How is “poverty” defined?

“Poverty” is defined using the percentage of students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The highest poverty schools are those in the highest quartile in a state. In Texas, the schools in the highest poverty quartile have more than 86 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The lowest poverty schools are those in the lowest poverty quartile in the state; in Texas, these schools have less than 44 percent of students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

How is “minority” defined?

“Minority” is defined for purposes of this table as all students who are not white. Minority here includes students who are American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or Two or More Races. Across all schools in the state, 67 percent of students were minorities in 2013-2014. In the highest quartile, 95 percent or more percentages of students were minorities. In fact, there are some campuses where 100 percent of the students are minorities. In the lowest quartile, 44 percent or fewer were minorities.

What makes a teacher not “fully qualified”?

Teachers who are not “fully qualified” are by definition not fully certified or licensed by the state, do not hold at least a bachelor’s degree, or do not demonstrate competence in each subject area. “Out-of-field” teachers may be fully qualified, in general, but are teaching a subject for which they are not qualified to teach.

How are teacher absences calculated?

A calculation for teachers absent more than 10 days was also developed. The total number of FTE teachers who were absent more than 10 days of the regular school year when the teacher would otherwise be expected to be teaching students in an assigned class. Absences include both days taken for sick leave and days taken for personal leave. Personal leave includes voluntary absences for reasons other than sick leave. Absences do not include administratively approved leave for professional development, field trips, or other off-campus activities with students.

What are the geographical differences among districts?

The district type data set classifies Texas public school districts into the following nine categories: major urban; major suburban; other central city; other central city suburban; independent town; non-metropolitan: fast growing; non-metropolitan: stable; rural; and charter school districts.

What data sources were examined for the Texas Equity Plan?

Data analyzed for the Texas Equity Plan come from four primary sources:

• 2013-14 Texas Academic Performance Report (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/tapr/2014/state.pdf),
• 2013-2014 Highly Qualified Teacher Report (http://tea.texas.gov/index4.aspx?id=4662),
• Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) (http://ocrdata.ed.gov), and
• 2012-2013 Texas Public School Districts Categorized by Type data (http://tea.texas.gov/acctres/analyze/1213/district1213.html )