001And for today, when we're ready, Zack, if you'll give me a thumbs up. I'm not seeing any prompting. It's recording. We're good to go. Perfect. Well, now you get that awkward silence at the beginning of our recording. All right. Welcome everyone to our Texas list state approved provider list for loss of four overview webinar. This webinar will review important information about our approved provider application process. And you may already be familiar with some of this information based on the resources that were posted on TA state approved provider list including a similar webinar that happened a few weeks ago. And if you are familiar with these um resources, we ask that you listen and think of questions that may not be answered by your current material. So at the end of the session, everyone will have
002an option to ask questions. Um so the more familiar you are with the material, uh the more in-depth their questions tend to be. So please uh take a moment to think of questions. Also, um Sack and I will not be offended if at any point during this presentation uh you have to hop off um the call. Like I mentioned, uh sack and I saca Chris Fargo and I are here to support you uh throughout today's presentation. We are both regional support and implementation coaching leads and u Chris Vargo is our fearless director. We will together we'll do our best to answer all questions you may have and we'll update the FAQ document currently available on the sapple site with your questions and any remaining wanderings. If you would like to access that FAQ document during
003this presentation, um, go ahead and travel to the link that I just dropped in the chat. You may open it alongside the information being presented so that you can have as in-depth of a look into our process as possible. Our objective today is to make sure that you have a solid understanding of the Texas Lyft approved provider application process. That includes its timeline, how it will be scored, and the evidence you will need to provide the application review process itself and your next steps as an applicant. Please know that they are working that we are working in partnership with Rivet Education on this project, giving their expertise in reviewing professional learning providers and their in-depth knowledge of the Texas context. Um, we welcome uh their feedback to this process. If you've been a part of
004our previous vetting processes, you'll notice that um that HQ HQM component um that Rivet brings has been made more robust um as part of our partnership with them. For our agenda today, you'll see that we are um going over our project. We will also review the application including the evidence review process and submission as well as a timeline. Please know that that timeline is very important given the comprehensive nature of this application. As you listen, I invite you to think of the timeline and the individuals from your team who will need to inform or collaborate in the process. Please also note that we will not be accepting any late application. So, give yourself plenty of time to review the materials and complete the application. All right, let's kick things off with an overview of the
005project and the upcoming timeline. TEA will release the leadership and instructional foundations for Texas or the lift program and the state approved provider list in October of 2025 which is concurrent with the release of the lasso4 grant application. We want to make sure that districts have the opportunity to partner with highquality providers who can support all Lyft activities through their lasso 4 grant. These activities were formerly part of the Strong Foundation's planning, Strong Foundation's implementation, Texas lesson study, and Texas instructional leadership initiatives. When providers gain approved status through the application process, they'll experience these benefits. They'll receive wraparound training for approved provider personnel. They'll be able to continue to build their expertise in state board approved HQIM. They'll receive ongoing coaching and support from the Texas Education Agency. They'll be able to leverage researchbacked instructional
006practices to support participating districts. And they'll have the opportunity to contract with school systems who are awarded Lasso4 grant funds. This is the timeline for the application and the review process. The application open on June 6th. We posted that information on tea's lasso cycle 4/sapple or state approved provider list website along with the link to the application portal. Like Pearl mentioned, please note that that deadline is a firm one at 11:59 on Monday, July 14th. That will give us time to make sure that we are able to name the applicants that have been approved by late September so we can fully publish our list of state approved providers by Monday, October 6th. Let's talk about the application process overview. The application has three components. The eligibility screener, the application, and the public profile information. The
007eligibility screener is designed to make the application more efficient by eliminating applicants who do not who do not meet the basic requirements. The application is designed to assess applicants ability to provide all lift services at a high level of quality. Each provider that gains approval through the application process will be featured on a website that Texas districts can use to select providers who are the best fit for their local context. The public profile information is used to populate each approved providers page. This information is not reviewed by is not scored by reviewers. Due to the short timeline that we have to conduct the reviews, applicants will be required to submit all three of these components by the July 14th deadline. We anticipate the time required to complete this application will vary for different organizations. So,
008we encourage you to not wait to start reviewing and compiling your application in advance of the firm July 14th deadline. However, as we'll discuss in greater detail in a few minutes, applications will be scored in a sequential manner where providers will have to pass one portion before reviewers move on to the next. The application and review process are guided by a detailed scoring and evidence guide that is based on decades of research on the characteristics of professional learning and capacity building that are most likely to result in improved outcomes for students and teachers. I'll spend some of our time today on the call giving you an overview of these indicators. However, however, we won't have time to go through the entire scoring and evidence guide. If you're interested in applying and becoming an approved provider,
