Texas: How Do New CCMR Accountability Tiers Affect Testing Decisions?
Texas is changing how College, Career, and Military Readiness indicators are scored. Under the framework TEA published in March 2026, indicators now group students into three distinct levels of postsecondary readiness, beginning with the graduating class of 2030 and appearing in 2031 accountability ratings.
Because CCMR indicators can be earned across all four years of high school, the course and testing decisions districts make starting this year are the ones that determine those tiers for the class of 2030. The changes being implemented this school year not only affect accountability measures for schools and districts, but may make educators reconsider their current testing program and emphasis.
What Actually Changed?
HB 8 requires that the value assigned to each CCMR indicator reflect how strongly that indicator correlates with successful postsecondary outcomes. TEA drew on research looking at future outcomes of students to determine effectiveness of the current system.
In the previous system, every CCMR indicator a graduate earned counted the same. A student who met TSI through a college prep course and a student who met TSI through an exam plus earned dual credit both generated the same CCMR credit.
Starting with 2031 accountability, indicators are grouped into three levels: Foundational, Demonstrated, and Advanced Postsecondary Readiness. A student is scored at their highest level only.
TEA is also tentatively planning to generate “What-If” CCMR raw scores for 2026 through 2030 that apply the 2031 weighted methodology to each year’s final data. Those scores are scheduled to be released into TEAL roughly each January, after final ratings, and TEA does not publish them. Districts that want to see where they stand before 2031 will need to pull them.
The Three New Tiers
| The Three New Tiers Updated March 2026 | progresslearning.com |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| FOUNDATIONAL | DEMONSTRATED | ADVANCED | |
| College | Met TSI using an approved college preparatory course, or potential college credit alone (one passed AP or IB exam, 3 hours OnRamps, or 3 hours dual credit) | Met TSI using the SAT®, the ACT® test, or TSIA | Associate degree, or met TSI using one of those exams plus potential college credit |
| Career | CTE completer plus aligned Tier 3 IBC | CTE completer plus aligned Tier 2 IBC; SPED Advanced Diploma; Workforce Ready IEP Diploma | Level I or Level II certificate; CTE completer plus aligned Tier 1 IBC |
| Military | JROTC completion plus AFQT 31 to 49 | JROTC completion plus AFQT 50 to 64 | Military enlistment; JROTC completion plus AFQT 65 or higher |
Three additional rules to keep in mind:
- TSI criteria must be met in both math and RLA to earn CCMR at all.
- Mixing test sources across subjects is explicitly allowed. If TSI is met through some combination of the SAT®, the ACT® test, or TSIA, the student is either Demonstrated, or Advanced if it is paired with potential college credit.
- If either subject is met through a college prep course, the whole student caps at Foundational, no matter how strong the other subject was.
How Does This Change Accountability Rates?
Starting in 2031, TEA will calculate the percentage of graduates at Foundational-or-above, the percentage at Demonstrated-or-above, and the percentage at Advanced, then averages the three.
In TEA’s example, a high school with 150 graduates (58 Foundational, 47 Demonstrated, 33 Advanced) produces 92% Foundational-or-above, 53% Demonstrated-or-above, and 22% Advanced, for a CCMR raw score of 56.
The practical effect is that the mix of indicators now matters, not just the count. Moving a student who is already on track for Foundational up one level adds more to the raw score than adding a new Foundational student.
The College Prep Course Route
TEA reviewed how students meeting TSI requirements through a college prep course performed beyond high school. In the agency’s comparative data, these students showed a 2.25 first-year college GPA and 65% second-year persistence, and were 3% less likely to enroll in college and 5% less likely to complete a degree or credential. Students who met TSI through the ACT® test, the SAT®, or TSIA showed a 2.96 GPA and 87% persistence, and were 17% more likely to enroll and 14% more likely to complete.
Requirements around the course route are now being tightened in these stages:
| College Prep Course Route Updated March 2026 | progresslearning.com |
|
|---|---|
| Accountability Year | What Changes |
| 2027 | College prep course credit must be earned in 12th grade |
| 2028 (class of 2027) | Course must come from the agency-approved provider list, and still be earned in 12th grade |
| 2031 (class of 2030) | Course-based TSI caps the student at Foundational, including the other subject |
| All years, including now | Does not count toward the CCMR Outcomes Bonus |
TEA released an updated approved provider list (version 1.1) in August 2026, built on class of 2024 performance data. Districts offering these courses should confirm their provider is on it.
