(a) Each school district shall use the student performance data resulting from the basic skills assessment instruments and achievement tests administered under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, to design and implement appropriate compensatory, intensive, or accelerated instructional services for students in the district's schools that enable the students to be performing at grade level at the conclusion of the next regular school term.

(b) Each district shall provide accelerated instruction to a student enrolled in the district who has taken the secondary exit-level assessment instrument and has not performed satisfactorily on each section or who is at risk of dropping out of school.

(c) Each school district shall evaluate and document the effectiveness of the accelerated instruction in reducing any disparity in performance on assessment instruments administered under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, or disparity in the rates of high school completion between students at risk of dropping out of school and all other district students.

Refer to TEC, Section 29.081(a)

The State Compensatory Education Program is defined in Texas Education law as programs and/or services designed to supplement the regular education program for students identified as at risk of dropping out of school or who are economically disadvantaged. The purpose is to increase academic achievement and reduce the dropout rate of these at-risk and/or economically disadvantaged students. The goal of SCE is to reduce any disparity in performance on assessment instruments (STAAR, EOC) or disparity in the rate of high school completion between students at risk of dropping out of school and all other students, and between students who are economically disadvantaged and all other students.

S.B. 1746 amends the Texas Education Code TEC §29.081 to identify a “student at risk of dropping out of school” to include each student who is under 26 years of age and satisfies one (or more) of the 14 state at risk eligibility criteria. 

• Identification should be conducted (for the student’s benefit) at any time during the year in order to identify those students who are eligible for ”supplemental” services under the SCE program and to ensure timely interventions are provided for these At-Risk Students.

• Additionally, H.B. 3 (86th Legislature) permits us to serve students who are “economically disadvantaged” as designated by their Meal Status in eSchool with State Compensatory Education (SCE) staff/funding (supplemental services), regardless of whether the student meets any of the at-risk criteria. A student’s meal status does not designate a student as being “at-risk”.

• All students enrolled at a Schoolwide Title I campus may receive “supplemental” SCE funded services.

• To serve a non-Title I student, using SCE staff, who does not qualify as State At-risk or Economically Disadvantaged, but needs supplemental SCE support, contact the Director of State & Federal Programs BEFORE serving the student to determine if the student qualifies for our Local At-Risk criteria. Spaces are limited; all students served by SCE staff must meet one or more of the aforementioned criteria.

At-Risk Criteria

Refer to TEC, Section 29.081 and S.B. No. 1746

A “student at risk of dropping out of school” includes each student who is under 26 years of age and who:

1. Was not advanced from one grade level to the next for one or more school years;

2. If the student is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in the current semester;

3. Did not perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument administered to the student under TEC, Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and who has not in the previous or current school year subsequently performed on that instrument or another appropriate instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of the level of satisfactory performance on that instrument.

4. If the student is in prekindergarten, kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the current school year ;

5. Is pregnant or is a parent;

6. Has been placed in an alternative education program in accordance with TEC, §37.00613 during the preceding or current school year;

7. Has been expelled in accordance with the TEC, §37.00715 during the preceding or current school year;

8. Is currently on parole, probation, deferred prosecution, or other conditional release;

9. Was previously reported through PEIMS to have dropped out of school;

10. Is a student of limited English proficiency as defined by TEC, §29.052;

11. Is in the custody or care of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or has, during the current school year, been referred to the department by a school official, officer of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;

12. Is homeless, as defined by Title 42 United States Code (USC) Section 11302, and its subsequent amendments;

13. Is homeless, as defined by Title 42 United States Code (USC) Section 11302, and its subsequent amendments;

14. Resided in the preceding school year or resides in the current school year in a residential placement facility in the district, including a detention facility, substance abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital, halfway house, or foster group home.

15. Students who have been incarcerated or who have parents that have been incarcerated within the student's lifetime in a penal institution as defined by Penal Code, §1.07. These students are eligible to receive certain services that other at-risk students receive, such as counseling and academic enhancement services. 

Module 6: State Compensatory Education Guidelines, Financial Treatment, and Auditing and Reporting System (2020)