectivity challenges related to lack of broadband
instruction during the 2019- internet in rural areas, which we anticipate federal broadband
2020 and 2020-2021 school programs will help address.
years, students who did not • Concerns with accessing mental health resources in areas where
consistently participate in providers may be less readily available. The Texas Child Health
remote instruction when Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program is intended
offered during school to increase access to mental health services for students across
building closures, LGBTQ+ the state and has proven particularly important in many rural
students) communities.
• Pre-existing challenges with staff recruitment in rural areas
compounded by increased retirements in some areas. While this
challenge is not broadly reflected in the data Texas has collected
through SY 2019-2020, we will continue to monitor this need as
we look at data for SY 2020-2021.
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4. Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Describe how the SEA
will support its LEAs in identifying the extent of the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on student learning and student well-being, including identifying the
groups of students most impacted by the pandemic. Where possible, please
identify the data sources the SEA will suggest its LEAs use in thoughtfully
diagnosing areas of need, including data on the academic, social, emotional, and
mental health impacts of lost instructional time.
Texas LEAs have several data sources for identifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
student learning. These include:
1. Summative assessment data from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic
Readiness (STAAR): STAAR was not administered in school year 2019-2020 but was
administered in school year 2020-2021. While the assessment window is not yet closed,
early data suggests that April participation rates were approximately 85%, which will
provide schools with summative learning data on the majority of their students.
2. Optional interim assessment data: TEA has created optional online interim
assessments that align to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Test
questions for the STAAR Interim Assessments are developed with Texas teachers and
include some former STAAR items. These assessments are available at no cost to LEAs,
and they are not tied to accountability. These tests can be administered on-campus or
virtually.
3. Optional formative assessment data: TEA has created an optional online formative
assessment resource that aligns to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
(TEKS). This tool is available at no cost to districts and charter schools and is not tied to
accountability. The Texas Formative Assessment Resource (TFAR) is an assessment tool
designed to inform teaching decisions and improve instructional supports. TFAR can be
administered on-campus or virtually.
All of these resources, separately and collectively, can be used to identify individual student
academic needs, and can be used to identify the academic needs of particular student groups as
well.
TEA will encourage LEAs to use data sources such as local school climate surveys, which are
not collected at the state level but are administered by some LEAs. TEA also has shared or
promoted student mental health screening tools that can be helpful to districts in assessing
individual student mental health needs. Additionally, every Texas school is required to convene a
behavioral threat assessment team responsible for ensuring that all students who are exhibiting
mental health concerns are connected to appropriate mental health resources. TEA will provide
guidance on how the data reported by those teams can provide helpful insight into patterns of
referral and the needs of students.
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5. School Operating Status: It is essential to have data on how students are learning
in order to support the goals of access and equity, especially for student groups
that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Describe
the current status of data collection on operational status and mode of instruction
of all schools in your State. This description must include:
i. A description of to what extent, and how frequently, the State
collects now and will collect in the future data for all schools in your
State on:
a. Mode of instruction: The number of schools in your State that are
offering fully remote or online-only instruction; both
remote/online and in-person instruction (hybrid model); and/or
full-time in-person instruction;
b. Enrollment: Student enrollment for all students and
disaggregated for each of the student groups described in A.3.i-
viii for each mode of instruction; and
c. Attendance: Student attendance for all students and
disaggregated for each of the student groups described in A.3.i-
viii for each mode of instruction.
TEA collected the following information related to virtual learning and student engagement
during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years as a result of the pandemic.
1. Student-level data regarding level of engagement during virtual learning was collected one
time at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
2. Student-level data regarding the instructional method to which a student was assigned was
collected three times, on September 28, 2020, October 30, 2020 and January 29, 2021.
3. Operational status and mode of instruction offered by each school was not directly
collected. However, this information can be estimated from the crisis code data collected as
described in item 2. Using data from the January crisis code collection will show actual
numbers of campuses with students learning remotely or on-campus on January 29, 2021.
4. TEA modified the 2020-2021 student-level attendance collection to include number of days
present on-campus, remote synchronous and remote asynchronous. The first submission of
this data collection is due to the agency on June 17, 2021 with a resubmission due July 15,
2021. Year-round school attendance data is due no later than August 19, 2021.
On a going forward basis, students enrolled in a full-time virtual school in Texas are coded as
such and tracked distinctly.
ii. The data described in A.5.i.a. and b. using the template in Appendix
A (and to the extent available, the data described in A.5.i.c.) for the
most recent time period available. Please note that this data can be
submitted separately within 14 calendar days after a State submits
this plan. The SEA must also make this data publicly available on its
website as soon as possible but no later than June 21, 2021, and
regularly provide updated available information on its website. The
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Department will periodically review data listed in A.5.i on SEA
websites.
This data described in items a and b will be posted on the TEA website no later than June 21,
2021:
(a) Number of schools in your State that offered each mode of instruction or learning
model described in Table 1 from Appendix A. The data published will be based on the
January 29, 2021 crisis code collection indicating the number of campuses that had either
all students learning remotely, all students learning on-campus or a hybrid on that date.
(b) Enrollment and mode of instruction for the schools in your State described in Table
2 from Appendix A. The data published will be based on enrollment data collected in the
January 29, 2021 crisis code collection indicating the number of enrolled students by
student group that attended remotely or on-campus that day.
(c) Attendance and mode of instruction for the schools in your State described in Table
2 from Appendix A. The agency is unable to provide attendance data until Fall 2021,
once the annual attendance data collection is completed.
iii. To the extent available, a description of the planned operational
status and mode of instruction for the State and its LEAs for Summer
2021 and for the 2021-2022 school year.
Throughout this school year, a temporary framework was established to support widespread
remote instruction. The framework required all LEAs to offer in-person instruction to all students
whose parents chose in-person instruction, with a few exceptions, including if the LEA met
certain criteria related to COVID hospitalization rates in their region or had an acute COVID-19
outbreak. Additionally, LEAs were permitted for a short time at the beginning of the school year,
to require students to learn remotely to facilitate return to on-campus operations.
In the upcoming school year, Texas schools will be required to offer in-person instruction to all
students. State law prior to COVID allowed for up to eight full time virtual campuses offering
grades 3-12 and allowed for remote instruction to be delivered at any school as long as at least
half of the instruction received during each day was in person. That law continues to remain in
force moving forward.
B. Safely Reopening Schools and Sustaining their Safe Operations
The Department recognizes that safely reopening schools and sustaining their safe operations
to maximize in-person instruction is essential for student learning and student well-being,
and especially for being able to address the educational inequities that have been worsened
by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe how they will support their
LEAs in this vital area.
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1. Support for LEAs: Describe how the SEA will support its LEAs in safely
returning to in-person instruction and sustaining the safe operation of schools.
This description must include:
i. How the SEA will support its LEAs implementing, to the greatest
extent practicable, prevention and mitigation policies in line with the
most up-to-date guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (“CDC”) for the reopening and operation of school
facilities to effectively maintain the health and safety of students,
educators, and other staff;
Complete the table below, adding rows as necessary, or provide a
narrative description.
During the 2020-2021 school year, TEA provided public health guidance to school districts,
drawn from a range of sources including CDC guidance and conversations with public health
experts, based in statutory authority stemming from a gubernatorial executive order. This
guidance applied additional requirements and recommendations for LEAs, their staff, and their
students, in order to reduce viral spread.
As of June 3, 2021, TEA has revised this guidance for the upcoming school year. The new
guidance requires ongoing reporting of any individuals with COVID who were present on a
school campus but does not require any specific mitigation measures. Instead, the guidance
refers school districts to CDC recommended practices.
In addition to this specific COVID guidance, all districts may continue to exclude students based
on contagious illness (e.g., fever) according to Texas Education Code.
All LEAs will have optional access to screening testing, as outlined in section B.2 below. LEAs
may, optionally, choose to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to eligible students and educators as a
vaccine provider and/or in partnership with local health providers.
Table B1.
Mitigation strategy SEA response
Universal and correct wearing of masks See narrative
Physical distancing (e.g., including use of cohorts/podding) See narrative
Handwashing and respiratory etiquette See narrative
Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, including improving See narrative
ventilation
Contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine, in See narrative
collaboration with the State, local, territorial, or Tribal health
departments
Diagnostic and screening testing See narrative
Efforts to provide vaccinations to educators, other staff, and students, if See narrative
eligible
Appropriate accommodations for children with disabilities with respect See narrative
to the health and safety policies
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ii. Any Statewide plans, policies, estimated timelines, and specific milestones
related to reopening and operation of school facilities, including any
mechanisms the SEA will use to track, monitor, or enforce their
implementation;
All campuses are expected to be open for in-person instruction at the start of the school year,
providing in-person instruction for all students.
