Student Success Initiative

Enacted by the 76th Texas Legislature (1999), the Student Success Initiative (SSI) mandates new passing requirements to be phased in as follows: beginning in school year 2002-2003 for the reading test at Grade 3, beginning in school year 2004-2005 for the reading and mathematics tests at Grade 5, and beginning in school year 2007-2008 for the reading and mathematics tests at Grade 8. As specified by these requirements, a student may advance to the next grade level only by passing these tests or by unanimous decision of his or her grade placement committee that the student is likely to perform at grade level after accelerated instruction.

The goal of the SSI is to support on grade level academic achievement for every student. This depends greatly on schools, parents and community members working in partnership to meet individual student needs. In collaboration with education service centers, the agency plans to develop and distribute suggested materials to help schools focus on what is most important in this initiative: working for every student’s academic success. These materials will be sent in a series of mailings during the year to correspond with the timeline of the SSI requirements and linked to the SSI Interactive Flow Chart which has been designed to depict the overall requirements of the SSI. These materials will cover the full scope of required notices and forms and will be made available at this website in a format that facilitates downloading and editing for local uses. The materials will also be provided in both English and Spanish to help districts meet the requirement of a good faith effort to provide parent notifications in the parent’s native language.


SSI Student Success Initiative
TAKS Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
SDAA State Developed Alternative Assessment
RPTE Reading Proficiency Tests in English
TELPAS Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System
LDAA Locally Developed Alternative Assessment