TSPR Wall Independent School District

Chapter 2
EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DELIVERY

This chapter discusses Wall Independent School District's (WISD's) educational service delivery system, student performance and safety and security measures in five sections:

A. Student Performance

B. Curriculum and Instructional Resources

C. Special Programs

D. Alternative Education Programs and Dropout Prevention

E. Safety and Security

Effective educational service delivery requires appropriate leadership, dedicated and capable teachers and adequate resources. A thorough understanding of students' instructional needs is needed to tailor programs to fit local expectations and state goals.
BACKGROUND
WISD selected five Texas school districts to serve as "peer districts" for various comparisons: Bangs, Crockett County, Grape Creek, Holliday and Reagan County ISDs. All except Holliday ISD are located in the same general area of the state; Holliday ISD is located in north-central Texas. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) provided information on the state-mandated Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) and other student performance measures, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
TEA's Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) reports provide demographic, staffing and financial data for each school district and school. These reports contain information gathered from each district and are available on TEA's Internet web site (www.tea.state.tx.us). The latest AEIS data, published by TEA in November 2000, are for the 1999-2000 school year. This report also uses data from WISD's fall 2000 Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) report, which contains certain information for the 2000-01 school year, as appropriate. Comparative student data from 2000-01 will not be available until TEA circulates the fall 2001 reports.
Exhibit 2-1 presents demographic information for WISD, the peer districts, Regional Education Service Center XV (Region 15) and the state.

Exhibit 2-1
Demographic Characteristics of WISD
Peer Districts, Region 15 and State
2000-01

Student Enrollment Ethnic Groups Economically Disadvantaged

District Number 5 Year
Percent Change* Percent
African
American Percent
Hispanic Percent
Anglo Percent
Other Percent Minority Percent 5 Year
Percent Change*

Grape Creek 1,151 40.9% 2.1% 21.1% 76.5% 0.3% 23.5% 46.7% 0.9%

Bangs 1,111 2.6% 8.4% 13.7% 77.3% 0.6% 22.7% 44.4% -4.3%

Holliday 956 -2.1% 0.2% 2.6% 97.0% 0.2% 3.0% 16.4% 49.1%

Wall 944 6.8% 0.2% 22.0% 77.8% 0.0% 22.2% 27.3% -5.9%

Reagan County 892 -19.9% 2.7% 57.8% 38.9% 0.6% 61.1% 46.8% 4.7%

Crockett County 840 -16.3% 0.2% 64.5% 35.0% 0.2% 64.9% 51.0% 8.1%

Region 15 50,694 -3.8% 3.6% 47.9% 47.8% 0.7% 52.2% 53.5% 5.1%

State 4,071,433 6.3% 14.4% 40.5% 42.1% 3.0% 57.9% 49.2% 2.3%

Source: TEA 2000 fall PEIMS 1999-2000.
*Percent Change is defined as 2000-01 values minus 1996-97 values divided by 1996-97 values.
For 2000-01, WISD's enrollment was 944, a small decrease from 976 in 1999-2000. Holliday is closest to WISD in enrollment, with 956 students. WISD's enrollment increased by 6.8 percent over the last five years, which is about equal to the state increase of 6.3 percent. Three districts-Crockett County, Holliday and Reagan County-experienced declining student enrollment over the same period. Minority student enrollment in the districts ranges from 64.9 percent in Crockett County ISD to just 3 percent in Holliday ISD. WISD has the third-highest share of minority student enrollment at 22.2 percent.
Among the peer districts, WISD has the second-lowest share (27.3 percent) of economically disadvantaged students. Between 1996-97 and 2000-01, the state's share of economically disadvantaged students rose by about 2 percent. In WISD, by contrast, the share of economically disadvantaged students fell by about 6 percent between 1996-97 and 2000-01.
WISD ranks first among the peers in instructional expenditures per student, at $7,368 (Exhibit 2-2). This figure, however, cannot be compared directly to the peer districts or the state averages, since WISD serves as fiscal agent for a small schools special education cooperative that includes 18 districts. WISD ties for fourth with Holliday ISD in its instructional expenditures on gifted and talented education programs.