TEA will use the same compliance monitoring and audit procedures to enforce implementation
that the state uses to enforce other attendance and learning time requirements. This includes
reviewing the annual submission of minutes of operation and instruction submitted by LEAs,
which is subject to audit by agency auditors.
iii. To what extent the SEA and its LEAs consult with Federal, State, and
local health officials. This description should include, if available, whether
the SEA and its LEAs have received support for screening testing from
their State or local health department based on funding awarded by the
CDC; and
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Texas Education Agency established a partnership with the
state’s Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Division of Emergency
management (TDEM) to ensure a coordinated message to school systems.
While developing TEA’s Public Health Guidance for school systems, the agency consulted
published CDC Guidance and regularly communicated with Governor Abbott’s Strikeforce to
Open Texas medical advisors in addition to regularly communicating with epidemiologists at
DSHS. As part of this guidance, TEA recommends that public school systems consult with their
local public health authorities and local legal counsel before making final decisions regarding the
implementation of the guidance.
In September 2020, Texas received over eight million Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests
from the federal government to be deployed across the state. TEA partnered with TDEM, and in
October 2020, established a K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program allowing private and public K-12
schools to apply for and receive Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests at no cost for
administration at their school. 836 LEAs and private school systems participated in this optional
program.
On March 17th, the Biden Administration announced the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) will invest $10 billion from the American Rescue Plan to states to enable
schools to establish COVID-19 screening testing programs to support and maintain in-person
learning. Texas receives $803,456,353 and the dollars flow to the state health department to
administer. TEA, DSHS, and TDEM are collaborating on use of these funds to ensure school
systems across Texas have access to molecular and antigen testing for the upcoming 2021-2022
school year.
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iv. Any guidance, professional learning, and technical assistance
opportunities the SEA will make available to its LEAs.
TEA has dedicated multiple FTEs to coordination of our COVID response and technical
assistance to the field on public health questions related to reopening. These individuals provide
technical assistance, including webinars, office hours, and trainings, and support to school
districts on COVID testing, public health guidance, and vaccinations. Additionally, the agency
stood up a dedicated public health section of our website to provide best practices, examples
from school districts, FAQs, and guidance to support effective in person learning on campuses.
TEA also provided playbooks and guidance documents to help schools address operational
challenges. We foresee this support and ongoing guidance creation to continue through school
year 2021-2022 as the state supports COVID-19 testing and vaccinations at the LEA level.
2. Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plans: Describe
how the SEA will ensure that its LEAs that receive ARP ESSER funds meet the
requirements in section 2001(i) of the ARP Act and the requirements relating to
the ARP ESSER funds published in the Federal Register and available at
https://oese.ed.gov/offices/american-rescue-plan/american-rescue-plan-
elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief/ (ARP ESSER requirements)
to either: (a) within 30 days of receipt of the funds, develop and make publicly
available on the LEA’s website a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction
and continuity of services, or (b) have developed and made publicly available on
the LEA’s website such a plan that meets statutory requirements before the
enactment of the ARP Act, including:
i. How the SEA will ensure that each LEA plan includes, or will be modified
to include, the extent to which it has adopted policies and a description of
any such policies on each of the strategies listed in table B1;
ii. How the SEA will ensure that each LEA plan describes how it will ensure
continuity of services including but not limited to services to address the
students’ academic needs, and students’ and staff social, emotional, mental
health, and other needs, which may include student health and food
services;
iii. How the SEA will ensure that the LEA periodically reviews, no less
frequently than every six months for the duration of the ARP ESSER grant
period (i.e., through September 30, 2023), 2 and revises as appropriate, its
plan, and how the SEA will ensure that the LEA seeks public input, and
takes such input into account on (1) whether revisions are necessary and,
if so, (2) the revisions to the plan; and
iv. Describe, to the extent the SEA collects it, information about LEA
implementation, to the greatest extent practicable, of each element of the
most up-to-date CDC guidance listed in table B1 and its LEAs’ needs for
2
ARP ESSER funds are subject to the Tydings amendment in section 421(b) of the General Education Provisions
Act, 20 U.S.C. 1225(b), and are therefore available to SEAs and LEAs for obligation through September 30, 2024.
Review and revisions of these plans, if necessary, are not required during the Tydings period.
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support and technical assistance to implement strategies consistent, to the
greatest extent practicable, with relevant CDC guidance.
TEA will hire additional staff in the Department of Grant Compliance and Administration to
conduct program compliance monitoring of the ARP ESSER III grants to LEAs. Through this
process, TEA will randomly select LEAs to validate compliance with the Return to In-Person
Instruction and Continuity of Services (RIPICS) Plan as well as other program compliance
indicators.
TEA has provided statewide training on the ARP ESSER III planning requirements and is
conducting multiple live virtual question and answer sessions to assist LEAs in meeting the
compliance requirements.
TEA staff will use a random validation process to perform targeted compliance checks on the
following sample indicators:
1. Each LEA that receives ARP ESSER funds developed the required plan
with the following components.
• the extent to which it has adopted policies and a description of any such policies on
each of the strategies to address CDC health and safety recommendations; how it
will ensure continuity of services including but not limited to services to address
the students’ academic needs, and students’ and staff mental health, and other
needs, which may include student health and food services;
2. The RIPICS Plan is provided in an understandable and uniform format as
required.
3. The LEA engaged in meaningful consultation with required stakeholder
groups on the development of the plan.
4. The plan is posted to the LEA’s website within 30 days of receiving its
ARP ESSER III Notice of Grant Award from TEA.
5. The LEA reviews the RIPICS Plan every 6 months and makes appropriate
revisions following the required process.
TEA will create data reporting systems and collect any data required by the Department of
Education (ED) to be able to report that data in the timeline and format requested.
C. Planning for the Use and Coordination of ARP ESSER Funds
The Department recognizes that seeking input from diverse stakeholders is essential to
developing plans for the use of ARP ESSER funds that are responsive to the needs of
students, families, and educators. In this section, SEAs will describe their plans for
consultation and for coordinating the use of ARP ESSER funds with other resources to meet
the needs of students.
1. SEA Consultation: Consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements, describe how
the SEA engaged in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, and incorporated
input into its plan, including, but not limited to:
i. students;
ii. families;
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iii. Tribes (if applicable);
iv. civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations);
v. school and district administrators (including special education
administrators);
vi. superintendents;
vii. charter school leaders (if applicable);
viii. teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and their
unions; and
ix. stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities,
English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and youth
in foster care, migratory students, children who are incarcerated, and other
underserved students.
The description must include how the SEA provided the public the opportunity to
provide input in the development of the plan, a summary of the input (including
any letters of support), and how the SEA took such input into account.
TEA extensively engaged stakeholders on the ESSER plan. Engagement included:
• A publicly posted survey that collected feedback from all stakeholder groups,
particularly students, families, and educators. The survey was widely shared through
official communications and social media, including specifically with student groups.
3,185 submissions were received.
• Meetings with civil rights organizations, teachers’ associations, charter school
associations, and other advocacy groups. Several groups received outreach or were
convened on specific topics, including student mental health, English Learners,
children experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, migratory
students, students with disabilities, and other underserved students.
• Superintendents, school board associations and other professional associations, and
education service centers, were engaged both within wider groups and individually in
existing forums (e.g., rural superintendents)
• A virtual feedback session was made open to all teachers and advertised through
various teacher groups and through social media. 231 registered to attend with 39
attending.
• Additionally, a wide group of advocacy and professional group stakeholders was
convened for general feedback.
The input from stakeholders overwhelmingly aligned to the stated prioritization and needs
around learning acceleration and mental health. Sections pertaining to student subgroups took
stakeholder feedback into account when considering how those needs might differentially impact
student groups and the strategies used to address them.
2. Coordinating Funds: Describe to what extent the SEA has and will coordinate
Federal COVID-19 pandemic funding and other Federal funding. This description
must include:
i. How the SEA and its LEAs 1) are using or have used prior to the
submission of this plan and 2) plan to use following submission of
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this plan, Federal COVID-19 funding under the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act and the CRRSA Act
to support a safe return to and safely maximize in-person instruction,
sustain these operations safely, and address the disproportionate
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual student groups
(including students from low-income families, children with
disabilities, English learners, racial or ethnic minorities, students
experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and
migratory students);
Complete the table below or provide a narrative description.
Table C1.
