HOUSTON – As students and teachers embark on the journey that is the 2024-2025 school year, many schools will be working to improve their accountability ratings, and those already on a strong slope, will aim to keep their momentum.
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However, many may be wondering exactly what the accountability rating exactly is and how it’s measured.
What is the TEA’s accountability rating?
According to the Texas Education Agency’s website, the ratings are based on standardized test performances, graduation rates, and college, career as well as military readiness outcomes.
The system relies on an A-F rating scale, which aims to provide a clear, yet simple, picture of how well districts and campuses are educating students. In a video explainer, the TEA claims using this scale “will help ensure that Texas remains a national leader in preparing students for success after graduation and better reflect its three objectives rigor for students, transparency for parents and the public, and fairness for schools.”
How does it work?
The A-F rating scale is based on several measurements of student achievement.
70% of the grade “comes from either their students’ achievement within a single year or their progress/student performance relative to schools with similar economic demographics.”
While the remaining 30% is based on a school’s ability to bridge gaps for students in need.
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Why are they necessary?
The TEA claims these ratings are one of many ways to determine how well a school is preparing students for the next grade and success after high school. The ratings can also help determine how well schools are serving all students.
They also provide information all public schools can utilize and assess to improve the ways they meet students’ educational needs. In other words, the ratings provide a yearly examination of the following areas:
- Student achievement, what students know and can do, as well as progress, how far students have come or grown in a subject
- Closing the gaps, determining how different student groups are performing
- Progress to English Language Acquisition
- Graduation Rates
- College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR)
“TEA has engaged and sought input from thousands of interested Texans including parents, teachers, superintendents, school board members, legislative staff, community advocates, and business leaders, to inform the A-F system design,” the TEA claims in its FAQ report.
What do the ratings tell us overall?
By using the A-F ratings, parents can get a glimpse into what their child knows and can do (via Student Achievement) and how much better students are performing than last year or compared to peers in similar schools (via School Progress). They also can examine if the school is doing what it needs to when it comes to addressing performance gaps among different student groups.
Learn more about a school or district in Texas by clicking here.