T-TESS 1 vs T-TESS 2 - What Texas Principals Need to Know

T-TESS 2 keeps the four-domain structure and five-point rating scale Texas appraisers already know, but renames the two instructional domains, consolidates 16 dimensions down to 12, and adds target indicators that name each skill explicitly and require evidence of student learning at the higher performance levels. The Texas Education Agency is piloting it with 15 school systems in 2026-27, with statewide adoption recommended for 2027-28.

This is the first significant revision to the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System rubric in years, and it arrived with less fanfare than it deserves. Most of what TEA has published lives in appraiser correspondence and PDFs. Here is what actually changes for the person writing the observation write-up.

What Is T-TESS 2 and Why Is TEA Changing the Rubric?

T-TESS 2 is the refreshed version of the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System rubric, developed over a multi-year process by the Texas Education Agency. Two forces drove it. The first is alignment: Texas updated its curriculum and instructional standards, and the appraisal rubric had drifted out of step with them. The second is the long-standing complaint from appraisers and teachers that the existing rubric carried too much subjectivity and redundancy across its 16 dimensions.

The refreshed rubric folds in instructional priorities that did not exist in their current form when the original T-TESS rubric was written: High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM), the Science of Learning, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). That matters for evidence collection, because the rubric now expects appraisers to notice things the old dimension language never asked them to look for.

What Stayed the Same Between T-TESS and T-TESS 2?

Like the Danielson FFT 2013 to 2022 revision, this is a revision rather than a replacement. The architecture Texas appraisers already know survives:

1. Four domains. The count is unchanged, and two of the four keep their exact names.
2. Five performance levels. The scale still runs from Improvement Needed to Distinguished. No labels were dropped or added.
3. Two classroom domains plus two evidence-based domains. The instructional domains are still scored primarily from what happens during the lesson. Professional Practices and Responsibilities is still scored from conferences, artifacts, and professional conduct across the year.
4. Growth orientation. T-TESS was built as a growth-focused system rather than a compliance checklist, and the refresh keeps that framing.
5. Local adoption authority. T-TESS remains the Commissioner-recommended default. Districts can still adopt a locally developed system under Texas Education Code 21.352. The current T-TESS rubric stays in force everywhere outside the pilot.

If you can appraise on T-TESS today, you can appraise on T-TESS 2. What changes is the vocabulary, the number of things you score, and the threshold for the top ratings.

How Did the T-TESS Domain Names Change?

Two of the four domain names were rewritten. The other two are untouched.

1. Planning became Instructional Preparation. The rename widens the domain past lesson-plan documents. Per TEA's guidance, the domain now covers lesson design, lesson internalization - how thoroughly a teacher has prepared to deliver rigorous content, not just whether a plan exists - and supporting all learners.
2. Instruction became Instructional Delivery. The new name is more precise about what is being scored: objective alignment, pacing, evidence-based content delivery, and how the teacher monitors and responds to student learning in real time.
3. Learning Environment is unchanged. Routines, efficiency, and student engagement.
4. Professional Practices and Responsibilities is unchanged. Ethics, compliance, and collaboration.

The addition of "lesson internalization" to Instructional Preparation is the change most likely to catch appraisers off guard. A teacher can submit a well-built lesson plan and still show weak internalization, and the refreshed rubric gives appraisers language to say so.

Why Did T-TESS Go From 16 Dimensions to 12?

The consolidation from 16 dimensions to 12 is the structural headline of the refresh, and it is a reduction in redundancy rather than a reduction in scope. Several dimensions in the current rubric ask overlapping questions - Data and Assessment (1.2) and Monitor and Adjust (2.5) both concern how a teacher uses student progress data, for example - which forced appraisers to write the same evidence twice under two different numbers.

Fewer dimensions means each write-up covers less ground on paper and more ground in substance. It also means every existing crosswalk, evidence template, and rubric cheat sheet in your building is now built on the wrong number of dimensions.

One caution worth stating plainly: as of August 2026, TEA has not published the complete list of all 12 dimension names publicly. The domain names, the dimension count, and the indicator structure are confirmed in TEA's appraiser correspondence. The full dimension-by-dimension rubric is going to the 15 pilot systems first. If you see a complete 12-dimension list circulating that does not trace back to a TEA document, treat it skeptically.

What Are Target Indicators in T-TESS 2?

The most consequential change is not the renaming or the consolidation. It is the addition of indicators within each dimension, which TEA describes as clearly naming each skill and including evidence of student learning at the higher performance levels. Each dimension also carries guiding questions to direct the appraiser's attention during the observation.

Then there is the threshold. According to TEA's updated implementation guidance, for a teacher to meet a performance level descriptor, the target practice must generally be demonstrated at least 80% of the time. The current rubric leaves that judgment largely to appraiser discretion, which is precisely the subjectivity the refresh is trying to reduce. An 80% floor is a very different instruction than "consider the preponderance of evidence."

