Continuous
Improvement
Cycle (CIC)
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, requires states receiving Title IC funds to implement the Continuous Improvement Cycle (U.S. Department of Education, 2018) by conducting a Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA), developing a Service Delivery Plan (SDP) based on the needs identified in the CNA, and carrying out a program evaluation. Each component of program development, assessing needs, identifying and implementing services, and evaluating results, builds on both newly collected and existing data to create a coherent and continuous pathway for delivering and assessing program services.
The ESSA Title I, Part C Program-Specific Assurances also requires LEAs or fiscal agents to address the Seven Areas of Concern as identified by the Office of Migrant Education. These Common Areas of Concern are listed below.
- Educational Continuity
- Instructional Time
- School Engagement
- English Language Development
- Educational Support in the Home
- Health
- Access to Services
Statewide Title I, Part C Continuous Improvement Cycle
Texas’ CIC Timeline
Required Steps of the Continuous Improvement Cycle
Local Needs Assessment (LNA)
- Every year
- Conducted by school systems
An LNA is a requirement (not a recommendation).
To effectively conduct an LNA, several sources of data are reviewed, including:
- Surveys from local MEP stakeholders
- Statewide assessment reports
- Early childhood assessments
- OSY profiles and inventories
Local Needs
Assessment Toolkit
District Improvement Plan (DIP)
- Every year
- Conducted by a school system district-level committee
Districts that receive T1C funding are required to have strategies, services, and evaluations for migratory students clearly documented within the DIP.
Activities must align with the statewide SDP, required and supplemental activities listed in the ESSA Consolidated Federal Grant Application PS3103, and the Program-Specific Provisions and Assurances.
Implementation of the activities should be continually monitored throughout the year to meet the changing needs of migratory children.
Documentation of all activities/services implemented, and resources/materials purchased must be maintained as evidence of compliance for the PS3103 activities.
Program Evaluation
- Every year
- Conducted by school systems
School systems collect and report evaluation data to TEA to inform the statewide evaluation.
This includes a careful appraisal of the effectiveness of all activities implemented, services offered, and resources used in the MEP as evidenced by the following:
- Graduation rates and state assessment data for migratory students and other student subpopulations to determine gaps between the groups
- Measurable Performance Outcomes (MPOs) that measure an MEP’s progress toward meeting the desired outcomes of their implemented strategies
- Fidelity of Strategy Implementation (FSI) Tool that serves as a self-assessment guide to MEPs in implementing Title I, Part C-funded services. MEPs rate themselves, using a scale of 1-5, on the extent that they believe MEP services were provided.
- Surveys from all MEP stakeholders collected at year’s end to gather student, parent, and MEP staff feedback on the effectiveness of the services provided and their perceived impact on students and families.
- TX-NGS Data that is used to analyze both individual and cohort group performance, including enrollments, PFS identification, supplemental services, and grades.
- Other documentation proving that all activities on the PS3103 application were provided to assist in the academic success of all migratory students, with priority given to PFS students.
Fall Semester | Spring Semester | Summer |
Local Needs Assessment (LNA) | ||
Conduct the LNA using the LNA Toolkit and begin using results to inform | Utilize LNA results to inform services and programming. | Utilize LNA results to inform services |
Evaluation | ||
Enter MPO data (services, assessment results) in TX-NGS. | Enter MPO data (services, assessment | Enter MPO data (services, assessment results) in TX-NGS. |
Additional Info for SSAs and ESCs
SSA Member Districts and Fiscal Agents
The SSA is required to conduct all four steps of the CIC, which include assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating. The CIC process is conducted with compiled data from all SSA Member Districts. However, this must be done so that each SSA Member District’s data can be extracted to determine local migratory needs.
There are some special considerations when conducting the CIC for an SSA:
- A Local Needs Assessment Committee (LNAC) is required to oversee and review all data during the LNA process and to make recommendations for service delivery to meet the identified needs. The LNAC should have representation from the SSA Member Districts to ensure that all stakeholders have understanding and can provide input.
- The SSA Member Districts and the ESC must coordinate efforts to ensure that minimum requirements for migratory parent/secondary student surveys, MPOs, FSIs, application amendments, compliance responses, and updated MEP District Improvement Plans (DIPs) are all met.
- For information on how to maintain required documentation of compliance for an SSA, refer to the ESSA topic page.
- A designated contact at the SSA Member District level ensures that all required data and feedback is gathered while the ESC compiles the information, ensuring it accurately reflects the SSA MEP.
- The CIC process identifies supplemental MEP services that the SSA may provide, and the SSA partners then determine who will provide the designated services. The results of the CIC determine the SSA MEP Service Delivery Plan that the SSA implements to provide supplemental services to migratory students.
As this process is ongoing throughout the program year, it is important that both the SSA Member District and the ESC clearly understand their partnership and responsibilities to one another and the migrant population in each SSA Member District.
ESC Responsibilities
Since school systems are required to carry out each of the steps of the CIC, the ESC MEP staff is responsible for training all MEP staff and providing support to the school systems throughout the year.
In the CIC training, the ESC must include clear and concise explanations of how the school systems:
- Assess using the LNA toolkit, which includes obtaining and reviewing surveys from local MEP stakeholders, statewide assessment reports, early childhood assessments, OSY profiles and inventories.
- Plan activities and resources to address identified needs on the ESSA Consolidated Federal Grant Application.
- Implement the Service Delivery Plan (SDP) step-by-step using the resources and most recent information provided by the TEA.
- Evaluate the program effectiveness through the Texas MEP Program Evaluation Process utilizing all tools and forms provided by the TEA.
In this training, ESCs must demonstrate how the school systems examine the effectiveness of all MEP activities implemented, services offered, and resources used in the MEP through data collection and analysis.