Exhibit 2-2
Actual Instructional Expenditures
WISD, Peer Districts and State
2000-01

District Total
Expenditures Instructional Expenditure
Per Student* Percent
Regular Percent
Gifted & Talented Percent
Special Education Percent
Career & Tech. Percent Bil/ESL Percent
Compensatory

Wall** $12,942,502* $7,368 32.4% 0.5% 54.0% 3.5% 0.1% 8.3%

Crockett County $9,950,426 $4,737 56.3% 1.6% 9.2% 5.5% 4.3% 18.7%

Reagan County $7,981,422 $4,725 60.0% 1.2% 17.6% 4.1% 1.7% 9.0%

Bangs $7,805,136 $3,653 56.8% 1.7% 21.1% 5.2% 0.1% 10.1%

Holliday $6,838,633 $3,646 62.5% 0.5% 22.1% 4.1% 0.6% 5.3%

Grape Creek $7,120,924 $2,869 60.3% 0.3% 21.6% 2.3% 3.2% 8.3%

State $31,639,852,01 $3,738 61.5% 1.7% 15.2% 4.0% 3.7% 11.7%

Source: TEA fall 2000 PEIMS 1999-2000.
*Includes instruction and instructional leadership expenditures.
**WISD is the fiscal agent for the Small Schools Special Education Cooperative and the Fairview Alternative Education Cooperative. WISD employees perform most of the cooperatives' administrative functions. Without these two functions, the district's actual budget is $7.3 million.
WISD ranks first among the peers in its share of students identified as gifted and talented (Exhibit 2-3).Its share of students enrolled in a bilingual or English as a Second Language (ESL) programs (2.4 percent) is second highest among the peers but significantly lower than the statewide average of 12.5 percent. WISD is fourth among the peers in its share of students receiving special education services and third in its share of students enrolled in career and technology education programs.

Exhibit 2-3
Student Enrollment by Program
WISD, Peer Districts, Region 15 and State
2000-01

District Percent
Bilingual/ ESL Percent
Career and Technology Percent
Gifted and Talented Percent
Special Education

Wall 2.1% 29.4% 10.9% 15.3%

Crockett County 3.6% 19.1% 10.8% 17.0%

Reagan County 6.2% 34.4% 9.5% 21.4%

Bangs 0.6% 31.8% 8.5% 22.2%

Grape Creek 2.3% 15.1% 8.0% 17.3%

Holliday 0.2% 30.8% 6.3% 6.2%

Region 15 6.8% 22.9% 8.1% 13.9%

State 12.5% 18.9% 8.4% 12.1%

Source: TEA, PEIMS 2000-01.
Exhibit 2-4 examines various categories of professional staffing. WISD and Holliday ISD have the highest share of teachers as a percent of total staffing. WISD ranks third in its share of minority teachers and fourth in its share of educational aides as a percent of total staffing. While the PEIMS report contains data for the special education cooperative, the AEIS report does not, leading to variances in their statistical reporting. For example, teachers are listed as about 46 percent of all staff in the PEIMS report but 55 percent in AEIS. This is because the PEIMS report includes 12 special education diagnosticians employed by the cooperative.

Exhibit 2-4
Percent Staff
WISD, Peer Districts, Region 15 and State
2000-01

Professional Staff Bangs Crockett County Grape Creek Holliday Reagan County Wall Region 15 State Avg.

Teachers 52.0% 46.7% 54.2% 58.6% 50.3% 52.5% 50.0% 50.6%

Professional Support 4.1% 3.8% 5.8% 4.0% 4.9% 4.6% 6.8% 7.9%

Campus Administration 2.6% 3.5% 3.3% 2.6% 2.6% 2.0% 2.5% 2.4%

Central Administration 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 0.9% 1.9% 0.8% 1.3% 1.0%

Educational Aides 13.8% 19.8% 12.4% 11.1% 15.4% 15.4% 12.4% 10.3%

Auxiliary Staff 26.1% 24.9% 23.1% 22.8% 24.9% 24.6% 26.9% 27.7%

Minority Teachers 3.8% 15.8% 2.4% 1.5% 6.4% 4.8% 16.7% 26.2%

Source: TEA, PEIMS 2000-01.
Exhibit 2-5 examines teacher experience and turnover rates. WISD has the second-lowest share of teachers with more than 20 years of teaching experience (13.3 percent). WISD ranks in the middle of the peer districts for teacher turnover, with a turnover of 11.7 percent of the teaching staff in 2000-01. While several staff members stated that many teachers want to teach in WISD, the district was second lowest among the peers for average years of teacher experience and average tenure with the district. While WISD's beginning teacher salary is about average for the peer districts, it is $3,000 lower than the state average. WISD's average salary for teachers with six to 10 years of experience is second from the bottom of the peer districts and about $2,600 below the state average.