Funding source Prior/current SEA and LEA Planned SEA and LEA uses
uses (including funding (including funding amounts,
amounts, if applicable) if applicable)
ESSER I (CARES Act) See Narrative See Narrative
GEER I (CARES Act) See Narrative See Narrative
ESSER II (CRRSA Act) See Narrative See Narrative
GEER II (CRRSA Act) See Narrative See Narrative
TEA is coordinating ESSER I, GEER I, ESSER II, ARP ESSER III and ESF-REM funding to
develop and provide the Texas Home Learning (THL) system of support to LEAs described
above in Question A1.
Many Texas LEAs reopened schools in Fall 2020 in hybrid in-person and remote instruction
settings. While most will finish the school year utilizing the hybrid model, some have
discontinued virtual learning throughout the year at the decision of the local board.
LEAs have and plan to continue utilizing ESSER I funds for a variety of the statutory uses.
Preliminary plans for the LEA use of funds were submitted in their application for funding
request; however, as of submission date of this report, the available uses of funds data from
LEAs is only the data that has already been reported to ED in the Year 1 ESSER I Annual
Report. Similar use of ESSER II funds data will be reported in the LEA’s application for
funding, and be available for the annual report, which is currently available to LEAs for
submission. The required LEA Uses of Funds ARP ESSER III Plan requirements have been
incorporated into the LEA grant application that is currently available to LEAs. Additional uses
of funds data will be collected from LEAs as required by ED for reporting purposes.
ii. To what extent ESSER I and ESSER II funds have been awarded to LEAs
and, if funds have not yet been made available to LEAs, when they will
be. In addition, please provide any available information on the total dollar
amounts of ESSER I and ESSER II funds that have been obligated but not
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expended by the SEA and its LEAs, including whether the SEA is able to
track LEA obligations.
The ESSER I funds were made available to LEAs in June 2020. All eligible LEAs applied and
were awarded funds based on the preliminary allocations (after reserving a small amount of
funding for the potential of new charter schools opening for the first time and becoming eligible,
per ED methodology guidance). Final allocations were released in December 2020 and awarded
by May 2021 based on submission date of the budget amendment by LEAs. As previously
notified to USDE, 5 LEAs did not submit budget amendments to increase their award to their
final allocation. A total of $16,441 was left unawarded by the 1-year deadline (May 15, 2021) to
fully obligate and award funds.
TEA has full capabilities to track LEA expenditure amounts of ESSER funds. As of May 20,
2021, LEAs have expended $950,584,000.18 and have $206,697,016.82 remaining obligated but
currently not expended. As of May 19, 2021, TEA has expended $122,219,098.33 and has
$40,471.86 remaining obligated but currently not expended (not including administrative funds
consolidated).
ESSER II funds have been released to LEAs as of June 3, 2021. LEAs are in the process of
completing and submitting grant applications to TEA.
iii. In supporting LEAs as they plan for the safe return to and continuity of in-
person instruction and for meeting the academic, social, emotional, and
mental health needs of students resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,
the extent to which the SEA is also using other Federal funding sources
including but not limited to under the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (“ESEA”), IDEA, Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (“WIOA”), funding for child nutrition services, and
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and the funds to support the
needs of students experiencing homelessness provided by section
2001(b)(1) of the ARP Act. 3
TEA has implemented the full flexibility offered by waivers from USDE for LEAs to support
students and staff in their return to in-person instruction for ESSA, IDEA, and Perkins fund
sources. TEA has provided guidance and training on flexibilities under these programs to support
LEAs prudent use of funds for effective and efficient planning and implementation. TEA
implemented flexibility to LEAs in the application and amendment processes, within state
procedures, giving LEAs the necessary tools to make changes to grant budgets and program
plans to maximize benefit of numerous fund sources in response to the pandemic.
3
Please note that the needs of students experiencing homelessness must be addressed (along with the other groups
disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic) through the use of the ARP ESSER SEA reservations and
the required LEA reservation for the academic impact of lost instructional time; the funding provided to support the
needs of students experiencing homelessness by section 2001(b)(1) of the ARP Act is in addition to the supports and
services provided with ARP ESSER funds.
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To date, the state has not finalized plans for the user of ARP ESSER HCY funds.
D. Maximizing State-Level Funds to Support Students
The Department recognizes that States have an extraordinary opportunity to address the
disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved students through the
ARP Act’s required State set-asides to address the academic impact of lost instructional time,
provide summer learning and enrichment programs, and provide comprehensive afterschool
programs. In this section, SEAs will describe their evidence-based strategies for these
resources.
1. Academic Impact of Lost Instructional Time: Describe how the SEA will use the
funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(1) of the ARP Act (totaling not less than 5
percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER funds) on evidence-based
interventions to address the academic impact of lost instructional time by
supporting the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer
learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool
programs, or extended school year programs, and ensure that such interventions
respond to students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The
description must include:
i. A description of the evidence-based interventions (e.g., providing
intensive or high-dosage tutoring, accelerating learning) the SEA has
selected, and the extent to which the SEA will evaluate the impact of those
interventions on an ongoing basis to understand if they are working;
The following evidence-based interventions are proposed to support LEAs with accelerating
student learning to grade-level standards. These are grounded in learning supports that include
innovation in curriculum and instruction, diagnosing student mastery, extended instructional
time, and supports for teachers.
A. High-dosage tutoring: A continuum of support options available to all Texas LEAs
including knowledge building webinars, implementation toolkits, planning and capacity
building workshops, resources for tutor selection and training, tutoring platform with
high-quality instructional materials, regional supports for implementation, and access to a
network of vetted and trained tutors available to provide virtual and in-person high-
impact tutoring.
B. High quality instructional materials: A full suite of optional, high-quality, innovative
instructional materials including long term scopes and sequences, unit plans, unit
assessments, daily lesson plans, student activities, and additional supports for all learners
through Texas Home Learning.
C. Job-embedded professional learning: Supports for teachers and instructional coaches
including onboarding for curricular resources, job-embedded coaching and feedback, and
ongoing communities of practice with the COVID Recovery Instructional Materials
Support Initiative.
D. Extended school day and year: A design-thinking-based process to extend instructional
time by redesigning the school calendar and school day to provide maximum planning
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time for teachers while increasing the length of the school year to limit summer slide
through the Additional Days School Year initiative.
E. Summer learning programs: A supported planning process to design and align a
strategically planned high-quality summer learning program to extend instructional time
with high-quality, innovative instructional materials, curriculum-aligned, job-embedded
PD to support teachers, and enrichment options for students.
TEA plans to build a streamlined diagnostic and application process that will allow LEAs to self-
identify the unique needs of the LEA, their students, and specific student subgroups to engage in
aligned supports and grant opportunities.
Evaluation of these interventions will occur in short-, medium-, and long-term cycles through
ongoing stakeholder engagement, diagnosis of student mastery including data from state
summative assessments, and, where applicable, third-party evaluation.
ii. How the evidence-based interventions will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3.i.-viii. When
possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use to determine
the impact of lost instructional time; and
The proposed evidence-based interventions will support prioritized special populations with
learning supports that include innovation in curriculum and instruction, diagnosing student
mastery, extended instructional time, and supports for teachers. Specifically, these interventions
provide:
A. High-dosage tutoring: Individualized, low student-to-tutor ratio support for all learners,
regardless of unique needs, delivered multiple times a week.
B. High-quality instructional materials: Rigorous, innovative instructional materials
developed with the needs of all learners in mind, including differentiated supports for
students with disabilities and supports for English Learners like a K-5 RLA: Spanish
curriculum with Amplify Texas Lectoescritura en Español.
C. Job-embedded professional learning: Supports for teachers and coaches who directly
work with students with special needs both within the context of a core curriculum as
well as with supplemental tools like AmplioSpeech.
D. Extended school day and year: Extended instructional time, including extended school
day, intersessional calendar, and summer programs which provide additional time in
school for students with special needs.
E. Summer learning programs: Support for additional academic and non-academic time
available to LEAs to extend instructional time for all students during the summer.
F. Additional Supports for LEAs: Evidence-based guidance for LEAs and educators to
support students with mental and behavioral health, trauma-informed practices, healthy
and positive relationships, and responsible decision-making.
Data sources TEA will use to determine the impact of lost instructional time include 2020-2021
student attendance, instruction from certified teachers, dual enrollment, student course
26
completion data, and diagnosis of student mastery from the STAAR, end-of-course, and
TELPAS exams, among others, all broken out by student group.
iii. The extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify and
engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person instruction during
the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2) students who did not
consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during school
building closures.
