Houston ISD announced Wednesday that the number of schools that earned a D or F rating in the Texas Education Agency’s accountability ratings dropped by about two-thirds compared to last year under revamped, harder standards introduced by the state.
Despite tight resources, a challenging student population, and union opposition, HISD students and teachers have managed to drastically improve student achievement in a very short amount of time.
The Houston Chronicle’s story is here.
Why it matters:
Failing accountability scores are the reason the intervention was initiated in HISD. Now, just one year into the intervention, scores have significantly improved across the district, and especially at NES schools, which have historically struggled academically. The outstanding improvements in scores have been attributed to “improved quality of instruction, additional training for campus leaders, efforts to implement a stronger curriculum and a ‘high performance culture.’”
By the numbers:
Of the 85 NES schools, 14 earned As, 39 earned Bs, 17 earned Cs, 12 earned Ds, and two earned Fs this year. In last year’s unofficial ratings, one NES campus earned an A rating, 10 earned Bs, 10 earned Cs, 30 earned Ds and 33 earned Fs.
What they’re saying:
“The (TEA’s) exit criteria calls for zero campuses that have a D or F rating, so we took a big chunk out of the 121, and if we continue to work hard and work well, we'll get that 41 down to single digits at the end of this school year,” said Superintendent Miles.
Go deeper:
The scores come after the TEA updated the formula last year
to calculate ratings, which raised the bar that schools need to reach to qualify for higher letter grades and was expected to lead to declines in the 2023 scores. The fact that HISD boosted ratings so significantly, despite the more rigorous standards, is remarkable and a testament to the hard work of students and teachers.
