ABOUT ESF

Improved Outcomes

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) works to improve outcomes for all public school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems, working towards the vision that every child in Texas is an independent thinker who graduates as an engaged, productive citizen prepared for success in college, a career, or the military.

The goal of the Effective Schools Framework (ESF) is to provide a clear vision for what districts and schools across the state do to ensure an excellent education for all Texas students.

The ESF provides support for district and campus continuous improvement through the facilitation of the the ESF diagnostic process that results in the identification of prioritized practices the campus can focus on to support continuous improvement. The ESF was developed in conjunction with school and district leaders and included a national review of research about what makes high-performing schools excellent. The ESF is part of the TEA’s five-year strategic plan and is the starting point for improving internal technical assistance capacity and aligning partners (ESCs, external vendors, etc.) to support the continuous improvement of Texas school districts and campuses. In the spirit of our commitment to data-driven inquiry and the “Plan, Do, Assess” model, we will continuously evaluate the framework to examine effectiveness and make modifications as needed.

Useful Models

Part of the process of creating the ESF was a broad national review of other frameworks that seek to describe what highly effective schools do and have. The ESF borrows from and builds upon these ideas, and specifies a vision for Texas schools based on research, data, and feedback from stakeholders in our schools and districts. Four models were regular references in drafting the ESF.

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UChicago 5 Essentials

An Evolving Approach

The process of creating the ESF began with stakeholder input as well as a review of data to understand what about the existing Texas Accountability Intervention System (TAIS) and accompanying framework were most effective and useful. This informed what should be built upon, and prioritized.

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Comprehensive Resource List for the Research and Development of the Texas Framework for Continuous Improvement

Center for Effective Schools (CES)

The purpose of the Center for Effective Schools is to build awareness for districts and campuses to implement school strategies aligned to the Effective Schools Framework. Center for Effective schools will focus on building campus and district capacity, managing and matching campuses and districts with School Improvement partners, and building tools and resources aligned to the Effective Schools Framework. The CES is located in Austin, Texas at ESC Region 13.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CES