Despite a judge recently blocking the release of the Texas Education Agency’s school ratings due to an ongoing lawsuit, schools can still release their own grades.
However, it is unclear what criteria are being used to determine these grades and whether they are the same as those of the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
When the TEA decided to adjust some of its metrics, notably those related to students’ performance on the state STAAR exam and career readiness, several public school districts objected to the stricter requirements. Dozens of school systems have since joined together in a lawsuit aiming at preventing the release of accountability reports, which would include ratings under both the old and the new grading method.
On Monday, a Travis County judge granted a temporary restraining order preventing the release of accountability reports for the 2023-2024 school year. This is the second consecutive year that the TEA has been barred from releasing accountability reports.
Dallas ISD claims that its schools have significantly improved, and it expects no failing high schools. However, the district acknowledged that it expects its overall grade from the TEA to be lowered from a “B” to a “C” this year.
According to the TEA’s most recent accountability ratings for Dallas ISD, only 41% of Dallas students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams, and nearly 20% of its graduating Class of 2022 failed to earn a diploma in four years despite the hard work of its dedicated educators.
KERA News reports on how some schools, despite being parties to the lawsuit against the TEA, have decided to release their own school grades. Here’s the start of the story:
A lawsuit filed earlier this week stopped the Texas Education Agency’s release of A-F school grades, which had been due out Thursday. But districts already have the STAAR test data those grades are predominantly based on, and some are releasing the numbers themselves.
Dallas ISD on Thursday said its preliminary scores show the number of high schools in the district “with A and B grades almost doubling compared to internal calculations for 2023 ratings.
Dallas ISD also said it expects no failing high schools and the most in the A-C range since 2022.
“Our Board of Trustees values transparency and accountability in how the district is performing, which is why we are releasing these internal calculations,” Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said in a release on the district’s website.
Miguel Solis, president of the Commit Partnership, a Dallas-based education non-profit, urged districts this week to release A-F data despite the lawsuit. But, he cautioned, comparisons to previous grades must be fair.
“Any scores released this year can’t be compared to previous scores, because it’s not an apples to apples comparison,” he told reporters during a webinar Wednesday. “This is really a fresh slate for them to be able to set a baseline on.”