As noted above, students from low-income backgrounds, African American students, Hispanic
students, Asian students, and English Learners were less likely than their peers to learn on
campus in the 2020-2021 school year. Students from low-income backgrounds, African
American students, and Hispanic students were found to be less engaged in virtual learning in the
2019-2020 school year. The proposed evidence-based interventions described in section D.1ii
will target these populations for the identified interventions.
2. Evidence-Based Summer Learning and Enrichment Programs: Describe how the
SEA will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(2) of the ARP Act
(totaling not less than 1 percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER
funds) for evidence-based summer learning and enrichment programs, including
those that begin in Summer 2021, and ensure such programs respond to students’
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The description must
include:
i. A description of the evidence-based programs that address the academic,
social, emotional, and mental health needs of students (e.g., providing
intensive or high-dosage tutoring, accelerating learning) the SEA has
selected, and the extent to which the SEA will evaluate the impact of those
programs;
The proposed evidence-based summer and enrichment programs based on the ability of each
intervention to address student academic and mental health needs include:
A. High-dosage tutoring; Additional educational opportunities for targeted students,
providing experiences for individualized academic and non-academic support for all
learners.
B. Summer learning program design: A supported planning process to design and align a
high-quality summer learning program that extends the schools year, includes high-
quality, innovative instructional materials and high-quality enrichment opportunities for
students.
C. Extended school day and year: A design-thinking-based process to extend instructional
time by redesigning the school calendar and school day to maximize the quantity and
quality of academic and non-academic experiences for students including multiple
opportunities for enrichment and brain breaks throughout the school day and year with
the Additional Days School Year initiative. Options for extended school year within this
initiative include:
27
a. Full year redesign: Supports schools in redesigning the school calendar to
provide extended time for student enrichment and academic activities in the
school day and school year.
b. Intersessional Calendar: Supports schools in designing an intersessional
calendar which includes intersessions to extend instructional time for targeted
students to receive additional academic and non-academic support.
TEA plans to build a streamlined diagnostic and application process that will allow LEAs to self-
identify the unique needs of the LEA, their students, and specific student subgroups to engage in
aligned supports and grant opportunities.
Evaluation of these interventions will occur in short-, medium-, and long-term cycles through
ongoing stakeholder engagement, diagnosis of student mastery including data from state
summative assessments, and, where applicable, third party evaluation.
ii. How the evidence-based programs will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3. i.--viii. When
possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use to identify
students most in need of summer learning and enrichment programs; and
The proposed evidence-based interventions will support prioritized special populations with
learning supports that include innovation in curriculum and instruction, diagnosing student
mastery, extended instructional time, supports for teachers. Specifically, these interventions
provide:
A. High dosage tutoring: Individualized and differentiated supports for students, provided
in small group or one on one settings for the students most in need. Tutoring supports are
optimized with high dosage which includes both afterschool and summer school.
B. Summer learning program design: A design-thinking approach to planning and
executing a summer learning program to extend instructional time that meets the
academic and non-academic needs of all learners, including those most in need.
C. Extended school day and year: Supports, resources and funding dedicated to districts
and schools extending instruction by expanding the school calendar. Extended day and
year decreases the impact of summer slide which has the highest negative impact on the
academic and non-academic outcomes of students from many of the identified groups
from section A.3.
1. Full year redesign option: Supports schools in redesigning school day to extend
instructional time for students throughout the year, additional time for social
interactions with peers and brain breaks for students throughout the school day.
Additionally, this redesign model allows for more time to differentiate supports
for all students.
2. Intersessional option: Supports schools in designing an intersessional calendar to
extend instructional time by which student groups, including those listed in
question A.3, are provided multiple intersession days or weeks to fill learning
gaps and build non-academic skills.
28
Data sources TEA will use to determine the impact of lost instructional time include 2020-2021
student attendance, instruction from certified teachers, dual enrollment, student course
completion data, and diagnosis of student mastery from the STAAR, end-of-course, and
TELPAS exams, among others, all broken out by student group.
iii. The extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify and
engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person instruction during
the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2) students who did not
consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during school
building closures.
As noted above, students from low-income backgrounds, African American students, Hispanic
students, Asian students, and English Learners were less likely than their peers to learn on
campus in the 2020-2021 school year. Students from low-income backgrounds, African
American students, and Hispanic students were found to be less engaged in virtual learning in the
2019-2020 school year. The proposed evidence-based interventions described in section D.2ii
will target these populations for the identified interventions.
3. Evidence-Based Comprehensive Afterschool Programs: Describe how the SEA
will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(3) of the ARP Act (totaling
not less than 1 percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER funds) for
evidence-based comprehensive afterschool programs (including, for example,
before-school programming), and ensure such programs respond to students’
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The description must
include:
i. A description of the evidence-based programs (e.g., including partnerships
with community-based organizations) the SEA has selected, and the extent
to which the SEA will evaluate the impact of those programs;
The following evidence-based programs have been selected based on their research-backed
ability accelerate student learning to grade-level standards. These are grounded in learning
supports that align to school-day supports, which include innovation in curriculum and
instruction, diagnosing student mastery, extended instructional time, and supports for teachers.
A. High quality enrichment: A variety of engaging activities coordinated with the school
day program and intentionally designed to address documented academic and other
student needs, such physical and mental wellness. Programs will feature lower staff-to-
student ratios than the school day, intentionally aligned engaging hands-on experiential
enrichment activities, age-appropriate youth development, and a student voice and choice
component. Partnerships between LEAs, CBOs or other eligible entities will be
encouraged to increase local capacity to address an array of student and family needs.
B. High-dosage tutoring: A continuum of support options available to all Texas LEAs and
their partners in this program including knowledge building webinars, implementation
toolkits, planning and capacity building workshops, resources for tutor selection and
training, tutoring platform with high-quality instructional materials, regional supports for
29
implementation, and access to a network of vetted and trained tutors available to provide
virtual and in-person high-impact tutoring.
C. Job-embedded professional learning: Supports for job-embedded, initial, and ongoing
staff training is available for program staff and leadership through Texas Home Learning.
D. Extended school day and year: Allow extended time for enrichment, including before
school, after school, during an extended school day, intersessional calendar breaks, and
summer programs to address the variety of student academic and other supporting needs.
E. Encourage local partnerships: Formal agreements between campuses and providers of
high-quality out-of-school time programs that expand the capacity of the entities to attain
shared goals. State and regional out of school time networks will continue to work with
local providers on implementing program quality standards.
F. Encourage local stakeholder involvement: Local steering committee of stakeholders
involved in planning and assessing progress toward implementation and outcomes and
ultimately building sustainability in the local community.
Evaluation of these interventions will occur in short-, medium-, and long-term cycles through
ongoing stakeholder engagement, diagnosis of student mastery including data from state
summative assessments, and, where applicable, third-party evaluation.
Data sources TEA will use to determine the impact of lost instructional time include 2020-2021
student attendance, instruction from certified teachers, dual enrollment, student course
completion data, and diagnosis of student mastery from the STAAR, end-of-course, and
TELPAS exams, among others, all broken out by student group.
ii. How the evidence-based programs will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of
students, including each of the student groups listed in question
A.3.i.-viii. When possible, please indicate which data sources the
SEA will use to identify students most in need of comprehensive
afterschool programming; and
The proposed evidence-based interventions will support the state’s prioritized special
populations – with additional emphasis on high-need campuses with no or inadequate access to
high-quality enrichment programs – with additional time for aligned enrichment activities, youth
development, and high-dosage tutoring programs. To encourage local sustainability, programs
will feature local partnerships and stakeholder involvement in implementation and progress
monitoring.
Data sources TEA will use to determine the impact of lost instructional time include 2020-2021
student attendance, instruction from certified teachers, dual enrollment, student course
completion data, and diagnosis of student mastery from the STAAR, end-of-course, and
TELPAS exams, among others, all broken out by student group.
iii. the extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify
and engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person
30
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and
2) students who did not consistently participate in remote
instruction when offered during school building closures.
As noted above, students from low-income backgrounds, African American students, Hispanic
students, Asian students, and English Learners were less likely than their peers to learn on
campus in the 2020-2021 school year. Students from low-income backgrounds, African
American students, and Hispanic students were found to be less engaged in virtual learning in the
2019-2020 school year. The proposed evidence-based interventions described in section D.3i
will prioritize these populations for the identified interventions.
a. Emergency Needs: If the SEA plans to reserve funds for
emergency needs under section 2001(f)(4) of the ARP Act to
address issues responding to the COVID-19 pandemic,
describe the anticipated use of those funds, including the extent
to which these funds will build SEA and LEA capacity to
ensure students’ and staff’s health and safety; to meet students’
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs; and to
use ARP ESSER funds to implement evidence-based
interventions.