CCMR for Accountability vs. CCMR for the Outcomes Bonus
CCMR Outcomes Bonus funding criteria remain separate and different from CCMR accountability levels, but they’re not completely unrelated. To get Outcomes Bonus funding, students typically must go on to something beyond high school, not just meet an indicator, but meeting an indicator is usually the first step:
| CCMR Accountability Comparison Updated March 2026 | progresslearning.com |
||
|---|---|---|
| Indicator | Counts for A-F Accountability | Counts for Outcomes Bonus |
| TSI via the SAT®, the ACT® test, or TSIA | Yes, Demonstrated | Yes, but requires immediate postsecondary enrollment |
| TSI via college preparatory course | Yes, Foundational only | No |
| Dual credit, AP, IB, or OnRamps alone | Yes, Foundational | No |
| IBC or Level I/II certificate alone | Yes | No, requires TSI as well |
| Military enlistment | Yes | Yes |
Test-based TSI and military enlistment are the only indicators that carry weight in both. TSI via an exam is the path to Demonstrated and Advanced in accountability, and it’s a prerequisite for two of the three Outcomes Bonus pathways, including the career pathway. A CTE student with a strong industry certification and no TSI earns accountability credit but does not generate Outcomes Bonus funding.
The point is: meeting the new CCMR requirements isn’t just contributing to accountability measurements, it can also potentially be the first steps to additional funding.
An Important Clarification on Test Reimbursement
TEA’s November 20, 2025 correspondence corrected its July 10, 2025 HB 2 implementation letter, which had indicated districts could receive one reimbursement for the SAT® or the ACT® test and separately one for TSIA. Effective with 2025-2026, HB 2 and HB 120 allow one reimbursement per student for a single college preparation or career readiness assessment: the SAT®, the ACT® test, TSIA, or a career readiness assessment once TEA adopts and approves one.
The previous language still appears in some places, so finance staff budgeting against two reimbursements should re-check. TEA indicated the career readiness assessment would be identified in spring 2026, with 2025-2026 reimbursement available to report in TEAL in fall 2026.
One reimbursed exam per student, combined with a scoring system that now distinguishes exam-based from course-based TSI, makes the choice of exam both a budget decision and an accountability decision.
Which Paths Make Sense for Your Students?
TSIA2 has no fixed national test date. It’s computer-adaptive and untimed, administered on-site with a proctor. Districts choose the window, can retest students who narrowly miss, and can treat TSI attainment as a rolling target across grades 11 and 12 rather than a single spring event. All of these factors can make the TSIA a more accessible and attractive option for districts, schools, and students.
The two subjects have different bars, and they can come from different tests. For accountability, ELAR requires a College Readiness Classification score of at least 945 with an essay of at least 5, or a CRC below 945 with a diagnostic level of 5 or 6 plus an essay of at least 5. Math requires a CRC of at least 950, or a CRC below 950 with a diagnostic level of 6. Because mixed sources are allowed, a student who cleared SAT® math but missed reading needs one TSIA ELAR section, not a second full exam.
Reviewing the current college preparatory course roster is worth doing this year. Any student planning to use a college prep course to qualify is capped at Foundational under the 2031 rules, so evaluating options now and potentially switching plans could make sense for many students that will likely want or need to take a college entrance exam regardless.
Progress Learning’s Unique Support for These Changes
Texas students take different paths, and under the tier framework a district needs preparation that covers all of them. Progress Learning’s College and Career Readiness suite supports preparation for:
- SAT®, PSAT®, ACT®, and PreACT® tests – including multiple full length benchmark assessments, lesson plans and curriculum, prep for the test, and comprehensive reporting to show where students need support
- TSIA – including a TSIA item bank and pre-built TSIA practice assessments all updated for the new TSIA2 format.
- ACT Workkeys®
- ASVAB® for military readiness
- Advanced Placement (AP) courses
All in the same K-12 TEKS-aligned platform teachers already use for daily instruction. Because our platform spans college, career, and military readiness at the same time, districts can prepare all students across every pathway from one place instead of assembling separate tools for each exam. Request a demo below to talk to our Texas experts and see how Progress Learning can support your district’s CCMR planning.
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