Exhibit 2-5
Teacher Experience and Turnover Rate
WISD, Peer Districts, Region 15 and State
2000-01

Bangs Crockett County Grape Greek Holliday Reagan County Wall Region 15 State

Teachers by Years of Experience

Beginning Teachers 1.3% 4.8% 10.6% 1.5% 3.8% 3.9% 4.9% 7.8%

1-5 Years Experience 20.2% 30.6% 39.1% 23.9% 17.2% 21.0% 23.3% 27.3%

6-10 Years Experience 17.7% 17.7% 21.6% 19.4% 21.7% 27.9% 18.6% 18.1%

11-20 Years Experience 37.5% 26.2% 16.8% 27.5% 29.3% 32.3% 28.6% 25.3%

Over 20 Years Experience 23.3% 20.7% 11.9% 27.8% 27.9% 15.0% 24.6% 21.5%

Average Years Experience 13.9 11.7 8.1 14.2 13.8 10.3 11.9 10.8

Teachers Turnover Rate

Turnover (1998-99) 9.0% 14.3% 24.6% 8.2% 14.2% 11.7% 13.6% 15.0%

Average Teachers Salary by Years of Experience

Beginning Teacher $21,260 $26,011 $24,981 $24,240 $28,500 $25,052 $26,256 $27,007

1-5 Years Experience $27,131 $27,583 $26,515 $29,596 $30,066 $27,173 $27,627 $28,758

6-10 Years Experience $32,083 $32,090 $32,181 $33,246 $35,373 $32,448 $32,834 $33,499

11-20 Years Experience $38,969 $37,931 $38,746 $39,168 $42,070 $38,132 $39,009 $39,499

Over 20 Years Experience $43,408 $41,808 $42,807 $41,251 $44,818 $41,105 $42,433 $43,602

Source: TEA, AEIS 1998-99 and PEIMS 2000-01.
WISD's share of teachers with a Masters degree is higher than the state average and all of the peer districts (Exhibit 2-6).

Exhibit 2-6
Teacher Degrees
WISD, Peer Districts, Region 15 and State
2000-01

Education Level Bangs Crockett County Grape Creek Holliday Reagan County Wall Region 15 State

No Degree 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.0% 1.3%

Bachelor 84.3% 86.1% 92.9% 96.3% 87.4% 74.9% 82.3% 74.8%

Master/Doctorate 15.7% 13.2% 7.1% 3.1% 12.6% 25.1% 16.7% 23.4%

Doctorate 0.0% 0.7% 0.0% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.5%

Source: TEA, PEIMS 2000-01.
In Texas, teaching permits can be activated by the local school district and approved by the state's Commissioner of Education for degreed persons who are uniquely qualified to teach a particular assignment but lack formal teaching credentials. Districts also can activate temporary exemption permits for certified, degreed teacher who are not certified for a particular classroom assignment. This exemption cannot be renewed. Neither WISD nor any of the peer districts except Bangs use these types of permits.
Under the state's school accountability system, TEA assigns annual ratings to each district and school based upon TAAS scores, attendance, dropout rates and the quality of the data submitted to TEA. The accountability system includes five ratings for districts: Exemplary, Recognized, Academically Acceptable, Academically Unacceptable and Unacceptable: Data Quality (the latter pertaining to the data submitted to TEA).
To receive an Exemplary rating, at least 90 percent of all students, as well as 90 percent of African American, Hispanic, Anglo and economically disadvantaged students, must pass the TAAS reading, writing and mathematics tests. To achieve a Recognized rating, 80 percent of all students and each student group must pass the same TAAS reading, writing and mathematics tests. In 2000, to be rated Academically Acceptable, 50 percent of each student group must pass TAAS. Beginning in 2000, scores for students with disabilities, and from the TAAS Spanish version of reading and mathematics in grades 3 through 6 were included in the accountability calculations.
Although the state accountability system also considers attendance and dropout rates, TAAS is the key factor used in determining district ratings.
Exhibit 2-7 shows that four of the six peer districts were rated academically acceptable in 1996. By 2000, three districts-WISD, Crockett County ISD and Reagan County ISD-were recognized. Grape Creek ISD was rated as academically acceptable while Bangs ISD was rated exemplary. Most, except Grape Creek and Holliday ISDs, improved or maintained their accountability ratings between 1996 and 2000. Grape Creek ISD was rated as recognized in 1996 through 1998 but was only academically acceptable in 1999 and 2000. Holliday ISD was recognized for two of the five years. WISD has been rated as recognized in each year from 1997 to 2000.
WISD had two campuses rated exemplary in 2000, its high school and elementary school. The middle school was rated as recognized. Fairview Accelerated, a WISD alternative education program, was rated as academically acceptable under the state's alternative accountability system; two specialized campuses were not rated because of the grade levels included.