TEA’s current plan for 2001(f)(4) funds is to use the remaining funds to support learning loss,
summer enrichment programs, and after school programs. TEA reserves the ability to use a
portion of these funds for other needs that may arise in the future.
E. Supporting LEAs in Planning for and Meeting Students’ Needs
The Department recognizes that the safe return to in-person instruction must be accompanied
by a focus on meeting students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, and by
addressing the opportunity gaps that existed before – and were exacerbated by – the
pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe how they will support their LEAs in
developing high-quality plans for LEAs’ use of ARP ESSER funds to achieve these
objectives.
1. LEA Plans for the Use of ARP ESSER Funds: Describe what the SEA will
require its LEAs to include in LEA plans consistent with the ARP ESSER
requirements for the use of ARP ESSER funds, how the SEA will require such
plans to be made available to the public, and the deadline by which the LEA must
submit its ARP ESSER plan (which must be a reasonable timeline and should be
within no later than 90 days after receiving its ARP ESSER allocation). The LEA
plans must include, at a minimum:
i. The extent to which and how the funds will be used to implement
prevention and mitigation strategies that are, to the greatest extent
practicable, in line with the most recent CDC guidance, in order to
continuously and safely operate schools for in-person learning;
31
ii. How the LEA will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(e)(1) of the
ARP Act (totaling not less than 20 percent of the LEA’s total allocation of
ARP ESSER funds) to address the academic impact of lost instructional
time through the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as
summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive
afterschool programs, or extended school year programs;
iii. How the LEA will spend its remaining ARP ESSER funds consistent with
section 2001(e)(2) of the ARP Act; and
iv. How the LEA will ensure that the interventions it implements, including
but not limited to the interventions under section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP
Act to address the academic impact of lost instructional time, will respond
to the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students,
and particularly those students disproportionately impacted by the
COVID-19 pandemic, including students from low-income families,
students of color, English learners, children with disabilities, students
experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and
migratory students.
The ARP ESSER III Uses of Funds Plan required components were incorporated into the LEA’s
application for ESSER III funding. All four components required by the IFR are due to TEA, as
part of the LEA application, by July 27, 2021 (90 days from the release of allocations by TEA).
TEA will hire additional staff in the Department of Grant Compliance and Administration to
conduct program compliance monitoring of the ARP ESSER III grants to LEAs. Through this
process, TEA will randomly select LEAs to validate compliance with the ARP ESSER III LEA
Uses of Funds Plan as well as other program compliance indicators.
TEA has provided statewide training on the ARP ESSER III planning requirements and is
conducting multiple live virtual question and answer sessions to assist LEAs in meeting the
compliance requirements.
TEA staff will use a random validation process to perform targeted compliance checks on the
following sample indicators:
1. Each LEA that receives ARP ESSER funds developed the required plan with
the components outlined above in E(1) i, ii, iii, and iv.
2. The Use of Funds Plan is provided in an understandable and uniform format as
required.
3. The plan is posted to the LEA’s website within 30 days of receiving its ARP
ESSER III Notice of Grant Award from TEA.
TEA will create data reporting systems and collect any data required by the Department of
Education (ED) to be able to report that data in the timeline and format requested.
2. LEA Consultation: Describe how the SEA will, in planning for the use of ARP
ESSER funds, ensure that, consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements], its
32
LEAs engage in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, including, but not
limited to:
i. students;
ii. families;
iii. school and district administrators (including special education
administrators); and
iv. teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and their
unions.
The LEA must also engage in meaningful consultation with each of the following
to the extent present in or served by the LEA:
i. Tribes;
ii. civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations);
and
iii. stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities,
English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and
youth in foster care, migratory students, children who are
incarcerated, and other underserved students.
The description must also include how the SEA will ensure that LEAs provide the
public the opportunity to provide input in the development of the LEA’s plan for
the use of ARP ESSER funds and take such input into account.
TEA will hire additional staff in the Department of Grant Compliance and Administration to
conduct program compliance monitoring of the ARP ESSER III grants to LEAs. Through this
process, TEA will randomly select LEAs to validate compliance with the ARP ESSER III LEA
Uses of Funds Plan as well as other program compliance indicators.
TEA has provided statewide training on the ARP ESSER III planning requirements and is
conducting multiple live virtual question and answer sessions to assist LEAs in meeting the
compliance requirements.
TEA staff will use a random validation process to perform targeted compliance checks on the
following sample indicators:
1. The Use of Funds Plan is provided in an understandable and uniform
format as required.
2. The LEA engaged in meaningful consultation with required
stakeholder groups on the development of the plan.
3. The plan is posted to the LEA’s website within 30 days of receiving
its ARP ESSER III Notice of Grant Award from TEA.
TEA will create data reporting systems and collect any data required by the Department of
Education (ED) to be able to report that data in the timeline and format requested.
3. Describe how the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using ARP ESSER
funds. The description must include:
33
i. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs’ implementation of
evidence-based interventions that respond to students’ academic, social,
emotional, and mental health needs, such as through summer learning or
summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs,
or extended school year programs – including the extent to which the SEA
will collect evidence of the effectiveness of interventions employed;
TEA will provide technical assistance grants to the 20 regional education service centers (ESCs)
to build capacity of and provide technical assistance to LEAs through the agency’s discretionary
funds. Funds will support the state-level activities in this area to meet individual LEA needs and
general technical assistance on grant requirements and compliance.
TEA staff will use a random validation process to perform targeted compliance monitoring of
LEAs and the ESC grants, similar to the process described above.
TEA will create data reporting systems and collect any data required by the Department of
Education (ED) to be able to report that data in the timeline and format requested.
ii. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in specifically addressing
the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on certain groups
of students, including each of the student groups listed in question A.3.i.-
viii; and
TEA will provide technical assistance grants to the 20 regional education service centers (ESCs)
to build capacity of and provide technical assistance to LEAs through the agency’s discretionary
funds. Funds will support the state-level activities in this area to meet individual LEA needs and
general technical assistance on grant requirements and compliance.
TEA staff will use a random validation process to perform targeted compliance monitoring of
LEAs and the ESC grants, similar to the process described above.
TEA will create data reporting systems and collect any data required by the Department of
Education (ED) to be able to report that data in the timeline and format requested.
iii. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using ARP ESSER
funds to identify, reengage, and support students most likely to have
experienced the impact of lost instructional time on student learning, such
as:
1. Students who have missed the most in-person instruction during
the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years;
2. Students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
when offered during school building closures; and
3. Students most at-risk of dropping out of school.
TEA will provide technical assistance grants to the 20 regional education service centers (ESCs)
to build capacity of and provide technical assistance to LEAs through the agency’s discretionary
34
funds. Funds will support the state-level activities in this area to meet individual LEA needs and
general technical assistance on grant requirements and compliance.
TEA staff will use a random validation process to perform targeted compliance monitoring of
LEAs and the ESC grants, similar to the process described above.
TEA will create data reporting systems and collect any data required by the Department of
Education (ED) to be able to report that data in the timeline and format requested.
4. Describe the extent to which the SEA will support its LEAs in implementing
additional strategies for taking educational equity into account in expending ARP
ESSER funds, including but not limited to:
i. Allocating funding both to schools and for districtwide activities based on
student need, and
ii. Implementing an equitable and inclusive return to in-person instruction.
An inclusive return to in-person instruction includes, but is not limited to,
establishing policies and practices that avoid the over-use of exclusionary
discipline measures (including in- and out-of-school suspensions) and
creating a positive and supportive learning environment for all students.
LEAs have flexibility to address their locally identified needs for the uses of ESSER funding, to
include addressing educational equity and equitable and inclusive return to in-person instruction.
This has been addressed in the agency’s ARP ESSER III FAQ document. TEA has stressed the
broad consultation and needs assessment processes as well as the equitable access requirements
of the grant program.
F. Supporting the Educator Workforce
The Department recognizes the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the Nation’s
educators as well as students. In this section, SEAs will describe strategies for supporting and
stabilizing the educator workforce and for making staffing decisions that will support
students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs.
5. Supporting and Stabilizing the Educator Workforce:
i. Describe the extent to which the State is facing shortages of
educators, education administration personnel, and other school
personnel involved in safely reopening schools, and the extent to
which they vary by region/type of school district and/or groups of
educators (e.g., special educators and related services personnel and
paraprofessionals; bilingual or English as a second language
educators; science, technology, engineering, and math (“STEM”)
educators; career and technical education (“CTE”) educators; early
childhood educators). Cite specific data on shortages and needs
where available.