009we strongly recommend that you spend time looking through the scoring and evidence guide before and as you compile your application. Thanks for sharing the timeline, Sax. So, the first section of the application is the eligibility screener. Let's dive into what that looks like. Sack mentioned the eligibility screener is designed to make the application process more efficient by sharing out screening out applicants who do not meet TA's basic requirements. Providers who do not meet all the requirements listed on this slide will not move on to the next stage of the application process. Please note that the language on the eligibility screener has been refined for clarity. So even if you have reviewed other application materials, please take a moment to review the eligibility screener on this um slide and note those refinements. I'll give you a
010minute to look through our indicators. Now that you've reviewed them, I do want to lift from this screener that providers must agree to build capacity through a comprehensive professional learning model that includes training, coaching, and HQIM implementation support as described in indicator E2. This approach is sometimes unique to TEA but we believe that and research says that it is uh a way to uh build capacity in effective and efficient manner. Let's look at the second half of our indicators. I hope that you can see how the eligibility screener is designed to make the application process more efficient by screening out applicants who do not meet TA's basic requirements and providers who do not meet all the requirements listed on the slide. Um, again, you will not move on to the next stage of the application
011process if you don't meet these 13 requirements. So from there, applicants who answer yes to every question in the eligibility screener will automatically be invited to submit the application, which is what we're going to re review next. The application is designed to assess providers ability to provide a comprehensive, cohesive, and highquality set of services to Texas educators. The application has five sections. HQIM expertise in RLA and math. Overarching approach to professional learning and capacity building. Approach to ongoing cycles of professional learning and capacity building for leaders. Approach to ongoing cycle of professional learning for teachers and use of data to measure measure impact plan and improve. So applicants must pass each section of the application to be a Lyft approved provider. I'm now going to provide a brief overview of the indicators in each section
012of the application. But please note that the scoring and evidence guide goes into a lot more detail about each indicator. The first thing applicants need to do is prove their expertise in at least one SBOE approved HQIM for RLA and at least one SBOE approved HQIM for math. Applicants must pass both indicators in the section H1 for RLA and H2 for math with full points to become a lift approved provider. If applicants would like to provide expertise in more than one RLA HQIM and/or more than one math HQM, they'll have the opportunity to submit additional HQIM expertise templates. The next set of indicators are designed to evaluate the quality of applicants overarching approach to professional learning and capacity building. There are four indicators for overarching approach and applicants must score six out of a possible
013eight points to pass this section. Let's take a few moments here to review this section's indicators. All right, let's move on. The next set of indicators are designed to evaluate the quality of applicants professional learning and capacity building services for district and campus level leaders including principal supervisors. There are seven indicators for this section and applicants must score 10 out of a possible 14 points to pass this section. Again, let's take a moment to review this section's indicators. Moving now into PL and capacity building for teachers. This set of indicators are designed to evaluate the quality of applicants professional learning capac capacity building services for teachers. There are five indicators for the section and applicants must score eight out of possible 10 points to pass this section. So again, we're going to take a few
014moments here to review these indicators. and finally the last set of indicators are designed to evaluate the extent to which the applicant collects and uses data to measure their impact as well as to plan and improve their services. There are six indicators for this section and applicants must score seven out of the possible 10 points to pass this section. Let's take just a moment here to review this last section's indicators. You're going to go today. All right. So, I just provided a brief overview of what applicants need to prove they can do. This slide provides an overview of how applicants will prove it via the application submission requirements. As I previously mentioned, applicants will need to submit two HQIM expertise templates to prove they have expertise in at least one HQIM for RLA and at
015least one HQIM for math. Again, HQIM is defined as those materials that the Texas State Board of Education has approved through its instructional materials review and approval process. To prove expertise in the overarching leadership, teacher, and data indicators, applicants must submit two things. Artifacts that demonstrate their ability to meet these indicators up to a maximum of 400 pages. Just a note here, we give applicants a large degree of freedom to choose the artifacts they think best demonstrate their ability to meet the indicators, which is why it's important that applicants read the scoring and evidence guide closely. Consider submitting sample presentations with facilitator or guide notes, handouts, guide books, course syllabi, client work plans, client reflection questions, coaching notes, etc. Although this is not required, we do recommend sticking to one HQIM when submitting your artifacts.