Exhibit 2-7
Accountability Ratings
WISD Versus Peer Districts
1995-96 through 1999-2000

1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000

Bangs Recognized Recognized Recognized Exemplary Exemplary

Crockett County Acceptable Recognized Recognized Recognized Recognized

Grape Creek Recognized Recognized Recognized Acceptable Acceptable

Holliday Acceptable Recognized Recognized Acceptable Acceptable

Reagan County Acceptable Recognized Acceptable Recognized Recognized

Wall Acceptable Recognized Recognized Recognized Recognized

Source: TEA, AEIS 1995-96 through 1999-2000.
WISD has a relatively low dropout rate, second only to Crockett County ISD among the peers, and an attendance rate close to the top of the peer districts (Exhibit 2-8). The WISD dropout rate was lower than the state and Region 15 averages.

Exhibit 2-8
Annual Dropout and Attendance Rate
WISD, Peer Districts, Region 15 and State
1998-99

Crockett County Wall Reagan County Grape Creek Holliday Bangs Region 15 State Avg.

Dropout Rate 0.2% 0.4% 0.4% 0.6% 0.6% 1.1% 1.5% 1.6%

Attendance Rate 97.1% 96.9% 96.6% 95.8% 97.0% 96.3% 95.8% 95.4%

Source: TEA AEIS 1998-99.

	Student Enrollment		Ethnic Groups					Economically Disadvantaged
District	Number	5 Year Percent Change*	Percent African American	Percent Hispanic	Percent Anglo	Percent Other	Percent Minority	Percent	5 Year Percent Change*
Grape Creek	1,151	40.9%	2.1%	21.1%	76.5%	0.3%	23.5%	46.7%	0.9%
Bangs	1,111	2.6%	8.4%	13.7%	77.3%	0.6%	22.7%	44.4%	-4.3%
Holliday	956	-2.1%	0.2%	2.6%	97.0%	0.2%	3.0%	16.4%	49.1%
Wall	944	6.8%	0.2%	22.0%	77.8%	0.0%	22.2%	27.3%	-5.9%
Reagan County	892	-19.9%	2.7%	57.8%	38.9%	0.6%	61.1%	46.8%	4.7%
Crockett County	840	-16.3%	0.2%	64.5%	35.0%	0.2%	64.9%	51.0%	8.1%
Region 15	50,694	-3.8%	3.6%	47.9%	47.8%	0.7%	52.2%	53.5%	5.1%
State	4,071,433	6.3%	14.4%	40.5%	42.1%	3.0%	57.9%	49.2%	2.3%

District	Total Expenditures	Instructional Expenditure Per Student*	Percent Regular	Percent Gifted & Talented	Percent Special Education	Percent Career & Tech.	Percent Bil/ESL	Percent Compensatory
Wall**	$12,942,502*	$7,368	32.4%	0.5%	54.0%	3.5%	0.1%	8.3%
Crockett County	$9,950,426	$4,737	56.3%	1.6%	9.2%	5.5%	4.3%	18.7%
Reagan County	$7,981,422	$4,725	60.0%	1.2%	17.6%	4.1%	1.7%	9.0%
Bangs	$7,805,136	$3,653	56.8%	1.7%	21.1%	5.2%	0.1%	10.1%
Holliday	$6,838,633	$3,646	62.5%	0.5%	22.1%	4.1%	0.6%	5.3%
Grape Creek	$7,120,924	$2,869	60.3%	0.3%	21.6%	2.3%	3.2%	8.3%
State	$31,639,852,01	$3,738	61.5%	1.7%	15.2%	4.0%	3.7%	11.7%

