In been hearing lot of squable from parents about the recent changes announced by Texas Education Agency(TEA) last week of July on the 2010-2011 accountability ratings for Texas’ schools and school districts. As per the new rathing system, the number of districts rated as exemplary dropped from 241 to 61 and the number of campuses earning this distinction fell from 2,637 to 1,224. More districts and campuses were academically unacceptable as well, with the number of districts up from 37 to 88 and the number of campuses up from 104 to 569.

Let see the percentage of changes comparing to 2010 all over Texas,

“Exemplary” schools dropped from 19.5 percent of all districts to 5 percent
“Recognized” schools dropped from 49.1 percent of all districts to 34.4 percent
“Acceptable” schools rose from 27.6 percent of all districts to 53.3 percent
“Unacceptable” schools rose from 3 percent of all districts to 7.2 percent.

Hold on! Before you go making your own assumptions about our Schools and Texas school system. Lets see what changes were made and why it is not bad after all.

What’s the New System all about?
Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott took bold steps to realign the ratings to reflect a new emphasis on rating districts and schools based on their students’ progress toward post-secondary readiness. The changes in ratings were the result of several key improvements: requiring districts and schools to meet goals for students who are on track to graduate at the postsecondary readiness level; discontinuing use of the Texas Projection Measure (TPM); and requiring more students to pass math and science assessments.

First, and for the first time, districts and schools had to meet postsecondary readiness goals in order to each the recognized or exemplary designations. To be Recognized, 15 percent or more of economically disadvantaged students had to score at the commended level on the English and math assessments. To be rated Exemplary, 25 percent of each group had to reach the commended level on these two assessments. The commended level – which is significantly higher than the passing standard – is a good indicator that a student is on pace to graduate with the knowledge and skills to succeed in college, community college, industry certification or other job training programs. The Texas Institute for Education Reform (TIER) was a strong proponent of this change, and we believe this was an important first step in aligning the accountability system with postsecondary readiness.

Next, the 2010-11 ratings were calculated without using the TPM. Under the TPM, students who failed an assessment could be counted as passing if – based on a statistical model – they were projected to pass in future years. Ultimately, the use of TPM boosted district and school ratings because failing students were counted as passing. Last year, approximately 70 percent of districts and schools were rated as recognized or exemplary based in large part on the TPM. This year, 39 percent of districts and 48 percent of campuses earned these ratings, and we feel this is a much more accurate reflection of academic performance. TIER opposed the TPM’s role in the accountability system for several reasons.

Why do we need the changes?
The reason for not using TPM, First, counting failing students as passing, it overestimated the progress that our students were making. Secondly, by artificially reducing the number of academically unacceptable districts and schools, it prevented the state from providing extra resources and oversight that students in unacceptable schools desperately needed. Finally, the TPM was not based on individual student growth toward postsecondary readiness. TIER supports including student growth and value added measures to the accountability system and will work with the Texas Education Agency as they consider future improvements.

Finally, the ratings reflected stronger math and science expectations for our students. Both standards were raised by 5 percent over the preceding year. As the state implements the new STAAR exams, which better measure progress to postsecondary readiness, academic standards will continue to become more rigorous in the future.

Conclusion
While this year’s lower ratings may cause some to question the accountability system, the adjustment was necessary to reset the system and realign it with the overarching goal of postsecondary readiness for all students – the major accomplishment of House Bill 3 in 2009, which TIER strongly supported then and successfully defended in 2011. Our students and teachers didn’t suddenly become less successful. Instead, our evaluation system just got a lot better. By linking our K-12 standards, assessments and ratings to the knowledge and skills needed for students to succeed after high school, we are giving amore accurate picture of the progress that our schools and students are making and can better make the changes needed to drive student achievement.

At the end TEA Commissionar Robert Scott said that despite the fact that fewer schools achieved the highest categories, the “school system as a whole is strong” and that parents should feel confident that the ratings are “absolutely real and valid.”

For few years, we as parents might feel the kids are going to schools that are gone down in rating are not rated byfar compared to others. But trust me the changes are made for good reason for the betterment of our kids and hope eventually schools will catch up and start performing to reach their new goals and ratings.

Actually my son’s Kindergarden school Hancock Elementary in CyFari ISD got downgraded to Acceptable from Recognized. It doesn’t affect him because he is just kindergardener. For other parents may be your kids high school got downgraded, but it’s for good. Teachers & school has to now work harder to reach the new ratings. So let’s support these changes and help our kids and schools to go up on standards compared to other states. You can see school ratings at TEA Ratings and school ratings system details at TEA Rating System. Here are the ratings for Cyfair ISD, Klein ISD, Tomball ISD & Spring ISD