How it Works The Data Validation Process
Once data has been submitted and passed both the Technical and System Alignment Review, Texas Tech begins the data validation process. TEA then studies the data validation results and conducts a holistic system review before issuing full system and/or designations approval.
Summary of the 2025-26 Data Validation Process
The validation process checks for the following:
- The validity and reliability of the district’s teacher performance data:
- Observation data for all teachers in eligible assignments
- Student growth data for all teachers in eligible assignments
- The fairness and accuracy of the district’s proposed designation decisions, including:
- Alignment with TIA performance standards
- Alignment with statewide value-added data
- Alignment with campus performance data
- Consistency across campuses and eligible teaching categories
If approved, TEA then processes the district’s designations. If a district system is not approved, the district may use feedback from the data validation process to make improvements to their system before reattempting data validation in subsequent years.
Data Validation Checks and ScoringDetermining Results Data Validation Checks and Scoring
Texas Tech provides TEA with data validation results based on ten different checks as well as three unscored supplemental checks across five domains. Texas Tech provides each district with a report of the scored results by early February.
| Domain A: Check #1 | Correlation between teacher observation ratings and student performance ratings |
| Domain B: Checks #2-3 | Confirm relation between district designations and statewide Value-Added-Model designations |
| Domain C: Checks #4-7 | Degree of reliability for teacher observation and student growth judgements |
| Domain D: Checks #8-10 | Comparison of district designation percentages to statewide performance standards |
| Domain E: Supplemental Checks #11-13 | Supplemental system checks (not scored) |
Scores are established by dividing the points earned by the total possible points to create a percentage score.
Texas VAM
TIA Data Validation Workbook
Ongoing Data Validation
For Fully Approved Districts Ongoing Data Validation
Fully approved districts may submit new or higher designations annually. However, they must continue to provide evidence that the designation system continues to be valid and reliable. For districts with an already approved system, TEA reviews data validation results and approves the district to issue new or higher designations annually. If the data validation indicates the system is no longer valid and reliable, new designations are not processed, and the district may submit data again the following year.
TEA approves district designation systems. TEA does not approve or reject individual teacher designations.
When to Expect ResultsThe Timeline When to Expect Results
Districts receive formal notification of approval or denial by February. TEA shares data validation reports and provides technical assistance for system improvement based on data validation results.
What Happens When a System is ApprovedWhat Happens When a System is Approved
Once a district’s system is approved, their teacher designations are processed and formally awarded that spring. TEA processes new and higher designations annually in April and verifies teacher eligibility using data from the TSDS Class Roster Winter Submission. TEA provides annual training to districts employing designated teachers to ensure they are properly reported in the Class Roster Winter Submission.
Teachers who meet the eligibility requirements are awarded the designation retroactively to the beginning of the current school year. District-issued designations are valid for five school years.
Teacher Communication Templates
What Happens When a System is Not Approved
If a district’s system is not approved, the System Application remains in accepted status. The district may resubmit data the following year or make adjustments to their system implementation before submitting data. If a district was approved to issue designations in prior years, those approved designations are still valid.
Template to Teachers for Data Validation Nonacceptance
Data Validation and System Approval FAQs
If a system is not approved, can the district resubmit data the following year?
Systems that fail to pass data validation may resubmit the following year.
Are designations attached to a particular grade level or subject area?
Unlike certificates, designations are general. The designation is placed on the teacher’s SBEC certificate and does not specify a certification area, subject, or grade level. A teacher may change teaching assignments and will still generate allotment funding. The same applies to National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs).
What if a designated teacher’s performance level changes within the five-year period? Can their designation level change?
Teacher designations are valid for five years. Within the five-year period, teachers may be put forth for a higher designation if their performance qualifies them, but they cannot be submitted for a lower designation. Some district spending plans may include variability based on continued performance levels.
Will districts have to submit data every year?
Districts submit data for all teachers in eligible teaching assignments each year that they put forth new teachers for designation.
Can teachers who move to a non-eligible teaching assignment or move campuses in 2025-26 year still earn a designation?
Yes. TEA will only verify assignment eligibility for the 2024-25 Data Capture Year. For 2025-26, TEA will verify that the teacher is still employed as a teacher (087 role ID) and meets the creditable year of service requirement before issuing a designation.
Our district uses multiple growth measures and/or conducts more than one scored observation. How do we report multiple scores?
Each teacher in the data file should have one observation score for each dimension and one student growth score. Determining the final score will be a local decision, and the district must report how observation and growth was determined (i.e., higher of two scores, averaged, weighted values for each year) in the District Information tab. Districts may report observation scores with decimals if averaging or weighting multiple observations. Student growth scores must be reported as percentages without decimal points.
What if we discover an error in our data or teacher designations after the data submission deadline has passed and our file has been accepted?
Once the data submission file has been accepted, it is considered final. Therefore, districts will not be able to add or remove teachers, change teacher designations, or edit performance data. This policy is guided by state statute that requires TEA to validate district systems. For further details, please see the explanation below:
- Texas Education Code requires TEA to establish performance and validity standards to ensure that district TIA systems meet requirements for system implementation.
- The agency has an established timeline and procedure to collect proposed designations from districts and to then validate districts’ system for designating teachers. Based on the validation process, proposed teacher designations are accepted. In some cases, districts do not meet validity standards, and the proposed designations are not accepted.
- Because of the timelines required for data analysis, we cannot accept changes to proposed designations, like adding teachers to the designation list, after the file is accepted and the data validation process has started.
Once approved districts submit their data in the fall following their data capture year, will they be required to continue submitting data for the next four years?
Districts with a fully approved local designation system can submit data each year they wish to put forth teachers for new or higher designations, however, Texas Tech will still perform annual data validation. It is possible that a district’s designations will not be approved for one or more of the five years if the data no longer reflects a valid and reliable system.