District	Percent Bilingual/ ESL	Percent Career and Technology	Percent Gifted and Talented	Percent Special Education
Wall	2.1%	29.4%	10.9%	15.3%
Crockett County	3.6%	19.1%	10.8%	17.0%
Reagan County	6.2%	34.4%	9.5%	21.4%
Bangs	0.6%	31.8%	8.5%	22.2%
Grape Creek	2.3%	15.1%	8.0%	17.3%
Holliday	0.2%	30.8%	6.3%	6.2%
Region 15	6.8%	22.9%	8.1%	13.9%
State	12.5%	18.9%	8.4%	12.1%

Professional Staff	Bangs	Crockett County	Grape Creek	Holliday	Reagan County	Wall	Region 15	State Avg.
Teachers	52.0%	46.7%	54.2%	58.6%	50.3%	52.5%	50.0%	50.6%
Professional Support	4.1%	3.8%	5.8%	4.0%	4.9%	4.6%	6.8%	7.9%
Campus Administration	2.6%	3.5%	3.3%	2.6%	2.6%	2.0%	2.5%	2.4%
Central Administration	1.3%	1.3%	1.3%	0.9%	1.9%	0.8%	1.3%	1.0%
Educational Aides	13.8%	19.8%	12.4%	11.1%	15.4%	15.4%	12.4%	10.3%
Auxiliary Staff	26.1%	24.9%	23.1%	22.8%	24.9%	24.6%	26.9%	27.7%
Minority Teachers	3.8%	15.8%	2.4%	1.5%	6.4%	4.8%	16.7%	26.2%

	Bangs	Crockett County	Grape Greek	Holliday	Reagan County	Wall	Region 15	State
Teachers by Years of Experience
Beginning Teachers	1.3%	4.8%	10.6%	1.5%	3.8%	3.9%	4.9%	7.8%
1-5 Years Experience	20.2%	30.6%	39.1%	23.9%	17.2%	21.0%	23.3%	27.3%
6-10 Years Experience	17.7%	17.7%	21.6%	19.4%	21.7%	27.9%	18.6%	18.1%
11-20 Years Experience	37.5%	26.2%	16.8%	27.5%	29.3%	32.3%	28.6%	25.3%
Over 20 Years Experience	23.3%	20.7%	11.9%	27.8%	27.9%	15.0%	24.6%	21.5%
Average Years Experience	13.9	11.7	8.1	14.2	13.8	10.3	11.9	10.8
Teachers Turnover Rate
Turnover (1998-99)	9.0%	14.3%	24.6%	8.2%	14.2%	11.7%	13.6%	15.0%
Average Teachers Salary by Years of Experience
Beginning Teacher	$21,260	$26,011	$24,981	$24,240	$28,500	$25,052	$26,256	$27,007
1-5 Years Experience	$27,131	$27,583	$26,515	$29,596	$30,066	$27,173	$27,627	$28,758
6-10 Years Experience	$32,083	$32,090	$32,181	$33,246	$35,373	$32,448	$32,834	$33,499
11-20 Years Experience	$38,969	$37,931	$38,746	$39,168	$42,070	$38,132	$39,009	$39,499
Over 20 Years Experience	$43,408	$41,808	$42,807	$41,251	$44,818	$41,105	$42,433	$43,602

Education Level	Bangs	Crockett County	Grape Creek	Holliday	Reagan County	Wall	Region 15	State
No Degree	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	1.0%	1.3%
Bachelor	84.3%	86.1%	92.9%	96.3%	87.4%	74.9%	82.3%	74.8%
Master/Doctorate	15.7%	13.2%	7.1%	3.1%	12.6%	25.1%	16.7%	23.4%
Doctorate	0.0%	0.7%	0.0%	0.6%	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%	0.5%

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
Bangs	Recognized	Recognized	Recognized	Exemplary	Exemplary
Crockett County	Acceptable	Recognized	Recognized	Recognized	Recognized
Grape Creek	Recognized	Recognized	Recognized	Acceptable	Acceptable
Holliday	Acceptable	Recognized	Recognized	Acceptable	Acceptable
Reagan County	Acceptable	Recognized	Acceptable	Recognized	Recognized
Wall	Acceptable	Recognized	Recognized	Recognized	Recognized

	Crockett County	Wall	Reagan County	Grape Creek	Holliday	Bangs	Region 15	State Avg.
Dropout Rate	0.2%	0.4%	0.4%	0.6%	0.6%	1.1%	1.5%	1.6%
Attendance Rate	97.1%	96.9%	96.6%	95.8%	97.0%	96.3%	95.8%	95.4%