College, Career, or Military Readiness Outcomes Bonus Thresholds

The purpose of this communication is to provide information about the College, Career, or Military Readiness Outcomes Bonus (CCMR OB) thresholds, rule adoption, and funding. 

Background 

Under House Bill 3 (HB 3), 86th Legislature, 2019, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) annually awards districts CCMR OB funding. Funding is generated based on the number of annual graduates who demonstrate college, career, or military readiness in excess of a threshold for three cohorts: annual graduates who are educationally disadvantaged (economically disadvantaged),; annual graduates who are not educationally disadvantaged; and annual graduates who are enrolled in a special education program. The threshold percentages for each cohort are based upon statewide CCMR outcomes for each cohort from the 2016–2017 school year. 

An annual graduate demonstrates: 

1. college readiness if the annual graduate:
   • a. achieves college readiness standards used for accountability purposes on the ACT, the SAT, or the Texas Success Initiative assessment (TSIA); and 
   • b. earns an associate degree by August 31 immediately following high school graduation or enrolls at a postsecondary educational institution by the tenth instructional day of the fall semester immediately following high school graduation; 
2. career readiness if the annual graduate:
   • a. achieves college readiness standards used for accountability purposes on the ACT, the SAT, or the TSIA; and 
   • b. earns an industry-based certification or a level I or level II certificate by August 31 immediately following high school graduation; or 
3. military readiness if the annual graduate enlists in the armed forces of the United States by December 31 immediately following high school graduation. 

CCMR OB Threshold Percentages by Cohort 

The threshold percentages of annual graduates who demonstrate college, career, or military readiness for each of the following cohorts are as follows: 

• 11% of annual graduates who are educationally disadvantaged 
• 24% of annual graduates who are not educationally disadvantaged 
• 0% of annual graduates who are enrolled in a special education program regardless of whether the annual graduates are educationally disadvantaged 

Because of the required administrative rulemaking process, these thresholds are not yet final. The public comment period on the proposed CCMR OB rule opens on January 1, 2021, and closes on February 1, 2021. Public comments may be made through the TEA website or to performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov. 

CCMR OB Student Listings and Funding Timeline Updates 

Performance Reporting will release 2018 Annual Graduates CCMR OB Student Listings in TEA Login (TEAL) Accountability by January 1, 2021. This listing will be considered final and will be used by the State Funding Division to settle up fiscal year 2019–2020 CCMR OB funding. 

Preliminary 2019 Annual Graduates CCMR OB Student Listings will also be released in TEAL Accountability by January 1, 2021, and will be used to generate preliminary 2020–2021 CCMR OB funding. As data for enrollment in institutions of higher education (IHE) for 2019 annual graduates are not available to the agency until February 2021, the preliminary CCMR OB student listings will not include IHE enrollment. For 2019 annual graduates, TEA will use a two-year IHE enrollment average, using IHE data for 2017 and 2018 annual graduates, for each district to generate IHE enrollment estimates. 

Upon receipt of IHE enrollment data, TEA will reconcile the 2019 Annual Graduates CCMR OB Student Listings with actual enrollment data. Upon reconciliation, State Funding will update the fiscal year 2020–2021 CCMR OB funding. 

U.S. Armed Forces Data 

Due to discrepancies between annual enlistment counts for Texas military enlistees aged 17–19 released by the Department of Defense and the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) military enlistment data for 2017 and 2018 annual graduates, TEA will exclude military enlistment data from both CCMR accountability calculations and CCMR OB Student Listings until such data can be obtained directly from the U.S. Armed Forces. 

Upon receipt of such data, previously released final CCMR OB Student Listings will be updated to include military enlistment data. When the final CCMR OB Student Listings are updated, the number of annual graduates in excess of the threshold percentage for each cohort will be updated and used to recalculate college, career, or military readiness outcomes bonus funding for any applicable fiscal year. 

For Further Information 

If you have questions regarding CCMR OB criteria or student listings, please contact TEA’s Performance Reporting Division at (512) 463-9704 or performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov. 

For questions regarding funding, please contact the State Funding Division at (512) 463-9238 or sfinance@tea.texas.gov. 

To view the proposed rules during the comment period, visit https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/laws-and-rules/commissioner-rules-tac/proposed-commissioner-of-education-rules.