For anyone taking notes during a lesson, that changes the job. A single strong instance of a practice no longer supports a high rating on its own. Frequency and consistency become part of the evidence record, which means observation notes need timestamps and counts, not just representative quotes.

Will Teacher Ratings Change Under T-TESS 2?

Expect some movement, particularly at the top of the scale. Two mechanisms push in that direction: the 80% demonstration threshold, and the requirement for evidence of student learning at higher performance levels. A teacher who earned Accomplished or Distinguished under the current rubric on the strength of skilled delivery may land lower under T-TESS 2 if the write-up cannot show what students did as a result, consistently, across the lesson.

This is the same structural rating drop Danielson districts encountered moving to the 2022 edition, and the same advice applies: have that conversation with teachers before the post-conference, not during it. A rating that moves because the rubric moved is not a judgment about the teacher, but it will feel like one if nobody explains it in advance.

TEA's field testing suggests the new rubric is at least clearer to both sides. In the 2025-26 field test, 100% of surveyed school leaders and 97% of surveyed teachers agreed the performance levels were clear, and 96% of leaders and 90% of teachers said the rubric captures the essential aspects of teaching.

When Does T-TESS 2 Take Effect?

The rollout runs across three school years, and no district is being forced onto the new rubric this year.

1. 2025-26. Field testing, now complete.
2. 2026-27. Pilot year. TEA selected 15 school systems to test the rubric in live district contexts. Appraiser recertification training begins in spring and summer 2027.
3. 2027-28. The recommended year for statewide adoption.
4. 2028-29. The required implementation year for districts that did not adopt it in 2027-28.

Practically, that means most Texas principals will appraise on the current 16-dimension rubric for the 2026-27 year and should be planning their observation cycle accordingly. The districts that need to move now are the 15 pilot systems and any district weighing whether to join them.

What Should Texas Principals Do This Year?

Nothing about T-TESS 2 requires action from a non-pilot campus in 2026-27. But a few things done now make the transition year cheaper.

1. Confirm which rubric your district is on, in writing, before the first formal observation. This is the single most common documentation error in any framework transition year.
2. Stop investing in 16-dimension artifacts. If your team was about to rebuild evidence templates or a rubric cheat sheet, wait for the T-TESS 2 dimension list.
3. Start collecting frequency evidence now. The 80% threshold is coming regardless of your adoption year. Notes that already capture how often a practice appeared, not just that it appeared, will transfer directly.
4. Add a student-evidence prompt to your pre-conference. Your pre-observation conference questions should already ask what students will be doing. Under T-TESS 2 that answer becomes rating-relevant.
5. Budget for recalibration, not just retraining. Recertification training teaches the new rubric. It does not make your appraisal team agree on it. Those are separate problems, and calibration is the one that gets skipped.

Observation Copilot supports the current T-TESS rubric natively, organizing observation notes by domain and dimension and mapping evidence to the five-point scale. Texas principals across San Antonio ISD and Stockdale ISD use it to move from raw notes to a structured draft the same day.

Observation Copilot has helped me to streamline and speed up the teacher feedback process. I'm able to organize the notes that I take during the lesson into summaries about the different dimensions while I get straight to the work of rating the lesson on the rubric.

That division of labor is what makes a rubric transition survivable. When the tool handles the structure and the vocabulary, the appraiser's attention stays on the judgment, which is the part that has to be re-learned when the rubric changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does T-TESS stand for?

T-TESS stands for the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System. It is the Commissioner-recommended default teacher evaluation system in Texas, used by the vast majority of public school districts. Districts may adopt a locally developed alternative under Texas Education Code 21.352.

What are the four domains of the T-TESS 2 rubric?

Instructional Preparation, Instructional Delivery, Learning Environment, and Professional Practices and Responsibilities. The first two are renamed from Planning and Instruction in the current rubric. The last two keep their existing names. All four are retained in the refresh.

Is T-TESS 2 replacing T-TESS?

Yes, but on a staggered timeline. T-TESS 2 is a revision rather than a new system, keeping the four domains and the five-point Improvement Needed to Distinguished scale. Fifteen school systems pilot it in 2026-27, statewide adoption is recommended for 2027-28, and 2028-29 is the fallback year.

How many dimensions does T-TESS 2 have?

Twelve, down from 16 in the current rubric. TEA consolidated overlapping dimensions to reduce redundancy and subjectivity. As of August 2026, TEA has confirmed the count and the four domain names but has not published the full list of individual dimension names publicly.

What is a good T-TESS score under the new rubric?

The scale is unchanged: Distinguished, Accomplished, Proficient, Developing, and Improvement Needed, with Proficient representing solid expected practice. T-TESS 2 adds a threshold - the target practice must generally be demonstrated at least 80% of the time to meet a performance level descriptor.

Does Observation Copilot support T-TESS?

Yes. Observation Copilot organizes observation notes by T-TESS domain and dimension and generates feedback aligned to the five-point rubric. It is free for individual principals at app.observationcopilot.com, and support for the refreshed rubric will follow TEA's published T-TESS 2 documentation.