016Doing so will make it easier for our reviewers to follow the arc of your support. Along with artifacts, applicants must submit an executive summary that provides an overview of your evidence within your artifacts and describes how your organization's professional learning services meet indicators. Our goal is to ensure accurate reviews and do what we can to help providers put their best foot forward. Therefore, TEA may ask for additional information from providers during during the review window. If this happens, applicants will have 24 hours to submit the requested information. Let's move on to some tips for completing your organization's application. One, if possible, submit artifacts. Ideally focus on the services you provide to one HQIM. You're obviously submitting uh expertise templates that you have expertise in both RLA and math. But when it comes to the actual
017artifacts that you're submitting with the m within the main application, uh if you're able to having all of those artifacts aligned to one content area is going to be helpful. Two, prioritize artifacts that have a direct connection to the HQIM. Three, use the executive summary to provide context for the artifacts and how they connect to the indicators. Four, know that there's no right set of artifacts. We simply want this to be a reflection of the true work that you've uh performed with clients in the past related to the indicators that you see in the evidence and scoring guide. Five, do not include external links in the artifacts or the executive summary. Reviewers will not always be able to access or open links. And then finally, just a reminder here for number six, TEA may ask
018for additional information during the review window if necessary, and providers would have 24 hours to submit the requested materials. And just a quick note there, we mean 24 like business hours. If we were to request that on a Friday afternoon, the expectation would be that we have those materials from your organization by Monday afternoon. Just a quick clarification there. I'm going to hand it back over to Pa. All right, Zach, thanks for those tips. Let's look at the public profile template. This is the last set of information that you will have to provide um as part of your application. Providers who pass the review process will get a public facing page in the lift approved provider list. The profile page will be public facing and used by school systems to learn more about approved providers
019once they receive their grant. The information that we would like to showcase as part of your approved provider profile page um includes the following. Please take a minute to look at it. I do want to highlight the last bullet on this slide is asking you to provide information about your current team size and capacity to address demand. And this is solely for TEA planning purposes. The information we collect will not be made public. It simply helps TA plan for anticipated demand based on lasso grant awards. So again, that last bullet will not be public facing. However, the other information you provide will inform the public facing profile um that will be part of our state approved provider resources. So in summary, organizations who are interested in being featured on the Lyft approved provider list will
020need to submit one eligibility screener, one application that includes two HQIM expertise templates, one reading, and one math focused, one executive summary, and one PDF with supporting materials that is no more than 400 pages in length. Again, here we are going for quality over quantity. We ask that you are strategic in the information that you submit. um and your public profile information that I just reviewed. So far, we've talked through the indicators and the application process. I'm now going to share a bit more about the review process. Again, the goal of this initiative is to ensure that Texas LEAs have a handful of qualified providers with whom they can partner with the financial support they received from the lasso grant to tackle all Lyft programming activities. Therefore, each application underos a thorough review by uh
021review process by a trained team of educators from Texas and across the country. Reviewers assess whether professional learning partners provide significant evidence of robust HQIM aligned services. Let's talk about the reviewers. Each reviewer is selected for their expertise in HQIM professional learning and capacity building. Rivet provides reviewers with additional training on the evaluation process for the Texas Lyft approved provider list prior to reviewing applications. Each application is assigned a team of two reviewers who use the scoring and evidence guide and submitted documents to look for evidence of robust HQIM online services. If there is a conflict in the scores, um that is to say one reviewer says pass, one reviewer says fail, the application is flagged to be reviewed by an administrator. Although providers are required to submit all application materials by July 14th, they
022will be reviewed in a gateway fashion. First, as we shared earlier in this presentation, applicants must pass the eligibility screener by responding yes to each question. Applicants who answer no to one or more of the eligibility questions will automatically be exited from the application portal. Applicants who answer yes to each of the eligibility questions will automatically pass to the next stage of review. In the second stage, reviewers will evaluate applicants HQM expertise template for the extent to which the provider can support at least one SBOE approved HQIM for RLA and at least one SBOE approved HQIM for math. Applicants who failed to prove expertise in at least one SBOE approved HQIM for RLA and at least one SBOE approved HQIM for math will be exited from the application process. Applicants who prove they have the
023necessary HQIM expertise will move to the third and final stage of review. In the third stage, reviewers will evaluate applicant set of artifacts and their executive summary to determine the extent to which the provider passes each section of indicators. Applicants who fail this final stage will not be approved. Applicants who pass this final stage will be approved and their information will be shared on their public profile of the lift approved provider list. Again, please note that TEA may ask for additional information from providers during this review window if necessary. If that does happen, applicants will have that 24 business hours to submit the requested information. Let's talk about some next steps next. As you can tell, the lift approved provider application is a comprehensive process. So, let's look at our timeline one more time and
024look at next steps that you and your organization can take. This slide summarizes the application timeline and tasks. The first thing I encourage you to do is to begin reviewing the scoring and evidence guide. It will give you a better idea of whether your organization is likely to pass the review process and what you will need to submit to prove you have the required experience and expertise. and list those at your organization um and make sure that your application reflects the talents of your organization. The provider application portal will has opened um and will close on July 14th. During this window, interested providers must submit all parts of the application. Providers do not need to wait until the end of the window to submit their application. Please note that only one person per organization will
025be able to log into the provider application portal, but you can share the login information with multiple people at your organization. Only one profile needs to be created, though. TA will notify applicants of their approval status. Let's take a quick look at resources that are available to you during this process. Um resources are um posted on our sapple site. They include an FAQ uh document as well as the scoring and evidence guide. The webinar recording and slides will be made available um alongside templates of what your application will look like. If you have additional questions as you complete this process or as you begin it, contact us at sapple ta.ex.gov. We would love to support you. At this time we will stop the recording and we will take questions live.