Complete the table below, changing or adding additional rows as
needed, or provide a narrative description.
35
Table F1.
Area Data on shortages and needs Narrative description
Special educators 2021 Attrition 33.87%
Attrition Deviation From Attrition for Special Education Teachers
0.35% held steady near average for the 2020-
Prior Year
Federally Identified Shortage 2021 academic year.
Yes
Area
Paraprofessionals 2021 Attrition 24.36%
Attrition Deviation From Attrition for Paraprofessionals
-1.55% (Educational Aides) held steady near
Prior Year
Federally Identified Shortage average for the 2020-2021 academic year.
No
Area
Bilingual 2021 Attrition 27.23%
educators Attrition for Bilingual educators was
Attrition Deviation From
-1.81% slightly lower than average for the 2020-
Prior Year
Federally Identified Shortage 2021 academic year.
Yes
Area
English as a 2021 Attrition 39.45%
second language Attrition for English as a second language
Attrition Deviation From
educators 0.41% educators held steady near average for the
Prior Year
Federally Identified Shortage 2020-2021 academic year.
Yes
Area
STEM educators 2021 Attrition 22.11%
Attrition Deviation From Attrition for STEM Educators was
-2.48%
Prior Year slightly lower than average for the 2020-
Math, 2021 academic year.
Federally Identified Shortage Computer
Area Science
CTE educators 2021 Attrition 23.75%
Attrition Deviation From Attrition for CTE Educators was slightly
-3.07% lower than average for the 2020-2021
Prior Year
Federally Identified Shortage academic year.
Yes
Area
Early childhood 2021 Attrition 19.01%
educators Attrition for Early childhood educators
Attrition Deviation From
-2.15% was slightly lower than average for the
Prior Year
Federally Identified Shortage 2020-2021 academic year.
No
Area
School counselors 2021 Attrition 12.13%
Attrition Deviation From Attrition for School counselors was
-2.67% slightly lower than average for the 2020-
Prior Year
Federally Identified Shortage 2021 academic year.
No
Area
Social workers 2021 Attrition 17.61% Attrition for Social Workers in schools
Attrition Deviation From held steady near average for the 2020-
1.33% 2021 academic year.
Prior Year
36
Federally Identified Shortage
No
Area
Nurses 2021 Attrition 13.67%
Attrition Deviation From Attrition for School nurses was slightly
-6.15% lower than average for the 2020-2021
Prior Year
Federally Identified Shortage academic year.
No
Area
School 2021 Attrition 21.30%
psychologists Attrition for School psychologists held
Attrition Deviation From
-1.34% steady near average for the 2020-2021
Prior Year
Federally Identified Shortage academic year.
No
Area
Overall, data indicate that Texas did not experience an exacerbation of shortages of teachers or
support staff stemming from individuals leaving the profession during the 2019-2020 academic
year or between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 academic year. As noted on the table, Texas had
previously identified Bilingual, ESL, Special Education, CTE, Computer Science, and Math
teachers as shortage areas to the USDE. The attrition values for 2020-2021 support this
continued designation.
While overall turnover was lower, challenges may exist where positions have been added, along
with staff where full-time employment has varied, including bus drivers, child nutrition workers,
and substitutes. While some individual campuses and LEAs encountered local hiring challenges,
this aligns with state and regional data and is not an atypical phenomenon.
ii. Describe how the SEA will assist its LEAs in identifying the most
urgent areas of shortages or potential shortages, with particular plans
for individual LEAs facing the most significant needs (e.g., by
avoiding layoffs, providing high-quality professional learning
opportunities, and addressing the impact of stress or trauma on
educators). Include a description of how other Federal COVID-19
funding (e.g., ESSER and GEER funds under the CARES Act and
CRRSA Act) have already been used to avoid layoffs during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
TEA plans to build a streamlined diagnostic and application process that will allow LEAs to
identify grant opportunities and available supports that will align to their specific needs,
including needs related to support for educators. Available projects and grant programs that
support educators include:
• Additional Days School Year: TEA will use funds to support LEAs in strategically
redesigning schedules to allow teachers more time for planning, collaboration, and
development.
37
• Resilient Schools Support Program: TEA will fund this grant program to assist schools
in developing a comprehensive COVID recovery plan, including identifying teacher
capacity and student learning needs, and assist LEAs in implementing learning
acceleration strategies in their priority areas.
• Texas Home Learning (THL): TEA used prior funding to support the development of
this suite of optional, TEKS-aligned high-quality instructional materials for
Prekindergarten, K-12 math and RLA (including RLA: Spanish for K-5), and K-5 science
and social studies that are available at no cost to all Texans. THL instructional materials
are developed for in-person, virtual, and hybrid instruction and includes curriculum-
aligned professional learning resources for teachers.
• COVID Recovery Instructional Materials Support Initiative (CRIMSI): TEA plans
to fund LEAs to provide professional development and coaching for teachers to make use
of high-quality instructional materials developed for Texas Home Learning.
• Counseling, Advising, and Student Supports team: TEA built this initiative to connect
counselors with resources including a series of COVID-responsive guidance lessons and
a training on trauma-informed school counseling.
• Project Restore: TEA utilized previously available federal funding to build this a
trauma-informed training video series, designed to connect educators to relevant science
and strategies that can help them address their own emotional needs as well the needs of
their students and colleagues.
iii. Describe the actions the SEA will take to fill anticipated gaps in
certified teachers for the start of the 2021-2022 school year and to
what extent the SEA will further support its LEAs in expanding the
educator pipeline and educator diversity while addressing the
immediate needs of students disproportionately impacted by the
pandemic (e.g., recruiting teaching candidates to provide high-
dosage tutoring or implementing residencies for teacher candidates).
In the early stages of the pandemic, Texas temporarily suspended some certification
requirements enabling educator candidates impacted by school and test center closures to receive
limited term certificates. These actions also allowed for candidates at alternative certification
programs to continue their preparation in the 2020-2021 academic year, and for the extension of
one-year certificates for educators certified outside of the state and emergency credentials. These
policies supported entry into the profession by a diverse cohort of over 10,000 additional
teachers, and, along with admission to educator preparation programs that is up 19% year-to-date
in 2020-2021 over the prior two years, indicate that Texas is on solid footing to address the
impacts of COVID on the teacher pipeline.
To support these coming challenges, Texas plans to utilize existing and emerging initiatives that
support educator preparation tailored to the needs of LEAs, building the status of the profession,
and connecting tutors with students impacted by the pandemic. The planned programs include
the following:
Teacher Residencies
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When teachers are prepared in schools, learning the context, community, and students along with
the content, they are ready to be successful from day one, and are more likely to be effective and
retained. Towards this end, TEA will support high-quality preparation in year-long residencies
by identifying EPPs with aligned programming and capacity, funding regional service centers to
support EPP and LEA collaboration, and funding stipends for residents at LEAs for two years as
they build and implement a sustainable model.
Innovative Staffing Models
New modalities of teaching, along with shifting settings and new tools can enable approaches to
staffing that are different from the traditional standard. TEA will make available resources to
LEAs to plan for and implement innovative staffing models, ensuring support for all students.
These models can support multiple initiatives, and in particular enable the establishing teacher
leader roles, which allow for high quality teachers to have a greater impact in training new
teachers while staying in the classroom.
Vetted Texas Tutor Corps
One-on-one learning can be a key to accelerating the learning of students who had their learning
disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. TEA plans to build a network of statewide tutor
provider organizations who are well-trained, using high-quality instructional materials, and
implementing high dosage tutoring in alignment with research-backed principles, and support
LEAs in accessing this network in partnership with regional service centers. TEA will support
LEAs in building local systems to connect students who experienced learning loss through the
pandemic with tutors, including educator preparation candidates and retired educators. TEA will
also provide webinars, tools, and workshop-style support to LEAs to establish high dosage
tutoring.
Grow Your Own Program
Students benefit from teachers who share their background, and who can serve as role models.
To help alleviate teacher shortages, increase teacher quality, and close demographic gaps
between students and teachers, Texas will continue to fund the Grow Your Own grant program.
Grants support two pathways, including funds for campuses to offer CTE courses that put high
school students on the pathway to becoming a teacher and funds for paraprofessionals to earn
degrees and transition to being certified educators. These supports are structured to prioritize
implementation at small and rural schools, which experience challenges to recruiting and
retaining high-quality educators.
