Temple ISD reports improvement in special education under Texas' RDA system, outlines target areas
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Summary
Temple ISD told trustees its Results Driven Accountability (RDA) ratings improved for special education to a level 2 in 2025 after completing a strategic support plan; administrators said they will pursue targeted instructional training and behavioral supports while noting some bilingual/ESL and grade-level gaps remain.
Temple Independent School District administrators told the Board of Trustees on Jan. 12 that the district’s Results Driven Accountability (RDA) ratings show measurable progress in special education and highlighted next steps to address remaining instructional gaps.
“Results Driven Accountability is a system that's used by the Texas Education Agency to evaluate school districts' performance and program effectiveness for specific groups,” Doctor Adams said as he introduced the 2025 RDA data. Adams and special education leader Angela Solis presented a multi-year view of determination levels and said the district fulfilled required corrective actions after being assigned higher intervention levels in prior years.
Solis said the special education program moved from a determination level 3 in 2024 to level 2 in 2025 after the district completed a desk audit and a strategic support plan in collaboration with TEA. “We had to look at two goals to focus on,” she said, citing work to raise passing rates on English I and II end-of-course exams and to reduce disciplinary removals for students with disabilities through training and behavior supports.
Administrators identified continuing strengths and areas for improvement. Dr. Adams said bilingual/ESL students showed strong results in math, reading and algebra in last year’s spring data, and the district reported graduation and annual dropout measures at determination level 0. At the same time, Adams said the district will focus on math for ESL students in grades 3–8, eighth-grade social studies, and ensuring teachers in alternative language programs receive ESL certification.
On next steps, Solis and Adams described professional learning for co-teaching models (general and special education teachers working together), targeted walkthroughs and feedback for campus leaders, behavior-specialist deployments, and new digital platforms to support emergent bilingual instruction. Solis also said an early childhood grant will fund training to reduce time students with disabilities spend in self-contained settings when appropriate.
The presentations emphasized that the district’s three RDA-monitored programs are at determination level 2 overall for 2025, which district staff described as “needs assistance” and the basis for ongoing local improvement plans and a district self-assessment process.
Board discussion included a factual clarification about how the district identifies homeless students for RDA coding; Dr. Adams said the district vets information received from students, parents or teachers and records the status in the Skyward student information system so counselors and support staff can coordinate services.
The district said it will continue monitoring results as new digital platforms and training are implemented and will report improvements to the board in upcoming meetings.