In addition to these programs, Texas will also continue to support and fund LEA implementation
of the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA). TEA will support more LEAs in developing approved
systems that allow LEAs to designate high-performing educators who in turn can generate
allotments from $3,000 to $32,000 for their employing district. To support teachers in
understanding this opportunity, TEA continues to highlight the program directly to teachers in
partnership with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, featuring it on our
website and consistently responding to teacher inquiries. These designated teachers are able to
further capitalize their designation upon moving to high-need or rural campuses.
39
Through these varied initiatives we plan to ensure a strong and expanded teacher pipeline while
supporting the needs of our impacted students.
6. Staffing to Support Student Needs: Describe the extent to which the SEA has
developed or will develop strategies and will support its LEAs in increasing
student access to key support staff within school buildings, including school
counselors, special education personnel, nurses, social workers, and psychologists
(e.g. hiring additional personnel or freeing up these staff to focus on providing
services to students).
As noted in earlier sections, TEA is providing LEAs with support and guidance on how to
maximize existing and newly hired mental health professionals and support staff on their
campuses, including resources and guidance on screening, connecting to local or regional mental
health resources, and providing information and resources on the impacts of grief and trauma and
trauma-informed care, including trauma-informed teacher training modules and supports for
educators. By helping educators and other school staff to identify when students are struggling,
schools can build a stronger system of support for all students.
G. Monitoring and Measuring Progress
The Department recognizes that transparency on how ARP ESSER funds are used and their
impact on the Nation’s education system is a fundamental responsibility of Federal, State,
and local government. In this section, SEAs will describe how they are building capacity at
the SEA and LEA levels to ensure high-quality data collection and reporting and to safeguard
funds for their intended purposes.
a. Capacity for Data Collection and Reporting: It is important for an SEA to
continuously monitor progress and make adjustments to its strategies, as well as
to support its LEAs in making adjustments to LEA strategies, based on impact.
Describe how the SEA will ensure its capacity and the capacity of its LEAs to
collect data on reporting requirements, including but not limited to the examples
of reporting requirements described in the SEA’s Grant Award Notification (listed
in Appendix B). Describe the SEA’s capacity and strategy to collect data from its
LEAs (disaggregated by student group, where applicable), to the greatest extent
practicable, including any steps the SEA will take to build its capacity in the
future (which may include the use of ARP ESSER and other Federal COVID-19
pandemic funds at the SEA and LEA levels), on issues that may include the
following:
i. Student learning, including the academic impact of lost instructional time
during the COVID-19 pandemic;
ii. Opportunity to learn measures (e.g., chronic absenteeism; student
engagement; use of exclusionary discipline; access to and participation in
advanced coursework; access to technology, including educator access to
professional development on the effective use of technology; access to
high-quality educators; access to school counselors, social workers,
nurses, and school psychologists; and results from student, parent, and/or
educator surveys);
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iii. Fiscal data that is comparable across the State (e.g., per-pupil expenditures
at the LEA and school levels);
iv. Jobs created and retained (by position type);
v. Participation in programs funded by ARP ESSER resources (e.g., summer
and afterschool programs); and
vi. Other reporting requirements reasonably required by the Secretary (please
refer to Appendix B of this template; final requirements will be issued
separately).
i. TEA primarily relies upon the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR)
to gather information on student learning. STAAR was not administered in school year 2019-
2020 but was administered in school year 2020-2021. While the assessment window is not yet
closed, early data suggests that April administration participation rates were approximately 85%,
which suggests the administration will provide TEA with summative learning data on the
majority of students.
ii. Most student- and staff-level data collected by the agency is done through the Texas Student
Data System (TSDS) which is based on the Ed-Fi data standard. Data collected from the LEAs
must be reviewed via the data governance process. The TSDS data review committees are
comprised of representatives from key stakeholder groups which include LEA and Regional data
coordinators, executive directors and superintendents, software vendors and TEA staff.
In addition to data collected through TSDS, any data collected outside of TSDS such as surveys
or data required for grant reporting would be reviewed by the internal TEA governance board
which is comprised of staff from TEA departments.
Using the Ed-Fi data standard allows the agency the ability to expand the data model for new
reporting requirements driven by legislative mandates. Additionally, representatives on the
governance committees give the agency insight into the capacity at the local level to expand data
collection requirements.
Once new data collections have been approved by the governance committees, the collection
requirements are published in the Texas Education Data Standards. Source system vendors such
as Student Information System vendors use the information provided in the data standard to
update their systems. The vendors expand the systems for data input as well as data extractions
which allows LEAs to readily comply with state data submission requirements.
Through this process TEA already collects many of the items listed in G.1.ii. Our current
processes and technical capabilities allow us to expand and collect what we do not currently
collect.
iii. Fiscal data that is comparable across the State (e.g., per-pupil expenditures at the LEA and
school levels); TEA will develop a uniform expenditure reporting system to collect detailed
information on ARP ESSER III expenditures across LEAs. This detailed information will be in
41
addition to our existing uniform eGrants Expenditure Reporting (ER) system. Comparable data
will be collected and reported for all LEAs.
iv. TEA will collect jobs created and retained with ARP ESSER III funds on an annual basis as
part of the LEA’s compliance reporting to TEA. LEA compliance report data is submitted in the
fall for the prior grant year. LEAs will report all FTEs that 1) received payroll from ESSER
funds, and/or 2) received a stipend or bonus for added responsibilities caused by the pandemic.
v. TEA will build capacity of LEAs for participation in summer programs, after-school
programs, and extended year programs through grants to the 20 regional ESCs. These grants will
provide technical assistance to and guide LEAs through the planning processes. TEA will collect
data from LEAs to monitor participation in ARP ESSER funded programs, including summer
programs, after-school programs, and extended year programs, funded by either state
discretionary funds or the LEA grants.
vi. TEA will use the current governance process and systems that are easily expandable to collect
the data required based on the program needs once the final requirements are determined.
b. Monitoring and Internal Controls: Describe how the SEA will implement
appropriate fiscal monitoring of and internal controls for the ARP ESSER funds
(e.g., by updating the SEA’s plan for monitoring funds and internal controls under
the CARES and CRRSA Acts; addressing potential sources of waste, fraud, and
abuse; conducting random audits; or other tools). In this response, please describe
the SEA’s current capacity to monitor ARP ESSER; steps, if needed, to increase
capacity; and any foreseeable gaps in capacity, including how the SEA will
provide its LEAs with technical assistance in the anticipated areas of greatest
need.
TEA’s Division of Federal Fiscal Monitoring (FFM) has created a Specialized Monitoring Unit
which will include ESSER fiscal monitoring. This unit will be responsible for the agency’s fiscal
monitoring and internal controls of ESSER funds as described below.
The Grants Administration Division staff’s primary focus will be to conduct grant application
reviews for allowability of costs. The grant application includes a list of requested allowable
activities aligned to the ESSER statutes. Any activity entered as “other,” not previously
approved, and questionable to TEA staff may be forwarded to the USDE program office for a
determination of allowability.
The FFM division staff’s primary focus will be to conduct fiscal desk reviews of ESSER grants
awarded to subrecipients. The completion of the activities discussed below will contribute
towards satisfying the division’s monitoring responsibility. Although the types of activities
discussed below will be the primary focus of the division, the division is not limited to these
activities and may conduct other work at the direction of the division’s director and pursuant to
immediate and changing circumstances.
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The TEA program office will conduct random validations of various eligibility and program
compliance requirements as described above.
The complete ESSER III Monitoring Plan is available upon request.
Appendix A: School Operating Status and Instructional Mode Data Template
Indicate the date or time period represented by the following data.
This section will be submitted by the June 21st deadline.
Table 1
In the most recent time period available, how many schools in your State offered each mode of
instruction or learning model described below? Each row should account for all schools in your
State, so that, for each row, the sum of the numbers in the “offered to all students,” “offered to
some students,” and “not offered” columns is equal to the number in the “all schools” column.
Add or change rows as needed
Number of All schools Offered to all Offered to Not offered
schools students some students
Remote or # # # #
online only
School # # # #
buildings open
with both
remote/online
and in-person
instruction
(hybrid)
School # # # #
buildings open
with full-time
in-person
instruction
To the extent data are available, please complete the above table for 1) all schools in the State,
and 2) separately for each instructional level (e.g., pre-kindergarten/elementary schools, middle
schools, high schools).
Table 2
In the most recent time period available, what was the enrollment and mode of instruction for the
schools in your State?
Add or change rows as needed
43
Number of Total Remote or Both Full-time in-
students enrollment online only remote/online person
and in-person instruction
instruction
(hybrid)
Students from # # # #
low-income
families
White, not # # # #
Hispanic
Black or # # # #
African
American, not
Hispanic
Hispanic, of # # # #
any race
Asian, not # # # #
Hispanic
American # # # #
Indian or
Alaskan
Native, not
Hispanic
Native # # # #
Hawaiian or
Pacific
Islander, not
Hispanic
Two or more # # # #
races, not
Hispanic
Race/Ethnicity # # # #
information not
available
English # # # #
learners
Children with # # # #
disabilities
Students # # # #
experiencing
homelessness
Children and # # # #
youth in foster
care
Migratory # # # #
students
44
Appendix B: Reporting Language Included in the Grant Award Notification (“GAN”)
As described in the Grant Award Notification (“GAN”), the SEA will comply with, and ensure
that its LEAs comply with, all reporting requirements at such time and in such manner and
containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require, including on matters such
as:
• How the State is developing strategies and implementing public health protocols
including, to the greatest extent practicable, policies and plans in line with the CDC
guidance related to mitigating COVID-19 in schools;
• Overall plans and policies related to State support for return to in-person instruction and
maximizing in-person instruction time, including how funds will support a return to and
maximize in-person instruction time, and advance equity and inclusivity in participation
in in-person instruction;
• Data on each school’s mode of instruction (fully in-person, hybrid, and fully remote) and
conditions;
• SEA and LEA uses of funds to meet students’ social, emotional, and academic needs,
including through summer enrichment programming and other evidence-based
interventions, and how they advance equity for underserved students;
• SEA and LEA uses of funds to sustain and support access to early childhood education
programs;
• Impacts and outcomes (disaggregated by student subgroup) through use of ARP ESSER
funding (e.g., quantitative and qualitative results of ARP ESSER funding, including on
personnel, student learning, and budgeting at the school and district level);
• Student data (disaggregated by student subgroup) related to how the COVID-19
pandemic has affected instruction and learning;
• Requirements under the Federal Financial Accountability Transparency Act (“FFATA”);
and
• Additional reporting requirements as may be necessary to ensure accountability and
transparency of ARP ESSER funds.
45
Appendix C: Assurances
By signing this document, the SEA assures all of the following:
• The SEA will conduct all its operations so that no person shall be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under the ARP
ESSER program or activity based on race, color, national origin, which includes a
person’s limited English proficiency or English learner status and a person’s actual or
perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics; sex; age; or disability. These non-
discrimination obligations arise under Federal civil rights laws, including but not limited
to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of
1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of
1975. In addition, the SEA must comply with all regulations, guidelines, and standards
issued by the Department under any of these statutes;
• The SEA will comply with all ARP Act and other ARP ESSER requirements and all
requirements of its Grant Award Notification, including but not limited to:
o Complying with the maintenance of effort provision in section 2004(a)(1) of the
ARP Act, absent a waiver by the Secretary pursuant to section 2004(a)(2) of the
ARP Act; and
o Complying with the maintenance of equity provisions in section 2004(b) of the
ARP Act, and ensuring its LEAs comply with the maintenance of equity provision
in section 2004(c) of the ARP Act (please note that the Department will provide
additional guidance on maintenance of equity shortly);
• The SEA will allocate ARP ESSER funds to LEAs in an expedited and timely manner
and, to the extent practicable, not later than 60 days after the SEA receives ARP ESSER
funds (i.e., 60 days from the date the SEA receives each portion of its ARP ESSER
funds). An SEA that is not able to allocate such funds within 60 days because it is not
practicable (e.g., because of pre-existing State board approval requirements) will provide
an explanation to the Department within 30 days of receiving each portion of its ARP
ESSER funds (submitted via email to your Program Officer at [State].OESE@ed.gov
(e.g., Alabama.OESE@ed.gov)), including a description of specific actions the SEA is
taking to provide ARP ESSER funds to LEAs in an expedited and timely manner and the
SEA’s expected timeline for doing so;
• The SEA will implement evidence-based interventions as required under section 2001(f)
of the ARP Act and ensure its LEAs implement evidence-based interventions, as required
by section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act;
• The SEA will address the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
underserved students (i.e., students from low-income families, students from racial or
ethnic groups (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by
race or ethnicity), gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved
student groups by gender), English learners, children with disabilities, students
experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory students), as
required under section 2001(f) of the ARP Act, and ensure its LEAs address the
disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved students (i.e.,
students from low-income families, students from racial or ethnic groups, gender, English
learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and
46
youth in foster care, and migratory students), as required by section 2001(e)(1) of the
ARP Act; and
• The SEA will provide to the Department: (1) the URL(s) where the public can readily
find data on school operating status and (2) the URL(s) for the SEA and/or LEA websites
where the public can find the LEA plans for a) the safe return to in-person instruction and
continuity of services required under section 2001(i) of the ARP Act, and b) use of ARP
ESSER funds. SEAs should consider ensuring a standardized URL format in all cases
(e.g., xxx.gov/COVIDplan).
47
Appendix D
OMB Control No. 1894-0005 (Exp. 06/30/2023)
NOTICE TO ALL APPLICANTS
The purpose of this enclosure is to inform you access to, and participation in, its Federally-
about a new provision in the Department of assisted program for students, teachers, and
Education’s General Education Provisions other program beneficiaries with special
Act ("GEPA") that applies to applicants for needs. This provision allows applicants
new grant awards under Department discretion in developing the required
programs. This provision is Section 427 of description. The statute highlights six types
GEPA, enacted as part of the Improving of barriers that can impede equitable access
America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law or participation: gender, race, national origin,
(P.L.) 103-382). color, disability, or age. Based on local
circumstances, you should determine
To Whom Does This Provision Apply? whether these or other barriers may prevent
your students, teachers, etc. from such access
Section 427 of GEPA affects applicants for
to, or participation in, the Federally-funded
new grant awards under this program. ALL
project or activity. The description in your
APPLICANTS FOR NEW AWARDS
application of steps to be taken to overcome
MUST INCLUDE INFORMATION IN
these barriers need not be lengthy; you may
THEIR APPLICATIONS TO ADDRESS
provide a clear and succinct description of
THIS NEW PROVISION IN ORDER TO
how you plan to address those barriers that
RECEIVE FUNDING UNDER THIS
are applicable to your circumstances. In
PROGRAM.
addition, the information may be provided in
(If this program is a State-formula grant a single narrative, or, if appropriate, may be
program, a State needs to provide this discussed in connection with related topics in
description only for projects or activities that the application.
it carries out with funds reserved for State-
Section 427 is not intended to duplicate the
level uses. In addition, local school districts
requirements of civil rights statutes, but
or other eligible applicants that apply to the
rather to ensure that, in designing their
State for funding need to provide this
projects, applicants for Federal funds address
description in their applications to the State
equity concerns that may affect the ability of
for funding. The State would be responsible
certain potential beneficiaries to fully
for ensuring that the school district or other
participate in the project and to achieve high
local entity has submitted a sufficient section
standards. Consistent with program
427 statement as described below.)
requirements and its approved application, an
What Does This Provision Require? applicant may use the Federal funds awarded
to it to eliminate barriers it identifies.
Section 427 requires each applicant for funds
(other than an individual person) to include in
its application a description of the steps the
applicant proposes to take to ensure equitable
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What are Examples of How an Applicant
Might Satisfy the Requirement of This
Provision?
The following examples may help illustrate
how an applicant may comply with Section
427.
(1) An applicant that proposes to carry
out an adult literacy project serving,
among others, adults with limited English
proficiency, might describe in its
application how it intends to distribute a
brochure about the proposed project to
such potential participants in their native
language.
(2) An applicant that proposes to develop
instructional materials for classroom use
might describe how it will make the
materials available on audio tape or in
braille for students who are blind.
(3) An applicant that proposes to carry
out a model science program for
secondary students and is concerned that
girls may be less likely than boys to enroll
in the course, might indicate how it
intends to conduct "outreach" efforts to
girls, to encourage their enrollment.
(4) An applicant that proposes a project to
increase school safety might describe the
special efforts it will take to address
concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender students, and efforts to reach
out to and involve the families of LGBT
students.
We recognize that many applicants may
already be implementing effective steps to
ensure equity of access and participation in
their grant programs, and we appreciate your
cooperation in responding to the
requirements of this provision.
Click here to enter text.
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Estimated Burden Statement for GEPA Requirements
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a
collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public
reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 3 hours per
response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain
benefit (Public Law 103-382). Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other
aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or
email ICDocketMgr@ed.gov and reference the OMB Control Number 1894-0005.
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